College football viewers’ guide: ranked matchups between USC-Stanford, Georgia-South Carolina highlight this week
It’s another weekend of college football, which means it’s time to cancel your other Saturday plans to binge-watch games from morning until late night. The Times’ Eduardo Gonzalez lets us know what will be on our televisions and computer screens this weekend:
FRIDAY
No. 16 Texas Christian (1-0) at Southern Methodist (0-1), 5 p.m., ESPN2
The battle for the best team in the Dallas metropolitan area will be decided. Texas Christian hopes that dual-threat quarterback Shawn Robinson can repeat what he did last week against Southern. The sophomore passed for three touchdowns and rushed for two in a 55-7 win. Southern Methodist hopes to get its offense going earlier than it did last week, when the Mustangs all their points in the last 8½ minutes of a 46-23 loss to North Texas.
SATURDAY MORNING
Arizona (0-1) at Houston (1-0), 9 a.m., Channel 7
Nothing went well for Kevin Sumlin in his debut as Arizona’s coach or for Heisman Trophy hopeful Khalil Tate in a loss against Brigham Young last week. The quarterback passed for 197 yards and a touchdown but was limited to 14 yards rushing in eight carries. He hopes to turn things around against a Houston defense that gave up more than 400 yards in a victory over Rice.
UCLA (0-1) at No. 6 Oklahoma (1-0), 10 a.m., Channel 11
Chip Kelly’s debut as UCLA coach last week against Cincinnati did not turn out well. Starting quarterback Wilton Speight suffered an injury minutes before the half and it still hasn’t been announced if he’ll start against Oklahoma, which shut down Florida Atlantic. Kelly has never lost consecutive games as a college coach.
9 a.m.: New Mexico at No. 5 Wisconsin, Big Ten Network (Big Ten); No. 18 Mississippi State at Kansas State, ESPN; Western Michigan at No. 21 Michigan, FS1; Eastern Michigan at Purdue, Big Ten; Liberty at Army, CBS Sports Network (CBSSN); Nevada at Vanderbilt, SEC Network (SEC); Duke at Northwestern, ESPNU; Georgia Tech at South Florida, ESPN2.
9:30 a.m.: Georgia State at North Carolina State, Prime.
11 a.m.: Portland State at No. 23 Oregon, Pac-12 Networks (Pac-12).
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
No. 3 Georgia (1-0) at No. 24 South Carolina (1-0), 12:30 p.m., Channel 2
Georgia begins defense of its Southeastern Conference title on the road against division rival South Carolina. Georgia’s Jake Fromm passed for 157 yards and two touchdowns last week in the Bulldogs’ shutout victory over Austin Peay. South Carolina’s Jake Bentley passed for 250 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Coastal Carolina.
Colorado (1-0) at Nebraska (0-0), 12:30 p.m., Channel 7
Colorado and Nebraska renew their rivalry for the first time since departing the Big 12. Colorado’s Steven Montez passed for 338 yards and four touchdowns in a win against Colorado State last week. This will be Scott Frost’s debut as Nebraska’s coach after last week’s game against Akron was canceled because of inclement weather.
No. 2 Clemson (1-0) at Texas A&M (1-0), 4 p.m., ESPN
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher thought he could escape Clemson after leaving Florida State after last season. But the Aggies and Tigers will meet in a pivotal matchup that could have playoff implications. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney again plans to use quarterbacks Kelly Bryant and Trevor Lawrence after they combined for 264 yards passing and four touchdowns last week against Furman. Texas A&M running back Trayveon Williams rushed for 240 yards and three touchdowns against Northwestern State.
No. 13 Penn State (1-0) at Pittsburgh (1-0), 5 p.m., Channel 7
Penn State survived a scare last week in an overtime win over Appalachian State. Penn State gave up 450 yards to the Mountaineers; Pittsburgh ran for 238 yards against Albany.
No. 17 USC (1-0) at No. 10 Stanford (1-0), 5:30 p.m., Channel 11
Both teams started off shakily in wins last week. USC quarterback JT Daniels passed for 282 yards and a touchdown and running back Aca’Cedric Ware ran for 100 yards and a touchdown in a 43-21 win over Nevada Las Vegas. Stanford’s K.J. Costello passed for 332 yards and four touchdowns against San Diego State. Stanford’s Bryce Love was limited to 29 yards rushing in 18 carries, but he’ll try to take advantage of a USC defense that gave up more than 300 yards rushing against UNLV.
12:30 p.m.: Arkansas State at No. 1 Alabama, ESPN2; Rutgers at No. 4 Ohio State, Big Ten; Ball State at No. 8 Notre Dame, Channel 4; Memphis at Navy, CBSSN; North Carolina at East Carolina, ESPNU.
1 p.m.: Lamar at Texas Tech, Prime; Southern Illinois at Mississippi, SEC; East Tennessee State at Tennessee, SEC.
2 p.m.: North Dakota at No. 9 Washington, Pac-12; Iowa State at Iowa, Channel 11.
4 p.m.: Southeastern Louisiana at No. 11 Louisiana State, ESPN2; Wyoming at Missouri, ESPNU.
4:30 p.m.: Alabama State at No. 7 Auburn, SEC; Kentucky at No. 25 Florida, SEC; Western Illinois at Illinois, Big Ten; Virginia at Indiana, Big Ten; Arkansas at Colorado State, CBSSN; Utah at Northern Illinois, ESPN News; Florida International at Old Dominion, beIN; Fresno State at Minnesota, FS1.
5 p.m.: South Alabama at Oklahoma State, Prime; Tulsa at Texas, Longhorn Network; Southern Utah at Oregon State, Pac-12.
SATURDAY EVENING
No. 15 Michigan State (1-0) at Arizona State (1-0), 7:45 p.m., ESPN
Herm Edwards debuted as Arizona State’s coach with a rousing 49-7 win over Texas San Antonio. Manny Wilkins passed for 237 yards and four touchdowns and Eno Benjamin rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown. Michigan State escaped with a 38-31 win over Utah State thanks to running back Connor Heyward’s heroics in the waning minutes.
7:15 p.m.: Connecticut at No. 20 Boise State, ESPNU; California at Brigham Young, ESPN2.
8 p.m.: San Jose State at Washington State, Pac-12.
Twitter: @edmgonzalez
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