The sixth weekend of college football will feature four games matching ranked teams, a couple of heated rivalries that have been one-sided lately and likely some severe weather to work around.
The threat of Hurricane Matthew has already convinced a few schools, including No. 18 Florida, to postpone games. Where football is being played in much of the Southeast, expect it to be wet and sloppy.
Five things to know heading into week six.
BEST GAME
No. 9 Tennessee at
No. 8 Texas A&M
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M has had a tough time piling on points late after building a lead this season.
The eighth-ranked Aggies know that if they get ahead on Saturday against No. 9 Tennessee and let up it probably won’t end well for them. Not what the Volunteers have done again and again this year.
Tennessee’s Jauan Jennings grabbed a 43-yard touchdown pass from Joshua Dobbs on the last play of the game to give the Volunteers a 34-31 win over Georgia last weekend and improve to 5-0. The catch came after the Bulldogs took the lead on their own long scoring grab with 10 seconds to play.
It was the fourth time in five games that Tennessee has come back from a double-digit deficit to get a victory.
“Let’s just say what it is,” Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. “This is a team on paper if you don’t watch it you say: ‘Well, they’ve gotten lucky.’ No, they haven’t gotten lucky. They have a veteran quarterback that is No. 1 in league for points responsible for. Let’s just start there. Whether he’s throwing it, he’s running it, whatever he’s doing he’s the No. 1 guy for points in this league. That gives you a chance to have those types of games and to win every game.”
Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight is well-aware of what the Volunteers have done this season and won’t be shy about reminding his team of their history if the Aggies build a lead in this matchup of unbeaten teams.
“Keep your foot on the pedal, don’t let up because there’s a lot of ball left to play,” he said. “It’s never over until it’s over especially with the way these guys have battled back throughout this season and that’s going to be an emphasis this week. Starting fast and definitely finishing the game.”
While the Aggies worry about finishing games, the Volunteers are looking to start fast after playing from behind almost every week.
“With these games coming up, going on the road playing Texas A&M, we need to play four quarters of football,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. “That’s paramount. This football team is as talented as any football team in the country.”
The first quarter has been particularly bad for the Volunteers where they’ve been outscored 41-10. Things are much different late in games where they have a 76-21 advantage in the fourth quarter and overtime combined.
“I think we’re like vampires,” Tennessee receivers coach Zach Azzanni quipped. “I think when the sun goes down, we’re a lot better.”
Some things to know about the Tennessee-Texas A&M game.
HEISMAN WATCH
Washington quarterback Jake Browning has the highest passer efficiency rating among Power Five quarterbacks, 17 touchdown passes and just two interceptions. The Huskies played some weak competition to open the season, but last week’s statement win against Stanford has people paying attention.
This week they’ll try to follow-up by snapping a 12-game losing streak to Oregon. The Ducks are a mess and have lost three straight. It’s a prime-time game on Fox and Browning can thrust himself in the Heisman conversation with some gaudy stats against a team giving up plenty of them.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
3.58 — Yards per play allowed by No. 10 Miami, second-best in FBS.
6.98 — Yards per play allowed by No. 23 Florida State, 125th in FBS.
6 — Consecutive wins by Florida State against Miami.
8 — No. 15 Stanford’s winning streak against Washington State. One more victory by the Cardinal will give them the longest winning streak in the history of the series.
88 — The Ohio State record for touchdowns accounted for in a career held by Braxton Miller. J.T. Barrett needs for more to match it. The second-ranked Buckeyes host Indiana.
UNDER THE RADAR
Air Force tries to go 5-0 for the first time since 2005 when it travels to Mountain West rival Wyoming, which is looking for its first 4-2 start since 2011.
The schools are located about 200 miles apart and have played 55 times, including 37 consecutive seasons. Things got testy back in 2012 when then-Wyoming coach Dave Christensen ranted and cursed at Air Force coach Troy Calhoun after the game because he believed the Falcons were faking injuries to slow the Cowboys’ offense.
Wyoming has won three of the last five but overall Air Force leads 28-23-3.
COACH IN NEED OF A WIN
Texas coach Charlie Strong is back in an uncomfortable place. Two-game losing streak. Demoted a coordinator. The president of the school felt compelled to tweet out support for Strong this week.
The Red River Rivalry against No. 20 Oklahoma provided Strong and the Longhorns some relief last season with a surprising victory. Strong could use another one to get things righted in Austin, but with former Longhorns grad assistant Tom Herman making a playoff run at Houston pretty good might not be good enough for Strong this season.