College Football Takedown!!! Week 5 Wonders

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The 5th week is officially over. Some teams rose to the occasion. Others fell back down to earth. Who made an impression on the Dudes and Sports guys? Look no further than your week 5 takeaways!!!!

How6rd’s Takeaways

The most impactful non-QB in the country’s name is Luther Burden: The Mizzou Tigers have had a better start to the season than at least 90% of us could’ve expected as they play their biggest game of the season up to this point next week against LSU. Sure their quarterback Brady Cook has thrown 11 touchdowns without an interception with 300+ passing yards in each of his last three games, but the main facilitator for those stats is his number one option in second-year receiver Luther Burden. Burden is less than 100 yards shy of being responsible for half of Cook’s passing yards at 644 having 15 yards per catch, and has just about half of the QB’s touchdowns as well at 5 TD catches. He has made some really good catches throughout the season, but what Burden does the best comes after he makes a catch as his agility and movement with the ball in his hands makes it nearly impossible for an average college defender to catch him in open field. The big matchup this weekend will consist of the first and second-best receivers in the country when it comes to receiving yards as Luther Burden and LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers alone could make this the game of the week.

Byrum Brown is the best QB you haven’t heard about in 2023: The University of South Florida has been through some dark days since Quinton Flowers was going toe-to-toe with UCF under the bright lights, but they may have found the guy to get them back to a competitive level in the AAC and his name is Byrum Brown. The redshirt freshman ranks 13th in the country for total offense and the only game where he wasn’t able to get any rhythm was against Alabama. This past weekend against Navy impressed me the most as he was trapped inside the pocket all game yet made gold from it with his most efficient passing game of the season for 338 yards and 3 touchdowns with a poor offensive line unit in front of him. Even with the poor rushing performance having -27 rushing yards thanks to the handful of sacks he suffered he still leads the country in QB rushing yards with 352 and even ranks 25th nationally amongst ALL players. The kid is an absolute animal being responsible for 14 total touchdowns for his team, and if you have any interest in seeing what he’s really all about Brown will be playing against UAB on ESPN2 at 3 PM looking to continue his streak of electric performances waking the rest of the country up sooner than later.

Oklahoma’s first big test is their biggest regular season game in 2023: The Oklahoma Sooners have faced their first five opponents this season with no fear as the closest game occurred in a 20-6 win against Cincinnati who never really made a threat in taking over the game. They’ve done just about as good as you can do otherwise, destroying their non-conference opponents outside of the Power 5 and soundly beating an Iowa State team who lost 10-7 to Ohio (not Ohio State) a few weeks back. The defense has been on their game and Dillon Gabriel has shined in every opponent up to this point now with the focus going to the Red River Showdown facing arguably the best team in the country in Texas. The experienced college veteran in Dillon Gabriel has statistically looked like one of the best in the country this year and the defense has stepped it up in a very large way from last season. Where the issue lies for them is that Texas probably has taken an even bigger leap on both sides of the ball and the offensive/defensive lines are loaded with size and strength. The Longhorns not only have home-field advantage but have had a very tough path to get to this game compared to the Sooners and this game will be a true showing to see what we all can expect from both teams’ final season in the Big 12.

PC’S Takeaways

Texas is a National Championship Contender- Yes we all know that I’m a huge Kansas guy and I was rooting for the Jayhawks to get the upset win. However, that didn’t happen. The Texas Longhorns STOMPED all over my dreams of Kansas being a National Championship contender. The Longhorns QB, Quinn Ewers, demonstrated the strangle hold he has on his opposing defenses. Not only did the offense show up, but their defense played just as well. Now obviously, Kansas didn’t have their starting Quarterback so Jason Bean had to take over. Let’s just say Jason Bean is no Jalon Daniels. The Texas defense took a major advantage of Bean not being as mobile as Daniels. They loaded the box and stopped the versatile running duo of the Jayhawks. The Longhorns have now answered every test put in front of them in elite fashion. Let’s see if the Longhorns continue to be legit as the take on the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry this upcoming weekend.

Oregon State???- I am beyond impressed with this Beavers team. They may have took a beating from WAZU last week, but they rebounded nicely with a 21-7 victory over Utah. DJ Uiagalelei looks like a future NFL QB. He looked brilliant as he diced up the Utah defense. He made one crucial throwing error that resulted in a pick but, he looked great for the rest of the game. Their rushing attack also looked good. Damien Martinez rushed for a touchdown and seemed to have his way against the Utah defense. Since DJ transferred from Clemson, he’s looked a lot more comfortable. The Pac-12 is loaded with talent this year, and Oregon State continues to prove they are near the top end of the conference.