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College Football Week 6 Overreactions: Jalen Milroe, ACC, Miami

College Football Week 6 Overreactions: Jalen Milroe, ACC, Miami
Posted on | Posted on angela

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The random nature of the sport makes it impossible to predict the outcome of every game. Numerous well-lit buildings in the desert testify to this reality.

College football is particularly prone to such coincidences. Most of the time, analysts feel like they have a handle on which team could prevail in a head-to-head matchup. Then there are Saturdays like the one we just experienced that make us question our entire worldview.

An overreaction? Maybe, but that's what we're here for in this area. Here are the five most common overreactions from Week 6, one of the most chaotic in recent memory.

Jalen Milroe just lost the Heisman

Let's be clear. Alabama's historic loss at Vanderbilt wasn't entirely Milroe's fault. Yes, his pick-six put the Crimson Tide in an early hole. And his fumble in the fourth quarter was costly. But his defense's inability to get off the field severely limited his options, and so every mistake was magnified.

However, his heroics from a week earlier in the win against Georgia stood, and just as the award isn't won with a single performance, it isn't lost either. However, his lead in the race has decreased. He will play many other high-profile games in the second half of the season, but so will numerous other candidates.

Ups and downs: Alabama's upset results in wins and losses in Week 6

Unthinkable excitement: Vanderbilt's win is one of sports' biggest upsets

The ACC replay booth is in the tank for Miami

It's pretty undeniable that the ACC's best chance of getting two teams into the playoffs is for Miami and Clemson to win and face each other in the league finals. This has, shall we say, led to many motives being questioned online over the last few weeks, as the Hurricanes benefited from controversial replay decisions in consecutive weeks.

We typically don't like to give air to conspiracy theories, and the idea that the league office would stand up for a program that has given it more than its fair share of headaches over the years for playing fast and loose with NCAA rules seems far-fetched removed – fetched. On the other hand, one can understand how the events of the last eight days might leave people puzzled.

The last-second reversal of the Hail Mary touchdown that secured the Hurricanes' win over Virginia Tech last Friday may actually have been the right call, or at least overturned a bad decision on the field. This week's decision not to call a targeted foul for a hit on California quarterback Fernando Mendoza seems much harder to justify.

Of course, poor refereeing has always been a part of sport and the introduction of a re-test cannot completely eliminate this aspect. Miami probably shouldn't expect such controversial results to continue its path, despite public perceptions of alleged favoritism.

The Big Ten gets more playoff spots than the SEC

When the SEC's supposed top teams began competing against each other, it was inevitable that some of them would suffer losses. But now that several of the expected contenders have suffered losses at the hands of lower-ranked conference members, the question is how many losses can be absorbed to be widely considered in the newly expanded 12-team playoff era.

As a result, the Big Ten now has three teams ranked in the top five of the US LBM Coaches Poll. This trio has so far avoided such losses against middle-class teams. But can they continue to do so and will the crowded SEC be able to find its way? It's impossible to say at this point, but the next two months will certainly be interesting.

Vanderbilt will bowl in 2024

Vandy's rare triumph against a top-five opponent has fans of the perennial SEC doormat dreaming even bigger. The next box the Commodores need to check will be qualifying for a bowl game, something that hasn't happened since 2018 and has only happened nine times in program history.

It could happen, but even beating the Crimson Tide in the Bank isn't a guarantee. For one thing, the loss to Georgia State in Week 3 cannot be undone. This result, along with the heartbreaker in overtime against Missouri, gives the Commodores hope for three more wins. One of those should come in a few weeks in their final non-conference contest against Ball State, so two more “W”s need to be found in conference play. Next week's date with Kentucky and a Nov. 2 meeting with Auburn are winnable, but both are on the road and making 50-50 propositions. There is also a home game featuring a volatile South Carolina squad. But if the Commodores can't win two of them, they'll have to pull off another upset against Texas, LSU or Tennessee. Can they do it? Secure. Will they? Stay tuned.

Army and Navy play twice

With the Black Knights and Midshipmen each starting 5-0 for the first time since 1945, academy football fans can dream of their legendary rivalry being played out twice this season, once in the American Athletic Conference championship game where both members play in the league for the first time, then again a week later in their annual standalone game.

Such a scenario was laid out at the conference when Army agreed to join before this season. All the Black Knights have accomplished so far is decisively winning their first four AAC contests. The Mids, for their part, are 3-0 in the conference and also easily dispatched the third member of the academy triumvirate, Air Force, over the weekend.

Then we are almost halfway there, but there is still a long way to go. Most of the other AAC members have only played a game or two in the league, so it's hard to see where the toughest tests will come from. For now, it looks like the Navy's flight home date to Tulane on Nov. 16 and the Army's trip to North Texas on Nov. 9 could be the biggest obstacles. It's also worth noting that both academies will take a shot at Notre Dame, a potential resurgence booster that could even be worth playoff consideration. While this is a long-term scenario, why not think big after a weekend where the sport was virtually turned on its head?

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