Winners, Losers from CFB Games Today: DeSean Bishop, Bryce Underwood Among Studs and Duds in Week 5

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Saturday’s College Football Week 5 action delivered quite a few ranked matchups that everyone around the country had circled coming into the weekend. The slate delivered, from Mizzou destroying the Florida Gators to some statement performances from quarterbacks and running backs around the nation.

Let’s dive into our winners and losers from the college football games today.

Winner: Marcus Stokes, QB, Memphis Tigers

Memphis Tigers quarterback Marcus Stokes got off to a rough start this season, coming out of his first three games with a 5-3 TD-INT ratio to go with a 66.7% completion rate. He’s now settled in, coming off a four-touchdown performance two weeks ago and topping that in three quarters on Saturday. Charlotte had no answers for Stokes, who finished the third quarter with as many passing touchdowns (five) as incompletions all the while putting up 318 passing yards (12.7 yards per attempt) and tacking 61 yards on the ground. With Memphis set to face a UAB Blazers defense that entered Week 5 allowing the second-fewest passing yards per game (113.0) in the FBS, next Saturday should be a great test for Stokes coming off a two-game stretch with 9 touchdowns.

Loser: Bryce Underwood, QB, Michigan Wolverines

Just when there finally appeared to be signs of Bryce Underwood turning a corner, he reverted back to the worst version of himself on Saturday. Underwood took three sacks and threw two interceptions on Sunday, all the while finishing with more incompletions (11) than completed passes (10). He’s now up to a 5-4 TD-INT ratio on the season with a 21-15 career line and he’s simply not showing the growth you need to see from a second-year quarterback. For the Michigan Wolverines, who should be 2-3, it’s time for change.

Winner: Aiden Flora, RB, Iowa State Cyclones

Make that two games this season with 200-plus scrimmage yards for Iowa State Cyclones running back Aiden Flora. An Iowa native, the 6-foot back torched Bowling Green two weeks ago for 204 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns. He topped that in Week 5. In a back-and-forth battle against West Virginia in which 87 total points were scored, Flora scored three rushing touchdowns and put up 212 yards on the ground (9.6 yards per carry) while even tacking on 48 yards through the air on a pair of touchdown passes.

Loser: Kamario Taylor, QB, Mississippi State Bulldogs

It started bad for Kamario Taylor on Saturday, as the football just slipped out of his hand on 1st-and-10 at midfield and Alabama recovered it. Things only got worse after that for the Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback, with Dijon Lee reading him perfectly on the next drive for a pick-six. Taylor still showed some nice flashes in this game (3 touchdowns and 258 passing yards), but the turnovers and off-target throws (55.9% completion rate) meant Mississippi State never really had a chance in this one.

Winner: Jamal Roberts, RB, Missouri Tigers

Just a week after Jadan Baugh led the Florida Gators to a monumental win at home over a top-10 team, Missouri Tigers running back Jamal Roberts decided he’d show the Florida Gators how it feels. Mizzou has been counting on Roberts a lot this year with Ahmad Hardy still sidelined and the senior has been a revelation from them. Roberts decimated Florida’s defense, erupting for 211 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns while adding another 29 receiving yards. Roberts should be very excited to run all over Texas A&M next week.

Loser: Buster Faulkner, Florida Gators Offensive Coordinator

Well, that’ll kill some momentum surrounding the most talked-about coordinator for the 2027 college football coaching carousel. A week removed from calling an offensive clinic in The Swamp against Ole Miss, leading to pundits saying this was the best offense in the nation, Buster Faulker’s offense went 6-for-16 on third down and managed just 17 points Saturday at Missouri. The numbers would look even worse if you remove the 94-yard touchdown drive in garbage time. The good news for Florida is that maybe a performance like this might just buy them another year with Faulker as their offensive coordinator.

Winner: DeSean Bishop, RB, Tennessee Volunteers

The Tennessee Volunteers pulled true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon early, seemingly due to the 18-year-old’s rattled confidence. With a feeling of uneasiness in Neyland Stadium, All-SEC running back DeSean Bishop got the crowd back into it. Bishop ran all over Auburn, becoming Tennessee’s first player since 2019 (Eric Gray) to rush for 200-plus yards and three touchdowns. The Volunteers’ defense was very good in Week 5, but they do not win this game without Bishop putting the entire offense on his shoulders. His fourth-down conversion late followed by his third score to make it a 14-point game are what sealed the victory for UT.

Loser: YouTube TV

College Football Week 5 got off to a bit of a slow start, with Alabam vs Missisissippi State the only ranked game that everyone really wanted to watch. The greater source of excitement was the late afternoon slate, given it had Ohio State vs Iowa, Auburn vs Tennessee and Florida vs Missouri. Unfortunately for millions of college football fans, YouTube TV inexplicably stopped working after 5:10 PM ET and it remained down for a while. A few got it back within 20 minutes, but without the ability to use multiview. The delay. Not a great look for the company that millions of CFB fans rely on.

Winner: Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State Buckeyes

We’re watching a player dominate right now who probably had the talent to be playing in the NFL two years ago. No one questioned coming into the season that Jeremiah Smith was the best player in college football, even if he didn’t necessarily have the numbers. Clearly the Ohio State Buckeyes are making sure his stats are Heisman-caliber in 2026. Smith made it consecutive 200-yard performances on Saturday, pulling down 11 receptions for 206 receiving yards with two touchdowns. In the process, Smith also broke Ohio State’s all-time receptions record and receiving touchdowns record. All of the receiving records are already his and he’s still got two months of football to play.

Loser: UMass Minutemen

The feel-good story of the 2026 college football season is over. No one expected the Massachusetts Minutemen to go undefeated this year, especially given this team had won a combined eight games from 2019-2025. There was just a little hope that maybe head coach Joe Harasymiak could keep this win streak going for a little while. It’s over. Eastern Michigan dominated this one, taking a 38-7 lead and finishing the game nearly perfect on third down (11-for-14). Oh well, at least it was fun while it lasted.

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