CFB Week 5, Sept 27th edition; top ten games & players to watch

Damn, almost halfway thru the cfb season, goes so fast…
http://archive.today/2025.09.26-133805/https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6662396/2025/09/26/college-football-schedule-week-5-oregon-penn-state/

10. No. 8 Florida State (3-0) at Virginia (3-1), Fri., 7 p.m., ESPN

9. No. 11 Indiana (4-0) at Iowa (3-1), 3:30 p.m., Peacock

It was a resounding message, for the haters, from Indiana and coach Curt Cignetti in last week’s 63-10 demolition of No. 9 Illinois. A few doubters will linger until the Hoosiers knock off a more traditional power — and they will have their chances with Oregon and Penn State on the schedule

8. No. 1 Ohio State (3-0) at Washington (3-0), 3:30 p.m., CBS

7. No. 22 Notre Dame (1-2) at Arkansas (2-2), noon, ABC

The win-loss records suggest this game shouldn’t be on the list, but it’s a fascinating matchup between two teams that can’t play defense. The over/under is 64.5 points, the highest in the nation this weekend, and that still feels too low. Notre Dame’s CFP hopes are on life support after early losses to Miami and Texas A&M, and the Irish now face a dangerous yet mistake-prone Arkansas squad. The Razorbacks have fumbled the ball away on potential game-winning drives each of the past two weeks, but the Irish can’t afford to let Arkansas keep it close and tempt that fate again.

6. Auburn (3-1) at No. 9 Texas A&M (3-0), 3:30 p.m., ESPN

5. No. 24 TCU (3-0) at Arizona State (3-1), Fri., 9 p.m., Fox

4. No. 21 USC (4-0) at No. 23 Illinois (3-1), noon, Fox

Is USC for real? The competition hasn’t been tough, but the wins have been convincing, and it may be that coach Lincoln Riley finally has a team that can compete in the Big Ten.

3. No. 17 Alabama (2-1) at No. 5 Georgia (3-0), 7:30 p.m., ABC

frm710 - Wow ALvs UGA in the SEC regular season so much for protecting the conference
It’s a rematch of one of the best games of the 2024 season: the thrilling 41-34 Alabama win, featuring receiver Ryan Williams’ iconic catch-and-spin move to take a late lead. Kalen DeBoer’s squad desperately needs another win before kicking off a brutal stretch of four straight ranked opponents, plus LSU and Oklahoma waiting in November. It’s a chance for quarterback Ty Simpson to earn some recognition after Georgia’s secondary struggled against Tennessee. The Dawgs escaped Knoxville with a win and flashed a potent offense behind quarterback Gunner Stockton. They might need it again inside a rowdy Sanford Stadium on Saturday.

2. No. 4 LSU (4-0) at No. 13 Ole Miss (4-0), 3:30 p.m., ABC

It should be a good-on-good battle between the LSU defense and the Ole Miss offense. The Tigers have a top-10 scoring defense, averaging single digits in points allowed per game, while the Rebels offense averages nearly 45. Division II transfer quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is expected to start again for Ole Miss after back-to-back games with 300-plus passing yards, going against the Weeks brothers and a star-studded LSU unit. It’s also a chance for LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and the offense to finally kick into gear (“You’re spoiled! You’re spoiled!”) against an Ole Miss team that gave up 35 points to Arkansas a couple of weeks ago.

1. No. 6 Oregon (4-0) at No. 3 Penn State (3-0), 7:30 p.m., NBC

A massive game, but it feels as if the lion’s share of the pressure is on Penn State: night game, White Out, top-10 matchup, with head coach James Franklin’s 4-20 record against top-10 opponents front and center all week. Can Franklin notch a big win? Can quarterback Drew Allar play at a Heisman, first-round NFL level? It seems as if the goal posts are always moving for Penn State — the Playoff wins over SMU and Boise State were quickly deemed insufficient after the loss to Notre Dame — but it comes with the hype. The stakes are high for Oregon as well, which has Indiana on the schedule in a couple of weeks. Neither of these teams faced much resistance in nonconference play, but the winner will justify contender status in the national title race.

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Ohio State is going to struggle with Washington.

I think Washington is pulling that upset.

Besides hating tOSU why would you think an unranked Washington could beat a top 5 team?

Ok so it is the old 3 time zone frolicking. But a 330pm start minimizes that.

Travel. Very tough stadium to play in. Seems like it will be dry but you still have the open end zone with the wind coming off of the sound. It’s a unique spot. Most importantly Williams-Coleman-Boston may be the best QB/RB/WR trio in the country and Fisch can really scheme up Problems. It’s also an opportunity for the regime’s first signature win so they will be motivated.

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Definitely could happen.

If the OSU-Patricia defense is actually legit up front, we shouldn’t have an issue.

If Washington can run the ball, it’s going to be a long day.

I expect us to protect Sayin again like we did against Texas, which means we’ll need to play a great game defensively in order to win. Our secondary will be up to the task, and our LBs are good enough to play a good game, but I worry about Williams and Coleman being able to run consistently.

Washington is always good at home, and Williams, Coleman, and Boston are all really good.

Sayin has also never started a road game, and now he gets to start a road game across three timezones in one of the toughest stadiums to play in in the country.

We need to be able to run the ball to have success in games like this, and the run game has looked questionable so far this season.

I’m watching two other QB’s
The Indiana QB, Fernando Mendoza, who has looked sharp to this point, tougher battles coming but kid has been impressive.

Then the Ole Miss Div2 transfer, Trinidad Chambliss, vs LSU and their defense.

Can these two keep it up?

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Yep! Really looking forward to that Indiana vs Iowa matchup, Iowa’s Oline is starting to play like the old Iowa Oline’s.

The Ferris State QB to Ole Miss is a fun story to watch/follow

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Chambliss comes thru…
I didn’t see any of the Indiana game so no idea how well Mendoza did/didn’t do.

UGA/AL
College Football Bulldogs GIF by University of Georgia
if not mistaken first time in 7-9 years these two have played in the regular season. Explains a lot as OSU plays PSU and UM every year
Penn St vs Oregon

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TN MS St exchanging body blows… OT.??

Ryan Williams drops a TD pass missed opportunity there

https://x.com/dannykanell/status/1972088680652411022

Watching the Penn State versus Oregon and the announcer called coach Dan Lanning, Dan Campbell. Awesome. We have arrived.

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Ryan Williams is becoming very overrated.

No reason a player as good as he is should be shut down as often as he is.

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Is this about UGA/ALA? We played in the regular season last year.

Sorry I actually knew that, meant in Athens

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They haven’t played in Athens since 2015.

It’s pretty crazy how that’s somehow happened. Ohio State hasn’t played at Illinois since 2015 either, and they do that this year.

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LOL
OSU vs IL is not the same as AL at UGA in ten years

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I know, but it’s still one conference team at another conference team. And the B1G has played one more conference game a year over that stretch (for the most part).

It just came to mind.

Ty Simpson should be a high NFL draft pick.

He’s looked very good this season.