Friday’s schedule
Time | Game | TV |
|---|---|---|
Noon | No. 13 Iowa State at No. 17 Texas | ABC |
1 | Nebraska at No. 24 Iowa | Fox |
3:30 | No. 2 Notre Dame at No. 19 North Carolina | ABC |
3:30 | Central Florida at South Florida | ESPN |
4 | Wyoming at UNLV | Fox Sports 1 |
4 | Stanford at California | Fox |
4 | Central Michigan at Eastern Michigan | CBS Sports Network |
7 | No. 15 Oregon at Oregon State | ESPN |
Every team in the Big 12 has at least two losses, but Iowa State — whose last league title came in 1912, when it played in the Missouri Valley Conference — sits alone atop the standings with just one loss in league play. Only three players nationally are averaging more rushing yards per game and only one has more touchdowns than Cyclones running back Breece Hall, but Texas (Iowa State’s opponent Friday) has held two of its past three opponents to 64 rushing yards or fewer. Likewise, the Longhorns lean heavily on one player, in this case quarterback Sam Ehlinger, the four-year starter who will be playing in his final home game. Ehlinger leads the team in rushing and has thrown for 1,834 yards and 22 touchdowns with just five interceptions. …
Notre Dame’s offensive line, touted as one of the nation’s best, will be down two starters against North Carolina: Right guard Tommy Kraemer had an appendectomy last week, and center Jarrett Patterson suffered a season-ending foot injury in the Fighting Irish’s last game vs. Boston College. This could pose a problem for a team that values ball control (Notre Dame averages just more than 34 minutes of possession, tops among Power Five conference teams that have played at least six games) and running the ball (233.5 yards per game, tied for 14th nationally). The Tar Heels, who average the exact same rushing yards per game as the Irish, could get a number of players back from injury, including spectacularly named cornerback Storm Duck.
Saturday’s schedule
Time | Game | TV |
|---|---|---|
Noon | Kentucky at No. 6 Florida | ESPN |
Noon | Maryland at No. 12 Indiana | ESPN2 |
Noon | Texas Tech at No. 23 Oklahoma State | Fox |
Noon | Bowling Green at Ohio | ESPNU |
Noon | Penn State at Michigan | ABC |
Noon | North Carolina State at Syracuse | ACC Network |
Noon | Vanderbilt at Missouri | SEC Network |
Noon | Kent State at Buffalo | CBS Sports Network |
3 | North Texas at Texas San Antonio | MASN2 (in D.C. area) |
3:30 | No. 22 Auburn at No. 1 Alabama | CBS |
3:30 | Pittsburgh at No. 3 Clemson | ABC |
3:30 | No. 8 Northwestern at Michigan State | ESPN |
3:30 | Florida Atlantic at Middle Tennessee | CBS Sports Network |
4 | Rutgers at Purdue | Fox Sports 1 |
4 | Mississippi State at Mississippi | SEC Network |
4 | Louisville at Boston College | ACC Network |
5 | San Diego State at Colorado | Pac-12 Network |
7 | LSU at No. 5 Texas A&M | ESPN |
7 | Memphis at Navy | CBS Sports Network |
7 | Duke at Georgia Tech | MASN (in D.C. area) |
7 | Kansas State at Baylor | ESPN2 |
7:30 | No. 9 Georgia at South Carolina | SEC Network |
7:30 | Utah at Washington | ABC |
8 | TCU at Kansas | Fox Sports 1 |
8 | Arizona at UCLA | Fox |
Penn State is 0-5 for the first time. Michigan is 2-3 and needed triple overtime to beat Rutgers last weekend, avoiding its first 1-4 start since 1967 with help from a missed Scarlet Knights field goal in the first extra period. So, yes, this year’s Nittany Lions-Wolverines game is a battle of floundering blue bloods, with one team (Penn State) trailing by double digits at halftime of all five games and the other (Michigan) going 227 minutes 22 seconds without holding a lead earlier this season. It’s the first time that both teams enter the game with losing records and just the third time both teams are unranked. The Nittany Lions are in a particularly bad spot, with quarterbacks Will Levis and Sean Clifford having a hand in all 13 of Penn State’s turnovers (eight of them interceptions by Clifford). Nine of those giveaways happened in the past three games, and three of them were returned for touchdowns. …
Alabama is the unanimous No. 1 team in the Associated Press top 25, the 22nd time the Crimson Tide has been able to claim that. All but one of those previous occasions have happened since 2012. (That Nick Saban might be a keeper.) For that reason — and its 63-3 win over Kentucky last weekend — the Crimson Tide (No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings) is somewhere around a 24-point Iron Bowl favorite against Auburn, which has a loss to South Carolina (the Gamecocks have since fired their coach) and a couple of referee-assisted wins on its résumé. The Tigers also might be without leading rusher Tank Bigsby and starting tackles Brodarious Hamm and Alec Jackson, who all suffered injuries last week against Tennessee. Alabama’s defense has stiffened since it gave up 48 points and 647 yards to Mississippi on Oct. 10. In the four games that followed, the Crimson Tide surrendered 11 points per game, with Mississippi State and Kentucky scoring a total of three in Alabama’s past two games.
Canceled/postponed games
No. 3 Ohio State at Illinois (canceled)
Southern Mississippi at UAB (canceled)
San Diego State at Fresno State (canceled)
Washington at Washington State (called off, may be rescheduled for Dec. 19)
No. 7 Cincinnati at Temple (canceled)
No. 10 Miami at Wake Forest (postponed until Dec. 5)
No. 11 Oklahoma at West Virginia (postponed until Dec. 12)
Colorado at No. 19 Southern California (canceled)
No. 25 Tulsa at Houston (postponed; may be rescheduled for Dec. 19)
Arkansas at Missouri (postponed, may be rescheduled for Dec. 19)
Tennessee at Vanderbilt (postponed, may be rescheduled for Dec. 19)
Utah at Arizona State (canceled)
Western Kentucky at Charlotte (postponed until Tuesday)
Louisiana Tech at Florida International (canceled)