Here's a look at the big matchups and top storylines from around the nation as we near kickoff on another Saturday of college football.
Here's a look at the big matchups and top storylines from around the nation as we near kickoff on another Saturday of college football:
The Big Buzz: Johnny vs. Goliath
No. 15 Texas A&M at No. 1 Alabama, 3:30 p.m. EST
Alabama running back Eddie Lacy (42) celebrates his touchdown in the first half of their NCAA college football game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) No. 1 Alabama didn't lose to LSU last Saturday, eking out a 21-17 victory, but the Tide's too-close-for-comfort win did tarnish their reputation as college football's unbeatable juggernaut.
Now Nick Saban's crew must find a way to thwart a challenge from Johnny Football and the SEC's top offense.
Freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M's frenetic attack pose a viable threat - even for Alabama's acclaimed defense. The young Aggies are jacked up for the opportunity to topple the nation's top team, Texas A&M defensive tackle Spencer Nealy tells ESPN.com blogger Sam Khan Jr.:
"We talked about it; we haven't played a No. 1 team ever [in our careers]," Nealy said. "Oklahoma State last year, we played them and they were No. [7], but it didn't feel like that. This is the No. 1 team. We've played the No. 5 team, which was cool. But this is big-time, and we need to come out there and shock the world."
Grantland's John Brandon writes that Alabama is ripe for a letdown after last week's emotional win - bad timing considering they'll be facing the "scariest offensive college football player in the nation" in Manziel:
Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel celebrates after his team scored a touchdown against Auburn during the second half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill) He's not just a good runner "for a quarterback" — he looks like a damn punt returner when he breaks out of the pocket. He's not just a good passer "for a running quarterback" — he's got touch and arm strength and timing to burn. You can call him Johnny Football. The SEC will call him Johnny Headache.
But Charles Hollis of AL.com doesn't give Manziel quite so much credit, despite Alabama Coach Nick Saban comparing the Aggies' signal-caller to College Football Hall of Famer Doug Flutie:
Manziel, or Johnny Football, is no Flutie. He's a redshirt freshman running head coach Kevin Sumlin's spread offense that goes no-huddle and frustrates defensive coordinators with its warp speed.
Who's Johnny Football beaten? Mississippi State? A bad Arkansas team?
An even worse Auburn team?
And Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin certainly isn't counting on a letdown from the Crimson Tide: (via AL.com)
"I don’t see that as anything. They’re experienced at it. They’ve won. They’re trying to win their third national championship in four years. They know what they’re doing."
Top games
Here's a look at some of Saturday's other don't-miss matchups involving teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25:
• Arkansas at No. 12 South Carolina, 12 p.m. EST
• No. 13 Oregon State at No. 16 Stanford, 3 p.m. EST
• No. 3 Kansas State at TCU, 7 p.m. EST
• No. 21 Mississippi State at No. 9 LSU, 7 p.m. EST
• No. 4 Notre Dame at Boston College, 8 p.m. EST
• No. 2 Oregon at California, 10:30 p.m. EST
Headlines
• No. 23 Toledo fell to Ball State on Tuesday night, 34-27. (via USAToday.com)
• No. 8 Florida State scored in the final minute to pull out a 28-22 win over Virginia Tech on Thursday night. (via FoxSports.com)
• Former Texas head coach Darrell Royal, who led the Longhorns to the national championship in 1963 and 1969, died this week at the age of 88. (via SI.com)
• A USC student manager was fired for intentionally deflating game balls used in the Trojans' game against Oregon last week. (via College Football Talk)
• South Carolina star running back Marcus Lattimore had successful surgery to repair ligaments in his right knee. (via Yahoo! Sports)
Who they're picking
• CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd picks Syracuse to upset No. 11 Louisville and Arizona State to knock off No. 21 USC. Fellow panel member Jerry Hinnen also backs a pair of underdogs, taking Penn State over No. 18 Nebraska and TCU over No. 3 Kansas State.
• USA Today's experts unanimously expect wins for Alabama, Oregon and Notre Dame this week, but two of the eight panelists foresee Kansas State falling to unranked TCU.
• ESPN.com SEC bloggers Edward Aschoff and Chris Low both take LSU to bounce back with a win over Mississippi State and Alabama to comfortably beat Texas A&M. Pac-12 bloggers Kevin Gemmell and Ted Miller agree that Oregon will smash Cal but are divided on the outcome of the Oregon State-Stanford matchup. Over in the Big Ten, Brian Bennett likes Penn State to upset Nebraska.
• College Football Talk has Alabama topping Texas A&M by a score of 35-14, Stanford pulling out a 24-20 win over Oregon State, and LSU beating Mississippi State 26-14.
• Stewart Mandel of SI.com takes Syracuse to edge Louisville in his upset special but expects favorites Alabama, LSU and Kansas State to take care of business this week.
What they're saying
Southern California head coach Lane Kiffin takes off his headset during the second half of their NCAA college football game against Colorado, Saturday, Oct.20, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) • Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com isn't letting USC's Lane Kiffin off the hook despite the coach's claims that he had no involvement in last week's ball deflating incident against Oregon. Kiffin bears responsibility for all of the embarrassing episodes that have plagued the Trojans during his tenure, writes Doyel:
He's cheating, is my point. Or his program is. And since the chain of command at USC football starts with Lane Kiffin, he's responsible. He's using ignorance as his defense on some of this stuff, but that's a life raft that won't float on these seas.
• Oregon coach Chip Kelly, on the other hand, wasn't particularly fazed by "Deflategate": (via OregonLive.com)
"My thought on that is real simple: It's got nothing to do with us," Kelly said. "We worry about what we can control. ... What another team does or doesn't do, I don't really know. But it doesn't affect us. They can do whatever they want. It's not a big deal to us."
• Like Alabama, LSU faces a challenge in putting last week's epic battle in the bayou behind them. With another tough matchup against No. 21 Mississippi State on deck this week, LSU wide receiver Jarvis Landry tells the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the Tigers are focused on moving forward following their heartbreaking loss to the Tide:
"We may get a BCS bid, we may not. We have to control the things we can control and win out hopefully, make a statement so that we have a chance at the best bowl we can get.
"It's just bitter. But it makes no sense to dwell on it or it affects you the next week."
• John Canzano of The Oregonian suggests that Oregon State should consider canceling its season finale against Southland Conference school Nicholls State in order to avoid a potential hit to their strength of schedule ranking and their position in the BCS standings:
We've heard of coaches scheduling strategically in the offseason. But what Oregon State has is a rare opportunity to schedule wisely during the season itself. An opportunity like this shouldn't be wasted.
• After some recent near misses, No. 24 Rutgers has another chance to win the school's first Big East title this season. The Scarlet Knights are intent on getting the job done this time around, senior linebacker Khaseem Greene tells the Newark Star-Ledger:
“I just know this team is going to be different,” said Greene. “There’s something special about this team that I feel this year that I haven’t felt any other year.”
Heisman talk
Oregon running back Kenjon Barner scores one of his five touchdowns against Southern California on Saturday. (AP Photo/Bret Hartman) • The race for the Heisman trophy is tightening up. Yahoo! Sports has Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron and Oregon running back Kenjon Barner right on the heels of frontrunner Collin Klein of Kansas State.
• CBSSports.com Heisman expert Chris Huston has Oregon's Barner jumping all the way up to the No. 2 position behind Klein in his latest rankings, with McCarron and Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller close behind.
• And SI.com's Zac Ellis has more praise for Barner, ranking the Ducks' running back at No. 3 on his Heisman watch list after a five-touchdown performance against USC.
• Andy Staples of SI.com provides some perspective on Barner's Heisman candidacy in the video below: