Kirk Herbstreit names his top-performing teams of Week 6

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit listed his top-performing teams after a wild Week 6, including Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Iowa, among others.

Only four of Herbstreit’s top seven teams are ranked in the top 25 but all seven of them came away with big wins.

No. 1 Texas A&M Aggies

The Aggies at No. 1 was a no-brainer from Kirk Herbstreit. Jimbo Fisher delivered on a preseason promise and took down No. 1 Alabama and his former employer, Nick Saban. The 41-38 upset, ending with a last-play field goal, resulted in a massive field storming at Kyle Field. The stadium hosted more than 106,000 fans, which was second all-time in its history.

Quarterback Zach Calzada went 21-of-31 for 285 yards, three TDs and an interception. On the other side of the ball, the Aggies’ front four were disruptive and the defense sacked Bama QB Bryce Young five times. With the win, A&M returned to the top 25 at No. 21 with a 4-2 record.

No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners

No. 6 Oklahoma rallied from 21 down Saturday to stun No. 21 Texas 55-48 on a TD with two seconds left. OU trailed 28-7 in the first quarter and 38-20 at halftime. Oklahoma scored 31 points in the final 16:02 of the game, including two TDs in a 15-second stretch midway through the fourth quarter. It was the largest comeback by OU in the 117-game history of the Red River rivalry.

Lincoln Riley chose to bench Spencer Rattler, sending in Caleb Williams who threw for 212 yards and two TDs. He also rushed for 88 yards and another touchdown.

No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes picked up a massive win over Penn State and moved up to No. 2 in the AP top 25 after Week 6. Iowa has a clear path to the Big Ten championship game after their come-from-behind win. The Hawkeyes came battling back from a two-score deficit with the help of four forced turnovers on the Nittany Lions. Penn State finished with 10 penalties, eight of them false starts.

No. 4 Florida State Seminoles

Mike Norvell and the Seminoles desperately needed a win on Saturday, sitting at 1-4, and they got it versus North Carolina 35-25. The Tar Heels were the favorites by 17 points but FSU quarterback Jordan Travis shattered those expectations. Travis had 145 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 121 yards and two scores on the ground.

No. 5 Boise State Broncos

Boise State fell dominated the second quarter after trailing in the first to lead 20-10 at halftime. BYU struggled with ball security, losing three fumbles and another takeaway. The Cougars also had nine penalties for 75 yards. The 26-17 loss was BYU’s first of the season.

The Broncos finished with 312 yards of total offense and no turnovers. QB Hank Bachmeier threw for 172 yards the Broncos put up 140 on the ground, nearly doubling their average.

No. 6 Arizona State Sun Devils

The Sun Devils keep climbing and put up a dominant performance in Week 6, according to Herbstreit. Behind the 28-10 win were 255 yards and three touchdowns on the ground from Arizona State’s stable of running backs. The Sun Devils are now 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in Pac-12 play. They’ll face 3-2 Utah on Saturday.

No. 7 UMass Minutemen

It’s not very often that UMass makes a list like Kirk Herbstreit’s top performers but they notched their first win of the season on Saturday. They took down 0-6 UConn to move to 1-5 on the season while the Huskies fall to 0-7. Tied up at 10 a piece going into the fourth quarter, the Minutemen scored 17 fourth-quarter points while limiting UConn to three. UMass hadn’t won in so long, fans actually stormed the field. The win snapped a 16-game losing streak dating back to September of 2019.