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Week 5 of the 2025 college football season was an absolute treat.
There was a lot of anticipation ahead of a slate of high-stakes ranked matchups, and all of those games proved to be as thrilling as advertised.
In the Big Ten headliner, Oregon survived the hostile whiteout crowd in Happy Valley, fending off a Penn State rally to win in double overtime. Meanwhile, in the SEC, Alabama made a major statement on the road in Athens against Georgia while Ole Miss added another signature win to Lane Kiffin's repertoire, outlasting a top-five LSU team.
That just scratches the surface of what felt like the first real put-up or shut-up week of the season. Here are the winners and losers.
After a 31-17 loss to Florida State in Week 1 shocked the college football world, many wrote off not only this year's Alabama team but Kalen DeBoer's tenure in Tuscaloosa as a whole.
This was, clearly, a bit premature — we're all trying to find the guy who did this!
DeBoer's team showed signs of improvement in the weeks since the opening loss, but bludgeonings against UL-Monroe and Wisconsin weren't exactly important barometers. Those improvements manifested in Athens on Saturday night, though.
The Alabama offense has quietly impressed, and it moved the ball effectively against Georgia's typically stout defense. Ty Simpson, who is surging in Heisman odds, has been one of the most effective signal-callers nationally in a year that's been largely defined by disappointing quarterback play.
And while the defense wasn't perfect — Georgia ran for 229 yards as a team — the passing game was held to just 130 yards after Gunner Stockton and Co. were highly explosive in the victory over Tennessee in their last outing.
The loss to FSU hasn't exactly aged phenomenally after Mike Norvell's team lost to Virginia on Friday night, but snapping Georgia's 33-game home winning streak more than makes up for it. This team is clearly still a College Football Playoff contender in Year 2 under DeBoer.
To be fair, the warning signs were there.
The Tigers' offense entered the year with high expectations thanks to the return of quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, a preseason Heisman frontrunner, and the addition of several intriguing skill-position players. The defense was a question mark, but instead, it's been the defense that has impressed while Joe Sloan's offense lags behind.
LSU scored just 17 points in a win over a Clemson team that has proved to be disappointing on both sides of the ball, but particularly defensively. Then, the Tigers scored just 20 points in a win over Florida despite DJ Lagway gift-wrapping five interceptions to the defense.
Ultimately, those inefficiencies caught up with LSU in Oxford on Saturday evening. To put it frankly, Nussmeier isn't playing up to expectations. He threw for 197 yards and just one touchdown in the loss. Nussmeier hasn't had a multi-touchdown game or surpassed the 250-yard mark against an FBS opponent, and he tossed his third interception of the year in this one. It was a costly pick, as well, robbing the Tigers of a key scoring opportunity in a five-point loss.
The run game, which has been a problem outside of Jayden Daniels throughout the entirety of Brian Kelly's tenure, is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry on the season and only managed 59 yards on 21 carries against Ole Miss.
The Tigers can still be one of the best teams in the SEC thanks to their defense, which was stressed in this game but still gave them a chance to win. If they don't start playing some complementary football soon, however, there might be a few more losses on the schedule.
It was supposed to be Ole Miss' year in 2024.
Lane Kiffin had assembled not just the most talented roster in program history, but one of the most talented in the entire nation. It missed out on a CFP berth thanks to head-scratching losses to Kentucky and Florida, and a drop-off was expected in 2025 as Kiffin had to bring in an entirely new haul of transfers.
Instead, Ole Miss is 5-0 for just the third time since 1978 and finds itself ranked in the top-five after knocking off LSU. It's a testament to Kiffin's increasingly impressive acumen as a program builder.
He's long been viewed as something of a side-show in the sport, but Saturday's win solidified what has been clear for a while: He has become one of the best coaches in the entire country.
It's hard to overstate how unprecedented his accomplishments in Oxford have been. Even though the 2024 campaign proved to be disappointing on the whole, it was still Kiffin's third 10-win season. Ole Miss had just three 10-win seasons total in the 68 years between its claimed national title in 1962 and Kiffin's hiring in 2020.
It also came on the heels of Ole Miss' first 11-win season in program history in 2023.
Kiffin has made it easy to forget that this program has spent most of the modern era as an SEC bottom-feeder, and he has now knocked off a top-five team in back-to-back seasons. He's putting up video game numbers with a Division II transfer at quarterback in Trinidad Chambliss, who replaced an injured Austin Simmons and hasn't looked back, inserting himself into the Heisman race.
Time will tell if Ole Miss can finally get over the CFP hurdle in 2025, but Saturday was another example of the legitimate SEC powerhouse Kiffin has built.
I've given up on trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with James Franklin's tenure at Penn State.
On one hand, he's well on his way to asserting himself as the greatest coach in program history not named Joe Paterno (if he hasn't already done so). There have been a couple of dips, but the Nittany Lions have practically always been competitive in both the Big Ten and CFP races since Franklin got things rolling.
And yet, here we are.
Once again, Penn State couldn't get the job done, and it's hard to keep finding excuses. This was a whiteout game at home under the lights as the Nittany Lions were lucky enough to finally avoid the Big Noon Saturday curse.
None of that ultimately mattered, and James Franklin moved to a staggering 2-21 against AP top-six opponents during his time in State College. Penn State has lost the last 15 (!) such games, a streak that dates back to Franklin's only Big Ten championship season in 2016.
Even more frustratingly, the loss to the Ducks played out nearly identically to most of Penn State's other recent losses against Big Ten heavyweights. The Nittany Lions played fantastic defense, but Drew Allar and the offense couldn't get anything going — at least, not until the fourth quarter.
Penn State mounted an admirable comeback, erasing a 17-3 deficit in the final frame to force overtime. Even scoring a touchdown to open the first overtime period, the Nittany Lions couldn't get a stop, and after allowing a quick touchdown to begin double overtime, Allar threw another crushing, game-ending interception.
Franklin simply has not proven to be capable of beating the best teams in the country, at least with any regularity. Sure, Penn State reached the College Football Playoff semifinals last season, but it did so by beating SMU and Boise State. That doesn't change my evaluation of Franklin, and it shouldn't change yours either.
Again, I'm not sure what to do with this information. Penn State isn't going to fire Franklin, nor should it. This team will find itself back in the 12-team CFP come December, at least in all likelihood. But until he finally wins one of these games again, I'm done taking the Nittany Lions seriously as a national title contender.
Virginia - Winner
Tony Elliott found himself on a pretty hot seat coming into the year, but it's rapidly cooling off after a 4-1 start headlined by a double-overtime upset win over Florida State on Friday night.
Florida State - Loser
FSU is clearly still a much-improved team from a year ago, but the top-10 ranking was probably a bit too hasty.
Arizona State - Winner
It hasn't been at all pretty and has relied on late field goals in the last two weeks, but the Sun Devils are 2-0 to start Big 12 play after overcoming a 17-point deficit to beat TCU. ASU has responded nicely to the Mississippi State loss.
Syracuse - Loser
The Duke game looked like it could be a letdown spot after upsetting Clemson, and that proved to be the case. The Orange couldn't slow down the Blue Devils, and the offense has clearly lost a step with Rickie Collins replacing Steve Angeli, who was lost for the season against the Tigers.
Louisville - Winner
The Cardinals spotted Pittsburgh 17 quick points in part thanks to a Miller Moss pick-six that led to a ball boy altercation, but they overcame the early three-score deficit to take down the Panthers. Louisville remains a potential ACC contender.
Wake Forest - Loser
I don't fault Jake Dickert in the slightest for going for the win in overtime against a ranked Georgia Tech team, but a failed two-point conversion is an absolutely brutal way to lose a game that Wake led 20-3 in the second half.
Oregon - Winner
In a year in which no one looks absolutely dominant, Oregon may have asserted itself as the current national title favorite after its cross-country road win over No. 2.
Georgia - Loser
The Bulldogs will probably bounce back like they did following last year's Alabama loss, but I think there are valid concerns about both the defense and passing game.
Ohio State - Winner
The Buckeyes silenced the upset talk with a 24-6 road win over Washington, though it was a bit of a sluggish performance from the offense once again.
Auburn - Loser
The Tigers simply couldn't do anything with the football in their hands in a 16-10 loss at Texas A&M. Their only touchdown was set up by an interception that was returned inside the five.
Illinois - Winner
Illinois suffered one of the most embarrassing results for a top-10 team in recent memory a week ago, but it responded nicely with a walk-off field goal to win a thriller against USC.
USC - Loser
The Trojans certainly had their opportunities against Illinois, but the defense remains a bit suspect. At least Jayden Maiava has exceeded expectations so far this season.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman - Loser
Pittman became the fourth power conference coach fired in 2025 after an embarrassing 56-13 loss at home against Notre Dame. Welcome back, Bobby Petrino.
Cincinnati - Winner
The Bearcats may be more of a contender in the Big 12 than anyone is giving them credit for. The offense has taken major strides since its Week 1 performance against Nebraska, and Cincy knocked off Kansas in a high-octane affair on Saturday.
UCLA - Loser
With a 17-14 loss at Northwestern on Saturday, 0-12 is looking like a real possibility for the Bruins and interim coach Tim Skipper.
Utah - Winner
Utah and quarterback Devon Dampier bounced back nicely from a disappointing result against Texas Tech, routing West Virginia 48-14 as Dampier threw four touchdown passes.
Liberty - Loser
The Flames are 1-4 after dropping a game to in-state foe Old Dominion. This is one of the most well-resourced programs in the Group of Five, and there's simply no excuse for how far it has fallen under Jamey Chadwell.
Virginia Tech - Winner
Sometimes all you need is an interim coach. Phillip Montgomery and the Hokies knocked off NC State on Saturday and moved to 2-0 since firing Brent Pry after a 0-3 start.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: College football Week 5 winners, losers include Alabama, Penn State
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There was a lot of anticipation ahead of a slate of high-stakes ranked matchups, and all of those games proved to be as thrilling as advertised.
In the Big Ten headliner, Oregon survived the hostile whiteout crowd in Happy Valley, fending off a Penn State rally to win in double overtime. Meanwhile, in the SEC, Alabama made a major statement on the road in Athens against Georgia while Ole Miss added another signature win to Lane Kiffin's repertoire, outlasting a top-five LSU team.
That just scratches the surface of what felt like the first real put-up or shut-up week of the season. Here are the winners and losers.
Winner: Alabama makes a major statement after Week 1 embarrassment
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After a 31-17 loss to Florida State in Week 1 shocked the college football world, many wrote off not only this year's Alabama team but Kalen DeBoer's tenure in Tuscaloosa as a whole.
This was, clearly, a bit premature — we're all trying to find the guy who did this!
DeBoer's team showed signs of improvement in the weeks since the opening loss, but bludgeonings against UL-Monroe and Wisconsin weren't exactly important barometers. Those improvements manifested in Athens on Saturday night, though.
The Alabama offense has quietly impressed, and it moved the ball effectively against Georgia's typically stout defense. Ty Simpson, who is surging in Heisman odds, has been one of the most effective signal-callers nationally in a year that's been largely defined by disappointing quarterback play.
And while the defense wasn't perfect — Georgia ran for 229 yards as a team — the passing game was held to just 130 yards after Gunner Stockton and Co. were highly explosive in the victory over Tennessee in their last outing.
The loss to FSU hasn't exactly aged phenomenally after Mike Norvell's team lost to Virginia on Friday night, but snapping Georgia's 33-game home winning streak more than makes up for it. This team is clearly still a College Football Playoff contender in Year 2 under DeBoer.
Loser: What is going on with LSU's offense?
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To be fair, the warning signs were there.
The Tigers' offense entered the year with high expectations thanks to the return of quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, a preseason Heisman frontrunner, and the addition of several intriguing skill-position players. The defense was a question mark, but instead, it's been the defense that has impressed while Joe Sloan's offense lags behind.
LSU scored just 17 points in a win over a Clemson team that has proved to be disappointing on both sides of the ball, but particularly defensively. Then, the Tigers scored just 20 points in a win over Florida despite DJ Lagway gift-wrapping five interceptions to the defense.
Ultimately, those inefficiencies caught up with LSU in Oxford on Saturday evening. To put it frankly, Nussmeier isn't playing up to expectations. He threw for 197 yards and just one touchdown in the loss. Nussmeier hasn't had a multi-touchdown game or surpassed the 250-yard mark against an FBS opponent, and he tossed his third interception of the year in this one. It was a costly pick, as well, robbing the Tigers of a key scoring opportunity in a five-point loss.
The run game, which has been a problem outside of Jayden Daniels throughout the entirety of Brian Kelly's tenure, is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry on the season and only managed 59 yards on 21 carries against Ole Miss.
The Tigers can still be one of the best teams in the SEC thanks to their defense, which was stressed in this game but still gave them a chance to win. If they don't start playing some complementary football soon, however, there might be a few more losses on the schedule.
Winner: Lane Kiffin's stunning consistency at Ole Miss
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It was supposed to be Ole Miss' year in 2024.
Lane Kiffin had assembled not just the most talented roster in program history, but one of the most talented in the entire nation. It missed out on a CFP berth thanks to head-scratching losses to Kentucky and Florida, and a drop-off was expected in 2025 as Kiffin had to bring in an entirely new haul of transfers.
Instead, Ole Miss is 5-0 for just the third time since 1978 and finds itself ranked in the top-five after knocking off LSU. It's a testament to Kiffin's increasingly impressive acumen as a program builder.
He's long been viewed as something of a side-show in the sport, but Saturday's win solidified what has been clear for a while: He has become one of the best coaches in the entire country.
It's hard to overstate how unprecedented his accomplishments in Oxford have been. Even though the 2024 campaign proved to be disappointing on the whole, it was still Kiffin's third 10-win season. Ole Miss had just three 10-win seasons total in the 68 years between its claimed national title in 1962 and Kiffin's hiring in 2020.
It also came on the heels of Ole Miss' first 11-win season in program history in 2023.
Kiffin has made it easy to forget that this program has spent most of the modern era as an SEC bottom-feeder, and he has now knocked off a top-five team in back-to-back seasons. He's putting up video game numbers with a Division II transfer at quarterback in Trinidad Chambliss, who replaced an injured Austin Simmons and hasn't looked back, inserting himself into the Heisman race.
Time will tell if Ole Miss can finally get over the CFP hurdle in 2025, but Saturday was another example of the legitimate SEC powerhouse Kiffin has built.
Loser: Call me when it's time to take Penn State seriously
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I've given up on trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with James Franklin's tenure at Penn State.
On one hand, he's well on his way to asserting himself as the greatest coach in program history not named Joe Paterno (if he hasn't already done so). There have been a couple of dips, but the Nittany Lions have practically always been competitive in both the Big Ten and CFP races since Franklin got things rolling.
And yet, here we are.
Once again, Penn State couldn't get the job done, and it's hard to keep finding excuses. This was a whiteout game at home under the lights as the Nittany Lions were lucky enough to finally avoid the Big Noon Saturday curse.
None of that ultimately mattered, and James Franklin moved to a staggering 2-21 against AP top-six opponents during his time in State College. Penn State has lost the last 15 (!) such games, a streak that dates back to Franklin's only Big Ten championship season in 2016.
Even more frustratingly, the loss to the Ducks played out nearly identically to most of Penn State's other recent losses against Big Ten heavyweights. The Nittany Lions played fantastic defense, but Drew Allar and the offense couldn't get anything going — at least, not until the fourth quarter.
Penn State mounted an admirable comeback, erasing a 17-3 deficit in the final frame to force overtime. Even scoring a touchdown to open the first overtime period, the Nittany Lions couldn't get a stop, and after allowing a quick touchdown to begin double overtime, Allar threw another crushing, game-ending interception.
Franklin simply has not proven to be capable of beating the best teams in the country, at least with any regularity. Sure, Penn State reached the College Football Playoff semifinals last season, but it did so by beating SMU and Boise State. That doesn't change my evaluation of Franklin, and it shouldn't change yours either.
Again, I'm not sure what to do with this information. Penn State isn't going to fire Franklin, nor should it. This team will find itself back in the 12-team CFP come December, at least in all likelihood. But until he finally wins one of these games again, I'm done taking the Nittany Lions seriously as a national title contender.
Quick Hitters
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Virginia - Winner
Tony Elliott found himself on a pretty hot seat coming into the year, but it's rapidly cooling off after a 4-1 start headlined by a double-overtime upset win over Florida State on Friday night.
Florida State - Loser
FSU is clearly still a much-improved team from a year ago, but the top-10 ranking was probably a bit too hasty.
Arizona State - Winner
It hasn't been at all pretty and has relied on late field goals in the last two weeks, but the Sun Devils are 2-0 to start Big 12 play after overcoming a 17-point deficit to beat TCU. ASU has responded nicely to the Mississippi State loss.
Syracuse - Loser
The Duke game looked like it could be a letdown spot after upsetting Clemson, and that proved to be the case. The Orange couldn't slow down the Blue Devils, and the offense has clearly lost a step with Rickie Collins replacing Steve Angeli, who was lost for the season against the Tigers.
Louisville - Winner
The Cardinals spotted Pittsburgh 17 quick points in part thanks to a Miller Moss pick-six that led to a ball boy altercation, but they overcame the early three-score deficit to take down the Panthers. Louisville remains a potential ACC contender.
Wake Forest - Loser
I don't fault Jake Dickert in the slightest for going for the win in overtime against a ranked Georgia Tech team, but a failed two-point conversion is an absolutely brutal way to lose a game that Wake led 20-3 in the second half.
Oregon - Winner
In a year in which no one looks absolutely dominant, Oregon may have asserted itself as the current national title favorite after its cross-country road win over No. 2.
Georgia - Loser
The Bulldogs will probably bounce back like they did following last year's Alabama loss, but I think there are valid concerns about both the defense and passing game.
Ohio State - Winner
The Buckeyes silenced the upset talk with a 24-6 road win over Washington, though it was a bit of a sluggish performance from the offense once again.
Auburn - Loser
The Tigers simply couldn't do anything with the football in their hands in a 16-10 loss at Texas A&M. Their only touchdown was set up by an interception that was returned inside the five.
Illinois - Winner
Illinois suffered one of the most embarrassing results for a top-10 team in recent memory a week ago, but it responded nicely with a walk-off field goal to win a thriller against USC.
USC - Loser
The Trojans certainly had their opportunities against Illinois, but the defense remains a bit suspect. At least Jayden Maiava has exceeded expectations so far this season.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman - Loser
Pittman became the fourth power conference coach fired in 2025 after an embarrassing 56-13 loss at home against Notre Dame. Welcome back, Bobby Petrino.
Cincinnati - Winner
The Bearcats may be more of a contender in the Big 12 than anyone is giving them credit for. The offense has taken major strides since its Week 1 performance against Nebraska, and Cincy knocked off Kansas in a high-octane affair on Saturday.
UCLA - Loser
With a 17-14 loss at Northwestern on Saturday, 0-12 is looking like a real possibility for the Bruins and interim coach Tim Skipper.
Utah - Winner
Utah and quarterback Devon Dampier bounced back nicely from a disappointing result against Texas Tech, routing West Virginia 48-14 as Dampier threw four touchdown passes.
Liberty - Loser
The Flames are 1-4 after dropping a game to in-state foe Old Dominion. This is one of the most well-resourced programs in the Group of Five, and there's simply no excuse for how far it has fallen under Jamey Chadwell.
Virginia Tech - Winner
Sometimes all you need is an interim coach. Phillip Montgomery and the Hokies knocked off NC State on Saturday and moved to 2-0 since firing Brent Pry after a 0-3 start.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: College football Week 5 winners, losers include Alabama, Penn State
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