Laken Litman
College football and soccer analyst
Last week, college football fans saw Arch Manning replace an injured Quinn Ewers and lead Texas, now the best team in the country, to a convincing 56-7 victory over UTSA. Manning passed for 223 yards and four touchdowns, and also scored a 67-yard run that brought back memories of Vince Young for Longhorns fans. This Saturday, Manning will make his first collegiate appearance when Texas takes on UL Monroe at home.
We also saw Georgia, currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, struggle to eventually beat Kentucky 13-12. While the result confused some, Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart praised his team’s resilience. Smart’s teams have survived games like this in the past, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t be able to do the same this year as the opponents on their schedule continue to get tougher.
Meanwhile, Alabama looked like a College Football Playoff contender after a 42-10 win over Wisconsin in Madison. Quarterback Jalen Milroe played behind a strong offensive line, scored five touchdowns and is back in the race for the Heisman Trophy.
The schedule for Week 4 looks equally enticing, with several matchups between top 25 opponents.
Here are the top five games to watch this weekend:
No. 24 Illinois at No. 22 Nebraska (Friday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
Nebraska will face its first ranked opponent under the lights in Lincoln on Friday night. Huskers quarterback Dylan Raiola has had a strong performance in his debut season. In last week’s 34-3 win over Northern Iowa, Raiola completed 17 of 23 passes for 247 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception. This week he faces a new challenge, facing the best defense he has seen all year. Illinois is limiting opponents’ passing yards to 151.7 per game and has already thrown six interceptions in three games.
Both teams have done an admirable job of preventing their opponents from scoring points, with the Huskers allowing just 20 points in three games while the Illini have allowed 26.
Marshall at No. 3 Ohio State (12:00 p.m. ET on FOX)
Ohio State hasn’t faced a real challenge this season, and that won’t start this weekend when Marshall comes to town. The Buckeyes have only played two games so far this season and are coming off a week without a game. While the Thundering Herd may not be a top-25 team, Ryan Day needs to make sure his team is prepared and doesn’t overlook the opponent. The last thing Ohio State wants right now is to be surprised in the same way Notre Dame was at home against Northern Illinois a few weeks ago.
The Buckeyes should be happy with this early schedule because the schedule gets more exciting starting in October. They play No. 9 Oregon on Oct. 12, No. 22 Nebraska at home on Oct. 26 and No. 10 Penn State on the road on Nov. 2. After that, things will settle down before facing Michigan in the final game of the regular season. With the Buckeyes’ schedule being lighter in non-conference play, they will need to beat the teams they are supposed to beat to stay atop the CFP standings.
No. 11 USC at No. 18 Michigan (3:30 p.m. ET on CBS)
Michigan is up against Alex Orji. Head coach Sherrone Moore announced earlier this week that he would start Orji at quarterback instead of Davis Warren, who has started the last three games. Orji is a dual-threat quarterback but has attempted just seven passes in his college career. Orji is primarily a runner, having 10 carries this season and averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
How will USC’s defense keep Orji in check? The good news for the Trojans is that they’ve had plenty of time to prepare since Moore has given them forewarning. New defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn will want to stop the run and pressure Orji and force him to throw the ball. Michigan may also be without star tight end Colston Loveland, who leads the team with 19 catches for 187 yards and a touchdown. The junior suffered an upper-body injury in the Wolverines’ game against Arkansas State last week and his status is currently unknown, though Moore is hopeful he will be available.
No. 12 Utah at No. 14 State of Oklahoma (4:00 p.m. ET on FOX)
The winner of this game will be one of the early favorites to win the Big 12.
Utah’s Cam Rising missed last week’s game against Utah State after injuring his finger the previous week against Baylor. While there is no definitive update on the quarterback’s status, the plan is for Rising to play in what could be the Utes’ first and last true test of the regular season. They don’t have to play another top-25 team until No. 20 Iowa State visits Salt Lake City on Nov. 23. Not only will Utah need Rising to pull off an upset win over the Cowboys in front of a raucous crowd in Stillwater, but the Utes’ defense will also have to keep Ollie Gordon II, last season’s Doak Walker Award winner, in check.
In his second year at Oklahoma State, quarterback Alan Bowman is completing 67% of his passes and averaging 322.3 yards per game. He had 396 passing yards with five touchdowns and an interception in last week’s 45-0 win over Tulsa. De’Zhaun Stribling had 174 yards and two touchdowns, while Talyn Shettron had 110 yards and a TD. Coach Mike Gundy has said he’s not worried about his running game, but it would certainly be ideal if Gordon got going. After rushing for 126 yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys’ opener, Gordon hasn’t rushed for more than 50 yards in the last two games. Oklahoma State faces Utah and Kansas State back-to-back, so now would be a good time to get Gordon into a rhythm.
No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. ET on ABC)
This will be Nico Iamaleava’s first real test on the road. The young quarterback from Tennessee has been efficient and looked like a future Heisman Trophy winner in short order. How will he fare against a Brent Venables defense? Oklahoma has had its own problems early in the season, but still has a top-30 team that has allowed just 11.3 points per game. Linebacker Danny Stutsman has 33 tackles through three games (second-most in the SEC), while lineman R Mason Thomas has been able to consistently pressure quarterbacks and has three sacks (also second-most in the SEC).
This is also a homecoming for Tennessee coach Josh Huepel, who was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 2000, the same season he led the Sooners to the national championship. Huepel began his coaching career in Norman as a varsity assistant and later served as quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops, overlapping with Venables, who was OU’s defensive coordinator at the time.
(Want great stories delivered straight to your inbox? Create or log in to a FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized daily newsletter.)
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of Strong Like a Woman, which will be published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter at @LakenLitman.
Get more out of college football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
