Week 5 Under Review

News of the Week

USC Fires Kiffin
I've already written at lemgth about the termination of Lane Kiffin, but it's a major firing early in the season. Trojans AD Pat Haden knew that if the administration had made up their minds to move on, there was no reason to wait any longer, and the decision was made in the 3rd quarter of a 62-41 loss to Arizona State. Not only did the Trojans not wait until the sun came up. USC didn't even allow Kiffin to ride the team bus from LAX back to campus. That's how done they were. The Trojans need to make a major splash right now, with early names being Fresno State Head Coach Tim DeRuyter, Washington Head Coach (and former USC OC) Steve Sarkisian, and former Jacksonville Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio being in the mix early. Ed Orgeron is the interim coach, but he will likely not be considered.

Anger in Ruston
Speaking of fan anger and coaches in trouble, Louisiana Tech fans are already calling for the head of Skip Holtz. The Bulldogs are 1-4 on the season, Holtz's first, with their lone win coming against FCS member Lamar in a 27-14 win.
Holtz has had success in CUSA before while coaching East Carolina, so my suggestion to Tech fans would be to calm down. Things will likely get better, but it may take some time. There is work to do, but Tech is not a lost cause just yet.

Connor Shaw Injured
South Carolina barely escaped a loss at UCF, but they did lose Connor Shaw to an injury that will cost him 2 to 3 weeks of the season. Shaw is now the third starting QB in the conference to be taken out for a longer period of time, or for the season. Florida lost Jeff Driskell for the season, Tennessee lost Nathan Peterman for 8 weeks, and now Shaw goes down. Only in the case of Florida does the injury seem to actually help them long term, as Tyler Murphy may actually be the better option to run the offense.

And now some observations from week 5:

AAC

Winners
Houston
The Cougars gained nothing but points in a huge road win over UTSA, and they look like an outside dark horse contender in AAC play.

Losers Despite Winning
None

Losers
Temple, UConn, SMU, USF, UCF
UCF was most disappointing in this group, falling after leading South Carolina at the half. UConn and USF are bottom ten programs anyway. SMU is falling fast, and June Jones could find himself on the Hot Seat this week.

ACC

Winners
Virginia Tech, Miami, Florida State, Clemson, NC State
Virginia Tech got into the ACC race by beating Georgia Tech on the road in a much needed win for the Hokies. Miami, FSU, and NC State got big wins in games that they should have cruised in, while Florida State toyed with Boston College on the road. The Seminoles looked suspect at times, but stayed in control of their own destiny.

Losers Despite Winning
Pittsburgh, Duke
Pitt struggled to score against Virginia, winning 14-3, and look like a middle tiered ACC team at best. The Panthers lack identity. Duke struggled to beat a Troy team that has been a mess in 2013.

Losers
North Carolina, Virginia, Boston College, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech
UNC getting hammered by East Carolina says noting for those who think that Larry Fedora is some kind of rising star in the coaching ranks. Virginia continues to disappoint in an offensive meltdown loss to Pitt. BC is a train wreck, even at home, while Jim Grobe at Wake Forest likely falls into Dead Pool territory with yet another ACC loss, which are piling up higher than Lane Kiffin haters. Georgia Tech lost their chance to control their own ACC fate by falling at home to Virginia Tech, and now the Yellow Jackets look like pretenders.

Big 10

Winners
Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State
The Fighting Illini beat one of the worst teams in America by pounding heavily on Miami (Ohio) in a Big 10 warm up game. Iowa and Ohio State both picked up the all important conference wins, with Iowa's win likely changing our job status on Kirk Ferentz this week. The Buckeyes got back a healthy Braxton Miller, and now have a very convenient QB controversy between Miller and Kenny Guyton.

Losers Despite Winning
None

Losers
Purdue, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Purdue is just awful, but we already knew that. Minnesota did what the Gophers always do, as they collapsed once conference play began. This is typical of them. Wisconsin fought hard against Ohio State, but the loss puts them behind the 8 ball in Big 10 play, and they may have been exposed defensively.

Big 12

Winners
Iowa State, West Virginia, TCU, Oklahoma
Iowa State got a big out of conference win on the road, but against a struggling Tulsa program that ISU lost to in the Liberty Bowl. West Virginia was the biggest winner of the week, beating OK. State and ruining their national title aspirations. TCU routed cross town rival SMU, which was not unexpected, while Oklahoma may just bear watching after hammering Notre Dame on the road.

Losers Despite Winning
None

Losers
Oklahoma State
There were few bigger choke jobs than OSU this week, falling to struggling West Virginia on the road. The Cowboys couldn't get it going, and QB play was abysmal at times. National title is no longer in the conversation.

Conference USA

Winners
East Carolina, Tulane
The Pirates blasted North Carolina on the road, racing out to a 28-10 lead at the half. Tulane took down a reeling UL-Monroe squad, and seem to be bouncing back from an early loss to South Alabama fairly well.

Losers Despite Winning
Rice
The Owls struggled like hell to get a 4 point win over FAU, and looked like they are on the verge of collapse. They stay alive in conference play, but they are in for some trouble ahead.

Losers
Tulsa, Middle Tennessee, UTEP, Louisiana Tech, UTSA, Florida Atlantic, UAB, Southern Miss
Murderers row just got worse this week in bad losses, especially when it comes to Southern Miss, who got blasted by Boise State 60-7. The good news? I selected not one of these teams to win anyway. The bad news? Every loss was pretty terrible.

Independents

Winners
BYU, Army, Idaho
The Cougars blasted Middle Tennessee at home, making the Blue Raiders look like a joke in the process. Army, rolled past a sliding Louisiana Tech club, which is a win that can breathe much needed life into the Cadets at this point. Idaho gets a win, and any win is a good win for the Vandals, who beat Temple by 2 at home.

Losers Despite Winning
None

Losers
Navy, Notre Dame, New Mexico State
Navy was inept on offense against Western Kentucky, scoring just 7 in the loss. Notre Dame looked outclassed in a loss to Oklahoma, and the season is being played for a 2nd tier bowl birth now. NMSU loses again, and that's not a surprise, ever.

MAC

Winners
Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Ball State, Buffalo
NIU picked up their second road win against the Big 10 this fall, and got their spirit back after two lifeless weeks against lesser opponents. Bowling Green bounced back as well, and maintains their place on top of the conference race, as does Ball State, who moved to 4-1, and beat Toledo handily. Buffalo got a huge win out of conference at home by pounding on UConn.

Losers Despite Winning
None

Losers
Miami (Ohio), Akron, Toledo, Central Michigan, Western Michigan
Miami, Akron, and CMU are all programs sinking to the bottom of the national rankings, and they aren't competitive at all. Toledo is the disappointment of the MAC race in 2013, as they sink to 2-3 after getting beaten by Ball State. WMU is just trying to build something, and there's nowhere to go but up right now, as the Broncos have hit rock bottom.

Mountain West

Winners
Utah State, Colorado State, San Diego State, UNLV, Nevada, Boise State
USU got back on track this week by beating San Jose State by 28 on the road. Colorado State got a much needed confidence booster by ripping UTEP. SDSU got a win against New Mexico State, and that's a game that everyone has to win. UNLV is now 3-2 after hammering New Mexico, and it's been a long time since UNLV could boast a winning record. Nevada needs all the wins they can get, even if the defense failed in a 45-42 win over Air Force, but the Wolfpack is in rebuild mode. Boise State jumped out to a 30-7 lead over Southern Miss at the half, and never let up in a 60-7 win.

Losers Despite Winning
Fresno State
The Bulldogs struggled to hold off Hawaii on the road. That's never a good thing, even if the Bulldogs remain the MWC favorite.

Losers
San Jose State, Wyoming, Air Force, New Mexico, Hawaii
San Jose State is lacking playmakers around David Fales, and the Spartans got hammered at home. Wyoming's loss is the worst in the conference, falling to Texas State. AFA, UNM, and Hawaii are all playing lost seasons, but at least Air Force didn't get blown out this week, which had become a practice of sorts.

PAC-12

Winners
Oregon State, Washington, Stanford, Arizona State, Oregon
The Beavers are all over the place, but they got a huge home win that was much needed, hammering Colorado. Washington is cruising right now, and may be a dark horse in the North race, but for second place over Stanford, who finally played a complete game by crushing Washington State. Arizona State rolled up 600 yards, scored 62 points, converted 4 turnovers, and got Lane Kiffin fired all in one night. Oregon proved that their speed can't even be slowed down by God, as they cruised and ran like the wind in a driving rain storm in a rout of Cal in Eugene.

Losers Despite Winning
None

Losers
Colorado, Arizona, Washington State, USC, California
Colorado finally showed their true colors in a lopsided loss to Oregon State on the road. Arizona showed how they are really in rebuild mode in a loss to Washington. WSU was positively crushed when they played a contender in Stanford, while Cal looked lost in the rain, losing 55-16 to the Ducks in Eugene. USC gave up 62 points, tying a school record, and Pat Haden decided to fire Lane Kiffin in the 3rd quarter, not allowing Kiffin to ride the team bus from LAX back to the campus.

SEC

Winners
Georgia, Alabama, Texas A&M, Missouri, Vanderbilt
Nobody wins bigger than Georgia, who finishes a brutal September at 3-1. The win over LSU was epic, and the crowd was the 12th man all day. Great win for UGA. Alabama showed SEC dominance in a 25-0 win over Ole Miss, essentially ending the Rebel threat in the conference race. The Aggies got another magical game out of Johnny Manziel, and held off a Razorback challenge late in a 45-33 win. Missouri and Vandy picked up wins over cupcakes in preparation for SEC play to begin.

Losers Despite Winning
South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida
The Gamecocks not only had to rally to beat UCF in Orlando for a 3 point win, but also lost Connor Shaw for 2 to 3 weeks. Tennessee started a new QB, and struggled to take down South Alabama by 7. Florida only handled Kentucky by 7 on the road, and you can't tell me it's because they lost the borderline incompetent Jeff Driskell at QB last week for the season.

Losers
LSU, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Arkansas
It's so hard to call LSU a loser this week, accept for the defense on Georgia's final game winning drive. Mettenberger made all of the throws late that he needed, until the final drive, when he was outmatched by the UGA pass rush. Ole Miss proved to be a pretender in a 25-0 loss to Alabama in the SEC West. Kentucky had a major shot to upset Florida, but fell short in a 24-17 loss. Arkansas had their chances as well, but fell to Texas A&M, and picked up their second consecutive loss.

Sun Belt

Winners
Western Kentucky, Texas State
WKU picked up a huge win over Navy, stopping the Navy run game, and getting their own game back on track despite recent struggles. Texas State picked up an impressive win over a streaking Wyoming club, getting an early lead and never letting go. The Bobcats are now 3-1, and picking up steam.

Losers Despite Winning
None

Losers
South Alabama, Tory, UL-Monroe, Arkansas State
The Jaguars are an emerging team, but they have to start winning close games, much like they did against Tulane. a win over a reeling Tennessee team would have been major, but USA will have to be happy with their effort despite a 31-24 loss. ULM should be an emerging power in the SBC, but they are falling flat, and Todd Berry doesn't have the answers right now. The magic seems gone at Arkansas State this fall, but they are also sort of rebuilding.