After a week without any ranked matchups on the schedule, Week 4 brings a half dozen ranked showdowns in college football in what appears to be one of the best Saturdays of the season. Whether it lives up to the billing remains to be seen, but each window throughout the day features some tasty matchups and we should learn an awful lot about many of the teams in or around the top-25.
Florida State (-2.5) at Clemson, 12:00 p.m. ET (ABC)
The Noles almost got caught sleepwalking on the road against Boston College, and it’s fair to wonder if they had an eye already on this trip to Clemson. It’s the first time the Tigers have been home dogs since 2016 — the legendary Lamar Jackson-Deshaun Watson showdown — and you’d be hard pressed to find two teams that had more different vibes around them after the first week of the season. That said, last week took a little shine off of FSU, while Clemson’s taken care of business and seems to be finding a bit of footing. As such, this should be a fascinating game no matter what the outcome, whether it’s close throughout or a blowout, and will likely command main screen attention from most in the noon slate.
Auburn (+8.5) at Texas A&M, 12:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Texas A&M desperately needs this win after what happened down in Coral Gables to open the season, but Auburn’s offense has been humming under Hugh Freeze. Given how leaky the Aggies looked against Miami, we’ll see if they’ve shored things up as they play their first big home game of the season against the Tigers, who will challenge them in a big way on the ground. The good news is, A&M’s offense has looked pretty good throwing the ball and this is a game that could see some real fireworks in College Station.
Oklahoma (-14) at Cincinnati, 12:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
Few teams have looked as dominant to start the season as the Sooners, but now they’ll take it on the road for the first time against a Cincinnati team that seems to have taken a step back. In theory, this shouldn’t be stressful for Oklahoma, but it also feels like the right type of game for folks to be wondering what the hell’s going on at Nippert Stadium in the second half when they scan the scoreboard and see the Sooners locked in a tight one. On the other hand, if Oklahoma can go on the road and take care of business in a big way, that will be very telling of how competitive this squad could be.
Colorado (+21) at Oregon, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
It’s not often the game everyone wants to see features a three-touchdown spread, but Colorado’s biggest test of the season arrives in Eugene this weekend as Coach Prime once again takes his show on the road. Travis Hunter’s absence takes away from this one a bit and is part of why this line has stayed up at 21, as not having their most dynamic player on both sides of the ball makes this a very difficult task for the Buffs. Still, Shedeur Sanders has looked great through three weeks and showed last week how resilient he is, and the Ducks will have a real test on the defensive side of the ball. Where Oregon figures to have the big advantage is when their offense is on the field, as they should simply out-athlete the Buffs and Bo Nix should have a huge game to vault himself back up into the Heisman mix. The biggest concern for Oregon offensively is Nix’s occasional willingness to get loose with the football, as the one thing Colorado has been good at defensively to start this season has been capitalizing on turnover opportunities. If Nix provides those for the Buffs, this could get fun. If he plays smart, one would think the Ducks cruise.
UCLA (+3.5) at Utah, 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
The other big Pac-12 showdown in the midday window is in Salt Lake, and while it won’t draw as much attention, it should be the more competitive game. Dante Moore looks legit under center for UCLA, but playing on the road against this Utah defense is about as tough as it gets. The Utes are expected to get starting QB Cam Rising back for this game, which is a big boost given how bad their QB situation looked at Baylor two weeks ago when they escaped with a win — although the change to Nate Johnson has seemingly made them more dynamic. This could be a fun one, provided Moore is up to the task on the road, and I’d expect the outcome to be in the balance late in the fourth.
Ole Miss (+7) at Alabama, 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS)
Jalen Milroe is back under center for Alabama after their tryout last week for the backups against USF resulted in one of the saddest performances of the Nick Saban era. With the Tide looking as vulnerable as ever, in comes old friend Lane Kiffin and an Ole Miss squad that has been all over the place in its first few games, providing some of the early bad beats of the year for gamblers with their slow starts followed by aggressive scoring in the fourth quarter. We’ll see what Lane has cooked up for a very solid Tide defense, and whether some stability for Milroe means the Alabama offense finally settles in.
BYU (+9.5) at Kansas, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
I’d keep an eye on the score in Lawrence, where the Jayhawks are hosting BYU. The Cougars are fresh off a win at Arkansas and will be looking to pull back-to-back road upsets in the midwest. Given the way Kansas plays and how last week went for BYU, this game could feature some wild swings and big plays on both sides, so if some of the marquee matchups fall flat, this could be a nice fallback.
Louisiana Tech (+20.5) at Nebraska, 3:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)
Just keep an eye on the scoreboard here. Nebraska’s a catastrophe and they lost to Georgia Southern in this exact spot a year ago. Maybe they can get a much needed, easy win here, but it would be very funny (for non-Huskers) if this was a tight one late.
Oklahoma State (+3.5) at Iowa State, 4:00 p.m. ET (FS1)
I know this is a watch guide, but this game is listed as a PSA to not turn it on. You might be tempted, thinking this could be a fun matchup if you haven’t tuned in to a game featuring these teams this year, but this is for real sick puppies only (like me) who want to see the worst possible offensive performance and some hilarious mistakes made by both teams.
Oregon State (-3) at Washington State, 7:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
The first ever ranked matchup between Oregon State and Wazzu, and it’s coming in the last year of the Pac-12’s existence. I’m sure there will be a lot of borderline obnoxious talk on the broadcast about how awful the situation is for the two programs (when FOX and ESPN hold much of the blame for the Pac-12’s demise), but the football should be really good. Oregon State’s defense has looked quite good to start the season, but they’ll get a stern test from a Wazzu offense that can move it up and down the field (and has proven it can do so against a team like Wisconsin). How D.J. Uiagalelei performs on the road will likely determine how this game goes, but I also expect things to get just a little weird between these two.
Appalachian State (+3) at Wyoming, 7:00 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
Each week I try to highlight my favorite non Power-Five matchup, and this week we are headed out to Laramie where the wind will be howling and a couple of teams that like to impose their will physically will get after each other. This has the chance to be a real slobberknocker, and while it shouldn’t be a shootout, I also think it could just be a really good watch (with some great aesthetics as these two teams have great uniforms).
Ohio State (-3.5) at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC)
The biggest game of the day, based on rankings, will be in South Bend where Ohio State rolls into town with a young QB making his first road start as a favorite. That is going to be fascinating to watch because, up until last week, the Buckeyes offense had not looked like the dominant unit we’ve come to expect from that program. However, with Kyle McCord being handed the keys officially, they dusted Western Kentucky and maybe got back on the tracks. Now they have to go into hostile territory against a good Notre Dame team with the best quarterback the Irish have had in over a decade in Sam Hartman and prove last week wasn’t a mirage. On the other side, the Irish have looked very solid this year and showed their road chops at NC State, but the Buckeyes are an entirely different test. We’ll see if they can keep up with Ohio State’s athletes and if Hartman can keep cooking against a stout defense that will shrink those passing windows.
Iowa (+14.5) at Penn State, 7:30 p.m. ET (CBS)
The other big ranked matchup in the night slate is another Big Ten showdown, this time seeing Iowa head on the road to Penn State. The Nittany Lions came into the season with high expectations and have played very solidly to start the season with Drew Allar under center, but also maybe haven’t been as dominant as you’d like a team with legit Big Ten title aspirations. Iowa coming into town presents an interesting test and an opportunity. We know the Hawkeyes are a great defensive team with a, let’s just say, subpar offense. If Penn State can avoid turnovers, which Iowa is great at forcing, they could make a statement in the Big Ten. But if Allar struggles in potentially inclement weather against the Iowa defense and this thing becomes a grind it out slugfest, that falls into Iowa’s preferences — and will be to the detriment of my colleague Bill DiFilippo’s mental and physical health. (ed. note: This is Bill, and Drew is going for 450 and 5 TDs. Go State.)
North Carolina (-7.5) at Pitt, 8:00 p.m. ET (ACC Network)
Pitt looked awful last week in the Backyard Brawl. UNC looked good against Minnesota at home. As such, I expect shenanigans in the big ketchup bottle.
UCF (+4.5) at Kansas State, 8:00 p.m. ET (FS1)
K-State couldn’t get out of Mizzou’s (or its own) way last week and Will Howard is banged up, so I’m interested to see if they can bounce back here against a good UCF team that’s without its quarterback, as John Rhys Plumlee is out for a bit with his own injuries.
Cal (+20.5) at Washington, 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
You can pick your Heisman contender QB to watch in the late night window, but I just can’t advise anyone watch Arizona State play football right now. They’re missing a ton of guys, including their QB, and got absolutely smoked by Fresno last week, so I fear what Caleb Williams will do to them. As such, I’ll check in on Michael Penix Jr. and Washington to see if he can continue being a buzzsaw against a Cal team that popped in Week 1, only to look really mediocre since. Maybe they can find some form again with star running back Jaydn Ott back in the lineup, but if not this might be a nice “watch one half and go to bed” Saturday night.
Source: https://uproxx.com/sports/college-football-week-4-watch-guide-tv-schedule-best-games/