Football Friday Fives: College Edition for Week 4 From The Sports Mac

Top 5 Games To Watch This Weekend

1.         #1 Alabama (3-0) at #10 Arkansas (3-0), 3:30 PM, CBS: The first major test for the defending national champs is a road game versus Ryan Mallett and the potent Razorback offense.

2.         #24 Oregon State (1-1) at #3 Boise State, 8:00 PM, ABC: The last major statement to be made by the Broncos out of conference before WAC play begins.

3.         #12 South Carolina (3-0) at #17 Auburn (3-0), 7:45 PM, ESPN: The Gamecocks travel to the Plains to play a tough SEC road game against a Tigers team coming off a OT win over Clemson.

4.         #22 West Virginia (3-0) at #15 Louisiana State (3-0), 9:00 PM, ESPN2: A good non-conference matchup and the winner will get a major boost going into conference play.

5.         #16 Stanford (3-0) at Notre Dame (1-2), 3:30 PM, NBC: Andrew Luck leads the Cardinal into South Bend as the Irish look to avoid a 1-3 start to the season.

5 Games Under The Radar This Weekend

1.         North Carolina State (3-0) at Georgia Tech (2-1), 12:00 PM, ESPN: The Wolf Pack’s conference opener is a trip to Atlanta where the Yellow Jackets have already opened conference play with a win.

2.         Nevada (3-0) at Brigham Young (1-2), 6:00 PM: The Wolf Pack looking to continue their perfect start visit the Cougars who are searching for answers after two straight losses.

3.         Wake Forest (2-1) at Florida State (2-1), 3:30 PM, ABC: The Demon Deacons go back into conference in Tallahassee where the Seminoles open ACC play off of their big win over BYU.

4.         California (2-1) at #14 Arizona (3-0), 10:00 PM: The Golden Bears have had extra time to prepare; can they catch the Wildcats off guard after their big win over Iowa?

5.         #5 Oregon (3-0) at Arizona State (2-1), 10:30 PM: The high scoring Ducks (63 ppg this season) open Pac-10 play in Tempe where the Sun Devils come off a close loss to Wisconsin.

5 Games To Just Get The Final Score

1.         Austin Peay (2-1) at #11 Wisconsin (3-0), 12:00 PM, Big Ten Network: The Badgers should have an easier time with the Governors this week than they did with the Sun Devils last week.

2.         Northern Colorado (2-1) at #25 Michigan State (3-0), 12:00 PM, Big Ten Network: The Spartans come off the surprising win over Notre Dame by hosting the FCS Bears and will not have HC Mark Dantonio on the sidelines this week.

3.         #20 Southern Cal (3-0) at Washington State (1-2), 3:00 PM: Even though the Trojans are on probation, they should have no problem with their conference opener.

4.         South Dakota State (0-2) at #6 Nebraska (3-0), 7:00 PM: The Jackrabbits have scored only 17 points in their first two FCS games; things aren’t going to be any better facing the #6 FBS team Saturday night.

5.         Charleston Southern (2-1) at Hawaii (1-2), 11:30 PM, ESPN3.com: Hopefully the Buccaneers enjoy the trip to the islands because the game probably won’t be much fun.

5 Players To Watch This Weekend

1.         Ryan Mallett, Arkansas QB vs. Alabama: He is the key to any hopes that the Razorbacks have this week as he has to lead his team not just on the field but on the bench as well.

2.         Bernard Pierce, Temple RB vs. Penn State: If the Owls have any hope against the Nittany Lions in Beaver Stadium, Pierce has to have a huge game to give Temple a chance to win.

3.         Stephen Garcia, South Carolina QB vs. Auburn: In what will be his first road start of the year, Garcia has to play well early to get the crowd out of the game and let the Gamecocks settle in.

4.         Vontaze Burfict, Arizona State LB vs. Oregon: The leader of the Sun Devil defense needs to keep an eye on the football and whoever has it to give ASU at least a chance at slowing down the vaunted Ducks offense.

5.         Adam Robinson, Iowa RB vs. Ball State: The only RB with experience for the Hawkeyes will need to stay healthy or the offense might become one-dimensional.

5 Teams That Have To Have A Big Week

1.         #7 Texas (3-0) hosting UCLA (1-2), 3:30 PM, ABC: Yes, Texas is undefeated, but you get the feeling that the Longhorns haven’t played a great game yet. Now would be a good time to start with Oklahoma looming next weekend.

2.         Virginia Tech (1-2) visiting Boston College (2-0), 12:00 PM: The Hokies had a big second half last week to get their first win of the year and they have to carry that into their conference opener this weekend.

3.         Tennessee (1-2) hosting Alabama-Birmingham (1-2), 12:00 PM: The Volunteers have struggled the last two weeks and they need a good performance considering they’re facing three Top 15 teams in the next month.

4.         Brigham Young (1-2) hosting Nevada (3-0), 6:00 PM: The Cougars could really use a win here to get the ship righted knowing that the bulk of the conference schedule, including TCU and Utah, are still to come.

5.         Georgia (1-2) visiting Mississippi State (1-2), 7:00 PM, ESPN3.com: The Bulldogs start a stretch of winnable games after two early conference losses and need a good performance this week to get started in the right direction.