Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Amway College Football Poll 2018: Complete Week 6 Rankings Released

Mike Chiari

The Alabama Crimson Tide continue to pace the field in the Amway Coaches Poll following a 56-14 thumping of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns on Saturday. 

In the Week 6 rankings USA Today released Sunday, Alabama sat ahead of six other undefeated power programs:

1. Alabama (61 first-place votes)

2. Georgia

3. Ohio State (1 first-place vote)

4. Clemson (2 first-place votes)

5. Oklahoma

6. LSU

7. Notre Dame

8. West Virginia

9. Auburn

10. Washington

11. Penn State

12. Wisconsin

13. UCF

14. Stanford

15. Kentucky

16. Michigan

17. Miami (Fla.)

18. Oregon

19. Michigan State

20. Texas

21. Oklahoma State

22. Colorado

23. Virginia Tech

24. Boise State

25. NC State

The Tide were never in danger en route to victory Saturday, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa further bolstered his Heisman Trophy candidacy in the process.

While Tagovailoa attempted just eight passes, he completed all of them for 128 yards and two touchdowns.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Tagovailoa is off to the most efficient start of any quarterback in major college football through five games over the past 15 years:

Bama wasn't the only highly ranked team that cruised to victory Saturday, as Georgia beat Tennessee 38-12, LSU crushed Ole Miss 45-16, and Oklahoma dominated Baylor 66-33.

The Bulldogs held Tennessee to just 209 yards offense and 11 first downs, but they were also aided by one of the wildest plays in college football this season.

After Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm was stripped of the ball in the first quarter, junior tight end Isaac Nauta scooped it up and ran 31 yards for a touchdown:

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 video

It was downhill from there for the Volunteers, as they fell to 2-3.

In Oklahoma's dominant win over Baylor, quarterback Kyler Murray enjoyed a career day with 432 yards and six touchdowns through the air to go along with 45 yards and a touchdown on the ground:

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 video

Austin Kendall started the game over Murray as a disciplinary measure, but Murray missed just four plays before slicing and dicing the Bears defense.

Murray reestablished himself as a Heisman contender and accomplished something that hadn't been done in the Big 12 in a decade:

Saturday wasn't a cakewalk for every top team, as both Clemson and Ohio State went down to the wire to escape with wins.

The Tigers' post-Kelly Bryant era got off to a rough start, as freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence left the game with an injury in the second quarter against Syracuse, leaving the game in the hands of redshirt freshman Chase Brice.

Syracuse led by as much as 10 in the fourth quarter, but Clemson mounted a comeback, punctuated by a Travis Etienne touchdown run with 41 seconds remaining to seal the 27-23 victory.

It was a big win for Clemson that erased the memory of last year's loss to the Orange, but the Tigers could be in trouble if Lawrence misses significant time.

Ohio State also narrowly avoided a loss, overcoming a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit on the road to beat the Penn State Nittany Lions 27-26.

Quarterback Dwayne Haskins showed why he is a leading Heisman candidate over the final seven minutes, as he threw a 47-yard touchdown to Binjimen Victor and then followed it up with the go-ahead, 24-yard touchdown pass to K.J. Hill with just over two minutes remaining:

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 video

Penn State drove into Ohio State territory in hopes of stealing the win on its final drive, but running back Miles Sanders was stuffed on fourth down, thus preserving the OSU victory.

While Ohio State moved up one spot from fourth to third, Clemson dropped from second to fourth, allowing Georgia to move into the No. 2 slot.

If Ohio State vs. Penn State was the marquee game of the week, Notre Dame vs. Stanford wasn't far off.

Both teams entered the week ranked inside the top 10, as was the case with the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions, but this was a one-sided affair.

The Fighting Irish dominated the Cardinal 38-17 thanks largely to the performance of junior quarterback Ian Book, who threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 47 yards.

Since Book took over for Brandon Wimbush, the Notre Dame offense has been virtually unstoppable:

With the win, Notre Dame moved from eighth to seventh in the rankings and proved that it's a legitimate contender for the College Football Playoff.

Other teams that remained undefeated were West Virginia with a 42-34 road win over Texas Tech, UCF with a 45-14 home win against Pittsburgh, and Kentucky with a 24-10 home triumph against South Carolina.

Also, Colorado remained undefeated with a 38-16 win over UCLA, allowing it to go from outside the top 25 to 22nd.

Looking ahead to next week, Oklahoma will have a tough test when it faces Texas in the Red River Showdown, while Notre Dame will have to be careful to avoid a letdown in a road game against a Virginia Tech team that upset Duke on the road this week.

   

Read 26 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)