What a treat the college football schedule is this week.
There are four matchups between ranked teams, with some of the nation’s best squads so far this season such as Texas and Georgia played in games that will have serious conference and playoff implications.
But beyond the ranked matchups, there are plenty of exciting ranked-unranked contests, and even a few intriguing games – looking at you, Purdue at Iowa – between unranked teams.
Here are some of this week’s top matchups:
No. 23 LSU at No. 21 Missouri (12 p.m., ESPN): Things do not get easier at this point for LSU’s struggling defense, which has allowed 31.0 points and 429.4 yards of offense per game. In this battle of the Tigers, LSU will have to travel to face Missouri and quarterback Brady Cook, who has quietly been among the best signal callers in the country this season.
Through five games, he’s completing 74.5 percent of his passes for 1,468 yards and 11 touchdowns without a single interception, but other than the season-opener against FCS-level South Dakota, LSU might be the worst defense Missouri has faced thus far.
LSU has the firepower to keep up, but the defense will have to start making some stops at some point, and there’s no excuse with the amount of playmakers that LSU has on the roster.
No. 12 Oklahoma at No. 3 Texas (12 p.m., ABC): Coming into this game, Texas may have already had the resume – including a win over Alabama and then-ranked Kansas – to be considered the top team in the country, but the Longhorns can leave little doubt with a big win in the Red River Rivalry.
Texas has looked solid in all facets, with quarterback Quinn Ewers, wide receiver Xavier Worthy and running back Jonathon Brooks leading the offense, while the defense is allowing just 12.8 points and 290.8 yards per game.
Oklahoma has mostly skated through an easy scheduled, though just a 20-6 win over Cincinnati a couple of weeks back – this is not your Fickell’s Cincinnati anymore – may give some pause as to the legitimacy of the Sooners’ 5-0 start. Even so, quarterback Dillon Gabriel has thrown for 1,593 yards and 15 touchdowns, and the defense has already collected 10 interceptions, so it should be a fun one in Dallas.
No. 20 Kentucky at No. 1 Georgia (7 p.m., ESPN): Can Kentucky finish what Auburn started? The Tigers showed some flaws for the Bulldogs last week, which have not looked up to their national championship standard through five games.
Kentucky enters with an identical 5-0 record, led by running back Re’Mahn Davis and his 594 yards and eight touchdowns already this season. Quarterback Devin Leary, who transferred in from NC State this offseason, has not been particularly efficient, completing just 57.7 percent of his passes for 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. But a vulnerable rushing defense for Georgia will make this interesting.
On the other side of the ball for the Bulldogs, tight end Brock Bowers has been as advertised, though Georgia has not gotten much from the running backs. They’re putting up 38.6 points per game, though in their two toughest games thus far against South Carolina and Auburn, put up just 24 and 27 points, respectively, and Kentucky’s defense has been better than both this season. Keep an eye on this one.
Other notable games on the schedule include:
- Maryland at No. 4 Ohio State (12 p.m., FOX)
- Rutgers at Wisconsin (12 p.m., Peacock)
- No. 13 Washington State at UCLA (3 p.m., P12N)
- Wake Forest at Clemson (3:30 p.m., ACCN)
- Virginia Tech at No. 5 Florida State (3:30 p.m., ABC)
- Syracuse at No. 14 North Carolina (3:30 p.m., ESPN)
- Purdue at Iowa (3:30 p.m., Peacock)
- No. 11 Alabama at Texas A&M (3:30 p.m., CBS)
- Arkansas at No. 16 Ole Miss (7:30 p.m., SECN)
- No. 2 Michigan at Minnesota (7:30 p.m., NBC)
- No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 25 Louisville (7:30 p.m., ABC)
- Arizona at No. 9 USC (10:30 p.m., ESPN)
