College Football Final: Highlights, Recaps, Takeaways & More From Week 5's Action

By Brian Rauf October 1, 2017
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This college football weekend was a bit spread out with a top 16 matchup between USC and Washington State and key ACC showdown between Miami and Duke on Friday night, but there were still plenty of fireworks this Saturday. There were only two matchups between ranked teams, but they were great games. Several players also made major Heisman statements - and one coach is on the hottest seat in America.

We're here to break it all down in this week's College Football Final:

Big games
#2 Clemson dominates in convincing 31-17 victory over #12 Virginia Tech 
It's best if you don't doubt this Clemson team.

Facing another tough road test against Virginia Tech, the Tigers passed with flying colors. Clemson's defense held the Hokies without a touchdown until garbage time (one of them came on a three-yard drive after a long punt return) as they flexed their muscle in every aspect of the game.

Quarterback Kelly Bryant led Clemson with 186 passing yards and a touchdown while rushing for 94 more yards. 

#13 Auburn blows out #24 Mississippi State for 49-10 win
Aren't these two teams trending in opposite directions?

Auburn looked as dominant as they have all season, racking up over 500 yards of total offense and completing shutting down a Mississippi State team that is now reeling.

Running back Kerryon Johnson led the way for the Tigers with 116 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries in the game, while quarterback Jarrett Stidham passed for 264 yards and two touchdowns.

Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald struggled for the second consecutive week, going just 13/33 passing for 157 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Upset alert
Troy shocks #25 LSU with 24-21 win
The biggest upset of the day was not as close as the final score indicated. Led by a dominant defensive performance, Troy scored the first 17 points of the game and led 24-7 in the fourth quarter.

LSU tried to rally in the closing minutes, but quarterback Danny Etling threw an interception on the final drive and sealed a win for the Trojans.

Other top 25 results
#1 Alabama 66, Ole Miss 3
#4 Penn State 45, Indiana 14
#6 Washington 42, Oregon State 7
#7 Georgia 41, Tennessee 0
#10 Wisconsin 33, Northwestern 24
#11 Ohio State 56, Rutgers 0
#14 Miami 31, Duke 6 (Fri.)
#15 Oklahoma State 41, Texas Tech 34
#16  Washington State 20, #5 USC 27 (Fri.)
#17 Louisville 55, Murray State 10
#18 South Florida 61, East Carolina 31
#19 San Diego State 34, Northern Illinois 28
#21 Florida 38, Vanderbilt 24
#22 Notre Dame 52, Miami (OH) 17

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Butch Jones is on the hottest seat in the country
Time is running out on Butch Jones. Following Tennessee's humiliating 41-0 home loss to Georgia, it's looking like the Vols could be making a change sooner rather than later. 

Jones improved his record each of his first three years in Knoxville before sticking at nine wins last season. They fell short of their SEC East goals in 2015 and 2016, and their disappointing start this season certainly signals that Jones is not the guy who can get this program over that hump moving forward.

It's at the point now where it doesn't feel like Jones can endure another disappointing loss. The Vols have a bye before starting a tough string of games against South Carolina, Alabama and Kentucky.

RELATED: 5 potential replacements for Butch Jones

Performance of the day
BRYCE LOVE! Love really solidified himself as a Heisman contender today, rushing for a Stanford-record 301 yards and three touchdowns on just 25 carries. 

Love now has 1,088 rushing yards - in just five games. He's on pace to rush for 2,828 yards this season, which would be 200 more than Barry Sanders' NCAA single-season record 2,628 yards. Speaking of the Heisman race...

Heisman update
Love may have put himself in the mix, but Saquon Barkley solidified himself as the Heisman frontrunner with his performance today (222 total yards, KO return TD, pass TD), capitalizing on Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma's bye week. 

Those three players are clearly the top contenders, but a number of players are lurking on the fringes, including Washington State quarterback Luke Falk and San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny.

Right now, here are the top three, along with their season stats so far:

1) Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State - 88 carries, 574 rush yards, 4 TDs, 27 catches, 386 rec yards, 2 TDs, KO return TD
2) Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma - 75.2 completion percentage, 1,329 pass yards, 13 TDs, 0 INTs
3) Bryce Love, RB, Stanford - 98 carries, 1,088 rush yards, 8 TDs

Top plays
These are the top plays of the day that were not included in any of the recaps above:

Next week's biggest games
Here are the biggest games we have to look forward to next weekend:

#17 Louisville at NC State (Thurs.)
#23 West Virginia at #9 TCU
#14 Miami at Florida State
#25 LSU at #21 Florida

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Related Topics: 2017 College Football, NCAA Football

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