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CFB Week 6 winners, losers: First-year coaches earn signature wins
UCLA Bruins head coach Bob Chesney. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

CFB Week 6 winners, losers: First-year coaches earn signature wins

By Adam Gretz  |  Last updated Oct 11, 2026 12:34 AM ET
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Week 6 of the 2026 college football season is in the books, so let's take a look at some of the biggest winners and losers from the week.

Saturday was a massive day for first-year coaches trying to build once-forgotten programs back into contenders, and it was a miserable day for some big-name quarterbacks in crunch time. 

Winner: Bob Chesney, head coach, UCLA

Did he and his UCLA Bruins beat a team playing with its backup quarterback? Yeah. But they still went into that game as a double-digit underdog in one of the toughest environments in college football. And his team came out with a win and a 5-0 record. Statement win at Oregon for an early signature win for Chesney in his first year with the Bruins. 

Loser: Dylan Raiola, QB, Oregon

Oregon spent big money to get Raiola into the program, and there should have been an expectation that he could run the offense enough to give the Ducks a chance if they needed to call on him. He did not give them a chance on Saturday, completing just 6-of-19 passes for only 43 yards, while also throwing two interceptions. That performance earned him a seat on the bench.

Winner: Kentucky Wildcats

Bob Chesney was not the only first-year coach to get a franchise-changing win on Saturday.

Kentucky's Will Stein also pulled off a stunner in a 35-34 overtime win against LSU that included a gutsy two-point conversion call in overtime. 

His team is now 5-1 and seems likely to be headed for the Top-25 after Saturday. 

Loser: Arch Manning, QB, Texas

If he were named Arch Jones or Arch Smith, the hype train would have derailed long ago. He's a good college quarterback who has some big moments. But the consistency is not there, and he is still prone to big-moment meltdowns.

He had a major meltdown on Saturday to help hand the Red River Rivalry to Oklahoma. 

Winner: Indiana's winning streak

It looked ugly early in the fourth quarter as the Hoosiers trailed at Nebraska, 17-6, but the defending national champions showed why they still have the juice in a new season and scored two touchdowns in under five minutes of clock time to take the lead.

Indiana has now won 22 games in a row and is 33-2 since the start of the 2024 season. 

Loser: Pat Narduzzi, head coach, Pitt

Following his team's Week 5 win at Virginia Tech, Narduzzi called out the AP voters to put his team in the top-25.

They did.

And then he came out on Saturday, at home, against North Carolina, and dropped a 21-17 game that will put his team back outside the rankings. 

He is trying to win with a backup quarterback, and Holden Geriner showed why he is a fifth-year senior who had never started an NCAA game until Saturday, but the Pitt coaching staff did an awful job putting him into positions to succeed. 

Winner: Georgia Bulldogs likely moving to No. 1 

They found a way to win on the road at Alabama, and thanks to the Texas loss to Oklahoma, are going to find themselves as the No. 1 team in the country. 

Loser: SEC Officials 

The missed pass interference call in the fourth quarter of Georgia's win over Alabama is the type of thing that just can not happen.

It can not happen in a group of six game. It can not happen in a nationally televised game between two top-six teams on the biggest stage of the college football weekend. 

Winner: Jackson Gutierrez, QB, Navy

The Midshipmen were 34-26 winners over Tulsa, and quarterback Jackson Gutierrez was a monster on the ground, running 41 times for 226 yards and three touchdowns. He also completed 5-of-7 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. 

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on X @AGretz

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