Category: College Football

BOULDER, Colorado — When BYU took the field against Colorado Saturday night in Boulder, it marked the Cougars’ first visit to Folsom Field since 1981.

Wait, what?

Yes, BYU and the Buffaloes have only been back in the same conference for a year — the two schools were previously Rocky Mountain and Skyline Conference members together from 1922-47 — but given that they come from neighboring states, it’s still a bit surprising that they don’t share much modern day history.

Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”

Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.

In fact, Saturday wasn’t just BYU’s first trip to Boulder since ‘81 — it was the Cougars’ first regular season matchup against Colorado since then.

BYU played the Buffaloes in the 1988 Freedom Bowl and again in last year’s Alamo Bowl, where Kalani Sitake’s squad won in convincing 36-14 fashion.

Colorado joining the Big 12 not only brings the Cougars and Buffaloes into each other’s lives again, but it’s a big deal for local BYU fans in the Centennial State who can see their team without traveling too far — a luxury that had largely disappeared after the Cougars left the Mountain West Conference more than a decade ago and stopped playing Colorado State regularly.

“Growing up, I was always wishing that Colorado would play BYU because I wanted to see both teams play more often,” said BYU alumna McKayla Chambers, who actually grew up in Colorado as a Buffaloes fan. “Now that they are playing each other, it’s kind of a tear. Do I cheer for my childhood team and make my dad proud, or do I root for my alma mater and go with my roots?

“… I was always jealous that CU always played Utah (in the Pac-12), but it was always easy to cheer for CU in that situation. I’m grateful that…

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When we have huge, landscape-shifting weeks in college football, the updated rankings can be some of the most difficult to sort out. Because while the early weeks have some simple moves of winners going up and losers falling, this point in the season brings enough complication that head-to-head results begin to conflict and it creates a puzzle for voters in the AP Top 25 poll. 

In fact, according to CBS Sports Research, Week 5 was the first time more than three AP top-five teams lost this early in the season since 2008. Losses for No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 LSU and No. 5 Georgia have opened up the top of the rankings, allowing winners like Oregon and Ole Miss to make major moves at the top of the poll. 

Alabama will certainly be on the rise after beating Georgia in Athens, logging a win that solidifies the Crimson Tide as a legitimate threat still to win the SEC. But while that victory could, in theory, make Alabama the highest-ranked one-loss team, the profile is also impacted by the fact their loss came to Florida State, which will be falling in the rankings after losing at Virginia. 

Voters also have to wrestle with how much they are willing to penalize Penn State after losing at home to Oregon in double-overtime, as well as whether they are comfortable keeping Ohio State as the No. 1 team in the country considering the Ducks’ impressive road win in Happy Valley. There were 55 AP voters who had Ohio State in the top spot last week, and there wasn’t too much to complain about with how the Buckeyes won by double digits against Washington in Seattle, yet the statement made by Dan Lanning’s team on Saturday night on a big stage will kickstart a debate that should be reflected in a more balanced dispersion of first-place votes.  

Here’s…

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Welcome back to College Football Saturday!

While your Miami Hurricanes are on a bye, there are a couple great marquee matchups tonight in Primetime.

While you watch games from coast to coast today, hop in the comments and talk about the action as it happens. And, in case you needed to know who to root for in games with ACC teams, we’ve got you covered on that front:

I’ll post a couple highlight games in this window, but here’s a watchgrid graphic from TrigDraws, a contributor with another network.

Other games on during primetime and late night

Big, big games tonight. Which one gets the big screen: Oregon-Penn State or Alabama-Georgia?

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The hype was already building for the first top-10 battle between Miami and Florida State in over a decade as the No. 8 Seminoles traveled to play Virginia on Friday night. All they had to do was get past a UVa team that hadn’t beaten a top-10 opponent at home in 30 years and the stage would be set.

Unbeaten Miami would be traveling to take on unbeaten Florida State next week in a rivalry showdown that would be the talk of college football. After all, the last time Miami and FSU met in a top-10 matchup, FSU used its win over the Hurricanes as a springboard on its way to the 2013 BCS national title.

But if anyone from the ACC is going to contend for the national championship this season, it will be Miami. 

While Florida State’s stunning 46-38 loss to Virginia on Friday night didn’t completely disqualify the ‘Noles from College Football Playoff contention, it recalibrated expectations for a team that saw its stock soar following a Week 1 upset win over Alabama. 

Florida State may be light-years better than it was last season, when it finished 2-10. But it proved against Virginia that it’s not as great as its stunning upset of the Crimson Tide suggested.

That’s bad news for the the ACC, which is down to one legitimate national-title contender before the end of September.

It’s also bad news for college football, which could have benefitted from the nostalgia provoked by a week of anticipation leading up to a top-10 showdown between Miami and Florida State. Next week’s game at FSU’s Doak Campbell Stadium will still be significant, but Florida State’s loss to Virginia reduces the buzz. 

FSU can reclaim some momentum by beating Miami next week, but such an outcome would only further muddy the ACC’s aspirations of winning its first…

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Could Vanderbilt’s rising star be the answer in Blacksburg?

Virginia Tech’s search for a new head coach has taken an intriguing turn. While names like Shane Beamer and Michael Vick generate headlines, one candidate has quietly gained momentum: Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea. Hokie fans may remember him well, Lea’s Commodores have beaten Virginia Tech in back-to-back seasons, and his track record of building programs speaks volumes.

Lea’s resume is hard to ignore. He rebuilt Vanderbilt, a program that was once the SEC’s punching bag. In 2024, the Commodores shocked Alabama in one of the biggest upsets of the season. Now in 2025, they’re off to a 4-0 start, including a key win over South Carolina. That kind of turnaround proves Lea knows how to change culture and win games.

His defensive pedigree stands out. Before returning to his alma mater, Lea coordinated Notre Dame’s defense, turning the Irish into a College Football Playoff contender. Virginia Tech, long known for its defensive identity, could see Lea as the right fit to restore that reputation.

Virginia Tech finally has the resources to lure a coach of Lea’s caliber. With an increased budget, they can compete with SEC-level contracts. Landing Lea won’t be easy, as he’s a Vanderbilt alum deeply tied to Nashville, but Blacksburg has the pull of tradition and opportunity.

If the Hokies want a proven program builder with SEC toughness, Clark Lea might just be the man to lead them forward.

MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS: 

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Former Wisconsin offensive lineman Bill Ferrario, a two-time All-Big Ten selection and a key contributor on two conference championship teams, died Wednesday, according to the Scranton Times-Tribune. Ferrario turned 47 on Monday, just days before his death. The Wisconsin football program confirmed Ferrario’s death Thursday. 

Ferrario, a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania, shined with the Badgers from 1997-2000. He started every single game of his career and in the process became just the third player in Big Ten history to reach 50 starts. The 50 consecutive starts remains the second-longest streak by a Wisconsin player.

Ferrario was a model of consistency throughout his college career and a terrific blocker. He helped pave the way for running back Ron Dayne on his way to the Heisman Trophy and was a stalwart in the trenches for Badgers teams that won two Big Ten titles and the 1999 and 2000 Rose Bowls. In turn, he earned a first-team All-Big Ten honor in 1999 and second-team nod in 2000.

The Green Bay Packers selected Ferrario in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft, keeping him in the state of Wisconsin for the start of his professional career. Ferrario played in all 16 games during the 2002 season before the Packers waived him the following year. He signed with and was released by both Washington and Carolina and did not see game action for either franchise before leaving the league in 2005.

Ferrario moved back to Wisconsin at the end of his NFL career and embarked on a career in the medical sales industry. He also sold real estate and worked with high school…

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To put it rather bluntly, the Indiana Hoosiers are rolling on offense right now. They have scored 56, 73, and 63 points in their last three contests. The Iowa Hawkeyes have the chance to stifle this unit this Saturday inside what figures to be a hostile and raucous Kinnick Stadium.

What makes Indiana so tough to defend is how their offensive success can come from all over the field. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza is completing 76.8% of his passes for 975 yards and 14 touchdowns and has yet to toss an interception.

On the ground, Indiana has four running backs with at least 200 yards on the ground, and each of those backs averages 5.3 or more yards per carry.

Iowa is embracing the challenge, though, and Kirk Ferentz elaborated on how to slow down their potent attack.

“Where do you want to start? It’s hard to find a weakness. It really is. I’m not saying it’s like playing Ohio State, but there’s some similarities in my mind if you look at their offense. They have a big, physical offensive line, a couple newcomers there that have helped them. Right tackle, center, I’ll start right there. I think the other three guys were there last year, although I think one of them was a transfer as well, maybe, a year ago. But they’re a big, physical offensive line, two tight ends that are very effective and the one guy made the big play the other night with the long touchdown. Then those three receivers as a group — they’re all really good individually, but as a group, it kind of takes you back to Ohio State, where pick your poison. They had two first-rounders and another guy is pretty good.

“You’ve got that, and then in the backfield they have two really good running backs right now, and then the quarterback might be the best quarterback in the country. Somebody was saying he’s the leader for the Heisman. I don’t have a Heisman vote,…

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Anyone else ready for chaos in Week 5? We’re going to see mass changes reflected in Sunday’s new rankings once this epic slate of games inside the top 25 are over — and we’ve got final picks and predictions for all of them.

Alabama-Georgia highlights the schedule in a primetime SEC showdown, while Oregon-Penn State, LSU-Ole Miss, Ohio State-Washington represent a trio of matchups involving at least one elite team with College Football Playoff aspirations.

Bet this week’s college football games at BetMGM Sportsbook, where new users get up to $1,500 in bonus bets back if their first football wager doesn’t win. Click here:

And beware of upsets this weekend. Florida State’s Friday night trip to Charlottesville to take on Virginia is one to watch in the ACC ahead of the Seminoles’ Oct. 4 battle against fellow unbeaten Miami.

Last week’s results: Brad Crawford (9-1 straight, 5-5 ATS); Chris Hummer (9-1, 4-6 ATS). I’m still angry over Oklahoma’s last-minute safety at Auburn to cover. The Tigers play on the road was the right pick, but it didn’t land. Taking Texas Tech on the moneyline was a good call for both of us, along with the Miami cover against Florida. 

Season totals: Crawford (29-11 straight, 24-16 ATS); Hummer (32-8; 18-22).

For clarity, these lines were taken from FanDuel Sportsbook on Sept. 22. New users at FanDuel Sportsbook get $300 in bonus bets with a winning $5 wager. Click here:

No. 8 Florida State at Virginia

Hummer (Virginia +6.5): I really wish I could get this line at seven, which it’s already creeped to in several books. But I like the Cavs ATS in this matchup. Virginia’s O-line is a bit of a weakness after a series of injuries, but Chandler Morris and UVA’s offense are going to put up points regardless. The question I…

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