{"id":31496,"date":"2020-10-07T15:00:23","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T19:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=31496"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:11:14","slug":"week-five-midweek-musings-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2020\/10\/07\/week-five-midweek-musings-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Week Five Midweek Musings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy hump day, and welcome to Week Five Midweek Musings!<\/p>\n

Week Five Midweek Musings<\/h2>\n

LSU<\/h3>\n

Buckle up, Tiger fans: it could be a bumpy ride this year. With a huge amount of turnover on both offense and defense, to say nothing of the coaching staff, this wasn’t unexpected. After an uneven performance in a loss to Mississippi State, the Tiger dominated in their second game. Granted, the opponent was Vanderbilt. But it was crucial that LSU get a run game going after being held to 80 yards in the opener, and they did. Sophomore John Emery, Jr. ran for 103 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Quarterback Myles Brennan<\/a> added 337 yards and four touchdowns passing in the 41-7 stomping of the Commodores.<\/p>\n

The Tigers face Missouri this week<\/a>, in what should be another good tune-up game for them. LSU-Florida the week after will be a game to watch for sure.<\/p>\n

Auburn<\/h3>\n

This set of Tigers didn’t have the same kind of Saturday LSU did. Georgia completely shut down the Auburn run game- shut down as in Auburn’s leading rusher had 31 of their 39 yards. Sophomore quarterback Bo Nix<\/a> was not at his best either, completely just over half of his passes for 177 yards and an interception in the 27-6 loss.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, managed 202 yards on the ground despite a) not having a 100-yard rusher and b) getting -15 yards from quarterback Stetson Bennett<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Which Auburn team will show up against a better-than-expected Arkansas team next week? The one that handily beat Kentucky, or this one?<\/p>\n

Arkansas<\/h3>\n

(Last SEC team, I promise). The Razorbacks won their first SEC game in THREE YEARS this weekend when they beat Mississippi State. Yes, the same Mississippi State team that beat defending champion LSU a week ago. They also hung in with a very good Georgia team for a while in their opener.<\/p>\n

This isn’t a team that’s going to threaten in the SEC West- not this year, anyway. But could they cause some chaos? Stay tuned.<\/p>\n

Most Improved Conference: The ACC<\/h3>\n

Among my Week Five Midweek Musings: the ACC looks to have gone from Clemson and Company to a conference with depth comparable to the rest of the Power Five. Four ACC teams are currently ranked in the Top Ten: #1 Clemson, #5 Notre Dame, #7 Miami, and #8 NC State. Virginia Tech comes in at #19. Some of those teams will move down a few slots as the Pac-12 and Big Ten begin to play, but it’s still impressive to see how far the conference has come in just a few years.<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead: The Playoff<\/h3>\n

This weekend may have put a dagger in the heart of the Big 12’s CFP hopes. Oklahoma has now lost consecutive games for the first time since 1994, and Texas lost a heartbreaker to TCU. The only unbeaten in the conference is Oklahoma State, and they have some tough games down the stretch, including late-season road trips to both Oklahoma and TCU. As ESPN’s Heather Dinich writes, conference strength will mean more than usual this season.<\/p>\n

Could the ACC get in two of Clemson, Miami, and Notre Dame? Will the shorter season harm the committee’s opinion of Pac-12 and Big Ten teams? It’s a long shot, but could this be the year a Group of Five team sneaks in?<\/p>\n

In Case You Missed It<\/h3>\n

This ESPN story about Iowa State’s Jack Trice<\/strong>, for whom their stadium is named, was incredible.<\/p>\n