As we saw last week, even a college football weekend without many marquee matchups can bring some chaotic, amazing scenes. Like how we saw South Florida continue to stampede past expectations in a road upset of Florida in The Swamp.
This weekend has a little of everything - conference games starting up, marquee non-conference matchups and plenty of upset potential.
Oftentimes, early season weekends like this start to define the season. We get our storylines. Like Pudge the Cat. Or USF. Or Hawaii’s Japanese-born, YouTube-taught kicker. What’s the new story coming out of this weekend?
You’ll have to tune in to find out. And here’s the best games to do that. As always, all times are in Eastern.
Friday Night
Game of the Slot: Colorado at Houston (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Hear me out, I’m weirdly excited for this one. Simply because it can devolve into a Sickos masterpiece or a great, action-backed Big 12 duel.
Colorado has two well-regarded quarterbacks in longtime Liberty starter Kaidon Salter and five-star true freshman Julian Lewis. They’ll give their first start to Ryan Staub, who is most notably neither of those players. Staub was super efficient in his only action this year, though it came against Delaware, but Colorado now has a serious quarterback dilemma brewing. Who starts? Sanders won’t confirm a starter and even took some shots at media members for insinuating Staub would start, but he has to find a hot hand under center.
On the flip side, not much of anything has been said about Houston since Willy Fritz’s hire. The Cougars are getting their first real test, but so far, they’ve looked the part against an FCS foe and Rice. Former five-star import Conner Weigman has formed quite a connection with Tanner Koziol that is pushing the offense forward. The defense has been stingy, allowing only nine points in two games.
The Big 12 is always prone to weird and wild Friday night games, and this should be no different.
Multi-Box Games: Kansas State at Arizona (9 p.m., FOX); New Mexico at UCLA (9:30 p.m., Big Ten Network); Indiana State at Indiana (6:30 p.m., Big Ten Network)
Moving to the multi-box options, we start with an early season Anxiety Bowl between Kansas State and Arizona. Both are already floundering, which coaches staring down tough seasons. The Wildcats have to get on track after a loss in Ireland has derailed any hype, while Brent Brennan needs to start winning to salvage his job. New Mexico-UCLA will likely be an ugly affair, but I’m mostly watching to see if UCLA has any life. It’s either now or never for the Bruins. I fully expect Indiana to roll through their in-state FCS foe, so this is mostly if you just want to see a team dominate for whatever reason.
Saturday - 12 p.m. EST
Game of the Slot: 11 Clemson at 21 Georgia Tech (ESPN)
The ACC race will start to heat up with this battle.
Clemson has been disappointing, off to yet another slow start on offense. Cade Klubnik has little to no help in the rushing game and his passing stats are far from awe-inspiring. The Tigers rank 95th in net EPA/play and struggled with Troy last week. Troy! I’m more confused by the defense not bearing the elite hallmarks you’d expect from a Tom Allen-led unit with this much talent, but I believe they’ll figure it out.
This is what Georgia Tech is built for, though. Haynes King, the little engine that could, should be available for the Yellow Jackets in their battle for conference supremacy. Even without him, though, the offense is ready to go. Aaron Philo has been a worthy replacement and Jamal Haynes can tote the rock to great effect against anybody. They rank 22nd in offensive success and 15th in offense EPA/play, but haven’t seen a defense quite like Clemson yet.
This has all the makings of a tight, hard-fought battle that will be a blast to watch.
Multi-Box Games: Wisconsin at Alabama (ABC); 14 Oklahoma at Temple (ESPN2); Memphis at Troy (ESPNU)
Can Alabama finally get up on the right side of the bed and do what they’re supposed to against Wisconsin? The two programs are virtually identical in net EPA/play (+0.34 for Wisconsin, +0.30 for Alabama), which shows it may be closer than most think. For Oklahoma-Temple, I’m mostly interested in the absurdity of Oklahoma traveling to Temple. It’s got hangover-game potential, as K.C. Keeler’s Owls have been rolling behind Evan Simon, who ranks second in the nation in EPA/dropback. Finally, Memphis at Troy could have some Group of Six playoff implications, especially if Troy’s first half against Clemson, when the Trojans held a 17-0 lead, is legit.
3-4 p.m. EST
Game of the Slot: 16 South Florida at 3 Miami (4:30 p.m., The CW)
That’s right, we’re running with the Bulls in a potential Game of the Week situation.
South Florida, long considered a potential breakout team, is now pushing their chips all in behind quarterback Byrum Brown. The dual-threat quarterback has been instrumental in the Bulls’ hot start, taking matters into his own hands and leading the offense forward. What’s been more impressive is the defense, though. Alex Golesh’s defense ranks 49th in EPA/play allowed and their secondary is limiting teams to just a 36.9 percent success rate, good for 54th in the nation. It’s not eye-popping, but shows the Bulls have some serious talent and may be for real.
Miami, though, is Miami. Carson Beck and the offense are going to be firing the ball all over the place. Their offense vastly outpaces the USF defense in almost every metric, so the focus will be on the Hurricane defense and the Bull offense. Byrum Brown is the best player that Corey Hetherman’s unit has come across yet. Are they up to the challenge? They rank 20th in net EPA/play allowed defensively, so the metrics say they are. But this is still a Miami defense, and you have to account for the madness that that traditionally includes - especially under Mario Cristobal.
Multi-Box Games: 5 Georgia at 24 Tennessee (3:30 p.m., ABC); Pittsburgh at West Virginia (3:30 p.m., ESPN); Oregon State at 18 Texas Tech (3:30 p.m., FOX)
Tennessee hasn’t been able to top Georgia yet under Josh Heupel, but this year may be the time. The Dawgs have vulnerabilities, especially on offense, so if Tennessee can start hot and keep the pedal to the metal, they may assert themselves as top contenders. The Backyard Brawl always brings chaotic, wild, great football and this year is no different. I expect Pittsburgh to be the better team with Eli Holstein and Desmond Reid racking up yards, but Rich Rodriguez has waited since 2007 to get his revenge over the hated Panthers. Texas Tech’s portal build gets their first semblance of a test against Oregon State. The Beavers have been rough on the ground, but their nation’s best third-down defense could be the key to pulling the upset.
Wondering where these rankings are coming from? Check out this week’s SID Sports Top 25!
6-8 p.m. EST
Game of the Slot: Texas A&M at 10 Notre Dame (7:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock)
Full disclosure: I forgot to rank Texas A&M in last week’s rankings. Oops.
Either way, this should have been a top-15 matchup. The visiting Aggies are a team I really like (despite leaving them off the rankings on accident). Collin Klein’s built a solid offense behind Marcel Reed and a stable of backs that can hold onto the ball for a while if they want to, putting the pressure on Notre Dame’s young quarterback.
And that quarterback will be the key. I’m watching to see if offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock actually decides to use his duo of tailbacks Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, but C.J. Carr will win or lose this game for the Fighting Irish. The good news is Texas A&M doesn’t seem to have an elite defense, which could let Carr, Love and Price get into a rhythm and notch Notre Dame a home turf win. Or, the Aggies could pounce from out of nowhere and dominate like many a Mike Elko defense has done in the past. Who knows?
Multi-Box Games: Vanderbilt at 19 South Carolina (7:45 p.m., SEC Network); Duke at 25 Tulane (8 p.m., ESPN); Florida at 2 LSU (7:30 p.m., ABC)
Vanderbilt wins in the Clark Lea era come when you least expect it, against teams that have the world in front of them. South Carolina is one of those teams. The battle between Diego Pavia and LaNorris Sellers has great potential to be as outlandish a game as we’ve seen, no matter how you envision that word. With USF claiming all the Group of Six playoff hype, Tulane has a resume builder against a good Duke team here. Don’t forget, Duke quarterback Darian Mensah will have his first game back at his former school, Tulane, to account for. Finally, Billy Napier desperately needs this. And so does Brian Kelly, for that matter. Whoever loses this game will have serious pressure on not just the coach, but the entire roster. Is LSU a contender? Is Florida cooked? I’m locking in to find out.
West Coast After Dark
Game of the Slot: Texas State at Arizona State (10:30 p.m., TNT/truTV/HBO Max)
Yes, this is a weak timeslot, so bear with me.
Texas State’s offense has played like a team that’s PAC-12 bound, ranking 21st in offensive EPA/play. Brad Jackson has taken to the scheme like it’s nothing and he has the Bobcats rolling. Their defense, as expected, is suspect, ranking 94th in EPA/play allowed.
Arizona State suffered as bad a loss as we’ve seen so far against Mississippi State last week, so a get-right win is key. They just have to limit the explosiveness. Blake Shapen tore apart what should’ve been a solid Sun Devil defense. Texas State ranks among the nation’s most explosive offenses. I don’t feel good about this turning into a shootout, not after Sam Leavitt’s slow start, so Kenny Dillingham is counting on his defense getting stops to avoid an upset.
Multi-Box Games: Minnesota at California (10:30 p.m., ESPN); Boston College at Stanford (10:30 p.m., ACC Network); Air Force at Utah State (9:45 p.m., FS1)
We’ve got a host of weird matchups late. Minnesota and California feel like two teams that have never played before and both play ugly brands of football. The Gophers will have their hands full against true freshman Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele, who is on fire to start his collegiate career. The chess match between him and Koi Perich is a fun game within the game. Boston College is likely to run roughshod over Stanford, but Frank Reich’s team has shown some fight in the early going that could catch a jet-lagged Eagle squad sleeping. Finally, we get a stylistic matchup between the service academy triple option Air Force and Bronco Mendenhall’s air it out Utah State that puts the onus on the defenses for a change. Whoever has more juice and can make a stop gets the win.
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