College football takeaways: Key storylines and performances from Week 6

Written by: ESPN on Monday 10, 2025

Week 6 was full of surprises. Texas and Penn State fell out of this week's AP poll after tough losses Saturday, while other programs made the college football universe take notice (hello, UCLA and Cincinnati).

Texas and Penn State both lost to unranked opponents on the road this week (the Nittany Lions fell to UCLA, which was 0-4 entering Saturday's matchup). On the other hand, Cincinnati showed that it's a program to watch after a 38-30 win over then-No. 14 Iowa State. While multiple Big 12 quarterbacks got a lot of attention in the offseason, Cincinnati's Brendan Sorsby wasn't one of them. But he showed Saturday that he's someone to keep your eye on throughout the rest of the season.

After a tough weekend for the Longhorns and Nittany Lions, what would they need to do to get back into College Football Playoff conversations? What's happening with Penn State's slow-starting offense? And what's ahead for Cincinnati as it gets into the thick of its conference matchups?

Our college football experts break down key takeaways from Week 6.

Penn State, Texas falling out of CFP picture

The preseason rankings have never been less relevant. Based on what has unfolded so far, both Penn State and Texas haven't played like teams capable of contending for their own conference titles, let alone the national title. Both teams likely need to run the table and finish 10-2 to have a chance, but neither will do that if they continue to play the way they have this season.

 Technically, neither team is eliminated from the playoff -- there's a lot of season left and both teams have multiple opportunities to impress the selection committee against elite opponents. It's a similar situation to Notre Dame, which continues to pull itself out of its 0-2 start. The difference is the Irish had two close losses to what should currently be top-five teams and have since looked capable of beating just about anyone, including Penn State and Texas. -- Heather Dinich

Time to put some respect on Sorsby

Arizona State's Sam Leavitt, Baylor's Sawyer Robertson, TCU's Josh Hoover, Kansas State's Avery Johnson and Iowa State's Rocco Becht got most of the attention this offseason as the leaders of the Big 12's impressive crop of returning starting quarterbacks. Five games in, it's clear we didn't talk enough about Cincinnati's Brendan Sorsby.

The fourth-year junior is putting it all together in his second year as the Bearcats' QB1. He's a 6-foot-3, 235-pound gunslinger with a big-time arm and dual-threat ability, and now he's playing with consistency and more help at wide receiver.

Sorsby put up 69 passing yards against a quality Nebraska defense in the season opener and got picked off on a potential game-winning drive. Since then, he has the second-best QBR (91.7) in the FBS behind USC's Jayden Maiava while compiling a killer stat line: 1,188 yards on 69% passing, 206 rushing yards (excluding sacks), 15 total TDs, zero interceptions and just one sack.

On Saturday, he outdueled Becht in a 38-30 upset of the Cyclones, pulling off Cincinnati's highest-ranked home victory since 2006 and a signature win for the Scott Satterfield era. If the Bearcats can keep playing like this, they're going to be a factor in the Big 12 title race the rest of the way.

The Bearcats rolled to a 31-7 lead with Sorsby and the tough one-two punch of running backs Evan Pryor and Tawee Walker, scoring on every first-half drive. After the Cyclones rallied, Sorsby tossed an 82-yard bomb to Caleb Goodie late in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. He put his arm talent on full display in that moment, effortlessly throwing 40 yards downfield on third-and-long.

Cincinnati does not play Texas Tech in the regular season and gets BYU at home in late November. Road tests at Utah and TCU won't be easy, but this schedule sets up nicely for the Bearcats to stay in contention and for Sorsby to keep proving he's one of the best in the country. -- Max Olson

Texas upset a testament to Gators' recruiting under Napier

Just for a second, let's set aside the broader context of Florida's 29-21 win over Texas in terms of coach Billy Napier's future with the Gators. There's plenty of time to go there up ahead.

For now, Saturday's comprehensive upset victory underscored one of the few unquestionable positives of Napier's tenure in Gainesville: his ability to recruit talent to Florida.

"We've been saying all week: Let's take my guys and beat him and his guys, and [we] did that today," Napier told ESPN's Kris Budden afterward, seemingly referring to Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian.

The Gators outgained Texas 457-341, tripling the Longhorns' rushing yardage (159-52) behind a 27-carry, 107-yard performance from sophomore running back Jadan Baugh. In his sharpest performance of 2025, former five-star quarterback DJ Lagway made a pair of true freshman receivers his primary targets Saturday; Dallas Wilson's star-turn came through six catches for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Vernell Brown III was Florida's second-leading receiver. Napier-era recruits accounted for half of the Gators' six sacks on Texas quarterback Arch Manning. And each of Florida's fourth-quarter interceptions came from defensive backs signed in Napier's first two recruiting cycles: Jordan Castell and Devin Moore.

The caliber of talent on the Gators' roster is part of why their struggles under Napier remain so confounding. It's also why programs around the country are keenly monitoring Florida's movements this fall, ready to pounce via the transfer portal if the Gators were to fire Napier.

But Saturday, just like the program's strong finish last November, offered a glimpse of what this Florida team can be when it clicks. Can the Gators make a run from here? Five of Florida's seven remaining games come against current AP Top 25 teams. Time will tell whether this is a turning point in Napier's latest high-wire escape act or just another Florida flash delaying the inevitable. -- Eli Lederman

Slow-starting offense has put Penn State on brink

Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and quarterback Drew Allar are in their second season together -- and yet the Nittany Lions seemingly have no offensive identity.

For a second straight week, Penn State's offense no-showed the first half, and it didn't help that the defense no-showed Saturday as well, allowing UCLA to score on all five of its first-half drives.

In turn, the winless Bruins led 27-7 at halftime, en route to their 42-37 victory.

The Nittany Lions almost completed a furious rally in the second half. But a curious call on fourth-and-2 on UCLA's 9-yard line -- an Allar jet sweep option read? -- resulted in a 3-yard loss and effectively ended the comeback.

With Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen (1,000-yard rushers in 2024), Penn State should boast a ferocious rushing attack. Instead, the Nittany Lions rank 12th in the Big Ten in rushing (63.6 yards) and yards per carry (3.88) in the first half.

Penn State hasn't been able to establish the run -- and at times, hasn't seemed all that interested in doing so.

Allar, a three-year starter, doesn't look comfortable operating Kotelnicki's offense anymore, either. All of Kotelnicki's gimmicks -- end arounds, direct snaps, etc. -- aren't producing big plays and aren't helping Allar find an early rhythm. Last weekend, the Nittany Lions did virtually nothing offensively against Oregon until midway through the fourth quarter.

The Nittany Lions, with so much returning offensively, began the year with national championship expectations. Now they'll be lucky just to make the playoff. -- Jake Trotter

Tim Skipper and Jerry Neuheisel have UCLA playing for pride

Even with the tarps covering many of the stands at the Rose Bowl, the empty seats were aplenty. Of the 39,256 reported in attendance, many were Penn State fans who had come to witness their team take care of a UCLA side that was reeling.

A plane flew overhead during the pregame with a sign that called for the program to fire athletic director Martin Jarmond. Three interim coaches stood on the UCLA sideline facing off against James Franklin, one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the sport. On paper, it should have been a blowout, another embarrassing result for a Bruins team that was starting to spark conversations about whether they would win any game this season. Instead, it was a shocking upset and the first bright spot in UCLA's season from hell.

"Saturdays after games have been kind of lonely and sad, and this will be the first Sunday where we kind of celebrate a little bit," UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper said. "I'm a passionate, emotional, energetic type guy, and that's what I bring every single day. You never have a bad day unless you declare it a bad day. Every day is a good day if you want it to be good. Stay positive, figure out solutions, and you keep on rolling."

Skipper, who has played the role of interim coach before (he went 6-7 as Fresno State's interim last season) has injected this team with the right kind of energy despite the circumstances. Earlier this week, the program and new offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri parted ways, which left Skipper no choice but to make tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel the offensive playcaller. The former UCLA backup, who was once carried off the field by his teammates, unlocked quarterback Nico Iamaleava (five total touchdowns) and found himself once again being carried off the field Saturday.

"I love UCLA more than anything, and the kind of kids you see that played on that field today is exactly why you love a place like this," Neuheisel said. "We had two days to practice a new game plan, and all they did was believe, and we came out and played as hard as we could for 60 full minutes. How can you not love college football when you have days like this? It's special. Special."

UCLA's woes are far from gone, and its future is far from having a clear direction as an impending coaching search and roster overhaul loom. But for one Saturday, the Bruins were able to look like a team, play like one and win.

"I was preaching to the guys that, 'If y'all don't want to be here man, leave man,'" Iamaleava said he told teammates this week after Sunseri's departure. "Whoever still believes that we're still in this and we still have games ahead of us that we can win, let's roll." -- Paolo Uggetti

Alabama continuing to build from season-opening loss

There are no moral victories at the highest level of college football -- certainly not in the SEC and never at Alabama. But we could ultimately be talking about the Tide's season-opening loss to Florida State as the spark needed for coach Kalen DeBoer and his team.

Alabama handed an undefeated SEC opponent its first loss for the second consecutive week, and did so with a different approach Saturday. The Tide stifled Vanderbilt star quarterback Diego Pavia in the fourth quarter, limiting him to 5-of-13 passing for 59 yards and picking him off once in their 30-14 win. Alabama twice collected takeaways in its own red zone and received solid performances from quarterback Ty Simpson, running back Jam Miller and others.

Is Alabama a different team than the one that lost in Tallahassee? That loss is part of this squad's story, and there are lingering problems to correct, including wide receiver Ryan Williams' puzzling pattern of dropped passes. But it's impossible not to draw a link between Alabama's listless showing at FSU and the way the team is performing now on both sides of the ball.

The freakout about DeBoer and the program's direction after FSU was expected, but it also looks sillier by the week. The guy is 13-2 in matchups of ranked opponents for his career, the best winning percentage for any coach with at least 10 such opportunities. Think they would want that at Penn State right now? Or just about any program in America?

Alabama isn't perfect and will need to keep making strides, including this week against another undefeated ranked opponent, No. 14 Missouri, on the road. But the Tide are looking more like a team no one wants to face. -- Adam Rittenberg

Pitt true freshman Mason Heintschel delivers

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi knew exactly what he had in freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel back in the spring. But he also tried not to speak too much about him publicly, should others around the country clue in and try to lure him away from the Panthers.

Yes, that is how confident Narduzzi was in the three-star prospect from Oregon, Ohio. Pitt gave him his only Power 4 offer, and Heintschel enrolled in January.

Despite his best efforts to keep Heintschel under wraps, Narduzzi couldn't resist sharing his thoughts in an interview with ESPN in April, saying, "He's really freaking good. He's going to be a future star. I've never seen a freshman quarterback ever come in and do what he did this spring. That's Nick Foles, that's Kirk Cousins. That's Kenny Pickett. He's a great kid. He's not a greedy, selfish guy. He'll get his opportunity."

That opportunity came Saturday, as Narduzzi benched turnover-prone Eli Holstein and started Heintschel. After a few pass attempts, it was obvious why Narduzzi raved about what he saw in the spring.

Heintschel looked in complete command, unruffled and prepared. His passes had zip and were delivered with near perfection. In the end, Heintschel went 30-of-41 for 323 yards and four touchdowns (with zero interceptions) in a 48-7 win over Boston College, becoming Pitt's first true freshman quarterback to win his debut since Kenny Pickett on Nov. 24, 2017, against No. 2 Miami.

"He prepared his tail off," Narduzzi said of Heintschel in his postgame news conference. "I think he was in the office at 8 Monday and was there until 6:30. I don't know if he went to any classes, but he knew what he was doing out there, and he was prepared. I appreciate that."

Now that there is tape on Heintschel, teams will adjust. A big test comes Saturday, when Pitt travels to Florida State. But no matter what happens, there is no taking away what an impressive job Heintschel did in his debut. -- Andrea Adelson