CFB Week 5 Takeaways: New Coach, Same Story for Title Contender Alabama and More

The most ordinary sentence in the last 15-plus years of college football is that Alabama won a big game.

Nick Saban created a powerhouse in Tuscaloosa, winning six national championships with the Crimson Tide and taking them to the College Football Playoff nearly every year for a decade.

Upon his retirement this offseason, Saban left Kalen DeBoer with a title contender.

But that potential hinged on games like Saturday's showdown.

On a weekend that included two Top 10 teams falling to unranked opponents, the Tide earned the best win of the young season.

Knocking off Georgia has given them a familiar outlook in 2024, too.

That result, as you can imagine, headlines the takeaways from the latest week in college football.

We could easily spill a few hundred words over Miami's fortunate win against Virginia Tech.

No matter your opinion on that officially-ruled-incomplete Hail Mary, the result meant Miami stayed atop the ACC race.

Clemson, however, is charging hard for that "favorite" label.

Since the embarrassing 34-3 loss to Georgia in Week 1, the Tigers have rolled over Appalachian State and ACC opponents North Carolina State and Stanford.

Dual-threat quarterback Cade Klubnik has totaled 16 touchdowns in this stretch, while the (first-string) defense has excelled.

The hot streak is likely to continue, too.

This weekend, Clemson plays a reeling Florida State program.

Miami remains the ACC's highest-ranked team, but a sloppy game at Cal in Week 6 would be highly concerning for the 'Canes.

Their perception may steadily dip in comparison to a sizzling Clemson squad.

In all likelihood, the Big Ten will send multiple teams to the College Football Playoff, and Ohio State and Oregon entered the season as the most respected teams in the conference.

Penn State hasn't been overlooked in that discussion, though, and the Nittany Lions are off to a quality start.

Saturday night, they handed No.

19 Illinois its first loss of the season in a typical, defense-led performance.

The unit ceded only 219 yards and forced two late takeaways that sealed the 21-7 triumph.

As a result, the Nittany Lions will enter their toughest part of the season with an unbeaten record, as expected.

After hosting UCLA this weekend, they'll head to USC and Wisconsin before returning home against Ohio State.

It wouldn't be surprising if Penn State drops at least one game in that stretch, so James Franklin and Co.

could not afford an early misstep.

Thanks to that lockdown defense, the Nittany Lions never seemed in danger of a season-altering loss.

We are in uncharted territory.

Until this season, Army and Navy had never shared a conference.

They've played annually in the iconic rivalry game, but both programs have traditionally been independent.

Navy joined the American in 2015, while Army is making its league debut in 2024.

That's simply context to the larger story: The service academies are real contenders this season.

Army cruised past Temple, and Navy followed its upset of Memphis with a thrashing of UAB.

The victories sent the programs to matching records of 3-0 in the AAC and 4-0 overall.

Given the remaining schedules, it's legitimately possible Army or Navy will be playing for an AAC crown in December.

Or, hey, maybe both of them will be.

That would put quite a unique twist on the season-ending matchup that happens one week after conference championships, huh? As exciting as that AAC race may become, the Group of Five league in best position to swipe that coveted CFP berth is the Mountain West.

Throw in the "for now" qualifier, of course, but the MWC exits September looking very strong.

Boise State is 3-1 with the setback being a competitive road loss to Oregon.

Running back Ashton Jeanty, who is commanding a place as a Heisman Trophy contender, just ripped Washington State for 259 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-24 win.

UNLVafter a chaotic week because of conference realignment and the Matthew Sluka sagaresponded to the drama with an emphatic 59-14 rout of Fresno State to hit 4-0.

In the latest AP poll, Boise State checked in a G5-best 21st as UNLV entered the ranking at 25th.

The G5's road to the CFP runs through the Mountain West.

The beautiful part of college football is, save for an elite program or two, it's just never simple.

Unfortunately for Ole Miss and Utah, they're on the wrong side of the entertainment.

Both entered Week 5 with a top-10 ranking, and both fell to unranked teams on Saturday.

Ole Miss had crushed four overmatched foes but could not handle Kentucky's stout defense.

While gaining a modest 353 yardsa sharp decline from its average of 670.8 yardsthe offense went 1-of-10 on third-down attempts in a 20-17 setback.

Utah, meanwhile, played without quarterback Cam Rising (finger) yet again.

His absence finally caught up to the Utes, who struggled to finish drives in a 23-10 loss to Arizona.

Heading into Week 5, plenty of bowl projections mine included had both schools in the predicted 12-team CFP field.

Moving ahead, it's reasonable to not have either one.

Those losses for Ole Miss and Utah must be someone else's gain, and Notre Dame seems like a prime beneficiary.

Although the stunning upset at the hands of Northern Illinois stung the Fighting Irish, it didn't ruin the season.

Yes, that result made me (and probably you) concerned about their upside.

But if the Irish could bounce back quickly, they'd stick in the CFP picture.

And they've done exactly that.

Following wins against Purdue and Miami (Ohio) in recent weeks, Notre Dame picked up a resume-boosting triumph over No.

15 Louisville on Saturday.

Riley Leonard totaled three touchdowns in the 31-24 result.

The Irish, which are idle in Week 6, are now 4-1 with a pair of ranked victories.

They are still a CFP threat.

Just don't believe your own hype again , ND.

How would Alabama fare without Nick Saban? The college football world debated that question all offseason.

Short answer? The Crimson Tide are fine.

Alabama nearly squandered a 23-point lead against Georgia but snatched a 41-34 win thanks to Jalen Milroe and freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams' late heroics on a 75-yard touchdown.

While one result in September doesn't lock up a CFP trip, I'd forgive you for thinking that way.

Georgia isn't the best team in the country this season, but the Dawgs are behind, what, Alabama, Ohio State and Texas? Whatever the list is, it's not an expansive one.

I'm not crowning Alabama as a lock to finish unbeaten; the three-game stretch at Tennessee, home to Missouri and at LSU is gnarly.

Simultaneously, it's tough to envision the Tide finishing the regular season any worse than 10-2 with an outstanding win on the resume.

What's new, right?.

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