If November is college football’s time to shine, its first Saturday of games doesn’t exactly glow with excitement. There’s only one matchup featuring two teams ranked in the College Football Playoff top 25, and Auburn-Texas A&M will have more bearing on the SEC West race than anything nationally.
That’s not to say there’s nothing to watch. Read on …
Time | Game | TV |
|---|---|---|
11:30 | Army vs. Air Force in Arlington, Tex. | CBS |
Noon | No. 5 Ohio State at Nebraska | Fox |
Noon | No. 9 Wake Forest at North Carolina | ABC |
Noon | Missouri at No. 1 Georgia | ESPN |
Noon | Illinois at No. 20 Minnesota | ESPN2 |
Noon | SMU at Memphis | ESPNU |
Noon | Liberty at No. 16 Mississippi | SEC Network |
Noon | No. 25 Pittsburgh at Duke | ACC Network |
Noon | Kansas State at Kansas | Fox Sports 1 |
Noon | Louisiana Tech at UAB | CBS Sports Network |
12:30 | Georgia Tech at Miami | MASN |
2 | Towson at Richmond | NBC Sports Washington |
3 | California at Arizona | Pac-12 Network |
3:30 | Campbell at James Madison | NBC Sports Washington Plus |
3:30 | No. 3 Michigan State at Purdue | ABC |
3:30 | Navy at No. 10 Notre Dame | NBC |
3:30 | No. 12 Baylor at TCU | Fox |
3:30 | No. 13 Auburn at No. 14 Texas A&M | CBS |
3:30 | No. 11 Oklahoma State at West Virginia | ESPN |
3:30 | Tulsa at No. 6 Cincinnati | ESPN2 |
3:30 | No. 21 Wisconsin at Rutgers | Big Ten Network |
3:30 | Penn State at Maryland | Fox Sports 1 |
3:30 | Colorado State at Wyoming | CBS Sports Network |
4 | No. 17 Mississippi State at Arkansas | SEC Network |
4 | No. 19 North Carolina State at Florida State | ACC Network |
4 | Tulane at Central Florida | ESPNU |
7 | LSU at No. 2 Alabama | ESPN |
7 | Tennessee at No. 18 Kentucky | ESPN2 |
7 | Boise State at No. 23 Fresno State | CBS Sports Network |
7 | Oregon State at Colorado | Pac-12 Network |
7:30 | No. 4 Oregon at Washington | ABC |
7:30 | Indiana at No. 7 Michigan | Fox |
7:30 | Florida at South Carolina | SEC Network |
7:30 | Clemson at Louisville | ACC Network |
7:30 | Texas at Iowa State | Fox Sports 1 |
7:30 | Houston at South Florida | ESPNU |
10 | San José State at Nevada | Fox Sports 2 |
10:15 | Texas San Antonio at Texas El Paso | ESPN2 |
10:30 | USC at Arizona State | ESPN |
11 | No. 24 San Diego State at Hawaii | Fox Sports 1 |
The Scott Frost era appears to be nearing its end at Nebraska, a case of the perfect fit failing to pan out. You could argue the Cornhuskers have been unlucky this season — none of their six losses were by double digits — but when your only wins are against Fordham, Buffalo and a down-year Northwestern team and you’re one loss away from a fifth straight losing season, people in Lincoln are bound to get riled up. In any case, Nebraska hosts Ohio State looking to salvage something from the season before yet another probable new era dawns. The Buckeyes’ offense has been steamrolling opposing defenses, but things are trending differently on the other side of the ball: Hobbled Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford threw for 361 yards last week against Ohio State’s defense, which ranks 92nd nationally in passing yards allowed per game and could have a bit of trouble containing a Cornhuskers passing attack that is at least somewhat competent. Nebraska ranks 26th nationally in passing-play success rate, while Ohio State’s defense ranks 85th in that category. …
It will take a whole lot of other dominoes to fall for Auburn or Texas A&M to work their way back into the playoff picture — both already have two losses. But the winner will stay at least nominally alive for the SEC West crown and a chance to topple Georgia in the conference championship game. Tigers quarterback Bo Nix has rebounded nicely from his benching in a close win over Georgia State on Sept. 25 and has thrown and rushed for three touchdowns combined over the past two games, both wins over top 25 opponents, but the Aggies have given up only 344 passing yards and have intercepted four passes in their past two games. Texas A&M quarterback Zach Calzada, hasn’t done anything memorable since he led the Aggies to their shocking upset of Alabama on Oct. 9, but he hasn’t had to. Running back Isaiah Spiller has exceeded 100 rushing yards in three of the past four games, and Auburn’s rushing defense has given up some hefty yardage this season: Georgia, Arkansas and Georgia State rushed for more than 200 yards against the Tigers. …
It’s something of a challenge to recommend anything from a grim nighttime slate, so I guess we can go with LSU-Alabama for the sheer novelty of the Crimson Tide being a four-touchdown favorite over a program that won the national title two seasons ago, beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa along the way. But it’s hard to argue that the point-spread chasm between the teams isn’t apt: Alabama rebounded from its loss to Texas A&M to beat Mississippi State and Tennessee by a combined 68 points while the Tigers merely are biding time until they can reset the program when fired coach Ed Orgeron leaves after the season. The matchup is so denuded that it’s not getting a national airing on CBS for the first time since 2006, one season before Nick Saban arrived to remake Alabama into a modern colossus. LSU enters without seven defensive starters and standout wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, all injured, and Orgeron said last week that he didn’t have enough healthy players for the team’s traditional bye-week intrasquad scrimmage.
