4-Down Territory: Rivalry Games, Ranked Matchups, Conference Battles & PSU Looks to Rebound

RIVALRY ALERTS: #6 Oklahoma (5-0) vs Texas (3-2) in The Cotton Bowl 3:30 ABC: The Red River Rivalry is one of the highlights of every college football season no matter the records or rankings. It is a day when fans can easily eclipse the 8,000 mark for caloric intake. Will OU QB John Mateer make it back for this game? We may not know for certain until game time. Texas needs to find consistency on offense and playing the nation’s #1 defense won’t make that any easier. The bigger surprise was the way in which the Texas defense was exposed by Florida. OU QB Michael Hawkins played well against Kent State last week in relief of John Mateer, but even after a tough week, the UT defense will pose a major test no matter who shows up at QB for the Sooners…….Arkansas (2-3) at #12 Tennessee (4-1) 4;15 SEC Network: These two border foes learned to dislike one another not long after the Razorbacks joined the SEC in the 1990s. Arkansas has an interim (but very experienced) coach in Bobby Petrino. They've given up 129 points in their last three games. Should be a walk in the park for an exciting Tennessee offense…right? No one should take interim coaches for granted as shown by UCLA last week……..#10 Georgia (4-1) at Auburn (3-2) 7:30 ABC: One of the oldest and most-played rivalries in the country unfolds on the Plains once again. The SEC looks to be wide open with Georgia solidly in the hunt. They have won at Tennessee in a shootout so they are road-tested. Auburn has two SEC losses but both have come on the road by single digits to Top-6 teams (#5 Oklahoma and #6 Texas A&M). The danger for UGA is playing a team that knows they can compete with the best and with the confidence that comes from a home night game. They will need to keep the Auburn pass rush from disrupting their pass game.

1^st  Down: Worthy Undercard Games: Rutgers (3-2) at Washington (4-1) FRIDAY 9:00 FS1: The Huskies should be ranked and Rutgers is a few plays from being 5-0 right now. Both teams are efficient throwing the football. The Huskies defense is a Top 20 unit that will face a serious test. The Rutgers attack features two of the leading receivers in the Big Ten. Of note: so far this year in Big Ten games involving a team traveling three time zones, the visiting teams are 4-2…….#24 USF (4-1) at North Texas (5-0) FRIDAY 7:30 ESPN2: USF has QB Byrum Brown who is a big threat passing and running. They’ve also got wins over Florida and Boise State. North Texas routed Washington State 59-10……Pitt (3-2) at #25 Florida State (3-2) 12:00 ESPN: FSU needs a win to stay alive in the ACC and the playoff hunt. Last week Pitt started QB Mason Heintschel who responded with 4 TDs and 300+ yards in a rout of BC. The Panthers have also regained some of that defensive mojo with a pass rush (8^th in the nation) that has helped them rank 22^nd in total defense. FSU QB Tommy Castellanos has the mobility to avoid sacks and has found big WR Duce Robinson who is 6-6 and a matchup problem. Of note in week seven Pitt is the only Pennsylvania team with a win over a Power-4 team…..Nebraska (4-1) at Maryland (4-1) 3:30 Big Ten Network: Nebraska’s defense is for real as are the two QBs playing in this game in Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola and Maryland’s Malik Washington. The winner of this game deserves to jump into the Top 25.

2^nd Down: More Worthy Matchups: Washington State (3-2) at #4 Ole Miss (5-0) 12:45 The SEC Network: Before the season started would you have thought Ole Miss would be the highest-ranked SEC team heading into week 7? QB Trinidad Chambliss transferred from Division II Ferris State in Michigan and has taken over. Ole Miss pushes the pass game downfield for big plays and has 4 receivers averaging over 18 yards per catch (YPC) including TE Dae’Quan Wright (23.3 YPC) and Penn State transfer WR Harrison Wallace (21.2 YPC). Washington State’s defense will need dramatic improvement after allowing 59 points to both North Texas and Washington…..……#18 BYU (5-0) at Arizona (4-1) 8:00 ESPN2: BYU freshman QB Bear Bachmeier has played well so far. A trip to Tucson will be his toughest test yet to face a Top 10 defense. But he does have one of the nation’s leading rushers to help in LJ Martin……#21 Arizona State (4-1) at Utah (4-1) 10:15 ESPN: Outside of one bad quarter against Texas Tech, Utah’s defense has had a great year. Arizona State will look to balance the run and the pass to stay undefeated in Big XII play……#22 Iowa State (5-1) at Colorado (2-4): Iowa State needs a win to stay in the Big XII race. Colorado needs a win to regain some credibility……Virginia Tech (2-4) at #13 Georgia Tech (5-0) 3:30 ACC Network: The Ramblin’ Wreck has had a close call or two but they remain undefeated. Look for the favorites to establish the run game to control this game from start to finish.

3^rd Down: Heating Up: NC State (4-2) at #16 Notre Dame (3-2) 3:30 NBC/Peacock: NC State RB Hollywood Smothers not only has one of the best names in college football, but he’s also one of the nation’s leading rushers. He and the Wolfpack will test the Notre Dame defense that is improving week by week. Last week the Irish snagged 4 INTs in their win. Irish QB CJ Carr is one of the best freshman players at any position in the country this year. If he continues to be careful with the ball, Notre Dame can use that offensive balance to set the tempo in this one……Florida (2-3) at #5 Texas A&M (5-0) 7:00 ESPN: The Gators got the Aggies’ attention by beating Texas last weekend. They made some big plays against a tough Longhorn defense and avoided the big turnovers. They will need to do that again this week if they want to win in Aggieland. The Aggies DE Cashius Howell leads the nation with 7 sacks and is 8^th in tackles for loss. He will look to force Florida QB DJ Lagway into making the mistakes he largely avoided last week……Kansas (4-2) at #9 Texas Tech 7:30 FOX: The average margin of victory for Texas Tech is 37.2 points and their offense has yet to score less than 34 in any game. The Kansas defense will need to play at their highest level. Kansas is capable of rolling up points too. Could be a shootout……..South Carolina (3-2) at #11 LSU (4-1) 7:45 The SEC Network: LSU has an excellent defense, but they had trouble with the passing and running of Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss. South Carolina QB Lanorris Sellers provides the same set of challenges. The difference is that Sellers lacks the number of explosive receivers Ole Miss has. So, look for Sellers to do some real damage on the ground with his physical running style.

4^th Down: The Big Games: #1 Ohio State (5-0) at #17 Illinois (5-1) 12:00 FOX: The Buckeye defense is performing even better than they did last year. There is a new attitude with new coordinator Matt Patricia. The Buckeyes have yet to give up a Red Zone TD and have only allowed 2 TDs all year (and keep in mind that schedule has already included games against Texas and at Washington). QB Julian Sayin is surrounded by weapons and is completing his passes at on 80% clip—tops in the nation. The Illinois offense will be the most experienced offense OSU has faced all year. QB Luke Altmyer is a veteran presence and has completed almost 74% of his passes and has yet to throw an interception. Illinois’ lone loss came against Indiana where they had a hard time stopping big plays and really struggled with the Indiana pass rush. Look for OSU to try and replicate that. Expect Illinois to try to control the tempo of the game and get Altmyer to pick up some key first downs as a runner…….#8 Alabama (4-1) at #14 Missouri (5-0) 12:00 ABC: The nation’s leading rusher RB Ahmad Hardy and dynamic QB Beau Pribula lead Mizzou against Alabama. The Tide are giving up a generous 4.65 yards per carry for the year and the threat of the QB run game makes stopping the run more difficult. Alabama’s offense has been focused on an explosive pass game with three big threats at WR and orchestrated by QB Ty Simpson. Establishing a run game will be tough against the nation’s top run defense so look for the Tide to push the pass game to open up some running room. This would be a transformative win for Mizzou if they pull it off……#15 Michigan (4-1) at USC (4-1) 7:30 NBC: This will be a fun night of matchups. Michigan likes to run the ball and play defense But the exciting part of this will be seeing some exciting skill players. USC QB Jayden Maiava just continues to impress. Michigan freshman QB Bryce Underwood is getting better every week. Last week they turned him loose in the second half and he made a big difference against Wisconsin. At RB UM’s Justice Haynes is 3^rd nationally in rushing and USC’s Waymond Jordan is #6. And at WR USC’s Makai Lemon is #2 nationally in receiving and Michigan’s Donaven McCulley is a big matchup problem at 6’5. Defense will be key in this one and that may give Michigan an advantage….

#7 Indiana (5-0) at #3 Oregon (5-0) 3:30 CBS: This is the game of the day. A matchup of top-ranked offenses (IU 5^th/ Oregon 9^th), defenses (IU 5^th/Oregon 7^th) and national leaders in turnover margin (IU +6/ Oregon +5). IU QB Fernando Mendoza is 2^nd nationally in pass efficiency and Oregon QB Dante Moore is 6th. Both teams have explosive receiving corps and get rushing and receiving yards from a number of RBs. They also boast incredible run/pass balance. And on the sidelines are two of the best coaches and coaching staffs in the country. So where does this game turn? Pass rush will be critical. Field position will play into this. Eliminating big plays will be vital. This may be the Big Ten game of the year by the time this all settles down in late November. Of note "Shout" in Autzen Stadium may be the best 3rd-Quarter song in the country.

5^th Down: Looking to Rebound: Northwestern (3-2) at Penn State (3-2) 3:30 FS1: One of these teams has a Power-4 win and it’s not Penn State. The Nittany Lions have a lot to prove this week and before anyone sees this as a walk in the park look at some key numbers. With Northwestern having played a slightly more difficult schedule and the two teams having played the same Big Ten opponents the statistical comparisons are appropriate here. Also note that versus the two common opponents (UCLA & Oregon) Northwestern is 1-1 and Penn State is 0-2. Northwestern is one of the top teams in the country for time of possession. They average 33:00 of possession while PSU is just under 27:00 per game. For Northwestern to play that way, having a lead is critical. A fast start and an early lead would help in many ways. The biggest difference between the two teams is turnover margin where Penn State is +4 and Northwestern is -6. That's a sure way to get the NW offense off the field.