The biggest games on the college football schedule: On the Line

Our first order of business here at FootballScoop dot com is to tell you the truth, and so I must admit this off the top. I opened last week's column by repeating the semi-weekly claim that Week 7 would be the best week of the season. That proved emphatically correct. But it also means that this weekend's college football slate will not top last week's. I can't sit here and pretend otherwise. We're not topping the euphoric 6 p.m. ET hour when Tennessee and TCU simultaneously battled back to knock off Alabama and Oklahoma State, plus Utah's rally past USC in the nightcap. We're just not.

But the Week 8 menu is still juicy in its own right.

The biggest Pac-12 regular season game since 2016... and probably longer. For starters, we have the first regular season Pac-12 game pitting AP Top 10 teams since No. 7 Stanford visited No. 10 Washington on Sept. 30, 2016. (For those curious, the SEC has staged 16 such games since then, the Big Ten 14.) 

Oh, and this top-10 showdown happens to bring Chip Kelly back to Autzen Stadium.

This is (somehow) Chip Kelly's fifth season at UCLA, and so it's his third trip to Eugene and fourth game against the Ducks since becoming a Bruin. But it's the first Chip Kelly vs. Oregon game that feels like an event.

"It's always special going back there, it's a special place in my life. There are a lot of great people there that have had a profound impact on my life, but I'm not playing the game," Kelly said this week. "We're totally focused. We'll get in Friday around six and play at noon the next day. We all know what this entails, it's a business trip, just like any other away game in this league."

UCLA is 11-2 in its last 13 games, its only losses coming to 2021 Pac-12 champion Utah and 2021 Pac-12 runner-up Oregon. The Bruins' ongoing 9-game winning streak is the second-longest in college football (Clemson, 13) and the program's longest since 1997-98. Oregon is 5-1, losing a game that they weren't prepared to play against Georgia, then blowing out almost everyone else. 

Dorian Thompson-Robinson is the conference's most experienced (1,140 career attempts) and most efficient passer (180.59 rating, fifth in the nation), and the Bruins' pass defense limits opponents to the fewest yards per attempt (6.4) in the conference. 

The Ducks and Bruins are also the league's best teams on the ground, both on offense and defense.

Oregon is one of the most consistent winners in college football, with just two losing seasons since 1994. Despite (because of?) that, the Ducks are on their fourth head coach since Kelly's post-2012 season departure. Dan Lanning was a 26-year-old GA at Arizona State in Kelly's last Oregon season. 

“About to be a fun one. Really exciting, obviously it’s going to be a great atmosphere for our players," Lanning said.

Washington's 2016 showdown with Stanford was a letdown for everyone but Huskies fans; U-Dub won 44-6. No. 9 UCLA at No. 10 Oregon (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox) has all the makings of a barnburner, and is probably the conference's biggest regular season game since No. 1 Oregon lost to No. 14 Stanford with the Pac-12 North on the line in 2012. Oregon hasn't beaten a top-10 opponent since way back in the Mario Cristobal era, while UCLA hasn't defeated an AP Top 10 team on the road since Oct. 10, 1998.

Syracuse preps for its biggest game in more than 50 years, while it's just another big game for Clemson. After playing three straight ABC Saturday Night Football games, No. 5 Clemson plays its biggest game of the season yet against No. 14 Syracuse. Of course, this one's at noon ET (ABC).

Syracuse is off to its first 6-0 start since its 11-0-1 season of 1987, and Saturday's game is the biggest since squaring off with No. 6 Auburn in the '88 Sugar Bowl. To find the last time a 6-0 or better Syracuse team met a 6-0 or better opponent, you'd have to go back to Nov. 7, 1959, when the No. 4 Orange went to State College and beat No. 7 Penn State.

For Clemson, seeing the Orange on the visitor's sideline may or may not get the Tigers' blood pressure higher than 90. Saturday marks Clemson's 25th AP Top-15 showdown since 2015. 

Players enroll at Syracuse dreaming of playing in games like these; players sign with Clemson expecting multiple per season.

Syracuse actually matches up well with Clemson on paper. The Orange out-rank the Tigers in net yards per play (.94 vs. .80) and are neck-and-neck in net points per drive (1.37 vs. 1.38), but this feels like a game where Syracuse will have to win the turnover margin, probably by more than one, to overcome Clemson's massive big-game experience.

“To be able to beat them at their place is obviously a very difficult task for a lot of coaches and a lot of programs,” Dino Babers said this week.

Separation Saturday in college football's most competitive conference. Four Big 12 teams head into Saturday at 3-1 or better in league play, and all four face off on Saturday.

In the undercard, 3-1 Texas visits 3-1 Oklahoma State (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). Both squads' conference losses came on the road in games they led by two touchdowns in the second half. This is a mind vs. eyes game. The mind favors Texas: the Longhorns out-rank Oklahoma State in just about every computer metric (No. 6 vs. No. 11 in Sagarin; No. 5 vs. No. 17 in FEI; No. 5 vs. No. 16 in FPI; No. 6 vs. No. 12 in SP+), and in per-play and per-drive metrics (Texas is sixth in net yards per play and ninth in net points per drive; Oklahoma State is 69th and 33rd). Vegas also lists Texas as a touchdown favorite.

But the eyes see a Texas team that is 1-5 on the road and 1-4 against ranked teams under Steve Sarkisian against a Mike Gundy-led program that is, at present, the most consistent winner in the Big 12. Oklahoma State is 19-3 in its last 22 games, with 12 straight home wins. (Its last home loss: Texas's last visit, in 2020.) Oklahoma State is also 4-1 outright as a home underdog in its last five chances.

The difference in this game might be that Texas will field a healthier roster than Oklahoma State.

In the nightcap, No. 17 Kansas State visits No. 8 TCU (8 p.m. ET, FS1) for first place in the league.

Both teams spread the field to run and do a very good job of taking care of the ball. TCU's 6.34 yards per carry average is third in the nation. That run game and the big bodied threat of Quentin Johnston has given Max Duggan clear passing windows, and he's responded by averaging 9.5 yards per attempt with 16 touchdowns against one pick.

K-State's Adrian Martinez has thrown the most passes without an interception so far this season (138), though his 6.5 yards per attempt average is barely in the top 100 nationally. That's okay, though, because the Wildcats try to wear opponents down by requiring them to chase Martinez and Duce Vaughn 35 times a game. K-State is the only team in the nation with two players averaging at least 90 rushing yards per game.

TCU has the home field advantage, but K-State has the scheduling advantage. The Frogs have won two straight fourth quarter games against previously-undefeated teams, while Kansas State was off last week. 

The game of the year in Conference USA? North Texas and UTSA do not have much history, considering the Mean Green and Roadrunners did not play their first game until 2013. But what history they do have is quite heated.

For starters, in their first game ever, UTSA went to Denton and upset North Texas, 21-13, in a game that denied the Mean Green a berth in the Conference USA championship. To date, UNT has never won C-USA; they've played for it once, but that 2013 season remains their closest grasp at their first league title.

In 2017, North Texas trailed 26-22 and turned the ball over on downs with 1:28 to play, got the ball back 21 seconds later, and then drove 98 yards in 57 seconds to stun UTSA, 29-26. 

Now let's fast forward to last November. UTSA rolled into Denton undefeated and ranked 15th; North Texas started the year 1-6 but had won five straight. The Mean Green needed a win to reach a bowl game -- and win they did. Final score: North Texas 45, UTSA 23. "None of us saw this coming," Jeff Traylor said after the game. 

North Texas heads to the Alamodome (3:30 p.m. ET, Stadium) riding a 7-game C-USA winning streak. UTSA is the defending conference champions, and last year's UNT game is the only thing standing between Traylor's team and a 15-game C-USA winning streak. 

North Texas leads the all-time series, 5-4, while UTSA enters Saturday's game at the Dome a 10-point favorite. 

UTSA's Frank Harris ranks fourth in the nation in total offense at 363.4 yards per game, while the Mean Green are sixth in the nation at 251.3 rushing yards per game, and their 5.81 yards per carry average is first for all non-academy teams with at least 300 attempts so far this season. 

"It's always a very competitive game," Seth Littrell said this week. "There's passion on both sides. A lot of players played against each other (in high school). It's one of those rivalry games you ought to be looking forward to play every single year." 

Other Games:

-- Troy at South Alabama (7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPNU): The winner clinches bowl eligibility but, more importantly, the winner is in first place in the Sun Belt West. Troy leads the Battle for the Belt 7-3 all time, thanks to an ongoing 4-game winning streak. 

-- Iowa at No. 2 Ohio State (noon ET, Fox): Iowa and Ohio State's last game was in 2017, a 55-24 Hawkeyes win. These Hawkeyes might not get to 55 in a month. 

-- UT Martin at No. 3 Tennessee (noon ET, SEC Network): Lest you fear the Skyhawks might take advantage of a hungover Vols squad, don't worry. Hendon Hooker's mind flipped from Alabama to UT Martin as soon as last week's game ended.

-- No. 21 Cincinnati at SMU (noon ET, ESPN): Luke Fickell's team has won 18 straight American games, dating back to 2020. A win over the Mustangs ties UCF's AAC record streak of 19 games (a streak that Cincinnati broke back in 2019), and also sets Fickell as UC's all-time winningest coach (54).

-- Kansas at Baylor (noon ET, ESPN2): Coming off a loss at West Virginia, this will be the defending Big 12 champions' best shot at a victory while Kansas, a tantalizing 5-2, faces an uphill climb to that all-important sixth victory.

-- ULM at Army (noon ET, CBS Sports Network): Call it the Todd Berry Bowl. In Berry's final season as AFCA executive director, two of the three schools where he served as a head coach (Illinois State is the third) face off for just the second time.

-- Toledo at Buffalo (noon ET, ESPN+): In this possible MAC Championship preview, the league's two 3-0 teams square off. Toledo leads the conference in scoring offense, while Buffalo is second in scoring defense.

-- UNLV at Notre Dame (2:30 p.m. ET, Peacock): Two weeks after playing in UNLV's (okay, the Raiders') stadium, Notre Dame meets UNLV. This will be the first game between the Rebels and the Fighting Irish. After Saturday, the list of FBS schools Notre Dame has never played drops to 44.

-- No. 7 Ole Miss at LSU (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): Let's start here -- Ole Miss hasn't won back-to-back Magnolia Bowls since 2008-09. Lane Kiffin's squad seeks its first 8-0 start since winning the 1962 national championship. The Rebels' rushing offense is the best in the SEC at 271.4 yards per game, fresh off a 448-yard performance against Auburn.

-- Purdue at Wisconsin (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN): Wisconsin lost to previously-winless-in-B1G-play Michigan State last week. Would a victory over B1G West leader Purdue be enough for Jim Leonhard to cinch up the full-time job? And where does his candidacy stand if the Badgers fall to 1-2 under his watch? Meanwhile, Purdue clinches bowl eligibility with a win. 

-- Boston College at No. 13 Wake Forest (3:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network): Wake Forest extends its program record to seven straight bowl seasons with its next victory. 

-- BYU at Liberty (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU): The Latter-Day Saints already dropped a game to the Catholics, and now they look to fend off the Evangelicals. BYU won the only previous meeting, 31-24 in Provo in 2019.

-- Northwestern at Maryland (3:30 p.m. ET, BTN): Maryland clinches back-to-back bowl seasons for the first time since 2013-14 with its next win. 

-- No. 24 Mississippi State at No. 6 Alabama (7 p.m. ET, ESPN): State scored a 17-12 win over Nick Saban in 2007, but hasn't beaten him since. Forget winning, simply getting to 10 points would be an accomplishment for the Bulldogs; they haven't hit double digits against the Tide since 2017 and have only topped 10 points twice since 2008. 

-- Minnesota at No. 16 Penn State (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC): It might seem like a Penn State White Out game would be a must-see event on the college football calendar, but the Nittany Lions are just 9-8 in such games. The last Minnesota-Penn State game (2019) represents the peak of the PJ Fleck era, when the Gophers moved to 10-0 with a 31-26 win over the No. 4 Nittany Lions. The computers continue to love this Gophers team (No. 10 in FEI and SP+) despite their four wins coming against New Mexico State, Western Illinois, Colorado and Michigan State, and double-digit losses to B1G West leaders Purdue and Illinois. 

-- Texas A&M at South Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network): Texas A&M is a perfect 8-0 against its cross-division rival. Jimbo Fisher said Haynes King will start at quarterback for the Aggies; the rumor mill says otherwise.

-- UCF at East Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU): Thanks to a 70-burger dropped on Temple last week, UCF's 55.5 points per game average vs. conference foes is the most in the nation. If Gus Malzahn's offense keeps cooking like that, the Knights will clinch a bowl game for the sixth straight season as a program and move Gus to 11-for-11 in bowl seasons as a head coach. 

-- Colorado at Oregon State (8 p.m. ET, FS1): Oregon State hasn't reached a bowl game in back-to-back years since 2012-13. The Beavers can fix that with a win over the Buffs.

-- Washington at Cal (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN): Washington can clinch a bowl trip in Year 1 under Kalen DeBoer with a win in Berkeley.