College football ahead: Ohio State plays at Virginia Tech on Monday

1. The last game of the Labor Day weekend ends Monday night when top-ranked Ohio State visits Virginia Tech. The Buckeyes begin their national title defense against the team that handed them their only loss in 2014. Urban Meyer still hasn’t named his starting quarterback, J.T. Barrett or Cardale Jones, because he doesn’t have to.

2. Get ready for Oregon at Michigan — not the schools, the states — in another key proving ground moment for the Pac-12. Oregon plays at Michigan State the same day Oregon State plays at Michigan. Oregon allowed 549 yards in its opening win over Eastern Washington, while freshman quarterback Seth Collins led Oregon State to a win over Weber State.

3. It was tough to gauge how good USC might be based on Saturday night’s 55-6 win over Arkansas State at the Coliseum. We could know more next week when Arkansas State hosts Missouri, the two-time defending Southeastern Conference East champions. The Tigers opened the season Saturday with a 34-3 win over Southeast Missouri State.

4. Brigham Young began the toughest opening four-game stretch in college football with a Hail Mary victory at Nebraska. That might have been the easy part. The Cougars, who lost quarterback Taysom Hill for the season (again), host Boise State this week before consecutive games on the road at UCLA and Michigan.

5. Oklahoma at Tennessee is an early bragging-rights game between the Big 12 and SEC. The Sooners, one of the biggest busts of 2014, can prove they deserve national respect again with a statement win in Knoxville. The Volunteers are 1-0 after a win against Bowling Green in which they allowed 30 points and 557 yards.