College Football Cheat Sheet: Week 9

Can you believe that there are only five more Saturdays left in the college football season? This sport is a marathon and not a sprint. In Week 9, we will receive a very nice card that includes some rivalry games with stakes, another top-15 matchup in the Pac-12, and numerous games with conference championship stakes.

We’ve got another busy Saturday ahead. KSR’s College Football Cheat Sheet is back to set the table on the final weekend in October.

The Slate

Top 10 Games

1. No. 8 Oregon at No. 13 Utah
2. No. 3 Ohio State at Wisconsin
3. No. 20 Duke at No. 18 Louisville
4. No. 11 Oregon State at Arizona
5. No. 1 Georgia vs. Florida
6. No. 21 Tennessee at Kentucky
7. No. 6 Oklahoma at Kansas
8. Miami (Ohio) at Ohio
9. BYU at No. 7 Texas
10. No. 17 North Carolina at Georgia Tech

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Pac-12 title race comes into focus

An argument can be made that the Pac-12, in its final run, is the best conference in college football this season. The west coast power conference currently has four teams with one loss or less. Five teams have one conference loss or less. Despite taking two consecutive losses, USC can still play spoiler. This conference has a big weekend on tap.

• No. 5 Washington: 7-0 (4-0)
• No. 24 USC: 6-2 (4-1)
• No. 8 Oregon: 6-1 (3-1)
• No. 11 Oregon State: 6-1 (3-1)
• No. 13 Utah: 6-1 (3-1)
• No. 23 UCLA: 5-2 (2-2)
• Arizona: 4-3 (2-2)
• Colorado: 4-3 (1-3)
• Washington State: 4-3 (1-3)
• California: 3-4 (1-3)
• Stanford: 2-5 (1-4)
• Arizona State: 1-6 (0-4)

— Oregon at Utah: After the big road win over USC, Kyle Whittingham‘s Utah team returns home to Salt Lake City to host Oregon’s elite offense and improved defense. The contest between the Ducks and Utes could be considered an elimination name both for the College Football Playoff and the Pac-12 title hunt. The biggest game of the day will take place in Rice-Eccles Stadium.

— Oregon State at Arizona: Quietly, Jonathan Smith has the Beavers in the hunt with a very winnable three-game stretch on the slate out of the bye. Oregon State will get Colorado and Stanford to begin November before closing with Washington and Oregon. OSU could be 9-1 when the Huskies come to Corvallis on the weekend before Thanksgiving. But first, they must get by a pesky Arizona squad that has shown great progress in year two under Jedd Fisch. The after dark window game in Tucson has some huge stakes.

Luke Fickell’s Wisconsin takes its first swing at Ohio State

One of the biggest hires of the past offseason was when Wisconsin surprisingly decided to move on from Paul Chryst and convinced Luke Fickell to leave Cincinnati for Wisconsin. Fickell then surprised everyone when he scrapped his offensive philosophy and hired North Carolina offensive coordinator Phil Longo to install his version of the Air Raid in Madison. Year one of the “Dairy Raid” is not going well with the Badgers ranking No. 70 in passing success rate, No. 91 in passing EPA/play, and No. 120 in yards per attempt.

Over in Columbus, Ohio State keeps winning big games with defense. New quarterback Kyle McCord is not making mistakes, and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is a superstar. The Buckeyes are struggling to run the football, but that hasn’t bitten them yet.

Fickell will get the first swing of his alma mater at home. The former Ohio State defensive coordinator knows how the Buckeyes operate, and that insider intel could make Wisconsin a live dog in a letdown spot for the road favorite. Expect a wild atmosphere at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin’s passing game isn’t good enough to win this game, but the Badgers could give Ohio State a scare.

This figures to be the last big test for Ryan Day‘s team until Ohio State travels to Michigan on Thanksgiving weekend at a possible 11-0.

ACC title hunt takes shape

Florida State is going to be in the ACC Championship Game for the first time since 2014. That feels like a pretty safe bet at the moment with the Seminoles sitting at 7-0 (5-0). FSU will be a double-digit road favorite against Wake Forest and Pittsburgh over the next two weeks. That should lock up a trip to Charlotte for Mike Norvell‘s squad.

Finding who they will face on the first weekend in December is trickier.

A blowout home win over Syracuse on Thursday night has kept a surprising Virginia Tech (4-4, 3-1) in the hunt. After a stunning home loss to Virginia, Mack Brown‘s North Carolina (6-1, 3-1) squad cannot afford another loss to Georgia Tech. Miami is lurking at 1-2 with a remaining road game against Florida State. There is a lot of ball to be played, but the winner of the Duke-Louisville contest could be in the driver’s seat to claim that second spot in Charlotte.

The Blue Devils (5-2, 2-1) suffered their first conference loss last week to Florida State, and the status of star quarterback Riley Leonard is unknown entering this contest. The Cardinals (6-1, 3-1) are fresh off a bye after getting blistered in the fourth quarter in a surprising road loss to Pittsburgh. This upcoming Week 9 contest is very important in the ACC race. Louisville is also dealing with injuries as star tailback Jawhar Jordan is questionable with a hamstring injury.

There are still some challenging games left for both teams, but the owner of this tiebreaker could end up in great shape in November.

Another big stage for Florida

You have to give some credit to second-year head coach Billy Napier. Twice this season he has gotten his team off the mat after demoralizing road losses. The Gators responded to a bad loss to Utah by beating Tennessee at home two weeks later. Florida then responded to a bad road loss to Kentucky by beating South Carolina on the road two weeks after that. All of a sudden, Napier’s team is 3-1 in SEC play and ready for a yearly measuring stick game against Georgia in Jacksonville.

Add in that star tight end Brock Bowers will be unavailable, and Florida will have some expectations entering this matchup. Saturday will give us a good idea about where the Gators stand under Napier.

Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz is having a good season at quarterback, and Ricky Pearsall is one of the best wideouts in the SEC, but the defense might just be bad. New defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong has seen his unit be rocked by Kentucky’s run game and shredded by South Carolina’s passing attack.

A big day could be coming for Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. Another blowout loss for the Gators could lead to some overreactions, but Napier has shown that he can get his team headed back in the right direction quickly.

College Football Degenerate Under: Purdue at Nebraska Under 39.5

Iowa has the weekend off so we’re having to look elsewhere to find our under of the week. To no one’s surprise, we’re staying in the Big Ten West.

New head coach Matt Rhule has not taken long to adjust to the ground-and-pound football played on this side of the Big Ten. The Huskers are No. 108 in offensive success rate and No. 30 in defensive success rate. The offense is very run-heavy and is dealing with a ton of injuries. Get ready for some conservative football in Lincoln.

Purdue’s Air Raid offense is not putting up great numbers with Texas transfer Hudson Card running the show. Scoring points will be difficult. With temperatures in the mid-30s on Saturday afternoon, we’ve got some ugly weather for some ugly football.

This one won’t be easy on the eyes.

The rest of the college football card

— After sleepwalking against UCF, we should see Oklahoma get another test on the road against Kansas. The Jayhawks have an offense that can give the Sooners some real problems, but Dillon Gabriel should have a huge day against this bad defense in Lawrence. Brent Venables‘ team needs a solid tune-up before heading to Stillwater for the final Big 12 meeting of Bedlam next weekend.

— South Carolina is reeling and could fall to 2-6 with a loss on Saturday. Jimbo Fisher‘s Texas A&M team desperately needs wins in a hurry to cool down some of the hot seat chatter in College Station. The loser at Kyle Field will be spiraling. This is a game the Aggies should handle with ease. But that has been easier said than done under Fisher.

— We will get our first look at Maalik Murphy on Saturday afternoon when Texas hosts BYU. The rocket-armed quarterback has a high ceiling, and this should fully be his show as the Horns want to redshirt five-star true freshman Arch Manning. There has been heavy speculation that Murphy will eventually enter the transfer portal. Teams will now get to view game reps to see how good Murphy is if that happens. Or the California native could force another Texas quarterback to transfer.