On a Saturday where the clash between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs stole the show, here are five (well, a little more than five) insights from an exciting Week 5 in college football.

1. The Kentucky Wildcats confirm the strength of their defense in disrupting the path of the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels

Kentucky’s 2024 offense remains a work in progress (to say the least), but after Saturday’s upset of No. 6 Ole Miss — Big Blue’s first win in Oxford, Miss., since 1978 — there is very little disagreement about it the Wildcats defense. .

They are elitist.

Kentucky recorded four sacks, seven tackles for loss and held a high-powered Ole Miss offense to just 3.2 yards per rush on 29 attempts and a 1-for-10 mark on third down.

Sure, the Rebels still gained the passing yards, mainly in the form of the Jaxson Dart-Tre Harris connection that led to 11 completions for 176 yards and a touchdown. But everything else for Ole Miss was complicated all game by Kentucky’s constant defensive pressure.

The Wildcats showed their teeth defensively in a close home game against then-No. 1 Georgia earlier this month, but cemented their performance Saturday with another lights-out effort.

Kentucky is now 3-2 and 1-2 in SEC play. It’s not a conference title contender, but could certainly be a spoiler for SEC contenders in the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers and No. 1 Texas Longhorns still scheduled for this fall.

2. The controversial Friday night ending with the No. 7 Miami Hurricanes’ victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies underlines the growing problem in college football

No. 7 Miami found itself in a dogfight with ACC preseason darling Virginia Tech – a Hokies bunch that fell out of favor after dropping their opener on the road to the Vanderbilt Commodores and followed up three weeks later with a home loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry had some game management decisions that he would certainly like to have back. These decisions included a prematurely called timeout prior to a 57-yard field goal before halftime, giving Miami enough time to drive down the field and kick a field goal with 25 seconds left. The Hokies also attempted a field fake in the third quarter after a Cam Ward interception that would have given them a 13-point lead.

But in the end, it all came down to an offensive final drive for the Hokies. Trailing 38-34 with three seconds left, Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones hit a pass into the back left corner of the end zone. The ball was juggled by a large number of players before it turned out that Virginia Tech wide receiver Da’Quan Felton came up with the football. What was unclear was whether or not he gained sole possession before a Miami defender yanked it loose in the scramble for the ball.

The officials concluded it was a Virginia Tech touchdown, which should have given the Hokies one of their biggest road upsets in years. However, after a replay review that lasted more than five minutes, the conference’s officiating command center determined that Felton never gained possession of the ball.

There didn’t seem to be any conclusive evidence that the on-field call should have been overturned, but it was anyway, giving Miami a narrow victory.

Virginia Tech made plenty of mistakes that cost it a win, but the kick in the teeth from ACC officials underscored the growing sentiment in college football that the sport has a problem.

3. The Auburn Tigers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and once again a turnover was the culprit

A week removed from turning the ball over five times in a 24-14 home loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks, Auburn again had turnover problems at its worst in a 27-21 home loss to the No. 21 Oklahoma Sooners.

With the Tigers leading 21–16 with just over four minutes to play, Auburn starting quarterback Payton Thorne felt pressure from his right side and threw an inexplicable pass over right center into the arms of Oklahoma linebacker Kip Lewis. The redshirt sophomore returned the interception 61 yards for the touchdown in the game’s deciding score.

Auburn’s Hugh Freeze needs to right the ship, and quickly, or things could quickly go sideways heading into Year 3 if the Tigers continue to let wins slip away due to self-inflicted mistakes.

4. The Colorado Buffaloes win again as Travis Hunter continues to make his Heisman Trophy case

Colorado’s dominant 48-21 road victory Saturday at the UCF Knights was not only the biggest victory of the Deion Sanders era in Boulder, Colorado, but also another step toward legitimizing Travis’ Heisman cause Hunter.

Hunter is arguably the best player in college football. He is more than worthy of winning the Heisman. But to win the sport’s most iconic individual award, team success is almost always a prerequisite. Hunter is one of the few players in college football who plays both offense and defense, and no one plays both wide receiver and defense at the level he plays.

Hunter caught nine passes for 89 yards and a touchdown and added an interception on defense against UCF.

Colorado is 4-1 and 2-0 in Big 12 play. The Buffs are off next week before hosting a ranked Kansas State Wildcats team. Colorado has improved after a rough Year 1 under Sanders, but will have to keep piling up the wins if Hunter has a real shot at capturing the Heisman.

5. No Matthew Sluka? No problem for the Group of 5 hopeful UNLV rebels from the CFP

It’s been quite a week for the UNLV football program.

First came a social media post Tuesday evening from starting quarterback Matthew Sluka, who announced his decision to sit out the rest of the season, redshirt and transfer amid alleged “declarations” (NIL payments) which were not met.

Then came a PR messaging war pitting UNLV and its NIL collective against Sluka’s camp. Ultimately, no written contract had been drawn up that obliged UNILV (yes, that is the name of the collective) to make any form of payment obligation to Sluka.

On the field, UNLV needed to continue the momentum built by the program’s first 3-0 record in 40 years with the Fresno State Bulldogs in town to start Mountain West play.

The result? A 59-14 drubbing at the hands of the Rebels, with newly minted starter Hajj-Malik Williams responsible for 182 passing yards, 119 rushing yards and four total touchdowns.

After a week marked by tumult, the Rebels have come out the other side with their most lopsided win of the season and perhaps their first AP Top 25 ranking in program history will come Sunday.