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Let's call in a preliminary playoff series. There is too much football to call No. 7 Stanford-No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 4 Ohio State-No. 9 Penn State a pair of quarterfinals of the college football playoffs. Except that it is so because four of the nine best teams of the country meet and that the month of September ends. Of course, it's early, but here's why everyone can not afford to lose …
- Notre Dame because it does not have the luxury of a conference league match. In the era of the playoffs as in the era of BCS, it is best to remain undefeated. In fact, the only shot of the Irish over the last 30 years (2012) came after a season of 12-0. The best shot of Lose and Notre Dame is to make 11-1, allowing him to compete for the playoffs with conference champions 12-1 (and 13-0).
- Stanford because the Pac-12 tends to eat his. Last year, each team in the league lost at least three games. The cardinal still has trips to Arizona and Washington. Utah is all right next week.
- Ohio State because of last year. The Buckeyes are the defending champions of the conference, but losing twice last year was the difference in the Big Ten, missing the playoffs. A victory over the Nits allows the Buckeyes the "luxury" to lose once in the conference and still have a playoff worthy of a 12-1.
- Penn State because that can not blow that chance. If she loses, Ohio State should lose twice in the Big Ten, just for Penn State to have a chance to win the division. Win and the Nittany Lions would have the home track as the only unbeaten team in the ultra-tough East. No. 21 Michigan State and No. 15 Wisconsin still have to come to State College. The only remaining road games are Indiana, Rutgers and No. 14 Michigan.
Let's take a look at the intrigues of college football at the beginning of week 5.
1. Brian Kelly shadows Stanford: The coach of Notre Dame must feel it. Kelly had some subtle hot lava during the "Jim Rome Show" for the cardinal and his tradition. "They've had a really good run over the last 10 years," said Kelly. "We've had one in the last 90 years – there's a difference between longevity and the championships."
Regardless, it has absolutely nothing to do with the players on Saturday, that's right. The modern age of Stanford football begins essentially with the arrival of Jim Harbaugh in 2007. Notre Dame is pretty much a founding member of college football. But Stanford has won seven of the last nine meetings, all since 2009, when Harbaugh established the Cardinal nationally.
2. Book it: It's a game of emerging quarterbacks. Ian Book of Our Lady seems to be Kelly's missing arm with Brandon Wimbush. David Shaw hinted this week that Stanford QB K.J. Costello (327 passing yards against Oregon) could be great. "I think there's a very high ceiling," Shaw said about the 6-foot-5 junior. "He's not where he's going to play four games now." Shaw added that Costello's arm strength is "comparable" to that of an Andrew Luck.
3. Nick Bosa's injury: We know how the defensive part of the Ohio State Stars will be available until at least November. Bosa is the best defensive player of the Buckeyes. He could be the best player in the team. It was after Bosa was accused of targeting and thrown last year at Iowa, that the Bucks were kicked out of the building in the match that prevented them from participating in the playoffs. Coincidence? According to Sports Info Solutions, his replacement, freshman Chase Young, is the fourth-best passer in the country. The five-star rookie is tied for fifth in the quarter.
4. Dear Trevor Lawrence, do not hurt yourself: The feeling here is that Clemson coach, Dabo Swinney, knew exactly how Kelly's situation was going. Either Bryant was going to stay and Clemson (host of Syracuse) would have the deepest quarterback depth of the country, or without Bryant, Lawrence would have three shots at the National Championship as a starter (assuming he lives for the NFL after the 2020 season). Even though now, Lawrence is supported by two freshmen, he gives Clemson the best chance to beat Alabama – now until 2020.
5. Meanwhile, Justin Fields stays in Georgia: Surprised? It is worth mentioning that the famous first-year quarterback in Georgia played all of last week against Missouri. Fields might have some time this week against a Tennessee who is still trying to figure it out. It's one of the worst clashes of the week. Tennessee returned five times last week against Florida (leading to 31 points). Georgia has four touchdowns in the last two games.
6. Texas is back … no? We will not know until the Red River Showdown on October 6th. To get there, the No. 18 Longhorns have to win at Kansas State, a place they have not won since 2002.
7. More travel for mountaineers: West Virginia makes its longest Big 12 trip (nearly 1,500 miles) to Texas Tech. The winner can not do better than to be tied with the Big 12 in view of October. After winning his first victory over a 15-year-old team in seven years (2011), the Red Raiders are in a familiar situation – first at the national level by passing the yards and last in the Big 12 in defense total. Take quarterback Will Grier, who throws three top 10 receivers (in yards): David Sills, Gary Jennings and Marcus Simms.
8. Bells directed at Dan Mullen: For the first time since he was in Florida (the first time), Dan Mullen will take on the famous Mississippi state bells. "I have been hearing them for several years now," he said this week. "I know the environment." How hard can it be? Mullen is assured that "Rocky Top" will be played all week in practice before tearing the Flights by 26.
9. The next branch of Nick to fall: Being part of Nick Saban's training tree has its disadvantages. If Louisiana-Lafayette loses to Alabama (Bama is a 49 1/2-point favorite), Ragin's coach Cajuns Billy Napier would be the last former Saban assistant coach to try to beat his mentor. After eliminating Jimbo Fisher and A & M last week, Saban is now 13-0 against his former assistants. ULL never beat a ranked team on the road. Tua Tagovailoa remains the only starter of Power Five to take an offensive slam in the fourth quarter.
10. Group of Five Report: There are five Undefeated Group Five teams heading to Week 5 – UCF, South Florida, Cincinnati, North Texas and Buffalo. Because the Knights, Bulls and Bearcats are all played in the American, the most undefeated teams that can be assured are three. There has never been more than an unbeaten Group of Five team at the end of the playoff season (since 2014).
Fast kicks: The Rutgers may have picked up the title as the worst FBS program. In consecutive weeks, the Scarlet Knights were beaten by Ohio State, Kansas (yuck!) And Buffalo (double yikes!) 149-30. Indiana is coming to Piscataway this week … Ohio State (eighth) and Penn State (12th) are among the leaders on average per game … Clemson (4-0) has not been 5-0 since 1987 … Hard to believe that Penn State is organizing a top 10 for the first time since 1999 … LSU (vs. Ole Miss) has had two turnovers in the last 24 quarters. He is tied with Kansas with the least turnovers this season (one) … Oklahoma's possession time against the Army last week (3:19) was the lowest since 1995. Sadly as this statistic can not be traced further. Someone has a Big Eight book? … Bryce Love's 254 yards (95th in FBS) score his worst three-game total since Christian McCaffrey returned in 2016 … Pittsburgh (at UCF) faces the team with the longest streak of wins in six games … as many consecutive games against ranked teams as Alabama (three each)
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