College Football Winners and Losers, Week Five

Two teams salvaged their hopes with close call victories. There weren't any outstanding upsets, but the action was piping hot. Who won the week and who watched their season go up in flames?

• Winner: Washington: In need of a resounding win against a ranked opponent, #11 Washington got what they needed. The Huskies manhandled #20 BYU, 35-7, behind Salvon Ahmed's 86 rushing yards and two touchdowns on ten carries and Miles Gaskin's 81 rushing yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. Jake Browning also missed only two passes and threw for 277 yards and a touchdown, while the defense only allowed 194 total yards and recovered a fumble.
  
• Winner: Notre Dame: An all-around solid performance by the Fighting Irish against #7 Stanford. A 38-17 victory by #8 Notre Dame that include Ian Book throwing for 278 yards and four touchdowns, Dexter Williams running for 161 yards and a touchdown (21 carries), and Miles Boykin catching 11 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown helped boost Notre Dame's playoff case.
  
• Winner: Travis Etienne: Many pundits will point at Chase Brice for being the reason behind #3 Clemson's 27-23 victory over Syracuse. After all, he stepped in for superstar quarterback Trevor Lawrence after Lawrence suffered a concussion. But one mustn't overlook Travis Etienne's 203 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries, including the game-winner.
  
• Loser: James Franklin: Penn State had #4 Ohio State on the ropes. They had a chance to take the driver's seat in the Big Ten East. However, a fourth-down call in the fourth quarter to give the ball to Miles Sanders resulted in a two-yard loss, leaving the Nittany Lions on the losing end of a 27-26 score.
  
• Loser: ACC: Clemson nearly suffered an upset at the hands of Syracuse, but that wasn't the only problem for the ACC, watching the Orange fall. #22 Duke fell to a Virginia Tech team that got beaten by Old Dominion. The ACC's playoff hopes now ride on Clemson and... North Carolina State.
  
• Loser: Tennessee: With Tennessee's 38-12 loss to #2 Georgia, fans are left to wonder if the Volunteers will ever return to prominence.
  

Other Winners: Ohio State in the second half, West Virginia in the first quarter, Benny Snell
Other Losers: Ohio State in the first half, West Virginia in the other quarters, Nebraska

College Football Playoff Four:

1. Alabama
   
2. Ohio State
   
3. Notre Dame
   
4. Georgia