THE MORNING AFTER — WEEK 5: Gator Reality Check, Bama Rolls & Penn State Panic

There is a point every college football season where we have to stop talking about what we think teams are and start paying attention to what they are actually showing us.

I think we hit that point this weekend.

September is fun because everybody gets to build a résumé. You beat a couple teams you should beat, steal one big game, climb into the rankings and suddenly we start talking ourselves into you.

Then October shows up.

Conference games get tougher. Road environments get louder. Teams have actual film on you. The weaknesses you could hide for a month start showing up, and eventually somebody makes you prove that you actually belong in the conversation.

Week 5 felt like one giant reality check.

Florida looked like one of the best stories in college football until Missouri absolutely ran them out of Columbia. Mississippi State was undefeated and ranked until Alabama reminded everybody what the top of the SEC still looks like. Penn State didn't just lose to Northwestern, they got physically embarrassed. And while some teams were getting exposed, Miami went into Clemson and gave us maybe its best argument yet that the Hurricanes belong in the national championship conversation.

We learned a lot this weekend.

Maybe more importantly, we learned who we probably need to stop lying to ourselves about.

GATOR REALITY CHECK: Missouri 45, No. 8 Florida 17

I bought into Florida.

Maybe not all the way, but enough.

After what Florida had done through the first month of the season, it felt like this was becoming one of those teams we had to take seriously. The Gators were 4-0, sitting at No. 8 in the country and coming off a statement win that made it feel like this thing was moving in the right direction.

Then they went to Missouri.

And Missouri absolutely beat the brakes off them.

This wasn't some weird road upset where Florida turned the ball over four times, missed three kicks and lost on a fluky touchdown at the end.

Florida didn't turn the ball over once.

They just got beat.

Missouri put up 560 yards of offense, averaged 8.5 yards per play and controlled the game after the first quarter. Austin Simmons threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns, while Jamal Roberts ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. Florida, meanwhile, couldn't establish anything on the ground. Jadan Baugh finished with just 13 rushing yards on 12 carries.

That is the part that stands out to me.

You can explain away mistakes.

You can't explain away getting bullied.

Florida scored a touchdown late when this thing was already over, but Missouri spent most of the afternoon looking like the faster, stronger and more prepared football team.

So now we have to ask the uncomfortable question: Did Florida actually arrive, or did we just fall in love with September Florida?

One loss doesn't erase everything they did during the first month. I'm not going that far. But losing 45-17 when you're ranked eighth is different than losing a one-score conference game.

That's a recalibration loss.

The other side of this is that maybe we need to give Missouri more credit.

The Tigers lost a heartbreaker to Mississippi State and could have let that turn into something bigger. Instead, they responded by putting 45 on a top-10 Florida team and producing one of the best offensive performances of the weekend.

Maybe Florida got exposed.

Maybe Missouri reminded us they're pretty damn good too.

Both can be true.

BAMA LOOKS LIKE BAMA AGAIN: No. 7 Alabama 56, No. 16 Mississippi State 23

There were two teams involved in this game that I wanted answers about.

Mississippi State entered undefeated, ranked No. 16 and had become one of the fun early-season stories in the SEC.

Alabama entered undefeated too, but with a different question hanging over them.

Are we watching another good Alabama team, or are we watching Alabama turn back into Alabama?

I'm starting to lean toward the second one.

This game was 21-14 in the second quarter. Mississippi State had landed a couple punches. Davis Wade Stadium was alive. There was at least a moment where you could convince yourself we were headed toward a four-quarter SEC fight.

Then Alabama just kept scoring.

Fourteen points in the first quarter.

Fourteen in the second.

Fourteen in the third.

Fourteen in the fourth.

That's almost disrespectfully consistent.

Keelon Russell finished 16-of-22 for 285 yards and three touchdowns, added a rushing touchdown, and Alabama finished with 483 total yards while averaging 7.9 yards per play. The Tide also completely erased Mississippi State's rushing attack, holding the Bulldogs to only 18 rushing yards on 30 attempts.

That's domination.

Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor still made some plays through the air, but Alabama forced four total turnovers and never really allowed the Bulldogs to establish the kind of balance they needed.

And I think this is where the conversation has to start changing around Alabama.

We are so used to Alabama being Alabama that sometimes we almost hold them to a different standard. If another team were 5-0 and had just walked into the stadium of the No. 16 team in the country and won 56-23, we'd be screaming about them as a national championship favorite.

So maybe we should start doing that with Alabama.

Russell looks more comfortable every week. The offense looks explosive. The defense can still suffocate you. And the scariest part is that it doesn't feel like they have reached their ceiling yet.

Mississippi State might still be a good football team.

They just found out there is a massive difference between being one of September's best stories and being ready to beat Alabama.

PENN STATE PANIC: Northwestern 34, Penn State 13

There are losses you can talk yourself through.

This isn't one of them.

Penn State went to Northwestern for the opening of the new Ryan Field and got run over.

Literally.

Northwestern rushed for 413 yards.

Four hundred and thirteen.

Caleb Komolafe ran for 188 yards and a touchdown. Joseph Himon II added 162 yards and two touchdowns on only 10 carries. Together they accounted for 350 rushing yards, while Penn State's entire offense managed only 48 yards on the ground. Northwestern finished with 506 total yards and held Penn State to 291.

There isn't really a complicated football explanation needed here.

Penn State got physically dominated.

Northwestern led 10-0 early, 24-7 at halftime and never gave Penn State a real path back into the football game.

And now Penn State is 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten.

That is where this stops being about one bad night.

We can spend all offseason talking about talent. We can talk about expectations. We can talk about what a roster looks like on paper.

Eventually you've got to play football.

And if Northwestern can line up, run the football at you over and over again and finish with 413 rushing yards, you have a much bigger problem than rankings.

That's why I have a hard time calling this an upset and just moving on.

An upset is somebody stealing one from you.

Northwestern didn't steal anything.

They took it.

Penn State knew what was coming and couldn't stop it.

We're only five weeks into the season, so I'm not declaring anybody dead. College football can get weird fast.

But whatever version of Penn State we thought we were getting this year?

We haven't seen it.

And we're running out of reasons to assume it's eventually going to show up.

MIAMI MADE ITS POINT: No. 4 Miami 41, Clemson 13

While Florida, Mississippi State and Penn State were getting reality checks, Miami was giving us the opposite.

The Hurricanes walked into Death Valley and looked completely comfortable.

That matters to me.

Miami had been beating the hell out of teams through September, but there is always that voice in the back of your head when a team does that early in the year.

Okay, but what happens when they go on the road?

What happens when they're playing in a hostile stadium?

What happens when the other sideline has Clemson-level talent?

Apparently, they win by 28.

Miami jumped ahead early, led 17-6 at halftime and never let Clemson turn it into one of those weird Death Valley games where the crowd gets involved and everything starts spiraling.

Darian Mensah threw for 227 yards and a touchdown and added a 34-yard rushing score. Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns, Cooper Barkate finished with 98 receiving yards and a touchdown, and Miami won the turnover battle 2-0. The Hurricanes finished the night with a 41-13 win, moved to 5-0 and took sole possession of first place in the ACC.

At some point we have to stop looking for the reason Miami isn't real.

They're real.

Does that mean they're automatically going undefeated? No.

Does it mean I'm handing them the ACC or putting them into the national championship game in October? No.

But I needed to see them do this.

There is something different about going into Clemson and making the game boring.

Miami didn't survive Death Valley.

Miami controlled it.

That's a championship-level data point.

And while Saturday exposed some of the teams we might have overrated during September, it also gave us a team I feel even better about now than I did Friday.

Miami belongs in the top tier of this season.

THE 2-MINUTE DRILL

Jeremiah Smith is ridiculous, and Ohio State is still Ohio State

Remember when Ohio State lost to Texas and everybody had to figure out what was wrong with the Buckeyes?

Maybe the answer was nothing.

Maybe Texas just beat a really good football team.

Ohio State went into Kinnick Stadium against No. 14 Iowa and won 31-14, putting up 484 yards while holding Iowa to 238.

Julian Sayin threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns.

And Jeremiah Smith apparently decided Ohio State's record book needed some editing.

Smith caught 11 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns, giving him consecutive 200-yard games. During the performance he became Ohio State's career leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

Then after his 57-yard touchdown, he hit the Heisman pose.

Normally I would say it's a little early.

When you're Jeremiah Smith?

Do whatever you want.

He should absolutely be in that conversation.

And Ohio State should absolutely still be in the national championship conversation.

Michigan has a problem

Michigan losing 20-14 at Minnesota isn't going to generate the same headlines as Florida getting blown out, but this is another team where we need to adjust the conversation.

The Wolverines are now 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten, their first 0-2 conference start since 2014. Minnesota beat Michigan for the first time since that same 2014 season and reclaimed the Little Brown Jug after forcing a sloppy Michigan offense into a three-turnover day.

That's two conference losses before we even get deep into October.

At Michigan, that's a problem.

Bryce Underwood is still incredibly talented. The defense still has pieces. There is plenty of season left.

But at some point, potential doesn't matter.

You have to win games.

Right now Michigan isn't doing that often enough.

THE MORNING AFTER

This is why I love October.

September introduces us to everybody.

October starts telling us who they actually are.

Florida might still be good, but the idea that the Gators had already arrived as a top-10 team took a massive hit.

Mississippi State was one of the best stories of the first month, and Alabama gave them a brutal introduction to the difference between being ranked and being elite.

Penn State isn't dealing with a bad bounce or one unlucky loss anymore. Getting outrushed 413-48 by Northwestern tells you something deeper is wrong.

Miami, meanwhile, answered its question in the exact opposite way. The Hurricanes went into one of college football's most recognizable road environments and dismantled Clemson.

Ohio State keeps looking more dangerous.

Jeremiah Smith might be the best player in the country.

Michigan is already digging itself out of a Big Ten hole.

The season isn't decided.

Not even close.

But the excuses get thinner from here.

We spent the first month asking who might be good.

Now we get to find out who actually is.

And after Week 5, the truth is starting to come out.