B1G, ACC Friday Night Lights Kick-Off Week 5 With a Boom

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Two Power Four conference games kicked off a packed schedule of games in Week 5. There is an insatiable appetite for football, football and more football, and the NFL and the NCAA have delivered games almost daily to feed the hunger. What was once a weekend-viewing pastime has turned into a seven-day-a-week obsession. Top conferences have scheduled some of their top brands to play on Friday nights to kick off the weekend. And this week's games didn’t disappoint.   

Week 5 Friday Night Lights appetizer featured, the Big Ten Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference teams and the games coming down to the wire on Sept. 27. In must-see TV Friday night Rutgers (4-0, 1-0 B1G) beat Washington (3-2, 1-1) 21-18, while No. 7 Miami (5-0, 1-0 ACC) survived to beat Virginia Tech (2-3, 0-1) 38-34. 

Both games came right down to the wire. The ACC game had a controversial ending getting fans to flock to social media to give their two cents. The B1G had Rutgers outlast Washington becoming a legitimate College Football Playoff contender thanks to a schedule missing most top teams. in the conference.

Controversy Over Miami's Win

Virginia Tech headed to Miami as a 17.5-point underdog despite that, the Hokies gave the Hurricanes everything they could handle. Virginia Tech took the lead in the second quarter and still led late in the fourth quarter. Miami, with 2 minutes left, took the lead on a Cam Ward touchdown pass and extra point to go up 38-34. Tech had just under two minutes to find the end zone to pull the upset.

In just 1:54 and 9 plays, Virginia Tech would find themselves on the Miami 30-yard line and just enough time for one more play. After a Miami timeout, the Tech offense took the field knowing they had to find the end zone, and they did just that. Kryon Drones dropped back and threw up a jump ball and after a melee in the end zone the refs ruled that a Virginia Tech player made the catch for the win. The Tech celebration didn’t last long as the play came under review, and after what seemed to be an eternity, the call was overturned and instead ruled an incomplete pass.

College football Fans flocked to social media after the game to give their opinions on what occurred. From some believing it was the right call to others claiming Tech got screwed, there was no shortage of opinions for the controversial ending.

Rutgers a Contender Instead of a Pretender

The Scarlet Knights welcomed in Washington for their first B1G conference game of the season and held off Washington for the 21-18 win. Rutgers took the lead early in the second quarter and unlike Virginia Tech, they held it right to the end. 

Washington, with 4:36 left in the game, would go on a 12-play, 76-yard drive to make it a 21-18 game. The Washington defense would force Rutgers to go three-and-out giving the Huskies the chance to win or tie the game. Washington would start on their own 39 and after six plays found themselves on the Rutgers 38 with three seconds left and a chance to tie the game. Grady Gross would miss the 55-yard field goal, giving the Scarlet Knights the win and a 4-0 record.

Rutgers, with the elimination of divisions inside the B1G, find themselves in contention for the conference title. The Scarlet Knights miss No. 3 Ohio State (3-0), No. 8 Oregon (3-0), No. 9 Penn State (3-0) and No. 12 Michigan (4-1, 2-0) this season. It now looks like Rutgers's two hardest games remaining are against Nebraska (4-1, 1-1) and No. 13 USC (2-1, 0-1) and the question becomes can Rutgers do the unthinkable and run the table and find themselves in the B1G championship game for the first time? Or at the bare minimum, can they split those two games and take one of the CFP spots?

If the Saturday games can be anything like the Friday night ones, fans should have no problem staying glued to their televisions to see how everything unfolds.