Play it forward: The week ahead in college football

Five things to watch this week in college football.

1: UCLA fans need to erase that easy “W” they had penciled in for the Sept. 29 game at Colorado. What looked like a picnic at Pikes Peak should be filled with some trepidation now that UCLA is the team coming in after a loss and Colorado is the team coming in after a win.

2: The Big Ten, which has been sliding from national relevancy since No.1 Ohio State and No.2 Michigan met in 2006, could use a pick-me-up showdown after last weekend’s poor group effort. The best we can offer is Ohio State at Michigan State.

3: You do not want to be the Towson Tigers heading into Baton Rouge a week after Louisiana State’s Tigers struggled to extract a two-point road win against Auburn’s Tigers. The real story here, though, is why there are so many teams nicknamed “Tigers.”

4: Texas had the weekend off to enjoy rival Oklahoma’s shocking loss in Norman to Kansas State, but Mack Brown’s Longhorns can’t get caught overlooking this week’s trip to Oklahoma State. Mike Gundy’s Cowboys had a bye week, too.

5: The SEC team to start paying attention to is Georgia, which is 4-0 after Saturday’s dismantling of Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs are averaging 47.5 points per game and host Tennessee next weekend in an important East Division matchup.