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TCU vs. Texas Tech, Georgia vs. Tennessee, more we're watching in Week 10
This weekend of college football action features several games with implications both for conference title chases and the College Football Playoff.
The first CFP rankings were released on Tuesday, with No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Clemson grabbing the top for spots.
In an interesting twist, two of those teams — Tennessee and Georgia — play each other this weekend, so all eyes will be on Athens on Saturday to see how things shake out.
But there are enticing matchups elsewhere Saturday, especially around the Big 12. Chief among those is a contest between Texas Tech and undefeated and No. 7 TCU, which kicks off Week 10 as the featured game on "Big Noon Kickoff" on FOX.
Here's what we're looking forward to watching in some of the biggest matchups this weekend.
SATURDAY
What are you watching in Texas Tech at No. 7 TCU (Noon ET; FOX and the FOX Sports app)?
Young: While Texas Christian is undefeated, the Horned Frogs have certainly managed to make things dramatic, mostly due to a defense that has given up 28 or more points in each of its last four games.
However, Sonny Dykes and the TCU offense have picked their defense up with 44.3 points and 518 yards per game. No one knows the threat the Horned Frogs attack offers better than Texas Tech defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, who has already pointed out TCU’s best weapon on the perimeter in Quentin Johnston.
"Have you seen him?" DeRuyter told the Avalanche-Journal. "He looks like Megatron."
Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley and head coach Joey McGuire have the unenviable task of figuring out who their starting quarterback will be on Saturday for the program’s first appearance on "Big Noon" after all three of their quarterbacks managed to throw interceptions last week.
Lost in the 45-17 shellacking Baylor handed the Red Raiders is that Tech rushed for more than 200 yards. If the Red Raiders can muster that kind of production against TCU, they might slow the Horned Frogs offensive attack.
If the Red Raiders can capably run on Joe Gillespie’s TCU defense, they might pull off their biggest upset of the season.
Why TCU should be ranked higher
Cohen: What an opportunity for TCU quarterback Max Duggan to announce himself to a broader audience of college football fans. Duggan received a sixth- to seventh-round grade from NFL scouts who passed through Fort Worth earlier this spring, but his production this season has been off the charts, with 2,212 passing yards, 22 touchdown passes and only two interceptions to go with 276 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. An official height of 6 feet 1⅛ will hurt him, but Duggan is a grinder who knows how to win. He’s accounted for at least three touchdowns in each of the last seven games.
The quarterback situation at Texas Tech is the marquee storyline. Freshman Behren Morton took over on Oct. 8 but had a brutal outing against Baylor. Morton, a former four-star product from Texas, completed just 11 of 34 passes for 152 yards and three interceptions. Does Kittley make a change? Texas Tech’s clearest path to victory might require star edge rusher Tyree Wilson (40 pressures, six sacks and a first-round grade from scouts) to wreak havoc on the Horned Frogs.
What are you looking forward to seeing in No. 1 Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia (3:30 p.m. ET)?
Young: Is Tennessee really the best team in the SEC? Is Georgia?
This game is not only proving to be for the SEC East Division title but also a play-in game for the College Football Playoff.
I’m inclined to see the CFP committee once again sticking the two best SEC teams into the CFP — if Alabama manages to run the table and take the SEC crown after suffering its first loss to Tennessee in 16 years.
However, those are the defending national champions the Vols are playing this week, and UGA has the best defense Heisman hopeful Hendon Hooker will face all season. If UT can get past UGA to improve to 9-0, I will become a believer not just in their ability to make the CFP, but to reach the national title game.
Cohen: The football gods work in mysterious ways, and having this game on the schedule just a few days after the first CFP rankings were released is a delicious twist. This is a fascinating matchup between one of the nation's best offenses in Tennessee, which has more 40-yard gains (22) than any team in the country, and one of the best defenses in Georgia, which has allowed just seven 40-yard gains all season.
A key storyline might be how Hooker responds to the simulated pressures Georgia’s defensive duo of head coach Kirby Smart and co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp love to deploy. Hooker will see stunts, twists and zone pressures that make it seem like the Bulldogs are bringing extra rushers even when they aren’t. Teams are only blitzing Hooker on 27.2% of his dropbacks this season, according to Pro Football Focus, and that number could be even lower on Saturday. It’s also worth watching how Georgia replaces star pass rusher Nolan Smith (team-high 19 pressures) after he suffered a season-ending injury last week.
Preview: No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 3 Georgia
What interests you most in No. 18 Oklahoma State at Kansas (3:30 p.m. ET; FS1 and the FOX Sports app)?
Young: Will Oklahoma State respond? It’s not a question I thought I’d be asking two weeks ago. As a matter of fact, I thought the Cowboys might be one of two teams playing for the Big 12 title in December.
Now, I’m not certain that the Cowboys can get past Kansas. All of this comes on the heels of OSU being embarrassed 48-0 at Kansas State — with a backup quarterback having to start for the Wildcats in a game-time decision.
The Pokes employed an offense averaging better than 45 points per game just two weeks, but couldn’t manage even a field goal against K-State. I wouldn’t be shocked if Kansas smells blood in the water as the Jayhawks are trying to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2008.
Cohen: The arc of Kansas’ season changed once star quarterback Jalon Daniels suffered a shoulder injury against TCU on Oct. 8. The Jayhawks were 5-0 entering that game and acquitted themselves well in what finished as a seven-point loss to a team that’s still undefeated. There’s no shame in that result for head coach Lance Leipold, whose rebuild of Kansas is well ahead of schedule.
But without Daniels — who has 11 passing touchdowns, five rushing touchdowns and only one interception this season — the Jayhawks lost their next two against Oklahoma and Baylor to stumble out of the Top 25. Reports from Kansas this week said Daniels has returned to practice, though his availability for Saturday’s game remains unclear. His return would provide a huge emotional lift that might be difficult for the Cowboys to overcome, especially after last week's blowout loss.
What are you curious to see in Michigan State at No. 16 Illinois (3:30 p.m. ET; BTN)?
Cohen: On Monday, Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker held his weekly news conference to preview this week’s game against Illinois. Tucker, who spoke for nearly 30 minutes, told reporters his team was "laser-focused" on the Illini. That seems all but impossible given the snowballing fallout from last week’s violence at Michigan Stadium, where two groups of Spartans attacked Michigan defensive backs Ja’Den McBurrows and Gemon Green, with the latter hiring an attorney to represent him in forthcoming litigation. Tucker responded by suspending four players Sunday evening and then suspending four more on Tuesday, including one of the team’s best defenders in linebacker Jacoby Windmon. It’s hard to imagine the Spartans are fully focused when the team is embroiled in a police investigation.
The water couldn’t be smoother at Illinois, though, where head coach Bret Bielema’s crew keeps rolling in the lackluster Big Ten West. The Illini have won six consecutive games in which they’ve allowed 42 combined points. Minnesota remains the only opponent to score more than 10 points against Illinois since Sept. 2. Everyone is talking about the season-ending showdown between Michigan and Ohio State that should decide the Big Ten East — and rightfully so — but the Illini travel to Ann Arbor the week before that game in what could be the conference’s second-best game of the year.
Young: Michigan State was not only embarrassed in its loss to rival Michigan last week — and in an unsportsmanlike and egregious way — but it's staring down an opponent that plays like we thought the Spartans would this season.
The Illini are 7-1 behind a tailback who might be the best in the Big Ten — Chase Brown has already rushed for 1,000 yards — and a defense that hasn’t given up more than 23 points in any game and no more than 14 in their seven wins.
If the Spartans hope to salvage their season, a win against a top-25 opponent would certainly help, especially as it would move them closer to bowl eligibility.
Interview: Illinois coach Bret Bielema
How about No. 6 Alabama at No. 10 LSU (7 p.m. ET)?
Young: Brian Kelly chose to come to LSU precisely to win games like this against Nick Saban. He claimed he couldn’t get it done at Notre Dame because he didn’t have the players to win big games against the likes Saban's Crimson Tide.
Now, as the man occupying a job I’ve called the best in America, he has a chance to do just that for the first time. After all, Saban himself was once head coach at LSU, and one of the reasons he left the NFL for Tuscaloosa was, as his wife Terry has said, they saw another LSU — a place where the Sabans could win year after year.
With quarterback Jayden Daniels finding his best form and the Tide proving to look as shaky as they have since 2018, this might just be Kelly’s game to win.
Cohen: Oh, how the tenor of this rivalry has changed in the last 20 years. Alabama enters Saturday’s game having won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two schools, with its lone defeat coming in 2019. The tectonic shift toward the Crimson Tide is a credit to what Saban has built in Tuscaloosa, just like LSU’s 4-1 record against Alabama from 2000-04 reflects what he built in Baton Rouge as the Tigers’ head coach during that stretch. Whatever side Saban is on seems to win.
An interesting subplot to this year’s matchup is the clash in styles between the offensive scheme Alabama’s defense faced last week against Mississippi State and the one it will face Saturday at Tiger Stadium. Where MSU quarterback Will Rogers was a stationary target with minus-95 rushing yards this season, LSU's Daniels is the team’s leading rusher with 524 yards (including 378 after contact) and nine touchdowns. Daniels’ dual-threat ability is a major reason the Tigers rank among the top 15 nationally in third-down offense with a 49% conversion rate. But keep an eye on the potential matchup between star Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson Jr. and right tackle Emery Jones, who’s allowed twice as many quarterback pressures (18) as anyone else on the team.
Previewing Alabama-LSU, Texas-Kansas State
What’s worth watching in No. 24 Texas at No. 13 Kansas State (7 p.m. ET; FS1 and the FOX Sports app)?
Young: Coming off of their best win of the season — a 48-point whooping of Oklahoma State — the Wildcats have a chance to further solidify their hold on a spot in the Big 12 championship game.
To do that, though, K-State coach Chris Klieman and defensive coordinator Joe Klandeman will have to slow the most talented quarterback-running back combo in the league in Quinn Ewers and Bijan Robinson, respectively.
With games still to come against TCU and Baylor, the road ahead for Texas still could very well lead to a spot in the Big 12 title game, too. The Longhorns need to win this one, though, for a shot of that happening.
This game is pivotal for deciding who among the top-five teams in the conference will still be hunting for a championship.
Cohen: Who plays quarterback for Kansas State? That might be the most interesting question ahead of this intriguing Big 12 matchup. Opening-day starter Adrian Martinez missed last week’s game with an undisclosed lower-body injury, but backup Will Howard threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns in the stomping of Oklahoma State that thrust the Wildcats into the thick of their conference title race. As of Wednesday morning, it’s unclear if Martinez is healthy enough to play.
The uncertainty at quarterback — from outside the K-State program, anyway — presents an unenviable task for Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, who must prepare his group for two vastly different quarterbacks. The Wildcats average 244.5 rushing yards per game when Martinez plays because of his talent as both a runner and passer. That number drops to 178.5 yards when Howard plays the majority of a game, and he’s gained just 34 rushing yards all season. Given the Longhorns’ struggles defending the pass this season (92nd nationally), perhaps Kwiatkowski would rather see Martinez.
Does the Pac-12 have a path to playoffs?
And finally, what catches your eye in No. 12 UCLA at Arizona State (10:30 p.m. ET; FS1 and the FOX Sports app)?
Cohen: It’s fair to wonder about the focus at Arizona State following the dismissal of head coach Herm Edwards in mid-September and the unrelenting flow of rumors about who will replace him — could it really be Deion Sanders?! — ever since. The Sun Devils’ only wins since parting ways with Edwards were an impressive upset of then-No. 21 Washington and a shootout victory over a hapless Colorado team that also fired its coach early this season. The biggest challenge from here on out for ASU’s interim coach Shaun Aguano might be summoning maximum effort from his players each week.
In Los Angeles, there is plenty to play for at UCLA following the first College Football Playoff rankings released earlier this week. The Bruins (7-1 overall) check in at No. 12, while their crosstown rivals USC (7-1 overall) are sitting ninth. Those two teams play later this month, and it’s conceivable for the winner of that game to vault higher than the Trojans’ current ranking. Maybe there will be enough chaos at the top of the rankings for a one-loss Pac-12 team to become relevant down the stretch.
Young: I want to see UCLA win the Arizona state championship — beating the Sun Devils this week and the Wildcats next week — to set up a big game against USC on Nov. 19.
That also means the Trojans have to hold up their end of the bargain and also enter the Los Angeles city championship with just one loss. But both the Bruins and Trojans need each other to come into that game ranked and with a clear road to the Pac-12 title game.
A loss to an Arizona State team that fired its head coach so long ago that he’s already signed a TV contract would prove disastrous for the Bruins.
Read more:
- FOX Sports staff survey: CFP picks, Heisman leaders, more!
- College football Week 10: By the numbers
- Big Noon Kickoff: Everything to know about TCU-Texas Tech
- Deion Sanders, Lane Kiffin and other top Auburn coach candidates
- Check out the latest Big Ten Power Rankings
Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter at @Michael_Cohen13.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The Number One College Football Show." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube.
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