CFB Wrap-up: Takeaways from Week 6's biggest games

College Football Wrap-Up recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines their significance moving forward.

"Games like this change your life"

You're not seeing things: Vanderbilt is THE story of college football for Week 6. For the first time in the program's 121-year history, the Commodores have posted a victory over a top-five team. They didn't mess around either, jumping all the way up and taking down No. 1 Alabama.

The Commodores followed the blueprint to perfection, keeping the ball for an absurd 42 minutes of game action and riding standout quarterback Diego Pavia to the 40-35 victory. Plenty of people at Vanderbilt deserve credit, but Pavia is undoubtedly the straw that stirs the drink. Clark Lea's program went looking for quarterback help in the transfer portal to fix the woeful offense after losing 10 straight games to finish 2023.

Enter Pavia, the reigning Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year, to give the Commodores a shot of life. He did that, and then some, from the first game of the year, leading Vanderbilt in an upset over Virginia Tech. Pavia nearly did it again two weeks ago in an overtime loss at Missouri. But he wouldn't be denied against the Tide.

Pavia finished with over 300 yards of total offense and two touchdown passes on the night. After entering the game claiming, "Only God knows who will win Saturday," he left it surrounded by adoring fans in the middle of the field while shouting into an ESPN microphone, "Games like this change your life."

About to get real for DeBoer

Let's get this out of the way before we begin: Nick Saban lost to unranked teams on multiple occasions at Alabama. However, one thing Saban didn't do with the program was lose to Vanderbilt - ever. In four meetings with the Commodores, Saban's Tide went 4-0 and outscored their opponent by a whopping 172-13 margin. This is definitely something Kalen DeBoer will hear over and over again in the coming week.

Alabama clearly entered with a Georgia hangover, allowing Vanderbilt to go on back-to-back 75-yard touchdown drives to begin the game. The defensive issues from the second half against the Bulldogs certainly weren't fixed, as the defense couldn't get off the field on third down. The Tide entered as the second-best team in the country in third-down defense, allowing a conversion rate of just over 16%. That ballooned to 66.7% Saturday, with the potent Crimson Tide offense staying on the sidelines.

The shocking loss doesn't eliminate Alabama from the playoff race, especially with the 12-team field this year. However, road trips to Tennessee, LSU, and Oklahoma are still on the schedule. After Saturday's performance, it's hard to see the Tide getting through that unscathed.

Arkansas defense rises to join upset party

Someone fire up the Oprah clip - "You get an SEC upset, you get an SEC upset, you get an SEC upset!" Arkansas capped the SEC night slate by joining Vanderbilt with a herculean win over a top-five team, snuffing out the high-powered Tennessee offense and beating the No. 4 Volunteers 19-14.

The mismatch entering the day was the Volunteers' second-ranked scoring offense against a Razorbacks defensive unit that sat 66th nationally. Arkansas quickly reminded why games aren't played on paper, holding Tennessee to 332 yards on the night - well below its season average of 515. The sack problem that's plagued the Razorbacks all season disappeared, with the line getting home four times on Nico Iamaleava.

According to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, Tennessee's upset loss means Saturday marks the first time since Sept. 29, 2007, that four teams ranked No. 11 or better lost to unranked programs.

Like Alabama earlier in the day, the loss doesn't crush the Volunteers' playoff hopes, but it does make the road significantly different. Notably, the trip to visit the Crimson Tide on Oct. 19 is a game that now takes on a much bigger importance in the playoff picture.

Elko upgrade showing off

Then-athletic director Ross Bjork offered a fairly simple explanation following Texas A&M's seismic Jimbo Fisher firing in 2023, harkening back to his conversation with school president Mark A. Welsh.

"The assessment that I delivered was that we are not reaching our full potential," Bjork said, according to Dave Wilson of ESPN. "We are not in the championship conversation, and something was not quite right about our direction and the plan."

How does a monster 41-10 home blowout of No. 9 Missouri look for reaching full potential? Does a 5-1 record with the SEC's third-easiest remaining schedule do anything to your championship conversation? The Texas A&M squad we saw Saturday should absolutely be firmly in the playoff scenario.

Fisher is a national champion with a 128-48 overall head coaching record. Yet, just six games into his career, it's fairly obvious that Mike Elko is a huge upgrade for the program. Fisher thrived in talent acquisition but struggled mightily in game-day coaching. Elko has passed the early test in both - keeping Le'Veon Moss and plenty of the Aggies' top talents in College Station while adding a massive name in defensive end Nick Scourton in the transfer portal.

Those two balled out for Elko on Saturday, with Moss posting a career-high 138 yards and three scores on the ground and Scourton piling up 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.

The Aggies don't play Alabama, Tennessee, or Georgia in conference play the rest of the way, making them an attractive pick to storm into the SEC title game and possibly the playoff.

Ohio State-Iowa went exactly as expected

Ohio State played a "tough" conference opponent, and as the No. 3 team in the country, there must be a takeaway from the contest. But there's no need to get complicated; it's exactly what you think: The Buckeyes are a dominant team, and Iowa doesn't need to be taken seriously when playing elite competition.

Despite holding just a 7-0 lead at the half, Ohio State was never in trouble against the Hawkeyes thanks to the woeful offense that they field year after year. The Buckeyes swarmed an overmatched line for four sacks and nine tackles for loss while forcing two fumbles and an interception.

Ohio State now heads to the most challenging date on its schedule - a 2,400-mile road trip to the Pacific Northwest to face undefeated No. 6 Oregon. Should they repeat Saturday's performance, the Buckeyes could make a case for the most impressive road win of the season in college football.

Missouri snaps back to reality

If you took away the numbers on the scoreboard and told someone that a top-10 team was playing in the Missouri-Texas A&M contest, no one would've picked the Tigers. Missouri looked the furthest thing from being the ninth-best program in the country, getting blown off the field from the opening kick through the final whistle. While the 31-point loss is certainly jarring, even the most passionate Tigers fans would probably admit the No. 9 ranking was a little bloated.

Missouri opened the season with four straight home games, including the opening contests against FCS Murray State and Buffalo from the MAC. Power 5 competition came to Columbia for Games 3 and 4, with Boston College and Vanderbilt putting serious scares into the home team. Texas A&M's dominance on both lines was the biggest difference in Saturday's contest against the Tigers. The Aggies piled up six sacks and eight tackles for loss while holding Missouri to just over 4 yards per play.

UMass next week is a comfortable landing spot for Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers. But three straight games against the standout defensive lines of Alabama, Oklahoma, and South Carolina could end any shot Missouri has at playoff consideration.

Tough road for USC

Take a victory lap if you claimed USC would struggle with the immense travel associated with the move to the Big Ten. The Trojans fell on the road as touchdown favorites at Minnesota after an earlier loss this season as 4.5-point favorites at Michigan. The travel is clearly affecting the Trojans.

The Minnesota trip was just over 1,900 miles long, and the Michigan journey stretched to 2,244 miles. Last year's 1,031-mile trip to Colorado was the longest for the Trojans against an in-conference opponent. However, USC isn't the only Big Ten newcomer to have issues, as both UCLA and Washington have suffered losses on big road trips.

The Trojans had their chances Saturday, but the fourth quarter wasn't kind to the improved defense. The Golden Gophers' 92nd-ranked offense took the ball on drives of 65 and 75 yards, scoring touchdowns to tie the game and take the lead.

The good news for USC is only one road trip east remains on the schedule for 2024. The bad news is that its two losses will likely take it out of Big Ten title contention.

Cignetti called his shot

Curt Cignetti announced his arrival as Indiana's head coach with one of the most epic lines ever said at an introductory press conference.

Turns out, Cignetti wasn't inflating things in the slightest. The first-year coach remains perfect in his Indiana tenure, with the Hoosiers becoming the first team to clinch bowl eligibility thanks to Saturday's win at Northwestern. While that might not be an impressive achievement at many schools, Indiana hasn't gone bowling since the 2020 campaign.

The Hoosiers offense remains a runaway smash hit, as the unit topped 40 points for a fifth straight game, including all three Big Ten contests. It's becoming clear that Indiana might be a major player in the conference with a massive stretch ahead in November. It faces Michigan on Nov. 9 before hitting the bye and traveling to Ohio State. Don't be shocked if those contests go a long way toward deciding the teams competing in the conference title game.

Pitt blowing away expectations

Oddsmakers put Pitt's win total for the season at 5.5 - a number the Panthers can shockingly pass next week with more than half their schedule remaining. A road win over North Carolina on Saturday puts Pitt at a perfect 5-0 for the first time since 1991.

Plenty have played a large role in the hot start, but Alabama transfer Eli Holstein is probably the most notable. The quarterback piled up over 450 total yards with four touchdowns in the victory over the Tar Heels. The result makes Holstein the first Pitt signal-caller to win his first five career starts since some guy named Dan Marino in 1979.

Holstein's strong play would be a benefit in any season. However, given Pitt's struggles at the position last campaign, he's arguably the best addition any Power conference team has made this year. His 1,564 yards passing this season is already nearly 400 more than the Panthers' leading passer compiled over the entire 2023 campaign.