Week 5 of the college football season features two matchups between ranked teams in the afternoon time slot.
No. 10 Notre Dame takes on No. 18 Virginia (3:30 p.m., NBC) in South Bend, Ind., in a matchup that will determine whether the undefeated Cavaliers are for real. No. 21 USC and No. 17 Washington (3:30 p.m., FOX) face off in a big matchup between one-loss Pac-12 teams. No. 5 Ohio State travels to unranked Nebraska (7:30 p.m., ABC) in the big primetime matchup.
MORE: Sizing up college football's undefeateds heading into Week 5
Every week, Sporting News will survey the landscape looking for Heisman contenders, coaches on the spot, upset alerts and other trends. With that in mind, get ready for Week 5:
Heisman watch
Nebraska’s Adrian Martinez was among the Heisman dark horses in the preseason, knowing the sophomore would take the next step in his development playing for second-year coach Scott Frost.
Martinez has been solid. He has 1,052 passing yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He also averages 15 carries per game with 234 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Ohio State’s Justin Fields, meanwhile, has 880 passing yards, 150 rushing yards and 19 total scores. That has put Fields in the thick of the Heisman Trophy conversation.
If Martinez wants to get in there, then there’s no better chance to upstage Fields with the “College GameDay” spotlight on Lincoln and Memorial Stadium. Eric Crouch, Nebraska’s last Heisman Trophy winner, led the Huskers to victories against Notre Dame and Oklahoma. This is one of those stages for Martinez.
Coaches on the spot
Pat Fitzgerald made headlines this week for telling his critics to email him at “hashtag I don’t care,” but the two-loss Wildcats face a season-defining game at No. 8 Wisconsin. The Wildcats have won three of the last five meetings with the Badgers.
“I understand there are 40,000 experts on Twitter that can call plays for me. My email address is hashtag I don’t care.” - Pat Fitzgerald pic.twitter.com/LaOY9NPfPj
— Dustin Schutte (@SchutteCFB) September 23, 2019
Mike Leach made headlines last week for his Pac-12 mascot breakdown, and the Cougars subsequently lost 67-63 in a touch-football game with UCLA. Washington State will look to avoid its first two-loss September in another one-loss Pac-12 showdown with Utah. If Washington State loses, then it will be interesting to see how/when/if Leach’s name comes up in coaching searches as the second half of the season unfolds.
Upset alert
Virginia visits Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, and the Cavaliers are double-digit underdogs against the Irish, who are coming off a 23-17 loss to the No. 3 Georgia.
Can the Cavaliers become the next team to pick up a victory in their first visit to South Bend? Since Brian Kelly took over in 2010, Tulsa (2010), South Florida (2011), Louisville (2014), Virginia Tech (2016) and Georgia (2017) have pulled that off, and Duke (2016) won for the first time in four tries.
The Cardinals, Hokies and Blue Devils are part of that five-game ACC arrangement, and this is a chance for Bronco Mendenhall to keep his team undefeated with a signature victory before ACC Coastal play heats up. With Bryce Perkins (1,036 total yards, eight total touchdowns), it’s possible.
WEEK 5 PICKS: Straight up | Against the spread
Over/under
The Pac-12 might be the closest league in terms of competition from top to bottom, and yet the conference might be out of the College Football Playoff race by the end of September. Cal is the only beaten team left in a conference that has the fewest unbeatens among the Power 5 conferences.
The SEC (five), Big Ten (five), ACC (three) and Big 12 (three) are in much better shape, and that’s part of the Catch-22 of the Playoff. Cal-Arizona State is a good game, but it’s more about the pressure on the Golden Bears to stay unbeaten. Washington-USC and Washington State-Utah are essentially September elimination games knowing that no two-loss team has made the Playoff — let alone one from the Pac-12.
Who is the best bet from the conference? We still think it’s Oregon, who has a bye this week before facing Cal and can prove it by mowing through Washington, Washington State and USC. The close loss to Auburn in the opener would be forgiven if the Ducks run the table.
Think about it …
We mentioned that “GameDay” spotlight, but this week’s game is more than that for the Huskers. It’s an opportunity to flex in front of a national audience against the best program north of the Mason-Dixon line.
Is there a program that can truly challenge Ohio State north of that line today?
That's the question a week after Michigan took a national beating after a 35-14 loss from Wisconsin. Jim Harbaugh’s record fell to 1-9 against top-10 teams, and the Wolverines are even worse this decade at 1-16. Notre Dame is 3-8 against top-10 teams since 2010 after a 23-17 loss at Georgia.
Nebraska is 2-9 this decade, with the wins coming in 2010 against Missouri and 2015 against Michigan State. This is a much bigger stage and a chance for Frost to lead that big win Harbaugh is still looking for. Nebraska doesn’t get as many chances as Michigan, making a win on Saturday that much bigger.
That’s the statement Nebraska can make on Saturday.
