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Saturday offered us another wild and bizarre week of college football. Three ranked teams fell to unranked foes (four, if you count Memphis losing to Tulane on Friday), and a pair of highly-ranked Playoff contenders survived some serious scares from coach-less squads as well. We might have had a completely different conversation this morning if Vanderbilt and Indiana bit the dust last night, but I think it's a conversation that is still worth engaging in given the vast gulf in talent profiles. And, to be clear, I'm not talking about the ranked teams being the ones with all the talent. Jimmies And Joes Let's start with Vanderbilt. The Commodores clawed back from a deep hole early in this one to dispatch a wayward Auburn team that had just fired coach Hugh Freeze less than a week earlier. Quarterback Diego Pavia was awesome in this one and may very well have been the difference, but outside who was under center, the Auburn Tigers had a dizzying talent advantage on their side. According to the ever-important 247Sports Talent Composite, which measures the talent profile of teams with regard to their players' recruiting rankings year-over-year, Auburn's roster ranks a robust 13th, with three five-stars and 43 four-stars. Vandy, by comparison, ranks 55th, without a single five-star to their name and only 12 four-stars. It gets even more eye-opening when we shift our gaze to Happy Valley. The Hoosiers eked out a back-and-forth contest with Penn State in an instant classic that may have included quarterback Fernando Mendoza's signature "Heisman moment," as he led Indiana on a game-winning touchdown drive which included one of the most insane catches you'll see all year. The talent disparity is even more apparent when comparing these two rosters, as Indiana ranks a mind-boggling 67th, with just seven four-stars and not a single five-star to be found on their roster. Penn State? They're 10th, boasting four five-stars and 58 four-stars. People shocked by the fact that two teams without coaches fighting for bowl eligibility were able to push a couple of CFP hopefuls to the brink clearly haven't been paying attention to the talent acquisition part of college football. It's why Indiana was only a 14.5 point favorite despite bludgeoning teams of a similar or slightly better talent profile all season. Vandy was similarly only a 6.5 favorite at home over what many are deeming "zombie Auburn." It's also why I've been singing the praises of Indiana coach Curt Cignetti all season, and why Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea is getting talked about as a coach of the year candidate. These rosters aren't supposed to be able to win consistently, and you almost saw why on Saturday. Quarterback: The Great Equalizer? There's a reason I mentioned signal callers Diego Pavia and Fernando Mendoza, and it's not just because they had great days, statistically speaking. When the Auburn Tigers won the 2010 National Championship, they did so with a middling roster (by SEC standards anyway) and a glorified gym teacher for a head coach in Gene Chizik. They famously had an entire offense who never played a regular season in the NFL, except for one player: their quarterback, Cam Newton. A transcendent QB can overcome a lot and lead a team that has no business doing much of anything to great heights. I'm not saying Pavia or Mendoza are the next Cam Newton, nor am I saying Lea and Cignetti are anything like Chizik, but there is some context to why these historical doormats are rising to the top in 2025. Talent still matters in college football. It's a big reason why yesterday was such a white-knuckle affair for the Commodores and the Hoosiers. It's also why we all should be even more impressed with what they are doing in college football this season.
