College football: Play it forward

Five things to watch this week in college football:

1. Something’s got to give. Washington State at Stanford on Friday pits Cougars quarterback Connor Halliday against the Cardinal’s defense. Halliday is coming off a weekend in which he threw for a Football Bowl Subdivision-record 734 yards against California. Stanford has allowed 537 passing yards all season.

2. Mississippi and Mississippi State enjoyed the greatest single football Saturday in the history of the state but now must avoid victory hangovers. Ole Miss follows its win over Alabama with a trip to Texas A&M, and Mississippi State hosts Auburn in Starkville.

3. There’s a great early October game brewing in Texas this week, but it’s not the Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma, both coming off losses. The real action is in Waco, where No. 5 Baylor hosts No. 9 Texas Christian.

4. Oregon at UCLA will also be Quarterback Protection Awareness Day at the Rose Bowl. Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota has been sacked 12 times in his last two starts and Bruins’ quarterback Brett Hundley has been sacked 11 times his last two games.

5. There is a good chance USC at Arizona will be decided on a Hail Mary. Arizona defeated Cal two weeks ago on a last-second heave. USC successfully completed a Hail Mary to end the first half against Oregon State and disastrously allowed one in Saturday’s loss to Arizona State.