In college football, every weekend is a mix of strange occurrences and main characters both new and old.

With marquee matchups and upset bids galore occurring throughout the slate, Week 5 of the 2025 college football season was unsurprisingly no different.

Each week throughout the season, we’ll look at some of those unlikely occurrences with a list of nontraditional superlatives. Here what stood out around the college football world in Week 5.

Best big man touchdown: Shaq McRoy

Saturday didn’t go very well for Arkansas, as the Razorbacks fell 56-13 to Notre Dame, but they did score one of the coolest touchdowns of Week 5.

At face value, a 1-yard touchdown run isn’t much to write home about. But the scorer? Someone you don’t see every week: redshirt freshman offensive lineman JacQawn “Shaq” McRoy. The Shaq nickname likely has something to do with McRoy’s size (6-foot-8, 344 pounds), which served him well as he plowed into the end zone for the Razorbacks’ only touchdown on the afternoon.

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JacQawn McRoy rushes in for 1-yard rushing touchdown

End Zone! JacQawn McRoy scores 1-yard rushing touchdown

Postgame celebration of the week: P.J. Fleck

Minnesota picked up its first Big Ten win of the season on Saturday, taking down Rutgers 31-28 in Minneapolis.

With his squad now 3-1, Golden Gophers coach P.J. Fleck had a particularly memorable locker room celebration in mind: crowd surfing. Fleck charged into the home locker room and leaped head-first into a gaggle of players, who sprayed water in the air as they gave Fleck a toss upward before letting him down.

W 😎#RTB #SkiUMah #Gophers pic.twitter.com/pbPrP4SsIM

— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) September 27, 2025

Few things will cause coaches and fans to be frustrated quite like a well-designed play being wiped off the board by a penalty. USC was forced to ruminate over such an occurrence in Week 5, as what would have been an impressive trick play was scratched from the record in the second quarter of Saturday’s 34-32 loss to Illinois.

Running back Waymond Jordan took a snap in Wildcat formation and headed for the edge on what looked like a run-of-the-mill rush. But just as Jordan was about to reach the line of scrimmage, he tossed the ball back to quarterback Jayden Maiava (who had lined up out wide), who proceeded to throw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Makai Lemon. It was all for naught, though: The Trojans were flagged for an ineligible player downfield.

Most active on social media: Lane Kiffin

On Saturday, roughly 40 minutes before his squad’s top-15 clash with LSU was set to kick off, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin was doing what Lane Kiffin does best: tweeting. After posting a pregame photo with his daughter, Kiffin got to work directing the Rebels to a 24-19 win over the Tigers.

Within an hour after Ole Miss’ win, Kiffin was back to his favorite hobby. The Rebels coach posted a photo of a printed transcript from LSU coach Brian Kelly’s weekly radio show from a few days prior, with Kelly saying, “We’re going to keep that Magnolia Trophy right here in Baton Rouge.”

pic.twitter.com/TKqjCCrPPp

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) September 27, 2025

Looking to pull off an upset against Georgia Tech, Wake Forest opted for a field goal try with just under seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for Wake Forest, it missed. Fortunately for those who enjoy the unique, memorable sounds that college football stadiums can sometimes produce, that miss went off the uprights. The ensuing “clang” was ear-ringing.

Team effort play of the week: Incarnate Word

This is the second straight week a game featuring the Cardinals has made this weekly roundup for an unlikely play involving a bouncing ball, and it’s a worthy repeat entry.

Last week, the Cardinals were the victim of a bizarre sequence in which a ball bounced off an opposing punt returner’s helmet before being recovered by his own team 10 yards up the field. This week, it was Incarnate Word that was the beneficiary of a strange bounce and heads-up play, as the Cardinals snagged an interception that careened off three defenders before it was hauled to the ground.

The takeaway denied Abilene Christian of a potential score and helped Incarnate Word take a 17-7 lead into halftime. The Cardinals ultimately won 38-7.

MAYBE THE INTERCEPTION OF THE YEAR 😳🤯

The pass ping pongs off THREE different players and into the hands of Michael Pleas Jr!!! @UIWFootball with a HUGEEEE stop before half!

You gotta see this @ESPNAssignDesk, @NCAA_FCS! pic.twitter.com/PIJf61FNWs

— Southland Conference (@SouthlandSports) September 28, 2025