This weekend in college football is the first of several great weekends. Many ranked matchups name face off, and more star power than ever on the football field this weekend.
The first game is Thursday, Sept. 25, between Army and East Carolina. Moving on to Friday, two ranked teams play: No. 8 Florida State vs. Virginia, and No. 24 TCU vs. Arizona State.
On Saturday, the more important games of the weekend happen.
No.21 USC at No.23 Illinois is one of the few ranked vs ranked matchups in the Big Ten Conference this weekend. USC is coming off a 45-31 victory against Michigan State at an unusual 11:00 p.m. ET start time. Quarterback Jayden Maiava threw for 234 yards, passed for three touchdowns, and rushed for two touchdowns, where he completed 76% of his passes.
Illinois is coming off a road upset against No.11 Indiana in blowout fashion. Quarterback Luke Altmyer threw for only 146 passing yards and one touchdown, and he completed 63% of his passes. A disappointment for the Fighting Illini. They gave up 63 points on the road to a tough Indiana offense.
Both of these teams are very good and should cause excitement in the college football world. USC has a 72.9% chance to win the game, according to ESPN Analytics.
No.4 LSU at No.13 Ole Miss. The second-ranked matchup of the day comes between Garrett Nussmeier and Trinidad Chambliss.
LSU has been awesome to watch these first few weeks. Their biggest issue is figuring out the offense. The Tigers’ offense struggled against teams that have left fans disappointed this season. LSU has only managed to score around 20 points against Clemson and Florida, in a game where young quarterback D.J. Lagway threw for five interceptions.
Ole Miss is ranked lower than it should be. They have a spectacular offense behind senior Transfer quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. Chambliss has accounted for 719 passing yards and four touchdowns this season. The transfer from Ferris State has brought a shine to this Ole Miss offense. This is the first real test of the Rebels’ season.
Some interesting news to stir this game up even more: during game week, star linebacker for LSU, Whit Weeks, has announced that he is in a relationship with Landry Kiffin, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin’s daughter. This prompted Kiffin to take shots on X, formerly Twitter, where he stated, “Take the over.”
This new relationship will certainly change the effect of this game in Mississippi. Ole Miss is offense-heavy, while LSU is defense-heavy. Ole Miss has a 73.3% chance to win this game according to ESPN Analytics.
No.17 Alabama at No.15 Georgia. This game has the potential to be the game of the year. Every time Alabama and Georgia play, it is one of the biggest and most enjoyable games of the entire year. Georgia’s stunning comeback last year, Ryan Williams spinning through defenders. This game has a lot of hype to it, which is why it is our third-ranked vs ranked matchup of the week.
Alabama has been a shell of itself from previous years. Without Nick Saban as head coach, it seems that it is lost. Kalen DeBoer is not the answer for this team. An early year upset by Florida State to start the year.
Alabama is almost being overlooked, as they have dropped to its lowest rankings in the AP poll in over 20 years. Quarterback Ty Simpson has thrown for 9 TDs this season, but clearly, it has not been enough for this star-studded lineup.
Georgia might have already played the game of the year, where they defeated No. 15 Tennessee in Knoxville off an unbelievable missed kick and overpowered them in overtime.
Quarterback Gunnar Stockton is in his first full season as a starter, and he certainly has shown it. The Bulldogs have a lot of faith in him for the future, and they believe he is their guy.
This game is certainly filled with NFL talent; both of these teams seem to have players on every NFL team, but the real question is, who will show their true star power on the big stage in Sanford Stadium on Saturday night? Georgia currently has a 54.8% chance to win this game, according to ESPN analytics.
No.6 Oregon at No.3 Penn State. There is a reason this game is where College GameDay will be located. Happy Valley, Pa., home of one of the best traditions in sports, the Penn State White out.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has shone with an interception ratio of 11-1. Oregon is also coming off a blowout against its rival, Oregon State, 41-7. Oregon has not had a tough contest yet, and the White out in Happy Valley will certainly be a great test for the Ducks.
Penn State quarterback and Ohio native Drew Allar has also performed well in the early games of the season. Penn State previously blew out Villanova 52-6, and every other game they have played has been a similar result.
The Nittany Lions are certainly hungry as head coach James Franklin is known to not win big games. Penn State currently has a 51.1% chance to win according to ESPN Analytics.
