NCAA College Football 2012 - Week Five Review

Though there were not as many marquee match-ups as last week, this was a wild and exciting weekend of College Football, as we, somewhat unbelievably, near the halfway-mark of the 2012 season. I guess we'll forever remember this one at Shootout Saturday 2012, thanks to the offensive fireworks that seemed to spread across all conferences and all corners of the United States.

Apparently this was the week of shoot-outs. It was also the week that the nation - well, a large part of it, anyway - who hadn't yet been exposed to the talent of West Virginia's QB Geno Smith got a first-hand lesson on exactly why the Mountaineer is the current favourite for the Heisman Trophy. In the barn-burning 70-63 win vs. Baylor, Smith was an incredible 45-51 for 656 yards and 8 TDs. He took just the one sack (a loss of three yards) threw zero interceptions and had a completion percentage of 88.2 to go with a QB Rating of 248.0. It's been a long time since I've seen a quarterback throw such a consistently beautiful deep ball. This was a heck of a performance. WVU, if they play every week like they did on Saturday, are a serious Big XII contender.

The guy on the other side of that game, Baylor's QB Nick Florence, wasn't half bad, either. It seems a shame that there had to be a loser in what was a tremendous duel of quarterback-led offense - neither defense ever got a foothold in this wild contest - and Florence's stat line isn't usually that of a loser. I mean, if you go 29-47 for 581 yards and 5 TDs (there was one INT and three sacks) for a QB Rating of 196.4, usually, you've won the game. Not so for Florence. Still, he can hold his head high. It was a great performance by the guy who has the unenviable job of replacing reigning Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III under centre at Baylor.

Down in SEC country, in a league that prides itself on playing NFL-like defense, Georgia and Tennessee got themselves into a shootout, too. Okay, it wasn't quite Baylor vs. West Virginia, but the 51-44 win by the 'Dawgs in Athens. Georgia showed that they might be SEC contenders in 2012. QB Aaron Murray was pretty good - 2 TDs, only 6 incompletions and a QB Rating of 187.0 - but it was RB Todd Gurley who really lit up the Vols defense, carrying the rock a whopping 24 times for 130 yards and 3 TDs. Good luck stopping that kid.

In Stillwater, Oklahoma, Texas showed that they might be the real deal, outlasting Oklahoma State 41-36 in another wild, exciting Big XII contest, thanks in large part to their oft-maligned QB David Ash. The signal caller really came of age in this game, pulling out a huge road win for the Longhorns after a year or two of mediocrity in the Big XII after a National Championship run in 2009-10. Ash came up with all the big plays when he needed to, and led the 'Horns on a late drive, setting up the game-winning TD - a RB Joe Bergeron 2-yard run - with 0:36 seconds to play. Now Texas are 4-0 and once again look like one of the nation's most perennially successful programs. A lot of that is thanks to Ash.

Defense won the day for Urban Meyer's Ohio State Buckeyes in East Lansing against Michigan State. A year after being completely embarrassed offensively in Columbus by a swarming Sparty defense, the Buckeyes won on Meyer's first ever Big Ten game, and the national spotlight of duel-threat QB Braxton Miller, who has really blossomed in the offense that Meyer has brought to Columbus, and a stout defense, shows a team that, despite not being eligible for post-season play or the Big Ten Championship, is as good a football team as there is in that conference.

Week Five's big upset came early, on Thursday night at CenturyLink Field in Seattle - the scene of some serious football upheaval in recent days - where Steve Sarkisian's Washington Huskies pulled off a wonderful victory against Stanford, coming from eight points down to send the home crowd into raptures. The Cardinal came in ranked No. 8 in the country, and left on the wrong side of a 17-13 scoreboard. Defense was the difference in this one. The Huskies played amazingly on that side of the football and, when it mattered most, the offense managed to eek out enough big plays to win the game. This could well be a statement win for the Huskies, who looked horrible the last time they were on the national stage: a beat-down at the hands of LSU a couple Saturday nights ago.

Not that it's exactly BREAKING NEWS, but Texas A&M's QB Johnny Manziel has the potential to be something really special. He delivered big-time on that promise on Saturday against the suddenly-hapless Arkansas Razorbacks. The Aggies pounded the Hogs 58-10 and Manziel managed to go 29-38 for 453 yards and 3 TDs through the air, and he added 104 yards and a TD on 14 carries to be the best ground threat for the Aggies, too. They call the freshman signal-caller "Johnny Football" down there in Texas. I have a feeling the entire nation is going to find out well. If he progresses like USC's Matt Barkley did over a four-year starting career...watch out!

If there's a more improved team in Division One, and, specifically, offensively, than the Oregon State Beavers, I'd love to know who it is. After being absolutely dismal last year, losing to FCS opponents and being blown out by FBS foes, the Beavers are back, showing great signs of life. Following a 38-35 win - yeah, another shootout - against Arizona, QB Sean Mannion was named the Pac-12's Offensive Player of the Week, and the Beavers are ranked at No. 18. A very well deserved honour. Mannion threw for a career-high 433 yards with 3 TDs to spearhead a win in a game that ebbed and flowed all night. In the end, it was an important victory for the Beavers. Coach Mike Riley has really turned this team around, and Mannion in particular. If he's not in line for Coach of the Year at the moment, something's wrong. This is the rebuilding story of 2012.

Kitch's Beast of the Week: there are plenty of candidates, but I couldn't go past West Virginia's Geno Smith, perhaps the best QB currently tossing the football in FCS competition, and certainly the Heisman Trophy frontrunner/favourite. In a wild game, all offense and no defense, he was the difference. Let's revisit Smith's day in Morgantown: 45-51 for 656 yards and 8 TDs. One sack, zero interceptions and a completion percentage of 88.2 to go with a QB Rating of 248.0. Wow!