Week 6 of the college football season provided some needed early season clarity. From two top programs falling hard in unexpected fashion, to a new conference title contender emerging in the Big 12, there is plenty to unpack coming out of the week that was.
Here are Sports Illustrated's five takeaways from Week 6 of the college football season.
Penn State and Texas Prove They're Not Among the Nation's Elite
When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
No. 7 Penn State and No. 9 Texas, who were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP Preseason Top 25, respectfully, are not among the nation's elite. They cemented that belief through their two confounding losses on Saturday.
Penn State faced the 134th-ranked scoring offense in the country in UCLA. The Bruins, with an interim head coach and winless program entering Saturday that hadn't led at any point in a game this season, were reinvigorated offensively by the play calling of 33-year-old Jerry Neuheisel, who was promoted to offensive coordinator earlier this week. With two days of preparation under Neuheisel, the son of UCLA legend Rick Neuheisel, the offense exploded to the tune of 435 yards and 42 points in a 42-37 victory.
For Penn State, it snapped a 34-game winning streak against unranked teams. The Nittany Lions also became the first AP top 10 team to lose to a team that's 0-4 or worse since 1985.
Perhaps the Nittany Lions and James Franklin should consider parting ways this winter.
As for Texas, enough is enough. The Longhorns, with their offensive guru head coach in Steve Sarkisian, look totally rudderless on that side of the football. The offensive line is a mess, they can't run the ball at all (when they try), and too much is being put on the plate of first-year starter Arch Manning, whose hype does not appear to match production. He's been ordinary, even bad at times this season.
Saturday's performance for Manning in a 29-21 loss to unranked Florida ended with a 16-for-29 passing line for 263 yards and two touchdowns to go along with two interceptions. The box score seems fine, but anybody who watched the game will acknowledge that the sophomore left a lot of plays on the field. What's more alarming was that Manning was the team's leading rusher with 37 yards. Quintrevion Wisner, the starting running back, amassed just 11 yards on eight carries.
For all of the issues on offense, Texas's defense no-showed against a Florida offense that has been mediocre this season. Florida quarterback DJ Lagway threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns in his best game of the year. The Gators offense outgained Texas 457-341 in the home win.
Texas and Penn State both entered the season with plenty of hype, but head into Week 7 on the outside looking in with regard to the College Football Playoff.
Miami Proves It Is Among the Nation's Elite
As mentioned, when someone shows you who they are, believe them.
Miami is one of the best football teams in the country in 2025, and Saturday's 28-22 rivalry win over No. 18 Florida State showed that the Hurricanes can earn a victory in a variety of different ways.
Through the first four games of the season, Miami won each game by mauling opponents at the line of scrimmage—both offensively and defensively. The defense (despite Florida State's late scoring burst) made life miserable for Seminoles quarterback Tommy Castellanos and Co. on Saturday once again, which has been a theme on that side of the ball this season for the Hurricanes under first-year defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, who should be seriously considered for this year's Broyles Award for top college assistant.
But as impressive as Miami's defense was on Saturday night, it was the offense that came away making a serious statement. The Hurricanes weren't able to consistently win in the trenches in the running game, but protected starting quarterback Carson Beck well. The result was a 20-for-27 outing for 241 yards and four touchdowns for Beck. Star freshman wide receiver Malachi Toney continued to burst onto the scene, nabbing seven passes for 107 yards and two scores in the victory.
The Hurricanes are for real.
Alabama's the Best Team in the SEC, and Ty Simpson's One of the Nation's Best Quarterbacks
Several SEC fan bases will certainly take issue with this (apologies in advance to Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Oklahoma in particular), but Alabama is the best team in the SEC as the curtains close on Week 6 of the season.
The Crimson Tide were the butt of the joke nationally after falling to Florida State in Tallahassee to open the season. But since that blip on the radar, Alabama has now won four straight, including a 30-14 victory over No. 16 Vanderbilt on Saturday. That's two straight ranked SEC wins for the Crimson Tide after beating No. 5 Georgia in Athens last week.
The offense, once again, was firing on all cylinders. Quarterback Ty Simpson has emerged since the opener as one of the best quarterbacks in America. He completed 23 of 31 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns to one interception on Saturday, with several of the throws being completed outside of the pocket. As impressive as the passing game was on Saturday afternoon, the running game was every bit as good. Jam Miller carried the ball 22 times for 136 yards and a touchdown for the game's final score, putting an exclamation point on a 486-yard day for the offense in another impressive win.
Cincinnati Should Be Taken Seriously in a Wide Open Big 12 Title Race
In a wide open Big 12 where cases could be made for several teams as conference championship picks, why not Cincinnati?
The Bearcats hosted No. 14 Iowa State on Saturday afternoon and jumped all over the visiting Cyclones. Cincinnati led 17-0 at the end of the first quarter, and was up 31-7 with one minute to play in the first half. Iowa State did everything they could to claw back into the game, but going 4-for-17 on third down and allowing 474 yards of offense proved to be way too much to overcome.
Cincinnati is now 4-1 and will likely be ranked in the AP poll on Sunday. In a wide-open league featuring Texas Tech, BYU, Arizona State, TCU and Utah as conference title contenders, Cincinnati has entered the fray.
The Bearcats host UCF in Week 7.
The College Football Playoff's Group of Six Selection Will Come From the AAC
A year ago, the College Football Playoff's Group of Six auto-bid went to Boise State out of the Mountain West, thanks to Heisman Trophy finalist Ashton Jeanty's heroics at running back. Any outside chance that the Broncos may have had to return to the Playoff officially died on Saturday in South Bend, where Boise State fell 28-7 to No. 21 Notre Dame for the program's second loss of the season.
This year's auto-bid will come from the American Athletic Conference, which is loaded at the top of the league.
South Florida rolled Charlotte on Friday night to set up a momentous tilt with 5-0 North Texas in Week 7. South Florida's only loss this season is to No. 3 Miami, and the program holds a road win over Florida, who beat No. 9 Texas on Saturday.
Navy is now 5-0 after a historic day for receiver Eli Heidenreich, who caught eight passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns in the program's 34-31 home win over Air Force. The Midshipmen look like conference title contenders once again in 2025.
Last but not least—Memphis. The Tigers captured their sixth win of the season and are off to a 2-0 start in the AAC following a 45-7 win over Tulsa. Memphis avoids South Florida and North Texas on the schedule, but hosts Navy to close out the regular season in what could be a very consequential matchup for the conference title game, which figures to be a play-in for the College Football Playoff.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Week 6 Takeaways: When Someone Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them.
