It’s another busy week in college football, and as we get into the heart of the season, there are some big games being played at all levels.
- No. 22/23 Houston (2-0) at No. 13/12 Texas Tech (2-0)
7 p.m. CT | Friday, September 18 | Galaxy Stadium | Lubbock, Texas | FOX
Houston Game Notes | Texas Tech Game Notes | Live Stats
A Friday night matchup of nationally-ranked teams will take place in Lubbock, as Willie Fritz leads Houston into action against Joey McGuire and Texas Tech.
Friday’s matchup will be the 37th all-time meeting between the two schools, in a series that Houston leads 18-17-1. It is the first meeting between the two teams where both teams are ranked since 1989, when the Cougars beat Texas Tech inside the Astrodome; and indeed, Houston has won the last five meetings where the Cougars have been ranked, dating back to 1979.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders have a nine-game home win streak inside Galaxy Stadium – their longest such streak since a 12-game run from 2007-09. In the words of the late, great, Gorilla Monsoon, Friday’s matchup creates a matchup between the irresistible force and the immovable object. Texas Tech has given up 18 or fewer points in each of their last nine home games (and has allowed just 17.0 points per game this season), while Houston – buoyed by last week’s blowout win against Southern – is averaging 55 points per game.
The Cougars may be unfazed by the success Tech has had at home – as Houston has won a nation-best six straight away from home; and over the last five seasons, Houston has won 18 games away from TDECU Stadium; trailing only Ohio State, Oregon, and SMU; and tied with Georgia, Alabama, and BYU.
- No. 16/16 SMU (2-0, 1-0 ACC) at No. 23/RV Louisville (1-1, 0-0 ACC)
2:30 p.m. CT | Saturday, September 19 | L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium | Louisville, Ky. | ESPN2
SMU Game Notes | Louisville Game Notes | Live Stats
Another top-25 matchup takes place as Rhett Lashlee leads the Mustangs into L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium for a matchup with Jeff Brohm and Louisville. It’s the fifth all-time meeting between the two schools in a series dating back to 1983. SMU is a perfect 4-0 in the series, with SMU winning last year’s matchup 38-6 in Dallas.
Since joining the ACC in 2024, no other team has won more league games than the Mustangs. SMU is 15-2 in conference play since that time.
The Cardinals will look to change their fortunes in ranked matchups Saturday, as Louisville has lost three consecutive; however, during the tenure of Brohm the Cardinals are a perfect 2-0 at home, with wins over No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 20 Duke during the 2023 season.
The Cardinals sole’ setback was a 41-38 loss to a nationally-ranked Ole Miss squad in the season opener, and Louisville has shown plenty of offensive spark this season, averaging 48.5 points per game. The key matchup will be that of the Cardinals’ offense – averaging 48.5 points per game – against the stingy Mustangs defense – allowing just 17.0 points per game.
- RV/RV Mississippi State (2-0) at RV/RV South Carolina (2-0)
3:15 p.m. CT | Saturday, September 19 | Williams-Brice Stadium | Columbia, SC
Mississippi State Game Notes | South Carolina Game Notes | Live Stats
Coach Jeff Lebby takes his Mississippi State team east for a matchup with Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks. It’s the 18th meeting all-time between the two schools, with South Carolina holding a 10-7 advantage.
Both teams are receiving votes in the top-25 polls after getting off to a 2-0 start. Offensive firepower has been on display for both teams, as MSU averages 50 points per game and South Carolina is averaging 51. When it comes to racking up yards, however, nobody in the SEC has done better than the Bulldogs – Mississippi State leads the SEC and ranks second nationally at 620.5 yards per game.
That offense will clash with a South Carolina defense that has allowed under 200 yards per game – and just 4.5 points per game – thus far this season.
The Bulldogs opened the season with a dominant 62-13 win over Louisiana-Monroe before going on the road to knock off a solid Minnesota team 38-13 last week; South Carolina, on the other hand, throttled Kent State 57-0 in the opener before knocking off Towson 45-9 last week.
Mississippi State will look for its first win against South Carolina since 2016; and its first win in Columbia since the 1998 season.
- RV/RV Florida (2-0) at NR/RV Auburn (2-0)
6 p.m. CT | Saturday, September 19 | Jordan-Hare Stadium | Auburn, Ala. | ESPN
Florida Game Notes | Auburn Game Notes | Live Stats
Another pair of Southeastern Conference unbeatens square off in their league openers, as Jon Sumrall leads the Florida Gators to Auburn for a matchup with Alex Golesh and the Tigers. It’s the 85th all-time meeting between the two schools, with Auburn holding a 43-39-2 edge.
The series has tilted towards the Gators in the last several years, with Florida winning 12 of 18; however, the home team has traditionally held an advantage with Auburn holding a 26-8-1 edge in games played at home.
Sumrall has the Gators halfway to last year’s win total with dominant wins over FAU and Campbell in their first two games, while Golesh could get more than halfway to Auburn’s five-win total from a season ago with a win Saturday.
While these two teams are quite familiar with one another over the years, they have not played since 2019 – when then No. 10 Florida topped then-No. 7 Auburn 24-13 in Gainesville, and Saturday’s meeting will be the first between the two teams in Auburn since 2011. The Gators were the first-ever opponent to play the Tigers inside Jordan-Hare Stadium back when it was known as Auburn Stadium, resulting in a 7-7 tie in 1939.
This will actually be the second time a Sumrall-led team will face off against a Golesh-led squad, as Sumrall led Tulane to a 45-10 win over Golesh and USF back in 2024.
Golesh led the Tigers to a nail-biting 17-16 win in the season opener against Baylor before returning last week with a 43-8 win over Southern Miss, putting up over 600 yards of total offense against an FBS opponent for the first time since 2021.
Saturday’s meeting will be the 10th meeting between the schools since 1952 where both teams have been unranked.
- No. 7/7 LSU (2-0) at No. 8/9 Ole Miss (2-0)
6:30 p.m. CT | Saturday, September 19 | Vaught-Hemingway Stadium | Oxford, Miss. | ESPN
LSU Game Notes | Ole Miss Game Notes | Live Stats
Trying to explain the stakes of this game is kind of like explaining who Nick Saban is. But we’ll try. Ahem.
LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, who spent six seasons as the head coach at Ole Miss before departing prior to the College Football Playoff last year, will return to Oxford for the first time to square off against Pete Golding and the Rebels.
This matchup is yet another matchup of undefeated SEC schools, as Kiffin has LSU riding high with a pair of big wins over Clemson and Louisiana Tech, while Golding led the Rebels to a close win over Louisville in the season opener before a dominant 41-9 win against Charlotte last weekend.
The game is the 115th meeting between the two schools, and it’s safe to say that since November 30 of last year, it’s been guaranteed to be perhaps the most emotional game in the history of the series. LSU holds a 66-44-4 advantage in the series, but games in Oxford are evenly contested at 11-11-1.
This will be Kiffin’s second time coaching against Ole Miss – the first came back in 2009 when Kiffin was the head coach at Tennessee, and the Rebels won that matchup 42-17.
In his first full season as a head coach, Golding has a 4-1 career mark and those five games may be the toughest first five games for a coach in the history of college football – three games in the College Football Playoff followed by a season opener against a nationally-ranked Louisville team. After this Saturday’s game, five of six opponents in Golding’s coaching career will be nationally ranked, and three will have been top-ten teams at the time of the game.
Other Things To Watch.. And Some Things We Watched
- BEAR BOWL REDUX – Yet again, two teams coached by the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant will face off against one another this weekend as Kentucky faces Texas A&M.
- CAROLINA ON MY MIND – Saturday morning could see a hotly-contested game in South Carolina, as Bill Belichick leads undefeated North Carolina into a game with Dabo Swinney and Clemson in a game that may be must-win for the Tigers.
- CLOSE CALLS – Watch these games that may come down to the final possession – Coastal Carolina at Delaware, Arizona State at Kansas, North Texas at Texas State, NC State at Vanderbilt, Temple at Toledo, East Carolina at Old Dominion, FIU at FAU, UConn at Southern Miss, Nevada at Middle Tennessee, Ohio at South Alabama, Colorado at Northwestern, Virginia Tech at Maryland, and James Madison at San Diego State.
- FBS UPSETS? – Last weekend, Illinois State knocked off Northern Illinois 28-24 while top-ranked Montana State downed Nevada 20-7. Perhaps the best chance for an upset this weekend will be in Corvallis, as No. 2 Montana takes to the road for a matchup with Oregon State.
- OTHER GAMES TO WATCH – Keep a close eye on what’s going on in Brookings, South Dakota, as No. 3 South Dakota State plays host to No. 9 Youngstown State in a matchup between two national title contenders.
- LIFE IN THE DEUCE – It’ll be a matchup of top-25 teams in Division II as No. 25 Northern State heads to Mankato, Minn. for a matchup with No. 3 Minnesota State. The Mavericks have traditionally dominated the Wolves – leading the all-time series 11-2 – but NSU is hoping for a repeat of the 2022 meeting in Aberdeen, when the Wolves pulled out a 23-22 victory. MSU has never lost to the Wolves in Mankato – but NSU got close back in 2021 in a 40-34 overtime win by MSU.
- D3 POWERHOUSES COLLIDE – Last week, North Central head coach Brad Spencer tied Walter Camp as the quickest coach in NCAA history to 60 wins in North Central’s win over Wartburg – this weekend, we’re watching a couple of matchups – Wartburg having fallen to No. 18 will match up against No. 3 UW-River Falls, No. 21 Springfield will face No. 5 UW-Platteville, and UW-La Crosse will face off against a Division II opponent, facing Wayne State.
- FROM THE NAIA – We’re paying close attention to unbeaten Midland’s matchup at No. 13 Northwestern. Midland has a stingy defense and a high-powered offense, while Northwestern has had a pair of National Players of the Week; but perhaps most notable is the inclusion of Northwestern kicker Gianna Bennett, who made history as the first female student-athlete ever selected to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. With 66 career points, she is 35 points from breaking the college football record for points scored by a female player.
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