College football TV schedule: BYU-Oregon, Texas A&M-Miami best of bunch
On paper, it’s not the greatest college football Saturday. Only two games feature two ranked teams, with no one ranked higher than No. 12 playing in either. Plus, every top-10 team in action is a double-digit favorite. But these are the weekends that tend to surprise us, and the schedule is quite full in one of the final weekends before teams start taking their byes. Something nutty is bound to happen.
Nebraska elevated Mickey Joseph to interim coach this week after Scott Frost’s firing, and Joseph has said he would like to become the Cornhuskers’ full-time coach. A Nebraska win over former Big Eight/12 rival Oklahoma would go a long way toward accomplishing that, but the Cornhuskers have lost 18 straight against Associated Press top 25 teams, and it won’t be easy. Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel has completed 70 percent of his passes for 529 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, and the Cornhuskers have allowed an average of 284.7 passing yards over their first three games, ranking 113th nationally. In last Saturday’s loss to Georgia Southern, the final nail in Frost’s coffin, Nebraska gave up a ghastly 642 total yards, 14 shy of the most the Cornhuskers ever have surrendered in a game. Frost wasn’t a defensive guy, and neither is Joseph, who was elevated from wide receivers coach, so things may continue to get ugly in Lincoln until a new coaching regime and new players are brought in. …
Fresh off its double-overtime win against Baylor, BYU faces another ranked team, this time on the road at Oregon. The Cougars beat the Bears despite the absence of starting wide receivers Gunner Romney and Puka Nacua, who accounted for around 30 percent of BYU’s targets in 2021, and it’s unclear whether one or both of the injured pass-catchers will return against the Ducks. Redshirt freshman Chase Roberts filled in ably, catching eight passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. It’s also not clear what we’re going to get from Oregon, which has been blown out by Georgia (no surprise) and blew out Eastern Washington of the Football Championship Subdivision (also no surprise). The Ducks were dreadful against Georgia’s passing attack, getting carved up by Stetson Bennett and Co. to the tune of 368 passing yards and two touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has given Oregon’s coverage unit a grade of 44.7, which is second worst among Power Five schools. …
Let’s just get this out there: Texas A&M probably isn’t firing Jimbo Fisher anytime soon. At one point in 2021, Fisher’s buyout was nearly $100 million, a college football record, and all the SEC TV money in the world isn’t going to make that sum palatable. But facts are facts: The Aggies now have lost their last three games against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, and two of them were unranked. They seem utterly unable to start the season fast against top opposition, averaging 19 points in nine September games against Power Five teams under Fisher. And Fisher has been a complete failure when it comes to recruiting and developing quarterbacks since he had Jameis Winston at Florida State. This year’s model, Haynes King, completed 13 of 20 passes for only 97 yards in last week’s loss to Appalachian State, averaging an unsightly 4.9 yards per attempt. Texas A&M hosts Miami, giving Fisher another chance to finally get this luxury yacht in seaworthy shape. The Hurricanes also haven’t been totally convincing this season in Mario Cristobal’s first year as coach. They trailed Southern Mississippi in the second quarter Saturday before pulling away for a 30-7 win.
