Muschamp Puts Heupel in a Box, Florida Is a Problem, Lincoln Riley Still Can't Win a Big Game

Dawgbone Jr's Weekend Observations: Born barkin', raised on Kirby's domination of rivals, and fueled by SEC and National championships - Dawgbone Jr recaps the weekend's biggest games all season long.

Muschamp Puts Heupel in a Box, Florida Is a Problem, Lincoln Riley Still Can't Win a Big Game

#1 Texas 20, #15 Tennessee 17

The battle of UT was the most hyped game of the weekend, and the Texas defense got after Tennessee QB Faizon Brandon the way USC got after Johnny Knoxville in the 2000 "Jackass" stunt. Texas sacked the Vols ten times on Saturday, and Colin Simmons had five of them himself. When Muschamp was at Georgia, the Dawgs had no problems against Tennessee's offense, and he had no problems with this Vols offense at Texas either. Jim Knowles's Tennessee defense was getting after the quarterback too: Arch Manning was sacked six times, and the Longhorns struggled to get their run game going. The end of this game was wild. Texas nearly gave it away by letting Tennessee recover an onside kick while up only three, but once again the Texas defense locked things down. To sum up this game: both offenses and QB’s were sloppy, and that's what happens when you're facing two of the best defensive coordinators in the sport.

Oklahoma 13, #2 Georgia 41

Oklahoma's offense has been terrible all season, and it played its worst game yet against that Georgia defense. John Mateer had one of the worst outings any quarterback has ever had in Sanford Stadium. It looks like his thumb injury is still bothering him, because he couldn't hold on to the ball. He lost two fumbles, and both led to Georgia touchdowns. Chris Cole's 85-yard scoop-and-score completely changed the game and that play sucked all the life out of the Sooners. This Georgia defense looks like the best one since the 2021 team. Linebacker Chris Cole is one of the best defensive players Kirby Smart has had, and Raylen Wilson is off to a great start in his senior season. Georgia's offense struggled at times and was helped out a lot by the defense, but the one thing this offense has done well so far this year is create explosive plays. WR Talyn Taylor had by far the best game of his career, racking up 110 yards that included a 35-yard touchdown and an incredible one-handed catch. RB Dwight Phillips Jr. added an explosive 54-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Georgia's schedule is about to get a lot harder, but this is about as good a start as Kirby Smart's squad could have hoped for.

#4 Ole Miss 28, #21 Florida 52

Florida is back. The Gators have been up and down since Urban Meyer left the program, but what Jon Sumrall has done through his first four games has been incredible. Hiring OC Buster Faulkner was the best move of the offseason, and the Gators look like a top-five team already. This Florida rushing attack is far and away better than any other in the country. RBs Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark ran through the face of the Rebels' defense. Baugh had 142 yards, Clark had 126, and the team put up 302 total rushing yards. QB Aaron Philo didn't have to do much, but he still looked great whenever he threw the ball. Ole Miss's offense wasn't bad, but it wasn't as consistent as it's been. Chambliss took a big hit early in the game, which may have affected the rest of his performance, and not having RB Kewan Lacy hurt the Ole Miss run game; Chambliss ended up as the team's leading rusher with just 44 yards. The biggest play of the game was Jayden Woods's strip-sack of Chambliss, which set up a Florida touchdown and gave the Gators a three-score lead. Ole Miss's offensive line needs to get a lot better if this team wants to be a real contender. As for Florida, they might be a national title contender in Sumrall's first year if they keep playing like this.

#17 Iowa 20, #18 Michigan 19

Iowa did all of us a favor on Saturday and gave Michigan a taste of its own medicine. Karma finally caught up with the Wolverines as the Hawkeyes scored an incredible touchdown on the final play. For most of the game, Iowa played about how you'd expect. Michigan basically dominated, out-gaining Iowa by almost 200 total yards and 100 rushing yards. QB Bryce Underwood looked a little more promising and played better than he has all season, but he still had some shocking moments, including one of the worst interceptions I've seen this year. Iowa's offense still isn't good, and the Hawkeyes were getting very lucky. On each of their touchdown drives, they had a deflected pass that somehow got caught by an Iowa player. On the final drive, Iowa caught a ball in bounds with just two seconds left and probably wasn't going to get a snap off, but a Michigan player got injured, which gave them one more play. That last play was an incredible back-shoulder touchdown pass from former Auburn QB Hank Brown to WR Reece Vander Zee. Iowa got outplayed for most of the game, but in a way they deserved to win, given the way Michigan "won" against Western Michigan.

#20 Oregon 41, #12 USC 27

Nothing about this game was surprising. Lincoln Riley and USC lost another big game and played terrible defense again. This offseason felt promising with the hire of former TCU head coach Gary Patterson to fix the defense, but they still weren't good enough. Riley has beaten only five ranked opponents since taking over in Los Angeles. Oregon's offense struggled at times over the first couple of weeks, but it was unbelievable on Saturday. QB Dante Moore played great before suffering a scary injury, reportedly a concussion, and is expected back soon. Backup QB Dylan Raiola lit it up in relief, going 19/25 for 289 yards and two touchdowns. RB Dierre Hill Jr. also dominated the Trojans' defense, racking up 168 total yards and two touchdowns. This was a huge bounce-back win for Oregon, and I believe they can still be one of the best teams in the country if they keep playing the way they did against USC.

Other Thoughts

Huge bounce-back win for LSU; Texas A&M is a bottom-four SEC team.
Luke Fickell finally got a big win with Wisconsin.
Eli Drinkwitz has done well at Mizzou, but he doesn’t win big games.
That spot in the ACC Championship Game vs Miami could genuinely go to anyone.
Clemson has figured out its defense after Week 1.
Indiana is nowhere near the team it was last year.
Jeremiah Smith is one of the greatest college football players I've ever seen, and he might win the Heisman.
Georgia Tech is the worst team in the ACC.
UCLA is a problem in the Big Ten.
Boise State will be that G5 playoff team.

Week 5 Game Predictions

Vanderbilt 10, Georgia 42
Alabama 34, Mississippi State 24
Ohio State 38, Iowa 10
Auburn 14, Tennessee 24
Florida 45, Missouri 21
Miami 31, Clemson 13

Dawgbone Jr (aka Bennett Wiggins)