No. 24 Kansas @ No. 3 Texas
Saturday, Sept. 30 — Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium — Austin
2:30 p.m. on ABC
Texas may or may not be back, but Kansas certainly is. Coach Lance Leipold ensured this won’t be the memeable matchup it has been in years past, as the Jayhawks head to Austin undefeated at 4-0. Their biggest weapon is junior running back Devin Neal, who leads the Big 12 in rushing scores and is largely the reason Kansas is averaging 37.8 points a game.
But as good as the Jayhawks are on offense, Texas is that much better. Neal may be outrunning Longhorn sophomore running back Jonathan Brooks, but Heisman hopeful Quinn Ewers is far out-slinging Jalon Daniels, and on the receiver front, Xavier Worthy is out-catching and out-running Kansas junior Lawrence Arnold.
This is also the Texas defense that held Alabama to 24 points and the Kansas defense that allowed 24 points to 0-4 Nevada. That’ll be the difference in this game, as Kansas will hang around for two or three quarters before Texas pulls ahead in a shootout.
Prediction: Texas 48, Kansas 24
No. 10 Utah @ No. 19 Oregon State
Friday, Sept. 29 — Reser Stadium — Corvallis, Oregon
8 p.m. on Fox Sports 1
The Friday night lights will be bright in Corvallis, Oregon, as the Beavers look to rebound after falling short in the Pac-2 championship against Washington State last week. They’ll face a Utah squad with its mind set on a conference title, with three Pac-12 foes in front of it in the AP Poll despite the Utes’ spot in the top 10.
Utah’s defense was the driving force behind a 14-7 win over then-ranked UCLA in the Utes’ conference opener. With their offense lagging as senior quarterback Cam Rising is still missing in action after tearing his ACL in last season’s Rose Bowl, it’s the Utah defense that will need to step up again against an Oregon State offense averaging 459.5 yards a game.
Taking into account the fact that Oregon State has won 13 of its last 14 games in Corvallis along with typical Pac-12 After Dark chaos, the Beavers are able to handle a Ute defense that bends and eventually breaks as Oregon State puts themselves back in the conference championship race.
Prediction: Oregon State 31, Utah 10
No. 13 LSU @ No. 20 Ole Miss
Saturday, Sept. 30 — Vaught-Hemingway Stadium — Oxford, Mississippi
5 p.m. on ESPN
Both SEC teams enter this matchup 3-1 on the season, looking to prove that they are still vying for the conference title. The Tigers are coming off a back-and-forth 34-31 win against Arkansas that ended in a chip-shot field goal. The LSU offense looked comfortable behind senior quarterback Jayden Daniels, who threw four touchdown passes for 320 yards and a 69% completion rate.
However, the Brian Kelly-coached defense has seen better days. The Tigers have allowed a total of 100 points to their last four opponents, two of which were SEC teams. This differs from last season’s LSU defense, as they allowed only 57 points at the same Week 5 mark during their last season.
Ole Miss is currently 0-1 in the SEC standings after failing to pull off an upset against Alabama last week. The Crimson Tide defense put a halt on the Rebels’ junior quarterback Jaxson Dart, who had only a single rushing touchdown and less than 250 yards in the passing game. If Ole Miss can’t find a way to exploit the struggling LSU defense, it is going to be in for a slugfest against the Tigers.
Prediction: LSU 38, Ole Miss 21
No. 11 Notre Dame @ No. 17 Duke
Saturday, Sept. 30 — Wallace Wade Stadium — Durham, North Carolina
6:30 p.m. on ABC
ESPN’s College Gameday is headed to Durham, North Carolina, for the first time in the show’s history.
The start for coach Mike Elko is nothing short of historic, earning the best starting record of any Duke football head coach through the first 17 games, a respectable 13-4 record.
The Blue Devils are looking to turn the tide in the program’s long history of disappointment and are so far accomplishing just that, starting the 2023 campaign 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the ACC after a dominant 28-7 win over Clemson. Duke entered the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2018 after snapping the Tigers’ 12-game ACC winning streak.
The Fighting Irish are coming off a heartbreaking loss in the final second of its game against No. 6 Ohio State. The Catholics’ defense struggled the most in the final drive of the game, ultimately resulting in a 65-yard drive, consisting of four third down conversions and one fourth down conversion, in which Notre Dame’s defense played softer than it had the whole game.
This matchup is going to come down to whoever can outlast the other, as Duke has outscored its opponents by more than 20 in each game while Notre Dame has averaged 39.6 points per game.
Prediction: Duke 31, Notre Dame 28