Play it forward: The week ahead in college football

1: Georgia at Missouri is not just the Southeastern Conference game of the week, it’s the first time those words have ever been typed. This is a dangerous early trip into the Midwest for Georgia, favored to win the SEC East. Show-me Missouri fans know they have only one chance to make their first SEC impression.

2: Careful what you wish for. Texas A&M; left the Big 12 last year because it got tired of Texas always getting its way. The Aggies now face the cold, hard truth of the SEC. Texas A&M; plays Florida in College Station without benefit of a warmup as last weekend’s opener against Louisiana Tech was postponed because of Hurricane Isaac.

3: Washington travels to No. 3 Louisiana State in a game that pits Pac-12 pride against the tenacious Tigers. The scary thought is Washington allowed 67 points to Baylor in last year’s Alamo Bowl. The Pac-12 had a shaky weekend with Colorado and Cal dropping openers to Colorado State and Nevada.

4: There will be a lot of brain power in Palo Alto when Duke plays at Stanford. Hard to believe Duke is the team coming off an impressive opener with its 46-26 win over Florida International. Stanford, starting the post-Andrew Luck era, struggled in a 20-17 win over San Jose State.

5: Nebraska is headed to the Rose Bowl at a moment when it’s time to get excited again about UCLA football. Or is this where we throw down the cautionary spike strip? It was only a few years ago Rick Neuheisel made his home coaching debut with an emotional win over Tennessee at the Rose Bowl.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com