It was another great Saturday, with Week 5 of college football bringing arguably the most exciting day of games yet. The day kicked off with a top 25 matchup between USC and Illinois, and finished with an overtime thriller between Oregon and Penn State as well as a competitive Georgia versus Alabama game. All of these games were extremely fun to watch and I will recap each one below.
USC at Illinois
This game was a tight one touchdown game through all four quarters. The Trojans started off the game with what appeared to be a strong drive after a couple nice completions from quarterback Jayden Maiava, but that progress was halted after a fumble from running back Waymond Jordan.
The Illini would then take over possession and cap off a strong drive with a nice quarterback run from Luke Altmeyer. Despite the defeating first drive, Jordan was able to redeem himself on the next drive, finishing it off with a 1-yard touchdown run.
On their next drive the Illini would completely embarrass the Trojans with an iconic Philly special touchdown which Altmeyer caught.
The Trojans hit the Iliini with a little taste of their own medicine though, as on their next drive they ran a trick play which resulted in a long touchdown pass to Makai Lemon, that would be called back due to a penalty.
The Fighting Illini would take the lead 14-10 going into the second half which would be even more eventful. After a back-and-forth two quarters, USC had the ball with 2 minutes left and down six. They put together a stellar drive in which Makai Lemon scored another touchdown.
Although this gave USC the lead, there was just too much time on the clock and Illinois won the game 34-32 with a game winning field goal.
Oregon at Penn State
The Ducks went into Beaver Stadium and beat the Nittany Lions in overtime, spoiling their white-out game. Penn State hadn’t lost a white-out game since 2018 and the atmosphere this year was no different than any other with a sold out stadium.
Although the game ended in an entertaining fashion, the first half was a defensive battle with the halftime score being 3-3.
Oregon came out firing in the second half though, with a 17-3 lead with 12 minutes left in the fourth it didn’t look like Penn State had any fight left in them. Despite the deficit, quarterback Drew Allar was able to move his guys down the field with the help of two defensive stops and tied the game at 17, forcing overtime.
Both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime, and the second overtime began with a one play score for the Ducks.
After that Penn State had to answer, but Allar’s throw was picked off by Purdue transfer Dylan Thienman to secure the win for the ducks. It was a great game and an exciting finish.
Alabama at Georgia
The Tide suffered a loss to Florida State in their first game of the season, quarterback Ty Simpson has looked great and he was able to do enough to help his team pick up a huge ranked win.
The tide started the game by getting a stop and finished off their first drive with a Germie Bernard touchdown. Alabama would continue this offensive efficiency with a touchdown from redshirt junior receiver Isaiah Horton on their next drive making the score 14-0.
The Dawgs weren’t quiet forever though, as they got on the board with a 38 yard receiving touchdown from senior wide receiver Colbie Young. Georgia then cut the lead to three after a rushing touchdown from freshman running back Chauncey Bowens, making the score 17-14.
Bama made the score 24-14 going into halftime after a Simpson rushing touchdown, killing all of the Georgia momentum. The game wouldn’t swing much in the second half as Alabama hung on to win 24-21, which capped off a great day of college football.
All of these games were one touchdown deficits with most coming down to game winning plays. After these close games, it’s apparent that college football is heating up.