College Football Coverage: The Pac-12’s Week 5 Saturday Night Trifecta
The marquee games of the college football Week 5 card are the quartet of LSU-Georgia, Oklahoma-Notre Dame, Ole Miss-Alabama and Wisconsin-Ohio State. But underneath the glitter are lots of games worth at least checking out, especially with more conference games now on the docket.
TheSportsNotebook’s college football coverage will be back later this week with a look at the four marquee games. For now, let’s whet our appetites with a look at the most notable games on the undercard, going conference-by-conference, focusing here on an interesting Saturday night agenda in the Pac-12…
Arizona visits Washington in a 7 PM ET kickoff on Fox, a game between 3-0 teams. Rich Rodriguez doesn’t yet have his quarterback situation settled, and the Wildcats are 117th in the country in passing yards in spite of a weak schedule. Washington has looked good each time out, and running back Bishop Sankey’s shoulder injury shouldn’t hold him up.
Then the late-night telecasts offer two more good Pac-12 games. Stanford visits Washington State (10 PM ET, ESPN). While it’s tough to see the Cardinal actually losing this game, WSU has already beaten USC on the road, and this is a “sandwich spot” for Stanford, right in between more heralded opponents in Arizona State and Washington.
And speaking of Arizona State, they try and recover from the trouncing Stanford put on them when they host USC in a 10:30 PM ET kick on ESPN2. Whatever merits the Sun Devils have shown this year—and there’s quite a few—great defense has not been one of them. If USC can’t get a passing game going and get the ball into the hands of Marqise Lee here, it’s fair to wonder if that will ever happen against a notable opponent. The loser of this game is in a hole in the Pac-12 South, a race that will also include UCLA.
OTHER COVERAGE OF THE WEEK 5 COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNDERCARD
SEC: Good Games Beyond The Glitter
Big 12: Looking To Quietly Build A Resume
ACC: Coastal Division Showdown
Big Ten: Angling For Bowl Position
Midmajors: Friday Night Out West; Saturday In The MAC