2024 College Football - Week 5: Couch Potato Week 1.0
Sept 26, 2024 18:09:29 GMT -6
Funkytown likes this
Post by Uncle on Sept 26, 2024 18:09:29 GMT -6
Fall is officially here and that means crisp, Autumn air...the leaves turning color...picking pumpkins and eating apple cider donuts...
...and vegging-out in front of your TV watching great football action all day long!
As teams win/lose and go up/down in the rankings, there are always going to be some weekends during the College season that have a solid slate of solid College games the entire day on Saturday - from the Noon ET start times right through the evening - and I call these weekends, "Couch Potato Week".
Here is my personal list of criteria that a College weekend must meet in order to be considered a "Couch Potato Week":
- At least 3 matchups where both teams are ranked in the Top 25
- Anticipated matchups at all three time slots (Noon ET start time, 3:30PM ET start times and 7:00PM ET start times)
- Anticipated matchups must include multiple Conferences
- At least 1 matchup with significant Playoff implications for both teams
Week 5 of the 2024 College season meets all of these criteria as there are 4 matchups between ranked teams, great action all-day long across all 4 Power Conferences and the #2 Georgia @ #4 Alabama nightcap should have significant Playoff ramifications for both teams.
So if you can, sit back, get the grill goin'...pop open a few cold one's...and enjoy a great Fall Saturday of College Football...
Friday, September 27th, Evening Game
Washington @ Rutgers - 8PM ET (FOX); spread is Rutgers -2
We were spoiled the last two Fridays with matchups between Top 25 ranked teams and on paper it seems that this this Friday's lineup is rather "ho-hum"...but Rutgers has been a bit of a surprise this season as they're off to a 3-0 start with their dramatic win @ Virginia Tech in Week 4 and now they get a Huskies team that has to fly across the country to play a primetime game in Jersey. There's a few storylines in this one as Washington is now coached by Jedd Fisch who is a native to the Garden State, and the Huskies DC, Steve Belichick - the son of Bill Belichick and also a NJ native who actually played football at Rutgers. The Scarlett Knights are led by RB Kyle Monongai, another Jersey native who had a terrific 2023 season that ended in a "W" in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl over Miami, a game in which Monangai rushed for 163 yds with 1 TD. He's picked right up where he left off in 2023 as he's 5th in the nation in total rushing yards (457 yds thru 3 games, 152.3 avg). This one should be a tough-nosed BIG10 game, just the way Rutgers likes it and we'll see if the Huskies are ready for primetime BIG10 football.
Saturday, September 28th, Early Afternoon Games
#20 Oklahoma St @ #23 Kansas St - Noon ET (ESPN); spread is Kansas St -5
Both teams enter this pivotal BIG XII matchup with losses to teams from Utah in Week 4 as the Cowboys were left lickin' their wounds after the Utes came into Stillwater and won, while the Wildcats had a miserable night in Utah as they were thoroughly beaten in the 2nd half of their late night matchup with BYU. While both teams remain in the Top 25 standings, the loser of this matchup will fall out of the Top 25 and have 2 losses, which might just end their hopes of getting to the BIG XII Championship game and the 12-team Playoff - so this could serve as a de facto Playoff elimination game. Both of these teams rely on their rushing attacks - the Cowboys led by 2023 breakout RB star Ollie Gordon, while the Wildcats have committee of rushers: RB Dylan Edwards, RB DJ Giddens and QB Avery Johnson. There are high expectations in Manhattan for Johnson, but he hasn't quite lived up to them yet, and he might have deliver a great performance in this one to keep the Wildcat Playoff hopes alive.
Maryland @ Indiana - Noon ET (BIG10 Network); spread is Indiana -7
Normally I wouldn't highlight a mid-level BIG10 game between two unranked teams without any notable "star" players, but the Hoosiers have been an early season surprises at 4-0 and with their favorable schedule, they could make it all the way to late season games vs Michigan and @ Ohio St undefeated, making them surprising contenders to get into the BIG10 title game if the likes of Illinois & Penn St fall off a bit. Like most of the surprising teams so far, they have a Transfer Portal QB leading the way and for the Hoosiers it's former Ohio QB Kurtis Rourke, who's brother Nathan bounced around NFL practice squads a bit before settling into the CFL. Rourke has always had potential, but injuries have derailed his career so far and he's showing what he can do when healthy. On the other side, the Terrapins are off to a respectable 3-1 start and won't be complete pushovers in the BIG10. Maryland WR Tai Felton is having a breakout year with 41 receptions for 604 yds, good 3rd best in the nation behind Nick Nash (San Jose St) and Tre Harris (Ole Miss). The Hoosiers have yet to turn the ball over this season and with Rourke's steady play, if the Hoosier defense can limit Felton a bit and protect the football, they'll be off to a 5-0 start before the calendar turns to October and be players in the BIG10.
Saturday, September 28th - Late Afternoon Games
#15 Louisville @ #16 Notre Dame - 3:30PM ET (Peacock); spread is Notre Dame -6
I mentioned that the Oklahoma St/Kansas St might be a de facto Playoff elimination game, and the same could be said for the Fighting Irish and possibly the Cardinals, too. Since Notre Dame's embarrassing defeat to Northern Illinois in South Bend in Week 2, they teared through Purdue and Miami (OH) and are out to prove they still belong in the Playoff conversation. One more loss though, and it's over, IMO, especially since they don't have a Conference Championshi game and both losses would have been at home. Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard had some hype coming into 2024 as he entered 2023 season with a bit of hype playing at Duke (he was supposed to be the 2nd coming of Daniel Jones), but the problem for Leonard is that he's playing like the NFL-version of Daniel Jones and not the former Duke-version of Jones, and Leonard's Week 5 opponent - Louisville - is the same team that knocked him out of commission last year. The Cardinals have Playoff hopes of their own, especially since FSU and possibly Clemson don't seem at the top of heap in the ACC anymore, with #7 Miami the current frontrunner of the Conference at the moment. The Cardinals would love nothing more than to go back to the ACC Championship game this season and winning at Notre Dame Stadium will go a long ways to getting back there and keeping themselves relevant in the Playoff conversation. Louisville had a tough matchup at home vs Georgia Tech last week, and that game could have provided a nice blueprint of how to attack Notre Dame who isn't too different than the Yellow Jackets. The Fighting Irish will certainly come out swinging to keep themselves alive, but I'm not so sure that Riley Leonard doesn't fall victim to the Cardinal defense for the 2nd season in a row - last year they ended his season physically, and this year they could end his dreams of playing in the Playoffs.
Colorado @ UCF - 3:30PM (FOX); spread is UCF -14
Coach Prime and the Buffaloes had an unbelievable comeback win vs Baylor in Week 4 and while their star players played great (WR/CB Travis Hunter should be in the Heisman Trophy conversation), outside of the skill position players they don't have much. Still though, even without a complete team, they've managed to scrap together a 3-1 record and pulled out their first BIG XII win. The problem is that playing in the "Bounce House" in Central Florida is no joke and UCF is 3-0 and want to insert themselves squarely into the BIG XII Title conversation. I do think this one could be an entertaining, high-scoring affair, but ultimately, the lack of an OL to protect Shedeur might be too much to overcome in Orlando.
Saturday, September 28th - Evening Games
#2 Georgia @ #4 Alabama - 7:30PM ET (ABC); spread is Georgia -1.5
The first big Top 5 matchup of the 2024 season highlights this big Week 5 Saturday of College Football. The Bulldogs haven't won @ Alabama since Nick Saban's first season at Tuscaloosa (2007) and while the Bulldogs have now become the "top Dawg" in the SEC, the one team that seems to have given Kirby Smarts fits is his old team, the Crimson Tide. Case in point: the last time these two teams met - last year's SEC Championship - it was Alabama who came out on top and went on to the College Playoffs while Georgia had to sit out after winning the previous two National Championships. This matchup really has everything - two high-profile QB's (Georgia QB Carson Beck vs Alabama QB Jalen Milroe), NFL prospects all over the field on both sides of the ball, and the ability to win games in a variety of ways (ground-n-pound, or a shootout). I think one of the issues for Georgia has been the lack of breakout skill position players as they haven't quite filled the shoes this season left behind by WR Ladd McConkey and TE Brock Bowers who are both in the NFL. Alabama has some high-profile weapons for Milroe to utilize, including 17-yr old WR Ryan Williams who had a bit of a breakout game in Madison last weekend. I do think it'll be more of a defensive battle, but I'm curious if Carson Beck and win a bigtime game on the road by himself, without having NFL-level skill position players around him. This game obviously has massive Playoff implications as the winner will clearly have a catbird seat to in the SEC while the loser will already have one loss, and while that one loss will not keep them out of the Playoffs, it could keep them out of the Top 4 seeds and all-important BYE week in the First Round. The atmosphere will be electric in Tuscaloosa Saturday night and we'll see if the Crimson Tide can continue to haunt Smart without Saban on the sidelines.
#19 Illinois @ #9 Penn St - 7:30PM ET (NBC); spread is Penn St -19.5
The best win in Week 4 might have been the Fighting Illini's win @ Nebraska, as they pulled it out in a tough environment vs a "hot" Cornhusker program that had a bunch of momentum heading into game. Illinois has a tough defense and solid QB in Luke Altimyer, who's off to a fantastic start this season for the 4-0 Illini team. In fact, Illinois is only 1 of 2 teams that have multiple victories over Top 25 teams this season (Tennessee being the other) - they beat #19 Kansas in Week 2 and won last week vs #22 Nebraska. If anyone followed me last season, you know I'm no fan of Penn St QB Drew Allar who I believe is highly overrated - he's always woefully underperformed when he's been in these high-profile Top 25 games (he looked completely lost last season vs Michigan and Ohio St). The last time these two teams met in Happy Valley was a thrilling 9OT game in which Illinois pulled-off a 20-18 win in a rain-soaked Happy Valley in late October. The line for this game is outrageously high, IMO, and unless Altimyer turns the ball over a ton (he hasn't thrown an INT yet this season), I can't see the Nittany Lions winning this by that large of the margin, and I wouldn't be shocked to see the Illini pull this off and win back-to-back BIG10 road games vs a ranked opponent.
Saturday, September 28th - Late Game
Washington St @ #25 Boise St - 10PM ET (FS1); spread is Boise St -6.5
The Cougars won the "Apple Cup" 2 weeks ago, survived a thriller in Pullman last week vs a good San Jose St team and have been carrying the PAC-12 banner in 2024 as the Conference tries to pick itself back up. Washington St QB John Mateer has been really good through the air and on the ground, but winning on the "Smurf Turf" won't be easy. The Broncos have arguably the best RB in the nation in Ashton Jeanty, who's looking to be the 1st RB drafted in the 2025 Draft, and he's been carrying Boise St this season to their 2-1 record with a near-win in Week 2 @ Oregon (the Ducks needed a late FG to win the game in the closing seconds). This should be a very fun & entertaining ending to what hopefully will be weekend worthy of being called "Couch Potato Week"!
...and vegging-out in front of your TV watching great football action all day long!
As teams win/lose and go up/down in the rankings, there are always going to be some weekends during the College season that have a solid slate of solid College games the entire day on Saturday - from the Noon ET start times right through the evening - and I call these weekends, "Couch Potato Week".
Here is my personal list of criteria that a College weekend must meet in order to be considered a "Couch Potato Week":
- At least 3 matchups where both teams are ranked in the Top 25
- Anticipated matchups at all three time slots (Noon ET start time, 3:30PM ET start times and 7:00PM ET start times)
- Anticipated matchups must include multiple Conferences
- At least 1 matchup with significant Playoff implications for both teams
Week 5 of the 2024 College season meets all of these criteria as there are 4 matchups between ranked teams, great action all-day long across all 4 Power Conferences and the #2 Georgia @ #4 Alabama nightcap should have significant Playoff ramifications for both teams.
So if you can, sit back, get the grill goin'...pop open a few cold one's...and enjoy a great Fall Saturday of College Football...
Friday, September 27th, Evening Game
Washington @ Rutgers - 8PM ET (FOX); spread is Rutgers -2
We were spoiled the last two Fridays with matchups between Top 25 ranked teams and on paper it seems that this this Friday's lineup is rather "ho-hum"...but Rutgers has been a bit of a surprise this season as they're off to a 3-0 start with their dramatic win @ Virginia Tech in Week 4 and now they get a Huskies team that has to fly across the country to play a primetime game in Jersey. There's a few storylines in this one as Washington is now coached by Jedd Fisch who is a native to the Garden State, and the Huskies DC, Steve Belichick - the son of Bill Belichick and also a NJ native who actually played football at Rutgers. The Scarlett Knights are led by RB Kyle Monongai, another Jersey native who had a terrific 2023 season that ended in a "W" in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl over Miami, a game in which Monangai rushed for 163 yds with 1 TD. He's picked right up where he left off in 2023 as he's 5th in the nation in total rushing yards (457 yds thru 3 games, 152.3 avg). This one should be a tough-nosed BIG10 game, just the way Rutgers likes it and we'll see if the Huskies are ready for primetime BIG10 football.
Saturday, September 28th, Early Afternoon Games
#20 Oklahoma St @ #23 Kansas St - Noon ET (ESPN); spread is Kansas St -5
Both teams enter this pivotal BIG XII matchup with losses to teams from Utah in Week 4 as the Cowboys were left lickin' their wounds after the Utes came into Stillwater and won, while the Wildcats had a miserable night in Utah as they were thoroughly beaten in the 2nd half of their late night matchup with BYU. While both teams remain in the Top 25 standings, the loser of this matchup will fall out of the Top 25 and have 2 losses, which might just end their hopes of getting to the BIG XII Championship game and the 12-team Playoff - so this could serve as a de facto Playoff elimination game. Both of these teams rely on their rushing attacks - the Cowboys led by 2023 breakout RB star Ollie Gordon, while the Wildcats have committee of rushers: RB Dylan Edwards, RB DJ Giddens and QB Avery Johnson. There are high expectations in Manhattan for Johnson, but he hasn't quite lived up to them yet, and he might have deliver a great performance in this one to keep the Wildcat Playoff hopes alive.
Maryland @ Indiana - Noon ET (BIG10 Network); spread is Indiana -7
Normally I wouldn't highlight a mid-level BIG10 game between two unranked teams without any notable "star" players, but the Hoosiers have been an early season surprises at 4-0 and with their favorable schedule, they could make it all the way to late season games vs Michigan and @ Ohio St undefeated, making them surprising contenders to get into the BIG10 title game if the likes of Illinois & Penn St fall off a bit. Like most of the surprising teams so far, they have a Transfer Portal QB leading the way and for the Hoosiers it's former Ohio QB Kurtis Rourke, who's brother Nathan bounced around NFL practice squads a bit before settling into the CFL. Rourke has always had potential, but injuries have derailed his career so far and he's showing what he can do when healthy. On the other side, the Terrapins are off to a respectable 3-1 start and won't be complete pushovers in the BIG10. Maryland WR Tai Felton is having a breakout year with 41 receptions for 604 yds, good 3rd best in the nation behind Nick Nash (San Jose St) and Tre Harris (Ole Miss). The Hoosiers have yet to turn the ball over this season and with Rourke's steady play, if the Hoosier defense can limit Felton a bit and protect the football, they'll be off to a 5-0 start before the calendar turns to October and be players in the BIG10.
Saturday, September 28th - Late Afternoon Games
#15 Louisville @ #16 Notre Dame - 3:30PM ET (Peacock); spread is Notre Dame -6
I mentioned that the Oklahoma St/Kansas St might be a de facto Playoff elimination game, and the same could be said for the Fighting Irish and possibly the Cardinals, too. Since Notre Dame's embarrassing defeat to Northern Illinois in South Bend in Week 2, they teared through Purdue and Miami (OH) and are out to prove they still belong in the Playoff conversation. One more loss though, and it's over, IMO, especially since they don't have a Conference Championshi game and both losses would have been at home. Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard had some hype coming into 2024 as he entered 2023 season with a bit of hype playing at Duke (he was supposed to be the 2nd coming of Daniel Jones), but the problem for Leonard is that he's playing like the NFL-version of Daniel Jones and not the former Duke-version of Jones, and Leonard's Week 5 opponent - Louisville - is the same team that knocked him out of commission last year. The Cardinals have Playoff hopes of their own, especially since FSU and possibly Clemson don't seem at the top of heap in the ACC anymore, with #7 Miami the current frontrunner of the Conference at the moment. The Cardinals would love nothing more than to go back to the ACC Championship game this season and winning at Notre Dame Stadium will go a long ways to getting back there and keeping themselves relevant in the Playoff conversation. Louisville had a tough matchup at home vs Georgia Tech last week, and that game could have provided a nice blueprint of how to attack Notre Dame who isn't too different than the Yellow Jackets. The Fighting Irish will certainly come out swinging to keep themselves alive, but I'm not so sure that Riley Leonard doesn't fall victim to the Cardinal defense for the 2nd season in a row - last year they ended his season physically, and this year they could end his dreams of playing in the Playoffs.
Colorado @ UCF - 3:30PM (FOX); spread is UCF -14
Coach Prime and the Buffaloes had an unbelievable comeback win vs Baylor in Week 4 and while their star players played great (WR/CB Travis Hunter should be in the Heisman Trophy conversation), outside of the skill position players they don't have much. Still though, even without a complete team, they've managed to scrap together a 3-1 record and pulled out their first BIG XII win. The problem is that playing in the "Bounce House" in Central Florida is no joke and UCF is 3-0 and want to insert themselves squarely into the BIG XII Title conversation. I do think this one could be an entertaining, high-scoring affair, but ultimately, the lack of an OL to protect Shedeur might be too much to overcome in Orlando.
Saturday, September 28th - Evening Games
#2 Georgia @ #4 Alabama - 7:30PM ET (ABC); spread is Georgia -1.5
The first big Top 5 matchup of the 2024 season highlights this big Week 5 Saturday of College Football. The Bulldogs haven't won @ Alabama since Nick Saban's first season at Tuscaloosa (2007) and while the Bulldogs have now become the "top Dawg" in the SEC, the one team that seems to have given Kirby Smarts fits is his old team, the Crimson Tide. Case in point: the last time these two teams met - last year's SEC Championship - it was Alabama who came out on top and went on to the College Playoffs while Georgia had to sit out after winning the previous two National Championships. This matchup really has everything - two high-profile QB's (Georgia QB Carson Beck vs Alabama QB Jalen Milroe), NFL prospects all over the field on both sides of the ball, and the ability to win games in a variety of ways (ground-n-pound, or a shootout). I think one of the issues for Georgia has been the lack of breakout skill position players as they haven't quite filled the shoes this season left behind by WR Ladd McConkey and TE Brock Bowers who are both in the NFL. Alabama has some high-profile weapons for Milroe to utilize, including 17-yr old WR Ryan Williams who had a bit of a breakout game in Madison last weekend. I do think it'll be more of a defensive battle, but I'm curious if Carson Beck and win a bigtime game on the road by himself, without having NFL-level skill position players around him. This game obviously has massive Playoff implications as the winner will clearly have a catbird seat to in the SEC while the loser will already have one loss, and while that one loss will not keep them out of the Playoffs, it could keep them out of the Top 4 seeds and all-important BYE week in the First Round. The atmosphere will be electric in Tuscaloosa Saturday night and we'll see if the Crimson Tide can continue to haunt Smart without Saban on the sidelines.
#19 Illinois @ #9 Penn St - 7:30PM ET (NBC); spread is Penn St -19.5
The best win in Week 4 might have been the Fighting Illini's win @ Nebraska, as they pulled it out in a tough environment vs a "hot" Cornhusker program that had a bunch of momentum heading into game. Illinois has a tough defense and solid QB in Luke Altimyer, who's off to a fantastic start this season for the 4-0 Illini team. In fact, Illinois is only 1 of 2 teams that have multiple victories over Top 25 teams this season (Tennessee being the other) - they beat #19 Kansas in Week 2 and won last week vs #22 Nebraska. If anyone followed me last season, you know I'm no fan of Penn St QB Drew Allar who I believe is highly overrated - he's always woefully underperformed when he's been in these high-profile Top 25 games (he looked completely lost last season vs Michigan and Ohio St). The last time these two teams met in Happy Valley was a thrilling 9OT game in which Illinois pulled-off a 20-18 win in a rain-soaked Happy Valley in late October. The line for this game is outrageously high, IMO, and unless Altimyer turns the ball over a ton (he hasn't thrown an INT yet this season), I can't see the Nittany Lions winning this by that large of the margin, and I wouldn't be shocked to see the Illini pull this off and win back-to-back BIG10 road games vs a ranked opponent.
Saturday, September 28th - Late Game
Washington St @ #25 Boise St - 10PM ET (FS1); spread is Boise St -6.5
The Cougars won the "Apple Cup" 2 weeks ago, survived a thriller in Pullman last week vs a good San Jose St team and have been carrying the PAC-12 banner in 2024 as the Conference tries to pick itself back up. Washington St QB John Mateer has been really good through the air and on the ground, but winning on the "Smurf Turf" won't be easy. The Broncos have arguably the best RB in the nation in Ashton Jeanty, who's looking to be the 1st RB drafted in the 2025 Draft, and he's been carrying Boise St this season to their 2-1 record with a near-win in Week 2 @ Oregon (the Ducks needed a late FG to win the game in the closing seconds). This should be a very fun & entertaining ending to what hopefully will be weekend worthy of being called "Couch Potato Week"!
they deserve… Only they Miami had Lady Luck on their side. Ward was so lucky there were four plays that should have ended that final drive. And every one of those ducks hot potatoes toss and bounce went Miami's way. The call on the field should have stood in my opinion but draft kings and Fan duel called into ACC replay and welp this is what you got… was not clear and indisputable on tape. 
... and neither is this Chris guy.