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Week 4 had several big games. Most of them did not turn out to be exciting. Week 5 brings more intriguing games and hopefully, this comes with better games to review.
Whether you loved what Oregon did to Colorado or hated it, Coach Prime has brought excitement to Boulder. This week will bring even more excitement as reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams brings USC into town for a 10 a.m. local kickoff. Oh, the fun of morning football.
What other games can we hope to enjoy? Well, I cannot wait to see what Penn State does to Northwestern. For those who are not Penn State fans, let us look at a couple of matchups to enjoy with some nice beverages.
N0. 6 USC Trojans vs. Colorado Buffaloes
Betting Lines: USC -21.5 (-105) O/U 73.5
Colorado showed it is not a great team Saturday against the Oregon Ducks. It also showed its drawing power as the game attracted more viewers than the Ohio State vs. Notre Dame game did. A game we all knew would be closer.
Colorado will return home to Boulder with its tail between its legs after a 42-6 loss to Oregon. In a game that was not even this close. Colorado did not have more than 39 yards of offense until five minutes were left in the third quarter and it finished with less than 200, even going against the Ducks backups for much of the second half and Shedeur Sanders playing until the final whistle.
USC was able to defeat Arizona State 42-28. The defense for the Trojans is still a major issue with the Sun Devils scoring 28 points just one week after being shut out by Fresno State at home. QB Caleb Williams leads a potent offense. An offense that will be able to perform against a bad Colorado defense. But the USC defense, which is just as bad, will allow Sanders to get back above the 300-yard mark throwing after a one-game hiatus.
This will be an up-and-down game, but USC has the talent advantage to make this a second straight ugly loss for coach Prime and Colorado.
Betting: USC -21.5 Under 73.5
No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks vs. No. 5 Texas Longhorns
Betting Lines: Texas -17 (-110) O/U 63.5
Kansas comes into this game as 17-point favorites but everyone remembers what happened the last time Kansas came into Austin. It walked out with a 57-56 overtime win as 31-point underdogs. Texas returned the favor 55-14 in Lawrence last season, but the Longhorns still remember that game in 2021 and they want revenge.
QB Quinn Ewers has proven to be a talented player and is a top-five candidate for the Heisman Trophy. WR Xavier Worthy has been able to show he could make a case as the WR3 in the early 2024 draft rankings at the position. The defense has also been stellar. Both in the win over Alabama and the most recent win on Saturday, a 34-6 drumming of Baylor.
Kansas may not walk into Austin and get a victory this time. And it will be the last chance it will have with Texas going to the SEC. But hey, there is always basketball.
Betting: Texas -17 Under 63.5
No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. No. 16 Duke Blue Devils
Betting Lines: ND -5.5 (-115) O/U 51.5
No one would have thought both teams would be ranked during this game. Of course, many people thought Notre Dame would be here...but not Duke. Since beating Clemson 28-7 in Week 1, the Blue Devils, behind QB Riley Leonard have been rolling through their competition. This continued Saturday with a 41-7 road win over UConn.
Everyone knows what happened to Notre Dame on Saturday. A last-second TD by Ohio State sent the Irish from the penthouse to the streets of South Bend with a 17-14 loss to the Buckeyes. An inexplicable decision by coach Marcus Freeman to not risk a penalty led Ohio State to match up against just 10 defenders on the ultimate play of the game.
WAIT A SECOND!!!! NOTRE DAME ONLY HAD 10 PLAYERS ON THE FIELD ON THE FINAL PLAY vs OHIO STATE!!!!! WTF!!!
???? pic.twitter.com/dFYu63Kv7S
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) September 24, 2023
QB Kyle McCord and the Ohio State offense, which did nothing all game, moved 65 yards in less than 1 minute and 30 seconds for the win. This game against Duke will show the resolve of Notre Dame and of QB Sam Hartman.
If the Irish can put the loss behind them, there is still a chance they make the playoff. If they are unable to move past a physical game, Duke is good enough to send Notre Dame to a second straight loss.
Betting: Duke +5.5 Over 51.5
No. 23 Florida Gators vs. Kentucky Wildcats
Betting Lines: Kentucky -2.5 (-115) O/U
What once was a massacre is now a real rivalry. Florida had a streak of 31 straight wins over Kentucky which went back most of my life. But the Wildcats have railed off two straight wins in the series and come into this matchup as favorites.
Florida has the best win of the season between these two teams. A 29-16 win in The Swamp over Joe Milton and the Tennessee Volunteers. The Gators also had a disastrous loss to Utah. A 24-11 game in which Utah starting QB Cameron Rising did not appear.
Florida has been an enigma of sorts following a bad game with a good one. With its last game being a 22-9 lackluster win over an overmatched Charlotte squad, the Gators are in store for a good game in Lexington. If Kentucky allows them to.
Kentucky, who is still unbeaten at 4-0, has not played a hard schedule. Games against Ball State, Akron, Vanderbilt, and Eastern Kentucky have provided Kentucky an easy way to gather wins before the meat of its schedule. Meat which starts with the Gators on Saturday.
While the offense has been good, not scoring less than 28 points in a game, the defense has struggled. Especially in the SEC opener Saturday in a 45-28 win against Vanderbilt. Florida will look to run the ball all over the Wildcats defense. This will slow the game down and limit the amount of offense Kentucky will produce.
The Kentucky Wildcats have gone under in eight of their past 10 games overall. The past 10 games in this series have also gone under six times. Expect a slow, close game to be fought in Lexington between a football power and a basketball school that wants to show it also cares about football.
Betting: Florida +2.5 Under 44.5
No. 10 Utah Utes vs. No. 19 Oregon State Beavers
Betting Lines: Ore. State -3.5 (+102) O/U 44.5
You want a slugfest? I got your slugfest right here. Oregon State comes off its first loss of the season still with hopes of a double-digit winning season. To do so, it must avenge its 42-16 loss suffered in Salt Lake City in 2022.
The Beavers come in with the best offensive line in the conference while Utah comes in with one of the top defenses in the conference. A defense tallied a pick-six on the first play from scrimmage against UCLA Saturday and only gave up seven points the entire game.
It is unknown if Utah QB Cam Rising will return for this game. With this being a Friday game on a short week, it might behoove coach Whittingham to rest him another week.
Where Utah has a question at QB, Oregon State is in no such predicament with DJ Uiagalelei. While Saturday against Washington State was not great with 198 yards, one TD, and one INT on 17-34 passing, he was lighting up less competition in the previous three games. Behind this massive offensive line and against a defense the caliber of Utah, the Beavers will look to control this game on the ground.
RB Damien Martinez for Oregon State has averaged 7.6 yards per rush having 432 yards on 57 carries. The Freshman Player of the Year in 2022, Martinez has come out and again taken ahold of the backfield. He will need to do so again if the Beavers want a chance to win this game at home.
Betting: Utah +3.5 Under 44.5
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