College football is unpredictable and delightful, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. And Week 6 absolutely delivered, from a stunning result in Eugene to the upset in the Red River Rivalry game and everything in between.

Each Sunday, I’ll publish my biggest takeaways from the college football weekend. I’ll highlight the most interesting storylines, track College Football Playoff contenders and specifically shout out individual and team performances that deserve the spotlight.

1. We can stop talking about Kirby Smart’s “Alabama problem.”

Smart has now beaten Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide twice in a row. He won Saturday’s game in Tuscaloosa. He’d already beaten Nick Saban to win a national title! We don’t have to manufacture stakes or weaknesses in this matchup moving forward, even when it pits two of college football’s best and bluest brands against each other. Kirby is arguably the game’s greatest coach right now, and we don’t need to manufacture obstacles for him.

2. Texas was never actually the best team in the country.

The Longhorns were ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the last few weeks, and we all understood why. The win over Ohio State was enough to boost Texas to the top spot, even though the Longhorns weren’t passing the eye test. It was the whole “best” vs. “most deserving” debate, and my fellow poll voters and I were happy to reward the best win in the country. But, as I’ve written a few times now, the Texas offense left a lot to be desired.

A lot of that falls on Arch Manning — and he did throw two picks in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma — but Steve Sarkisian deserves a good portion of the blame, too. Texas has the highest three-and-out rate in the SEC (and is tied for second nationally), which speaks to the inconsistency of the Longhorns’ offense. And how it just goes completely cold for stretches of time. Unless the Texas offense reaches a new level, this team isn’t going to win CFP games. It might not even reach the Playoff with this as its limiting factor.

3. UCLA is a serious football team — and, potentially, a serious CFP contender.

Coming into the season on the heels of Curt Cignetti’s national title at Indiana, everyone wanted to know: Who would be the next Indiana? The next great college football turnaround. The next great American sports story.

It feels like a cop-out now to say it’s UCLA. Like, of course it’s another former James Madison coach rapidly turning around a Big Ten bottom-feeder. But … of course it’s another JMU coach doing this! Like Cignetti, Chesney came to JMU with a history of success at various lower levels of college football. Like Cignetti, he’d repeatedly won with less. He knew how to identify and develop talent. He knew how to build a winning culture. And he brought a couple of key players (like Wayne Knight) and most of his staff with him to Westwood. Chesney even brought his dad — his secret weapon — to help instill the culture and ensure good vibes. And, yes, the vibes are fabulous, especially after a monster win at Oregon that proved that UCLA is more than just a great story.

This is a great, creative offense that can hang with — or beat — teams with far more talent than the Bruins have. And they might be favored in all of their remaining games, which sets up another parallel to those damn Indiana Hoosiers. By performing well against a manageable schedule, Indiana made the CFP in 2024. It wasn’t a true title contender that year, but it deserved to make the 12-team field. Maybe that’s where UCLA ends its first season under Bob Chesney, too.

4. Oregon is not going to make the College Football Playoff.

It’s not even Halloween, and the Ducks have two losses — to teams with rosters nowhere near their talent level. It’s already a massively disappointing season for Dan Lanning and his veteran players who decided to return to chase a national championship. Even before Dante Moore’s injury, this team showed it had significant flaws on both sides of the ball. And the same backup quarterback who saved the day against USC got benched against UCLA after he, personally, turned the ball over three times. I’ll be curious to see a full postmortem on this year’s Oregon team when all is said and done, because I think there are several causes of CFP death. But you can’t underestimate the impact of losing both coordinators last offseason.

5. Will Stein is CFB Twitter IRL, and it’s winning Kentucky games.

He’s all of us who yell (online or on our couches): Go for two and the win! And it’s paid off in back-to-back weeks as the Wildcats beat South Carolina and LSU in overtime by identical scores. In both games, Kentucky had the ball second in the first overtime and used its best two-point play to go for the win. This is exactly what I would do if I were a head coach, because you have to go for two after a touchdown in the second overtime anyway. Better to use your best two-pointer for the win and not for a tie!

6. Nebraska remains cursed.

The Huskers have now lost 31 consecutive games in a row to AP-ranked opponents. They had fourth-quarter leads in seven of those matchups — including a double-digit lead on No. 7 Indiana on Saturday — before losing. Nebraska hasn’t beaten a ranked team in a full decade! And in the past 10 seasons, the Huskers are 16-41 in one-score games. There are painful losses, and then there’s whatever keeps happening to Nebraska.

7. It’s time to talk to your kids about Iowa potentially making the College Football Playoff.

Back in 2015, my friends at The Solid Verbal podcast noticed that the Iowa Hawkeyes had started 6-0. They then noticed that the rest of schedule looked fairly manageable as well. So, they bought a website domain to give advice about “how to talk to your kids about undefeated Iowa.” It was a bit — but based in reality and filled with love.

It’s time for a refresh. We’ve got to teach college football fans how to talk their kids about potential CFP-bound Iowa. Thankfully, the domain is still alive and well.

Everyone can relax, I renewed this last night after the first quarter pic.twitter.com/DLDqtQVgE0

— Ty Hildenbrandt (@tyhildenbrandt) October 10, 2026

But it’s definitely A Thing We Should Monitor. Look at the Hawkeyes’ remaining schedule. There are zero teams that are currently ranked. It’s time to open your hearts and minds to this possibility.

8. The Florida lovefest was a bit premature.

The Gators have certainly not arrived just yet. I still love Jon Sumrall and think he’ll get Florida moving in the right direction. But Year 1 has certainly hit a snag, with a blowout loss to South Carolina (and hot-seat head coach Shane Beamer) on the heels of the tough loss to Missouri. Florida was a nice September story, but the Gators are not going to factor into the CFP picture or anything like that this season.

9. The Heisman Trophy is Jeremiah Smith’s to lose.

He’s the best player in college football, and I’m not sure it’s close. Through six games, Smith is pacing well ahead of the last two wide receivers that took home college football’s most prestigious individual award.

At this point in their Heisman-winning seasons:

- DeVonta Smith: 56 receptions for 759 yards and eight touchdowns

- Travis Hunter: 49 receptions for 587 yards and six touchdowns.

To compare, Smith is up to 916 yards (on 48 catches) and 11 touchdowns. Now, there are some big-name quarterbacks who will have a say in the Heisman race when all is said and done. But it’s possible that Smith is simply inevitable — and that he’ll stave off all challengers, much he like holds off any and all defenders.

10. We all read way too much into LSU’s win over Clemson in Week 1.

LSU got way too much credit for a blowout win over a mediocre team, which then led to Ole Miss getting way too much credit for beating LSU, and Florida getting way too much credit for beating Ole Miss. I blame Clemson for the SEC’s game of musical chairs.

Source: Yahoo Sports