College football TV schedule: How to watch Colorado vs. Oregon
Saturday’s college football schedule includes six games featuring ranked opponents going head-to-head, meaning there is finally plenty to watch after a few less-than-stellar weeks to open the season. And you won’t even have to stay up until 2 a.m. on the East Coast to make the most of it.
Florida State visits Clemson in Death Valley, and for the first time since 2014, the No. 4 Seminoles are the higher-ranked team in the matchup. The unranked Tigers have won the seven meetings since then, and an eighth straight victory would put their season back on track after their opening loss to Duke on Labor Day. Clemson is fourth in the nation allowing just 3.85 yards per play, and it will try to make life difficult for Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis, who played through an injury last week in the Seminoles’ narrow victory at Boston College. … Michigan welcomes Rutgers to Ann Arbor for a Big Ten clash, and the Wolverines also welcome Coach Jim Harbaugh back to the sideline after he served a three-game suspension to start the season amid an NCAA investigation. Michigan was hardly tested during its nonconference slate, winning by a combined margin of 96-16 and ranking first in the nation allowing 5.3 points per game. Michigan has beaten Rutgers eight straight times since the Scarlet Knights pulled off a close win in their first meeting in Rutgers’ inaugural Big Ten season in 2014, but the Scarlet Knights stayed close in their previous trip to Ann Arbor in 2021 and pushed Michigan to triple-overtime the previous year. …
Colorado, which has been far-and-away the biggest ratings draw during the first three weeks of the season, will face its biggest test yet when the No. 19Buffaloes visit No. 10 Oregon. Colorado needed late-game heroics to prevail in its intrastate rivalry game against Colorado State last week, and now it will play without two-way star Travis Hunter for a few weeks. The Ducks are second in the country averaging 58 points per game, but if Colorado can find a way to slow them down and remain undefeated entering next week’s home game against No. 5 USC, the hype surrounding Deion Sanders’s squad will reach new heights. … If all the Colorado talk is too much, No. 11 Utah hosts No. 22 UCLA on Saturday afternoon in another ranked-vs.-ranked Pac-12 game in the same time slot. … No. 13 Alabama dropped outside the Associated Press top 10 this week for the first time since September 2015, and it will face another test Saturday when the Crimson Tide hosts No. 15 Mississippi. Coach Nick Saban announced he is turning back to quarterback Jalen Milroe as his starter after he benched him last week in favor of Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson. Milroe completed 14 of 27 passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions in his previous start, a loss to Texas, but neither Buchner nor Simpson presented much of an improvement last week in an uninspiring road win over South Florida. “Jalen really showed the leadership that I was looking for during the game in terms of supporting his teammates and doing the things he needed to do,” Saban told reporters this week. “He’s had the opportunity to play. So has the other guys. Jalen played the best of all those guys, and so I think he’s earned the opportunity to be the quarterback.” …
No. 14 Oregon State visits No. 21 Washington State in a matchup between the two Pac-12 schools that conference realignment is leaving behind. Both programs’ futures may be in doubt, but their presents have been impressive. The Beavers have won 10 of their past 11 games dating from last season, with the only blemish during that stretch a three-point loss at Washington. Washington State has a win over a ranked opponent — the Cougars beat then-No. 19 Wisconsin on Sept. 9 — and its passing offense is third in the nation, averaging 398.7 yards per game. … No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Notre Dame is the game of the day — the only matchup featuring two top-10 teams — and will be the first major test for both playoff contenders. The Buckeyes beat their first three opponents by a combined score of 121-20, while the Fighting Irish won their first four games by a combined score of 184-47. Quarterback Kyle McCord has settled in nicely in his first season as the Buckeyes’ starter, completing 69.7 percent of his passes and throwing for six touchdowns against just one interception. But how will he fare in prime time in South Bend against a Notre Dame team that ranks third nationally in passing yards allowed per game? … The final ranked-vs.-ranked game on the schedule pits visiting No. 24 Iowa against No. 7 Penn State. The Nittany Lions have scored at least 30 points in 10 consecutive games dating from last season, the nation’s longest active streak, but the Hawkeyes have allowed 30 or more just twice in the past four-plus seasons.
