College football ahead: Five things to watch this week

Tennessee at Florida (-2): Neither the Vols nor Gators are ranked, but both fanbases will be fired up for this week’s SEC on CBS Game of the Week. Conversely, the Crimson Tide dropped 10 spots following the loss. Big passing plays could be out there.

Rodriguez, like every coach in the nation, is familiar with Rosen, who was widely considered the No. 1 QB recruit a year ago. And the offense needs to solidify its receiving corps after Robert Foster was lost for the year with a rotator cuff injury.

Three Pac-12 teams-USC, Arizona State, and Washington-enter league play with undefeated records. The Sun Devils haven’t looked crisp through the first three weeks, which includes sluggish performances against New Mexico and Cal Poly. While Week 4 doesn’t shape up to be quite as heavy on must-see-TV as a blockbuster Week 3, there’s still several intriguing games, particularly out in Pac-12 country. Protecting the quarterback has been an issue, as the Sun Devils have allowed 11 sacks (nine came in the opener against Texas A&M). They are scheduled to play Arizona, Utah, UCLA, West Virginia, Michigan State and Mississippi State in 2016.

The Ducks begin Pac-12 play in head coach Kelly Graves’ second season on January 2 at UCLA.

The Wildcats were 4-2 in the league but were in control of their fate, needing to beat Oregon and then follow with road wins over ASU and USC to win the conference.

The Cougars will ring in the new year with their first conference road trip of the season.

Game: Oregon State 35, San Jose State 21. The Bruins have won the past three, including 17-7 last season. Yes, some teams have not really taken a tumble yet, but no one team has yet made a huge national statement.

Oregon State: Meanwhile the Beavers have loaded their schedule with some national contenders.

History is not on the Trojans side.

While Rodriguez doesn’t buy that his team is untested after playing a lackluster nonconference slate and claims he and his coordinators have held nothing back, he also acknowledged that this weekend’s game is an entirely different event. But this season, the AP Top has been surging teams that win under such circumstances.

The UA was shut out for the weekly Pac-12 player of the week awards for the third straight time. If Oregon can finish 12-1, Helfrich’s team will have a strong resume to present for the playoff committee.

“Not an easy way to start”, Graves said shortly after the 2015-16 schedule was released by the Pac-12 on Monday. After defeating then-No.6 USC, Stanford become the sixth team to be included in the rankings. It was UO’s first victory over Stanford since 2004.

Final thought: UCLA is the real deal and showed they are more than just a good quarterback.

However, as we witnessed previous year , the Cardinal’s offense can run hot and cold at times. “He has not practiced in two weeks”.

Said linebacker Deon Hollins: “A lot of the pundits said we can’t win the close game, the big game against a BYU, a Stanford, a Utah”. Northwestern forced three turnovers and opened a season with three victories for the first time since 2013 – also the last time the Wildcats were ranked.

Scooby Wright III’s status for Saturday is still unclear.

The game capped one of the most remarkable turnarounds ever. That’s going to be the question going forward. Stanford dominated the time of possession battle when they had the ball for 19 minutes more than the Trojans but only had 47 more total yards. However, will the defense take a step forward in Pac-12 games? Stopping Tanner Mangum on a last-minute drive is not easily done, but the Bruins’ defense – showing far more heart than the defense across the way in L.A., inside the Coliseum against Stanford – found the intestinal fortitude championship teams manage to display in the midst of man-making motivational moments.

Watch for more rankings, previews and predictions from the good folks at Athlon here on Dr. Saturday.