For a long while Saturday, it seemed it was all going to come crashing down for defending national champion Florida State.
The No. 1-ranked Seminoles, who had to come from behind the previous week to beat Clemson 23-17 in overtime, trailed NC State 24-7 at the end of the first quarter on the road Saturday.
Trailing by 17 points at a place where the Seminoles hadn't won since 2008, it seemed NC State was going to throw an early wrench at the inaugural College Football Playoff. After FSU cut the Wolfpack's lead to 24-21 by the half, NC State went back in front 38-28 on Shadrach Thornton's 10-yard run with 6:37 to go in the third.
But then reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston directed four straight touchdown drives and allowed the Seminoles to escape with a 56-41 victory for their 20th consecutive win.
"We're still not playing the football we're capable of, which at times is frustrating," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. "But it's also very encouraging because we're finding ways to win games and we are getting better."
As college football turns the calendar from September to October, we know about as much about the playoff contenders as we did when the season kicked off five weeks ago.
At times, Oregon and Texas A&M have looked like the best teams in the country. But the Ducks and Aggies have already been on the ropes and barely survived. The No. 6 Aggies had to rally from 14 points behind in the final 12 minutes of regulation before they beat Arkansas 35-28 in overtime Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Even the best teams seem to have their shortcomings.
"In order to win a game like that, it takes a complete team," Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "Every phase had its poor moments in the first half. Offensively, we were a beat off. Defensively, we gave up some big plays, and special teams, we gave up a fake [punt for a touchdown]."
FSU is among 17 undefeated teams left in FBS, and the Seminoles have hardly been the most impressive. But the Seminoles might have the easiest path of the remaining unbeaten teams, with only one game remaining against a ranked opponent in the regular season (No. 8 Notre Dame at home on Oct. 18).
The past couple weeks have exposed the Seminoles' surprising flaws. During its 14-0 championship season in 2013, FSU trailed for a total of 29 minutes, 48 seconds and was never behind in the second half. In four games this season, the Seminoles have already trailed for nearly 51 minutes, including more than 17 minutes in the second half.
On Saturday, NC State scored 41 points, the fourth most ever by an unranked team against the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. It was the first time FSU had ever allowed 24 points in the first quarter -- in the 769th game in the program's storied history.
"We can take a punch and stand up and compete," Fisher said. "Now I'd rather start blocking and dodging some and playing, but there's something to that now. I'm going to tell you what: That takes time."
Until now, the goal of the playoff contenders was simple: Escape September without a blemish on their résumés.
Starting next week, though, the preliminaries are largely over. It's time to separate the men from the boys.
Week 6 in college football will offer a smorgasbord of games with playoff implications. Six contests Saturday will pit ranked teams against each other, and five of the top 10 teams in the AP Top 25 poll will face undefeated foes, starting with Arizona's trip to No. 2 Oregon on Thursday night.
We'll start to separate the contenders from the pretenders in the rugged SEC West. Five of college football's remaining unbeaten teams reside in the sport's best division, and four of them will square off next week. No. 3 Alabama plays at No. 10 Ole Miss, and No. 14 Mississippi State hosts Texas A&M. No. 5 Auburn also hosts No. 17 LSU, which lost to Mississippi State 34-29 two weeks ago.
"We are going to prepare [for Alabama] like we do everyone else," Ole Miss safety Cody Prewitt said. "They are coming to into our house, so we're not going to be intimidated. They are going to be the ones climbing up the hill."
Let the real games begin.
Four teams in
1. Oklahoma: The Sooners have looked like the most complete team in the country to date, but they might get a major test next week at TCU. The Horned Frogs won their first three games by a combined score of 134-21, including a 56-0 rout at SMU on Saturday.
2. Oregon: The Ducks had the weekend off before they hosted undefeated Arizona on Thursday night. Oregon had to survive a 38-31 scare at Washington State on Sept. 20, but its 46-27 win over then-No. 7 Michigan State on Sept. 6 might be the best victory of any of the contenders.
3. Texas A&M: Sure, the Aggies' defense might still leave a lot to be desired, but A&M has already won two big games away from home: 52-28 at South Carolina on Aug. 28 and 35-28 in overtime Saturday against Arkansas.
4. Florida State: The Seminoles certainly aren't as dominating as they were the past season, but they've found ways to come from behind against Clemson and NC State the past two weeks. Quarterback Jameis Winston returned from a one-game suspension and directed four straight second-half touchdowns to lead the Seminoles to a 56-41 win Saturday at NC State.
Next four in contention
1. Alabama: The Crimson Tide have a week off before they play four of their next five games on the road, including next week's trip to No. 10 Ole Miss. The Rebels are 4-0 after a ho-hum 24-3 win over Memphis at home on Saturday.
2. Auburn: Quarterback Nick Marshall played well in the Tigers' latest tuneup. He threw for 166 yards with three touchdowns on 10-for-17 passing and ran 13 times for 105 yards in a 45-17 win over Louisiana Tech. Potential bad news: Starting linebackers Kris Frost and Cassanova McKinzy were hurt and didn't return to the game.
3. Baylor: The FBS' highest-scoring team keeps cruising along, as the Bears crushed Iowa State 49-28 on the road Saturday night. Baylor faces three straight potential tricky games, starting with Saturday's trip to Texas.
4. Notre Dame: Quarterback Everett Golson continued his impressive start to the season and completed 25 passes in a row (one shy of the FBS record) in the Fighting Irish's 31-15 win Saturday at Syracuse. Golson completed 32 of 39 passes for 362 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Heisman Trophy candidates
1. Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia: The Bulldogs are looking more and more like a one-man show, as Gurley ran 28 times for 208 yards with two touchdowns in a 35-32 victory over Tennessee. It was the 16th 100-yard game of his career, second only to 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker in Georgia history.
2. Kenny Hill, QB, Texas A&M: Hill wasn't nearly as efficient against Arkansas. He completed 21 of 41 passes for 386 yards with four touchdowns and one interception, but he was at his best when his team needed it most. Hill threw for 204 yards with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime against the Hogs.
3. Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska: Abdullah ran for 196 yards with three touchdowns in the first half Saturday against Illinois. He finished with 208 yards on 22 carries after sitting out most of the second half of the Cornhuskers' 45-14 victory.
4. Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin: After suffering a hip injury against LSU in Week 1, Gordon is running his way back into the Heisman race. He ran 32 times for 181 yards with two touchdowns in Saturday's 27-10 win over South Florida, which gives him 434 yards with seven scores in the past two games.
By the numbers
1. 3: Number of losses for Michigan after Saturday's 30-14 defeat by Minnesota, which makes this year the first time in the 135-year history of the program the Wolverines have lost three games before October.
2. 589: Passing yards for Massachusetts quarterback Blake Frohnapfel in Saturday's 47-42 loss to Bowling Green, which broke the MAC single-game record of 551 set by Kent State's Jose Davis in 1997.
3. 6: Touchdown passes thrown by Clemson freshman Deshaun Watson in his first career start, which set a school single-game record and an ACC freshman record. Watson completed 27 of 36 passes for 435 yards in a 50-35 win over North Carolina.
4. 12: Points scored by SMU this season, its fewest through four games since 1960 and the fourth fewest in program history. Opponents have outscored the Mustangs by 190 points this season, the worst scoring differential through four games for any FBS team in the past 10 seasons.
Best quotes
1. "I don't know if he had a concussion or not, I don't know that. Shane's a pretty competitive, tough kid. And Shane wanted to be the quarterback, and so, believe me, if he didn't want to be, he would've come to the sideline or stayed down." -- Michigan coach Brady Hoke, when asked why he left wobbly quarterback Shane Morris in the game.
2. "We tried to run the ball, and we tried to throw the ball, but we didn't do all of it very well." -- South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier after the Gamecocks lost to Missouri 21-20 at home on Saturday.
3. "There was some unbelievable holding by their offensive line that apparently is invisible." -- NC State coach Dave Doeren, on his team's loss to Florida State.
4. "We've got to get that fixed. You can't play championship football until that gets fixed." -- Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, after his defense gave up touchdown passes of 60 and 83 yards in the first half against Cincinnati.
Best plays
1. After he nearly got sacked, NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw a ridiculous, 8-yard touchdown to Johnathan Alston in the Wolfpack's loss to FSU.
2. Georgia's Todd Gurley hurdled a Tennessee defender on a 26-yard run late in the fourth quarter to help the Bulldogs beat the Volunteers for the fifth straight time.
3. Colorado State's Garrett Grayson threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Charles Lovett on fourth-and-10 with 1:02 to left to beat Boston College 24-21 on the road.
4. California's Daniel Lasco made five Colorado defenders miss while turning a short pass into a 92-yard touchdown in the Bears' 59-56 win in double overtime.
Worst plays
1. You're not alone anymore, Gators. Two Penn State players decided to block each other during a running play Saturday. Maybe that's one of the reasons the Nittany Lions were upset 29-6 by Northwestern.
2. Trailing Georgia 28-25 late in the fourth quarter, Tennessee tailback Jalen Hurd fumbled the ball in the Volunteers' end zone. Bulldogs defensive end Josh Dawson recovered the ball for a touchdown.
3. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot. Western Michigan fumbled the opening kickoff of Saturday's game at Virginia Tech, and Hokies linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka returned it 11 yards for a touchdown. The Hokies ended a two-game losing streak with a 35-17 victory.
4. Ohio State assistant strength and conditioning coach Anthony Schlegel might have delivered the hit of the weekend when a fan ran onto the field during the Buckeyes' 50-28 win over Cincinnati.