There are four ranked matchups this week, headlined by the Red River Rivalry between No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 3 Texas in Dallas. 

PODCAST: 5 Questions Florida Needs to Answer After Loss to Kentucky

No. 1 Georgia will also look to go 6-0 and clinch bowl eligibility against No. 20 Kentucky, which is riding hot off a Top 25 upset of then-No. 22 Florida thanks to a 280-yard rushing performance by running back Ray Davis. 

Here are several games to watch this Saturday. 

No. 12 Oklahoma at No. 3 Texas  

The Red River Rivalry, in Dallas. 

The biggest stage between some of the biggest programs in all of college football is set to host Oklahoma and Texas at noon on ABC. 

“As far as this game, Red River Rivalry, that’s why we’re in college football, right, to be part be part of games like this,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Two undefeated teams, two top-25 teams. The spotlight of college football will be on us. I think that the beauty for us this will be our third top-25 matchup now in six games, and every team we’ve played has got a winning record and is doing good things. So I think that we’ve been exposed to some high level football now through five weeks and naturally we understand the emotions that will come with this game and different things. I think it’s critical for us that we have a great week of preparation, that we take it one day at a time and then we go in with the mindset to execute on Saturday.” 

The Longhorns have already claimed ranked wins at Alabama and against Kansas, and they’ll have another shot to earn a Top 25 victory once again. 

Both Oklahoma and Texas will meet one more time before the two jump from the Big 12 Conference to the Southeastern Conference beginning next year. 

READ: Big Board: Week 6

The Sooners rank ahead of Texas in total offense, averaging 510 yards per game, and the Longhorns are atop the Big 12 in total defense just ahead of Oklahoma at No. 2. 

The quarterback matchup between Quinn Ewers of Texas and Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel should be a fun one. Both gunslingers have over 1,358 passing yards. 

“Going to be again, a wonderful environment against a really talented, hot Texas team that play on paper and on film they play their best when they’re playing really good people,” Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said. “Texas has always risen to the occasion and done so but coming off a really good, strong game last week against Kansas where they had almost 700 yards of offense and really were unstoppable. And they’ve been outstanding in all the areas you peel it back whether that’s rush defense or pass defense or scoring defense or red zone defense. If that’s offensively how efficient that they’ve been. They’ve got incredible weapons at the skill position. They lost some great backs last year and they’ve obviously shown they’ve really recruited well. (Jonathon) Brooks is one of a number of their backs that is running really, really well. (Xavier) Worthy, (Adonai) Mitchell, (Ja’Tavion) Sanders, amongst others are just some really incredibly talented players. Ewers was a true freshman last year, played pretty dang good and he’s playing at a really high level. Obviously against Alabama in Tuscaloosa (he) threw for just south of 350 yards and that was the National Player of the Week. So again, we got a great, great challenge. They’re spearheaded on defense by Jaylan Ford who is as good of a linebacker that’s out there in college football, and special teams have been really strong for them. But again, I like where we’re at as well. I want to see where we’re at. If you want to continue to improve and create change, we’re certainly not where we want to be by in any way shape or form, that doesn’t mean that you’re not thankful for your players and your coaches and the hard work that guys have put in and the success that we’ve had you got to celebrate.” 

No. 13 Washington State at UCLA  

Both Washington State and UCLA are coming off bye weeks, and they’ll meet in the Rose Bowl on Saturday. 

Washington State head coach Jake Dickert said he’s familiar with Chip Kelly’s style of offense. Though, Dickert also said he has “not seen a bigger, longer defense” than UCLA’s “in a long time.”

READ: Quotables: Week 5

“These guys are long and have great length and they’re attacking, and they’re playing tremendously on that side of the ball,” Dickert said. “I mean, it is impressive to watch their physicality, the (Laiatu) Latu kid is a problem. Most people have him in the top half of the first round. And then 53 when the Hawaii contingent was here, they used to talk about this kid. He is physical, he is downhill, he is aggressive. So I think they’re playing with supreme confidence on that side of the ball and it’s showing as one of the best defenses in our league so it presents a big challenge, especially up front and how much they want to blitz. 

Washington State has generated the No. 4 total offense in the Pac-12, averaging 533.8 yards per game. 

In the Cougars’ most recent game, their quarterback Cam Ward threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns. 

Offense has helped lead Washington State to its first 4-0 start since 2017, and Dickert expects this one to come down to a defensive battle. 

“They got a great receiver on the outside, and very unique schemes” Dickert said. “I mean, very unique schemes and week to week changes quite a bit, and I think it’s well documented how hard it is to go down in L.A. and win.” 

No. 2 Michigan at Minnesota  

Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy has found a rhythm to begin the 2023 season. 

He is No. 5 among passers with a 191.64 passing efficiency rating, and McCarthy is No. 3 behind a 79% completion. 

PODCAST: What we learned coming out of week five

McCarthy’s favorite target is far and away receiver Roman Wilson, who has caught eight of McCarthy’s 10 touchdown passes. 

The Wolverines got out to their 5-0 start without their head coach Jim Harbaugh for the first three games. Since his return in Week 4, Michigan has outscored its two opponents 76-14 allowing two touchdowns. 

Harbaugh said he sees another good defense on the Wolverines’ hands, and the Golden Gophers rank in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten in scoring and total defense. 

“Another really good defense, really stout,” Harbaugh said. “The quarterback has really come along, and they have a tremendous ability to run the ball. Physical team that is going to be, I mean, I love how they play. It’s an emotional, fired up type of team. P.J. (Fleck) does a great job. I mean, you can always tell they’re confident no matter what, no matter what the stakes are, the odds are, you just see it in the way they play. They play hard. It’s all you can ever ask for as a coach from your players is that they play hard. Our guys are doing it. Minnesota’s guys are. It’ll be a football fight like it is every Saturday, and we got to play good.” 

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Twenty-one of those unbeaten programs hail from a Power 5 conference. In the age of conference realignment, the current conference with the most unbeaten teams is the Atlantic Coast Conference.

PODCAST: Calculated Risk: Week Four delivered

Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina and Syracuse are all 4-0 as the season continues. All but Louisville and Syracuse are ranked. 

The Pac-12 Conference has five unbeaten teams, the Big Ten four and three apiece from the Big 12 and Southeastern conferences. 

Here are some noteworthy quotes as focus turns from Week 3 to Week 4.     

Ryan Day, Ohio State 

When former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz appeared Friday on The Pat McAfee Show, he had a strong statement for Ohio State. 

Holtz questioned the physicality and toughness of the Buckeyes in recent years, citing their losses to Alabama, Georgia, Michigan twice and Clemson. He added the Buckeyes “better bring their lunch because it’s going to be a full d— day’s work” against Notre Dame. 

The final result didn’t work out in the Fighting Irish’s favor, as Ohio State’s last-second touchdown rush of 1 yard helped the Buckeyes outlast their opposition.

READ: Stat Pack: Week 4

Day said the Buckeyes are “warriors” for their comeback effort in the second half, and he highlighted their grit to get it done during his postgame interview on the football field. 

“Toughness, toughness that’s it,” Day said. “Physicality across the board, finish it off having guts. I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team, what he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. And it’s always been Ohio against the world. It’ll continue to be Ohio against the world. But I’ll tell you what, I love those kids and we got a tough team.” 

Day doubled down in the postgame press conference about his comments toward Holtz and the doubters who questioned Ohio State’s toughness leading up to the game. 

“It was brewing for a couple of days,” Day said. “A lot of people took a lot of shots at this team over the last 48 hours, and it really hit home to me. And you know the way that our team played, not only did we physically get after these guys last year, but we did it again here at the end of the game. I think it says a lot about this team. And you know, I’m really upset and disrespected by what Lou Holtz said publicly about our team at Ohio State and Buckeye Nation. And we’re not going to stand for that because that’s not even close to true. We had one bad half a couple years ago up in Ann Arbor. We did in the second half. But every day we’re playing we’re physical, we are. I don’t know where that narrative comes from but that ends tonight. This team right here shows toughness, they showed grit, they didn’t give up and they found a way to win get that last yard. And I’m sick over those short yardages that we didn’t finish but that’s the game. And the last matchup game we were in we were one play short. This way we finished it the right way.” 

Jake Dickert, Washington State 

Day wasn’t the only head coach to take exception with ESPN’s college football programming last week. 

Lee Corso said during College GameDay that the No. 14 Oregon State-No. 21 Washington State game is the “No One Watches Bowl,” and the Cougars ended up defeating the Beavers 38-35. 

The second-year Cougars head coach Dickert offered a bigger picture viewpoint of his feelings on behalf of what some deemed the “Pac-2 Conference” as 10 programs will soon depart for other conferences in the latest round of realignment. 

That leaves the Pac-12 with Oregon State and Washington State. 

“Our team is greater than the sum of its parts,” Dickert said. “I saw a tweet again today we got zero 5 stars,  zero 4 stars. We got zero, right. But we’re greater than the sum of our parts because of our connection and how we play in the buy in that they have to their job. And I think it speaks volumes for 18- to 23-year-old young men to buy into that. It’s not easy. And I just told RJ and BJ to come back for year six. This is why they came back. OK, this is as much on them as it is on us and what we’re trying to create because of those guys and their leadership so we’re building something special. I think nationally, there’s a lot of noise out there. I mean, I caught something this morning, and I was watching GameDay, and Corso comes on and he says, the No-One Watches Bowl, and I don’t really understand that. What’s the merit once again? Because the facts say people watch the Cougs, and the people watch the Cougs more than every team that’s left over in the Big 12. OK, so I, coach Corso is at the point now where they just they give him the sheet and he reads off of it and they try to make a joke but it didn’t even make sense. OK, it’s well documented what ESPN has done to try to get this get our league into where it’s at. And I would love to have a conversation with coach Corso about the value that he sees in breaking up the premier West Coast Conference. OK, and I’d also love to have a conversation with coach Corso about how he thinks student athletes and mental health and flying them all over the country is a positive thing. I’m open to those conversations.”

READ: Ohio State climbs to No. 4, Fresno State enters latest AP Top 25 Poll 

Deion Sanders, Colorado 

The hype train came to a halt Saturday when the then-No. 19 Buffaloes lost 42-6 to No. 9 Oregon. 

Deion Sanders and Colorado faced a 35-0 halftime deficit, and they were held to 199 total yards in the loss. 

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning told his team in the locker room before kickoff that Colorado was “fighting for clicks” while his Ducks were “fighting for wins.” Oregon showed up in a big way and delivered 522 total yards and quarterback Bo Nix threw three touchdown passses.

READ: Travis ‘stood up in the moment,’ leads No. 4 Florida State to win over Clemson for first time since 2014

Sanders and Colorado weren’t sore losers. They offered respect toward Oregon’s program, and reflected on what’s still ahead which includes a home meeting next week with No. 8 USC. 

“First and foremost, thank the Lord for allowing all this to transpire,” Sanders said. “It was a good old fashioned butt-kicking. There’s no excuses, no nothing. Their coaches did a heck of a job preparing their team. Obviously we didn’t. That was good. That was a really good old fashioned butt-kicking. We went into the game wanting to dominate several phases. We lost offensively, defensively as well as special teams. That fake punt kind of got them really rolling, and they didn’t stop ever since they secured that first down. Well-coached team. Bo Nix played his butt off. Defensively, they presented some things that I guess we just couldn’t get around. We couldn’t advance the ball rushing or throwing the ball as well. Seemed like they had our number. But hats off to their coaching staff and the head coach. Great job and they were truly prepared.” 

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