Winners and losers: The SEC West continues to be the nation's most entertaining division

If the past two weeks are any indication of what competition in the SEC West is going to be like, this is going to be a hell of a conference season.

Texas A&M defeated Arkansas 35-28 in overtime after rallying from a 28-14 fourth-quarter deficit. This a week after Mississippi State upset LSU (and LSU almost stormed back).

And boy was it was fun to watch.

Heisman hopeful quarterback Kenny Hill threw touchdown passes of 86 yards and 59 yards in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Then, on the first play of the overtime, Hill found Malcome Kennedy for the 25-yard game-winning score. The win not only kept Texas A&M undefeated, it also kept the Aggies on the top of the West standings with two conference wins.

And that’s a coveted spot considering all but one team in the division is ranked and Arkansas was just on the fringe. Had Arkansas won, the Razorbacks also would have been ranked and it would have been the first time an entire division dominated the rankings.

Still, the SEC West is quickly shaping up to be a division that could steal two of the coveted spots in the inaugural College Football Playoff, but that’s only if it doesn’t beat itself up.

That’s probably going to happen especially since five of the division’s seven teams are still undefeated. But early on, the SEC West is making a great case to be the division to watch and if every game within the division can be as entertaining as the showcase games the past couple weeks, it’s going to be difficult to keep these teams out of the playoff.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 5:

WINNERS

UCLA: Thursday night’s game in Tempe was supposed to be a separator in the Pac 12, and that wound up being an understatement. The Bruins absolutely buried the Sun Devils 62-27, and did it while being outgained in total yards 626-580. It’s what you do with those yards that counts, and Arizona State was sloppy, turning the ball over four times to UCLA’s zero. Bruins QB Brett Hundley was masterful, completing 18 of 23 passes for 355 yards and four touchdowns, while he and Paul Perkins teamed up for 209 yards on the ground. Mike Bercovici, starting in place of injured QB Taylor Kelly, was asked to shoulder a nearly impossible weight, passing a ridiculous 68 times. He completed 42 of those for 488 yards, but the two interceptions he threw hurt the Sun Devils, especially the one UCLA defensive back Ishmael Adams returned 95 yards for a score (on top of his 100-yard kickoff return). UCLA put on a show, and put the rest of the Pac 12 on notice (for now). At the very least, no midfield logos in the conference are safe.

Akron: It must have been the gold chrome helmets. Maybe Conor Hundley felt faster in them, running for 148 yards on 19 attempts for Akron. Or maybe they disoriented Pitt running back James Conner, who entered the game with 699 yards but left with just 92 on the day. Either way, Akron punched out the Panthers for a 21-10 win, easily the biggest win since Terry Bowden has been the Zips’ head coach. It was hardly the kind of result that caught Pitt in the final moments. Akron steadily controlled the game, outgaining the ACC outfit 382-249. We may end up seeing those helmets a lot more. Which means we have to decide whether we like them or not.

Todd Gurley, Georgia RB: The Todd Gurley train of destruction thundered down the tracks and is coming to an SEC town near you next. Gurley almost single-handedly carried the Bulldogs to their 35-32 win over Tennessee with 208 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He averaged a beefy 7.4 yards per carry. He’s now got 610 yards rushing with six touchdowns in four games. And now he and Georgia will host Vanderbilt next weekend, which should deliver another staggering onslaught. Between Gurley and Melvin Gordon, this is turning into a fun season for a running back revival.

Deshaun Watson, Clemson QB: Clemson's five-star freshman quarterback finally took over the starting role from senior Cole Stoudt against North Carolina and all he did was set the school record for passing touchdowns. To reiterate, Watson is a true freshman, and he put up 435 yards and six touchdowns in a 50-35 home win over the Tar Heels. Watson spread the ball around to 10 different Tigers receivers while completing 75 percent (27-of-36) of his passes. Clemson looks like a better team with Watson under center. The kid is special and should have a heck of a career for coach Dabo Swinney.

Blake Frohnapfel, UMass QB: Losers don't get to be winners. And UMass has been about as big of a loser as you can find this year. This is a sympathy honorable mention because the UMass QB put a lot of air under the football, going 36-for-61 for 589 yards and five touchdowns in a 47-42 loss to Bowling Green. The Minutemen are now 0-5 on the season, but this was by far the senior signal-caller’s finest performance, and it still didn’t matter. He destroyed his previous high of 267 yards, and it still didn’t matter. He led his team back from a 12-point deficit, and it still didn’t matter. He was the gladiator taking all challengers and fighting them all off until he couldn’t fight anymore. With 1:52 left in the game, his receiver fumbled the ball away and Bowling Green recovered to close things out. His Herculean effort was undercut before it could be completed.

LOSERS

Texas Tech: Since Kliff Kingsbury has taken the reigns for the Red Raiders, they are 10-7 and 4-6 in the Big 12. It’s not terrible, but the substance hasn’t exactly kept up with Coach Gosling’s flash. Thursday night’s 45-35 loss to Oklahoma State felt like the wrong kind of milestone, too. Maybe it’s asking a bit much for Tech to turn things around in just over a year, but the defensive woes haven’t improved, with the Red Raiders 116th in points against (38.8 per) heading into the loss. The passing game is humming, but – pardon the platitude – that can only take a team so far. The good news (or bad news, depending on how you look at it) is that Tech has plenty of opportunities to prove the critics wrong, starting with Kansas State in Manhattan next weekend. And every big name on the schedule after that (West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor) is in Lubbock.

Boston College: Remember a couple weeks ago when the Eagles beat USC? Everything was turning around in Chestnut Hill, Steve Addazio’s social media exploits were suddenly less weird than awesome, and in the unpredictable ACC, maybe they were finally back. So much for that. Colorado State went into Alumni Stadium and left cackling with glee thanks to a 24-21 win over the Eagles. The nation’s third-best rushing attack didn’t keep the Rams off the field enough, nor did it pound out the clock when it needed to most, as the Eagles folded with a 21-14 in the fourth quarter, allowing 10 unanswered points, including the go-ahead touchdown from Garrett Grayson to Charles Lovett with 1:02 left in the game. Good for Colorado State and head coach Jim McElwain, but we may need to dim the enthusiasm for Boston College.

Penn State: It would be unfair to pin Penn State’s 29-6 loss to Northwestern on Nittany Lions QB Christian Hackenberg, but 22-for-45 passing for 216 yards and an interception won’t get many teams anywhere. But that’s also what happens when you don’t have any semblance of a competent offensive line. Hackenberg was pressured all game, and it proved most damaging when Northwestern linebacker Anthony Walker returned Hackenberg’s lone interception 49 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, effectively burying the suddenly-less-shiny Nittany Lions. A week ago, there were faint rumblings of Penn State building momentum on a 4-0 start and becoming a Big Ten contender with its rescinded bowl ban. Now it’s clear there’s a lot of work to be done in Happy Valley. On the bright side, there are two weeks of prep for Michigan, the biggest dumpster fire currently in the conference, before Ohio State comes to town another two weeks after that on Oct. 25.

Colorado kicker Will Oliver: Colorado managed to put up 629 yards of offense and 56 points in a road Pac-12 matchup against Cal, yet the Buffs still fell to the Golden Bears 59-56 in double overtime. You know what would have helped? A field goal. Unfortunately for Mike MacIntyre's team, senior kicker Will Oliver could not deliver when his team needed it. Oliver missed all three of his attempts, twice from 39 yards and once from 45 yards out in the fourth quarter when the game was tied. As a senior who had already made a 47-yarder this season, you've got to make at least one of those kicks.

South Carolina: South Carolina had a prime opportunity to get a major leg up in the SEC East on Saturday but stumbled in the final 7 minutes against Missouri and gave up a game-winning touchdown with about a minute remaining. It was a strange ending to a game that was dominated by South Carolina in almost every facet. The Gamecocks were leading 20-7 with less than 7 minutes remaining and Missouri had done nothing offensively to look like it had the ability to get back into the game. But then the Gamecocks just seemed to relax and let Missouri’s potent offense pick it apart. Meanwhile, the South Carolina offense, which had been pretty pedestrian throughout the night, stalled late in the game and gave Missouri all the momentum it needed for the win. South Carolina already defeated Georgia last week and a win against Missouri would have tightened its grip on the conference standings. Now, Georgia is right back in the hunt for the SEC East title and so is defending division champion Missouri.

Max Thompson and Sam Cooper contributed to this post.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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