College Football Week 5 Guide: This Will Be The Pac-12’s Time To Shine

Maybe the Pac-12 will end its College Football Playoff drought this season, and maybe – more than likely – it won’t. Regardless, Week 5 of the season will be the beleaguered conference’s time to shine.

There are only two ranked-versus-ranked games on tap this weekend, and the Pac-12 is responsible for one of them: No. 21 USC at No. 17 Washington (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX). In addition, there are multiple games that will directly influence Pac-12 division races, as well as the conference’s playoff hopes.

The big weekend starts Friday night in what could have been another ranked-versus-ranked game: Arizona State at No. 15 Cal (10:30 p.m., ESPN). Cal (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) used a thrilling goal-line stand to topple Ole Miss 28-20 on Saturday, improving its record as a ranked team to 2-6 since 2009. Meanwhile, Arizona State’s stay in the top 25 lasted just one week, with the Sun Devils (3-1, 0-1) tumbling out of this week’s poll after a 34-31 loss to Colorado.

Cal is the Pac-12’s only remaining unbeaten team, although the odds seem to be stacked against the Bears running the table. They will face one of the Pac-12’s more difficult conference slates, but they already cleared their first hurdle by winning 20-19 at Washington in Week 2. Still to come are road dates against Oregon, Utah, Stanford and UCLA.

On Saturday, two more games will have major conference implications. It will be fascinating to observe how Washington State and No. 19 Utah (10 p.m., FS1) respond to enormously disappointing losses over the weekend, Utah’s against USC and Washington State’s after leading UCLA by 32 points in the second half.

As should be the case with that game, USC-Washington could also be a CFP eliminator since all four teams come in with 3-1 records. However, the Trojans (3-1, 2-0) lost a non-conference game at BYU, while Washington (3-1, 0-1) lost in league play.

If USC notches its third win in five games against ranked opposition – the Trojans already beat then-No. 23 Stanford and shocked then-No. 10 Utah 30-23 on Friday – a playoff bid could still be within reach. The Trojans still have four games left against teams that are currently ranked, providing ample opportunity to build a CFP-caliber resume. All they have to do is keep winning.

The same could be said for every team in the conference. The Pac-12 missed out on a CFP spot in each of the last two seasons, and in three of the last four, so having potential contenders like Oregon, Utah, USC and Washington already carrying a loss doesn’t seem to help the conference’s chances of ending the drought. Nonetheless, an unbeaten Pac-12 champ would certainly get in, while a one-loss champ should also be a solid contender. It’s a matter of having a team play well enough to force the CFP committee’s hand.

Here are some other national storylines to watch in Week 5 of college football season:

GAME OF THE WEEK

No. 5 Ohio State at Nebraska (Ohio State -15.5): While the Pac-12 might have the most interesting matchups this week, the Big Ten will stage what could be this biggest game: Ohio State at Nebraska (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

ESPN’s “College GameDay” has aired from Lincoln just once (in 2007) since 2001, but Lee Corso and the gang will be on campus Saturday morning. That should help explain the stakes involved, especially for a Nebraska program that floundered in recent years after ranking among the nation’s most prominent programs for decades.

The Cornhuskers got off to an awful start in 2018 under first-year coach Scott Frost, but ended the season with four wins in their final six games. They were ranked entering the 2019 season and were among the most popular darkhorse picks to contend for a CFP bid, but dropped out of the top 25 after an early loss to Colorado. Nonetheless, Nebraska (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) has a chance to prove it truly is back with a win against Big Ten favorite Ohio State (4-0, 1-0). The Buckeyes have not faced a true challenge yet, having outscored their opponents by a 214-36 margin.

Saturday night’s game will feature a matchup between two of the nation’s most exciting quarterbacks: Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Nebraska’s Adrian Martinez. Those two alone will make this must-see TV.

WEEKEND STORYLINE

Quarterback absurdity: Fields and Martinez are just two examples of the absurd level of quarterback talent that has been on display this season – and that is before Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence even gets on track like we know he will.

Every major conference features quarterbacks who are already superstars or who will become household names before the season is over (hello Spencer Sanders!).

Most college football fans already knew Lawrence, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts. They probably knew Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Notre Dame’s Ian Book and Texas’ Sam Ehlinger, too.

If they didn’t know Fields or LSU’s Joe Burrow before the season started, they do now. The two touchdown-producing machines lead offenses that rank among the best in the sport. It seems crazy to write that about an LSU offense, but it is most certainly the case in 2019.

Burrow has thrust himself into the Heisman Trophy conversation with his passing prowess, including a school-record six touchdown passes in Saturday’s 66-38 win over Vanderbilt. He ranks third nationally in ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating metric with a 93.2 score on a 1-100 scale. Fields is fourth at 92.5, having also broken a school record on Saturday by accounting for six touchdowns in a single quarter of a blowout win over Miami (Ohio).

And how about the performances by Washington State’s Anthony Gordon and UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson in UCLA’s wild 67-63 win in Pullman on Saturday?  Thompson-Robinson actually passed for 507 yards, ran for 57 and accounted for seven touchdowns (five passing, two rushing) and his numbers were overshadowed somewhat by the quarterback on the opposite sideline. National passing leader Gordon broke Gardner Minshew’s Washington State record with nine touchdown passes on Saturday, when he completed 41 of 61 passes for 570 yards.

All of this stuff happened in one day, making Tagovailoa’s second straight Saturday with “only” five touchdown passes seem pedestrian. Every weekend seems to feature quarterback statistics that boggle the mind. Here’s hoping these guys keep it up.

INTRIGUING MATCHUP

Washington State’s offense vs. Utah’s defense: Washington State was supposed to have one of the nation’s top passing offenses, and clearly it does. With national passing leader Gordon (1,894 yards, 21 TDs, 4 INTs) at the trigger, Mike Leach’s Cougars average an FBS-high 499.5 passing yards per game and rank fifth in scoring offense (52.8 ppg).

On the opposite side, Utah was supposed to boast the Pac-12’s top defense, and it still might. The Utes are smarting, however, after surrendering 368 passing yards to a USC offense led by Matt Fink, the Trojans’ third-string quarterback just a few weeks ago. Still, the Utes rank 16th nationally in total defense (274.8 ypg) and 21st in scoring defense (14.8 ppg). They will easily rank as the nastiest defense Wazzu will have faced to date, and they might be the toughest D that Leach’s team will face all season. That said, Utah needs to clean up its secondary play before Saturday’s game or it will be in for another long night.

HEISMAN WATCH

Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa vs. Ole Miss: Tagovailoa has not faced a significant challenge yet and he likely will not face one Saturday from a Rebels defense that is surrendering 288.5 passing yards per game. Tagovailoa completed 17 of 21 passes for 293 yards and five touchdowns in three quarters of Alabama’s 49-7 win over Southern Miss on Saturday. He has passed for 1,300 yards, 17 TDs and no interceptions thus far in 2019, ranking second behind only former teammate Hurts in Total QBR with a 96.3 score.

Wisconsin RB Jonathan Taylor vs. Northwestern: Taylor and the Badgers made a statement in Saturday’s 35-14 win over then-No. 11 Michigan. The junior running back helped Wisconsin jump out to a 14-0 lead with 143 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter and finished with 203 yards on 23 carries. It was the ninth 200-yard game of Taylor’s career. He ranks third nationally in rushing yards per game with 146.7 (440 rushing yards in three games) and will next face a Northwestern defense that ranks 73rd nationally against the run (150.3 ypg).

Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts vs. Texas Tech: With each successive week that he posts video-game numbers, Hurts makes it more obvious that he deserves to be considered a Heisman frontrunner alongside preseason favorites Tagovailoa and Lawrence. Hurts leads the FBS in Total QBR (96.8) after passing for 289 yards and three TDs and rushing for 150 yards and another score in Oklahoma’s 48-14 win at UCLA on Sept. 14. The Alabama grad transfer rushed for 99 yards on the Sooners’ opening drive alone. Hurts will play his first Big 12 conference game against a Texas Tech team that ranks 16th nationally in scoring defense (13.7 ppg) and 32nd in total defense (306.3 ypg).

Ohio State QB Justin Fields vs. Nebraska: After accounting for six touchdowns in the second quarter alone in Saturday’s 76-5 rout of Miami (Ohio), Fields now has 19 total touchdowns this season (13 passing, six rushing). Only Washington State’s Gordon has accounted for more (21). The Georgia transfer and his Buckeyes are double-digit favorites Saturday against a Nebraska squad that could easily be unbeaten.

Notre Dame QB Ian Book vs. Virginia: His team was unable to complete the comeback, but Book gave a valiant effort in a 23-17 loss at Georgia, completing 29 of 47 passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He and the Fighting Irish will face another stout defense, Virginia, in Saturday’s other ranked-versus-ranked matchup (UVA is No. 18 and Notre Dame is No. 10 in this week’s AP Top 25). The Cavaliers rank 14th nationally in total defense (263.8 ypg) and are tied with Notre Dame for 28th in scoring defense (18 ppg). Despite the UGA loss, Book and the Irish are still very much in the playoff hunt. If they keep winning and hang around in the CFP race, Book will also remain in the Heisman conversation.

BY THE NUMBERS

Six: The number of SEC and Big Ten teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week. The SEC has Nos. 2 (Alabama), 3 (Georgia), 4 (LSU), 7 (Auburn), 9 (Florida) and 23 (Texas A&M) in the poll. The Big Ten has Nos. 5 (Ohio State), 8 (Wisconsin), 12 (Penn State), 14 (Iowa), 20 (Michigan) and 25 (Michigan State).

Eight: The number of spots Cal jumped in this week’s AP poll after Saturday’s controversial win at Ole Miss. The Bears are No. 15 in this week’s AP Top 25, the program’s highest ranking since being ranked sixth in September 2009.

11: The number of consecutive losses by Appalachian State against Power Five opponents between its landmark win over Michigan in 2007 and its 34-31 upset of North Carolina on Saturday. The Mountaineers came close to ending the skid in each of the last three years, losing 45-38 in overtime at Penn State last year, 20-19 at Wake Forest in 2017 and 20-13 in overtime at Tennessee in 2016. As in the Michigan game, the Mountaineers sealed their win over UNC by blocking a 56-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game.

23: The number of consecutive non-bowl wins for Clemson, now the nation’s longest active streak after UCF’s 35-34 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday. UCF had won 27 straight non-bowl games since 2016, but the Knights were done in by a trick play Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi called “Pitt Special.”

32: The number of points that then-No. 19 Washington State led UCLA by in the third quarter late Saturday night before the Bruins’ remarkable comeback from trailing 49-17 to winning 67-63. It was the third-largest deficit overcome for a win in FBS history, but it wasn’t even the biggest deficit that UCLA has overcome in the last three years. The Bruins actually rallied from a 34-point hole to beat Texas A&M 45-44 in the 2017 opener.

4-11: Jim Harbaugh’s record against top-15 opponents as Michigan’s coach after Saturday’s loss at Wisconsin.

37-54: Arkansas’ record, following Saturday’s stunning 31-24 loss to San Jose State, in the last seven-plus seasons since its high-water mark under coach Bobby Petrino. The Razorbacks have often ranked among the SEC’s worst teams since going 21-5 (12-4 SEC) in Petrino’s final two seasons (2010-11), as indicated by their 13-44 record in SEC play since then. Included in the 54 losses since the Petrino days are defeats against the likes of Louisiana-Monroe, Rutgers (twice), Toledo, Colorado State, North Texas and now San Jose State, a program that won three games in the previous two seasons combined. It was San Jose State’s first win against a Power Five team since 2006.

200: Number of consecutive weeks Alabama has been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll, dating back to the 2008 season. Nebraska holds the record with 348 straight weeks as a ranked team between 1981 and 2002.

900: All-time wins by the Nebraska program after Saturday’s 42-38 comeback victory at Illinois, Frost’s first road win in eight tries with the Cornhuskers. Nebraska is now 900-389-40 and is the fifth program with 900 wins alongside Michigan, Ohio State, Texas and Alabama. Notre Dame (officially 897 wins) and Oklahoma (896) should also reach that milestone within the next several weeks.

Two ranked-vs.-ranked games this week: No. 18 Virginia at No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 21 USC at No. 17 Washington

One Power Five-vs.-Power Five game: Virginia at Notre Dame

23 Power Five conference games: ACC (Duke at Virginia Tech, Clemson at North Carolina, Wake Forest at Boston College, N.C. State at Florida State); Big Ten (Penn State at Maryland, Rutgers at Michigan, Indiana at Michigan State, Northwestern at Wisconsin, Minnesota at Purdue, Ohio State at Nebraska); Big 12 (Texas Tech at Oklahoma, Kansas at TCU, Iowa State at Baylor, Kansas State at Oklahoma State); Pac-12 (Arizona State at Cal, Washington State at Utah, Stanford at Oregon State, USC at Washington, UCLA at Arizona), SEC (Texas A&M vs. Arkansas, Ole Miss at Alabama, Mississippi State at Auburn, Kentucky at South Carolina)

NOTABLE GAMES (RANKINGS)

Thursday, Sept. 26

Navy at Memphis (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Friday, Sept. 27

Duke at Virginia Tech (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Penn State at Maryland (8 p.m., FS1)

Arizona State at Cal (10:30 p.m., ESPN)

Saturday, Sept. 28

Texas Tech at No. 6 Oklahoma (noon ET, FOX)

Northwestern at No. 8 Wisconsin (noon, ABC)

Middle Tennessee at No. 14 Iowa (noon, ESPN2)

Rutgers at No. 20 Michigan (noon, Big Ten Network)

No. 23 Texas A&M vs. Arkansas (noon, ESPN)

No. 1 Clemson at North Carolina (3:30 p.m., ABC)

Ole Miss at No. 2 Alabama (3:30 p.m., CBS)

No. 18 Virginia at No. 10 Notre Dame (3:30 p.m., NBC)

No. 21 USC at No. 17 Washington (3:30 p.m., FOX)

Indiana at No. 25 Michigan State (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network)

Towson at No. 9 Florida (4 p.m., SEC Network)

Mississippi State at No. 7 Auburn (7 p.m., ESPN)

UConn at No. 22 UCF (7 p.m., ESPN2)

No. 24 Kansas State at Oklahoma State (7 p.m., ESPN+)

No. 5 Ohio State at Nebraska (7:30 p.m., ABC)

Kentucky at South Carolina (7:30 p.m., SEC Network)

N.C. State at Florida State (7:30 p.m., ACC Network)

Washington State at No. 19 Utah (10 p.m., FS1)

UCLA at Arizona (10:30 p.m., ESPN)

Hawaii at Nevada (10:30 p.m., ESPN2)