Ahead of Saturday's matchup against Northwestern, Penn State Coach James Franklin had his players practice without music to replicate the quiet atmosphere at the Wildcats' Ryan Field, nicknamed "The Library." Northwestern has only attracted an average of 17,500 fans to their two home games, a significant difference from the 100,000-plus crowd that fills Happy Valley on football Saturdays.
USC will be visiting Colorado, and a convincing victory in Boulder could put a stop to the Coach Prime hype train. USC's defense has shown some improvement compared to last year, where they allowed 6.5 yards per play (only seven Football Bowl Subdivision teams performed worse). The Trojans are currently tied for third in the country with 16 sacks, which bodes well against a Buffaloes team that has allowed quarterback Shedeur Sanders to be sacked 23 times. However, USC still struggles with sloppy tackling, as evidenced by their ranking of No. 101 nationally in tackling grade according to Pro Football Focus. Missed tackles allowed Arizona State to stay close in the Trojans' 42-28 victory last weekend.
Syracuse has only managed to defeat Clemson once in nine meetings as ACC members, but they always seem to give the Tigers a tough time. Four of their last six matchups were decided by six points or fewer, including last year's game at Clemson where Syracuse held a 21-10 lead before surrendering 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Fumbles have plagued the Tigers in their losses to Duke and Florida State. In their season-opening loss to Duke, Clemson fumbled twice inside the Duke 12-yard line in the second half. They also had a fumble returned for a touchdown in the third quarter of their overtime loss to Florida State.
Two years ago, Kansas stunned Texas with a 57-56 overtime victory despite being 31-point underdogs. This game introduced Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels, who accounted for four touchdowns. This year, Daniels leads an offense that ranks fourth nationally in success rate and 10th in expected points added per play. However, the Longhorns' defense this season is much stronger compared to last year, holding three of their four opponents to 10 points or fewer and ranking third in success rate. Overall, Texas may have improved from the team that dominated Kansas last season with a 55-14 victory after scoring on nine consecutive possessions following an opening punt.
Mississippi finds itself in a challenging situation against LSU. It's only the sixth time since 2008 that a team has had to face both LSU and Alabama in consecutive weeks (the Rebels lost 24-10 to Alabama last Saturday). The previous five teams that faced this two-game challenge went 1-9, with none of them managing to win the second game.
In a first for the football version of ESPN's "College GameDay," the show will be hosted at a Duke game as the Blue Devils take on Notre Dame. Fighting Irish running back Audric Estime currently leads the nation with 591 rushing yards (although accumulated over five games). Duke's defense allowed 213 rushing yards to Clemson in their only game against a formidable opponent this season. Pro Football Focus ranks Duke's rushing defense as the ninth worst among Power Five teams, with a missed-tackle rate of 20 percent, which is the third worst. If only the Fighting Irish could have all 11 players on the field for crucial defensive stands.