Welcome to the Defector College Football Watch Guide, where Israel Daramola and Ray Ratto will tell you which of the weekend’s college football games are worth giving a crap about.
Ray: You'll have to wade through a fair amount of mediocre slop to get to the actual prize this week. That prize is the Georgia-Alabama blood feud; the rest of it is just college football. The outcome in that game will go a long way toward pissing off one fan base while making the other completely insufferable—that is, if the hurricane permits to the game to be played at all.
If you're just in it for the hate, there's always Texas at Oklahoma, although OU has taken a profound backward step of late and Steve Sarkisian is his own bad time in your living room. Now that the games are winnowing themselves down to a few bangers per week, we have elected to be more selective with our viewing habits; yes, there is college football five nights per week until Halloween, but that doesn't mean we or you or anyone else should be consuming most of it. We'll still do it, mind you—the regular season starts at the end of November anyway, and games of little notice still have their charms. They just have a more difficult task making themselves seen amid all this inventory.
Israel: Alabama and Georgia is the most know-nothing game of the season. Usually it doesn't matter what shape Georgia or Bama is in, if its the first matchup of the season Bama is going to win it and then eventually lose to them in the SEC championship game. Or maybe Bama's realistic expectations of championship glory means that Georgia gets to spoil their party this time. Who knows?
Same goes for the Red River shootout, showdown, rodeo, or just plain rivalry. No one remembers what it's called anymore, but by any name it does not obey any laws known to man. Oklahoma looks like a tire fire but they'll suddenly be squared away on Saturday; Texas is perfectly fine but might be authentically championship caliber on Saturday. Who knows?
Everything we think we know, we don't. Florida is back! And now they've crashed down to Earth already. James Franklin has turned Virginia Tech around ... and they just lost to Pitt in the most Pitt Game way. Penn State and Auburn—well, it's good that some things haven't changed. Michigan is out here being humbled by Minnesota and getting P.J. Fleck all charged up. And that is not a man you want running crazy on the loose, let me tell you. The sport is as unpredictable and inconsistent as ever, so the season might as well come down to Alabama and Georgia beating each other up while Indiana and Miami just quietly make their way back to the winner's circle. That makes as much sense as anything else happening.
And now onto the games:
Florida State at Louisville — Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
Florida State won last weekend and UMass lost, and both results ultimately are bad news for this column. It is imperative that we right this ship sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, Louisville has been exposed over the last few weeks and I have no faith at all in their ability to put me or this team out of our misery. The fact that they are favored in this game only heightens my anxiety. On the other hand, it is a Friday game and things get real spooky scary on an October Friday night—boys become men, men become wolves, and Louisville football can magically become dominant. — Israel
Iowa State at (8) BYU — Friday, 10:15 p.m. ET on ESPN
Laying low and kicking ass has been the BYU story this year, but losing running back L.J. Martin and linebacker Isaiah Glasker last week, and having Notre Dame next week, makes this rather a vital bit of business for a team currently slotted in the 8-9 playoff game. Iowa State's 3-2 feels a good deal better than Penn State's 3-2, which is relevant only because Matt Campbell left the former for the latter and is now being measured for a buyout by some of the crankier alums, even though he's only been in the Nittany Valley the one year. Consecutive losses to Wisconsin and Northwestern will do that to a fella, especially when you add Saturday's game against another disaffected fan base in USC. — Ray
(7) Indiana at Nebraska — Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
Nebraska is one of the quieter 5-0 teams this year. Winning games they're supposed to win, surviving in conference, a coach who shows up as himself in prestige HBO television—who do these guys think they are? And Indiana ... well they gets no respect I tells ya. They struggled against Northwestern, sure, but that's looking like a pretty damn good win right about now, eh? All I'm saying is don't count out the Big Cig as another challenger comes in to try and sucker punch the Hoosiers off their throne. Look at me, recommending a Nebraska-Indiana game like its 1936. Let's go get a root beer float at the pharmacy after the sock hop while we're at it. — Israel
North Carolina at (25) Pitt — Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
Pat Narduzzi made a bit of noise about being ranked after last week's win over Virginia Tech, though that was probably just to mask his worry over losing starting quarterback Mason Heintschel to an ACL tear. Against the ghost of Bill Belichick, though, Narduzzi has both the better defense and the better offense, so the Panthers should probably be able to slog through this and the Boston College game next week before facing Miami on the road in 15 days. And no, we don't have (or want to have) any new insights on the Heels. — Ray
South Carolina at (16) Florida — Saturday, 12:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Florida got humbled last weekend when they got flattened by Missouri, which I'm sure was pretty embarrassing for them but was very entertaining for me. But don't you worry, you've got yourselves a classic tune-up game here, and they can take out all of their frustration on Shane Beamer's embattled squad. I imagine Jadan Baugh will have the time of his life running all over these guys. — Israel
Harvard at Cornell — Saturday, 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+
After pulling off the rare game winning Hail Mary Hook and Lateral on the last play against Colgate, the Crimson will now demonstrate whether there is such a thing as a pull-a-game-out-of-your-ass hangover. There is no reason to care about the other side in this one. — Ray
Miami (Ohio) at UMass — Saturday, 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Miami is going for whatever it is the Miamis of the world are going for these days, while UMass got hammered at home by Eastern Michigan last week, which means their unbeaten season and playoff dreams are dashed and they're dead to us now. Thanks for coming, fellas, and better luck next year when the Protect College Sports Act makes everything better for everybody, players and fans excepted. — Ray
(1) Texas at Oklahoma — Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC
This game was once the crown jewel of first the Southwest Conference and then the Big 8 and Big 12. Now, there are other powers involved and the old ways are observed mostly out of habit. OU has lost its two road games, inexcusably to Michigan and very excusably to Georgia, but their limitations are considerable when compared to Texas, whose principal limitation seems to be Steve Sarkisian's mood swings. As a football proposition, though, they are still No. 1 with a bullet, and this game should do little to shake that assumption. — Ray
There's a very real chance Oklahoma wins this game and wins it convincingly. For no reason other than this is a rivalry that traditionally refuses to abide by logic and science. — Israel
(21) UCLA at (13) Oregon — Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS
The Bruins are the hot new item among the Big 10 schools that are neither Indiana nor Ohio State, a role that was expected to be played by the Ducks. Both could get squeezed out of a playoff spot by external circumstance, but the winner of this one will still have a compelling case to make while the loser will fight for the right to suck up to the Cirtus Bowl committee. A win here lines Bob Chesney up for a new contract even though he's only been at the job since January. UCLA can't afford not to keep him, even though the school has plenty of trouble affording very much of anything these days. — Ray
Charlotte at North Texas — Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Fun fact: the one bet I laid down while in Atlantic City during the Defector annual retreat was against North Texas in their matchup with Tulsa. Nothing motivates a team quite like me betting against them, and it seems that North Texas has finally shaken off the hangover of losing Eric Morris and knows how to score points again. Bad news for Charlotte I suppose. — Israel
(10) LSU at Kentucky — Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
Kentucky gets another chance to announce itself when it plays a gettable LSU team at home. LSU's Sam Leavitt has been fine but not stupendous, and the Tigers are still more of a running team than anything else. Despite their expensive roster, it does feel like Kiffin is making do with certain skill players on the field. But LSU does have a tough defense, and Kentucky's Kenny Minchey is not exactly Trinidad Chambliss out there. This is a game that the Tigers should dominate, but I believe in how well Kentucky is coached, and if they can bend without totally breaking, they might really pull off some magic at the end there. — Israel
(2) Georgia at (6) Alabama — Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Someone's going to be very pissed at the end of this one, which is of course the sole reason for this sport to exist at all. Everyone is getting all warm and fuzzy about Alabama after the Tide ran up eight scores on Mississippi State, but the Dawgs hammered Vandy a week ago and are also playing around their expected level. In short, this is a good strength vs. strength show, with the only real difference being that if Kirby Smart loses, Georgia fans will be disappointed and if Kalen DeBoer loses, Alabama fans will be back to demanding he be forced to walk naked through the streets of Tuscaloosa. Hey, you have your traditions, and they have theirs. — Ray
(19) USC at Penn State — Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC
These teams having a mid-off. The winner of this game will leave only feeling slightly less embarrassed than the team that actually loses. — Israel
Southern Mississippi at Troy — Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN Something Or Other
A golden opportunity for Troy to maintain pace with James Madison against one of the Sun Belt's lesser lights. Running back Goose Crowder should have a big game and—oh, wait. Damn it. This game got played on Tuesday. Never mind. — Ray
(23) Boise State at Fresno State — Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET on The CW
This could end up being a dud, but its my hope that we end Saturday night with a bunch of points at the very least. Boise State is still the best team in football that has not actually had to win a game against a quality opponent. No disrespect to my Memphis believers out there. — Israel
Florida International at Jacksonville State — Tuesday, Oct. 13, 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU
Jacksonville State is fresh off a thrilling one-point victory over Kennesaw State to kick off Conference USA Tuesday. Now they hope to repeat the good vibes against Florida International, a slight step up for them in competition. So this time around these guys can't afford to get into a back-and-forth all game long. Or maybe they can, I don't know. It's Tuesday football, we need all the fireworks we can get, dammit. — Israel
YOUR OBERLIN MINUTE
Yeo has the week off after a harrowing 68-7 loss at DePauw, so we duck over to our first alternate, Eureka College, which was edged by Wisconsin Lutheran, 70-0, and has now been outscored 200-0 going into their big game against unbeaten Concordia of Wisconsin. A reader suggested we also start to monitor Judson from the NAIA, which is 0-5 (no big deal) but has already lost games 96-0 and 90-0 (yeah, that pops off the screen, we'll give you that). Thanks for the suggestion, and like hell we will. — Ray
