There was no shortage of drama in week five of the college football season with a handful of marquee matchups decided by just one score including a couple in particular that ended in thrilling fashion. Clemson, Tennessee, Washington and North Carolina each recorded impact wins over the weekend to improve their overall standing. However, there were a handful of teams that made crucial missteps with no team getting hit harder than Louisville. Here is a look at the top four losers from week five of the college football season.
Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals’ matchup with Clemson certainly lived up to the hype as they went back and forth in a heavyweight fight in front of a national audience on Saturday night. Louisville was in position to retake the lead in the dying seconds when they had a key fourth down in Tigers’ territory with under a minute left to go and the game on the line, and that is where things really went bad. Lamar Jackson got the ball to James Quick in space, but rather than cut inside and make an attempt for the first down marker, he cut outside and was pushed out of bounds short of the first down on the deciding play of the game. There was no excuse for Quick not cutting it back inside and while the game came down to more than one play it was certainly a tough way for Louisville to suffer its first loss of the season.
As a result, Louisville has to be painted a loser. While it’s not a death blow to them – they are still seventh in the rankings – they still have to hope for a Clemson loss to get back into the college football playoff picture. They still have a matchup at No. 6 Houston in November that can strengthen their resume, but the loss to Clemson will be tough to overcome. The Tigers took a major step up with the win, while the Cardinals’ ACC title hopes took a substantial hit with the loss.
Florida State Seminoles
The Seminoles were the other ACC contender that dropped a key game on Saturday as they were absolutely shocked by North Carolina at home in a 37-35 loss. Up 35-34 with under a minute to go, Florida State’s defense couldn’t stop Mitch Trubisky as he drove the Tar Heels down the field for the game-winning field goal with no time left on the clock. Trubisky threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns in total as the Seminoles’ defense absolutely took the loss on the chin. Florida State’s 22-game home winning streak ended and any outside chance they still had at making the playoff probably went with it as they dropped to 3-2 on the season.
Stanford Cardinal
Stanford was the other Cardinal team to suffer a significant loss over the weekend as they were absolutely destroyed by Washington in a key Pac-12 showdown by a final score of 44-6. Stanford had impressed early on with a couple of big wins over USC and UCLA, but had no answer for the Huskies’ combination of Jake Browning at quarterback and Myles Gaskin at running back. That tandem absolutely torched the Cardinal through the air and on the ground while the Washington defense shut the door on Christian McCaffrey and the Stanford offense. The Cardinal was bumped down to No. 15 in the AP top-25 with the loss and they are clearly no longer the college football team to beat in the Pac-12.
Texas Longhorns
A double-overtime win over Notre Dame now seems like a distant memory as the Longhorns have dropped back-to-back losses to Cal and Oklahoma State. Texas was thoroughly outplayed by the Cowboys on Saturday as they allowed Mason Rudolph to throw for 392 yards and three touchdowns while Justice Hill torched them for 135 yards and a score on the ground. Defensive coordinator Vance Bedford was demoted as a result while sources reported that head coach Charlie Strong’s job is safe for now. The Longhorns’ schedule won’t get any easier with Oklahoma in town this weekend so it won’t be a surprise if they drop a third college football loss in a row on Saturday.
