Two of the nation’s most dynamic quarterbacks and will be on display when rivals Baylor and TCU square off on Saturday afternoon in a crucial Big 12 Conference game at Fort Worth, Texas.

The Bears (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) head north on I-35 after an open week and carrying a two-game conference winning streak, most recently recording a 35-34 home victory over Kansas State on Oct. 4.

Connor Hawkins drilled a 53-yard field goal with 31 seconds to play to beat the Wildcats. Sawyer Robertson passed for 345 yards, two touchdowns and one interception as Baylor came from behind to take the lead, then blocked a field-goal attempt by Kansas State with two seconds left to escape.

Baylor coach Dave Aranda believes his players and the coaches put the bye week to good use.

“We did a lot of self-scout,” Aranda said. “We had our defensive staff do it for our offense and vice versa. And our special teams assistants did for the work for the special teams and spent the majority of the week on that.

“(We were looking to find) the tells that we’re given up. ‘Here’s all the weaknesses. Here’s the strengths. Here’s some possible places to go.'”

Aranda also said that Robertson should be in the discussion for the Heisman Trophy. The senior quarterback leads the nation in passing yards (2,058 through six games) and touchdown passes (19). He marshals a Baylor offense that racks up 494 yards per contest, ninth best in the FBS.

“(Robertson) is going to continue to be in moments where he’s going to shine,” Aranda said. “I don’t think there’s going to be a moment that’s going to be too big for him. And I think this team is going to fight for him.”

TCU is back home after a 41-28 loss at Kansas State last week. After starting the season with three wins, the Horned Frogs (4-2, 1-2) have dropped two of their past three contests.

The most recent setback overshadowed the work of quarterback Josh Hoover, who passed for 376 yards and three touchdowns but also was intercepted twice in the second half, including one that was returned for a score.

“I just gotta play better,” Hoover said. “Our team is only going to be as good as I play, and if I’m not going to consistently be a really good player, then we’re going to have a tough time winning games. This is where you figure out what type of guy you are. I’m not a quitter. I’m made for these moments.”

Hoover is second to Robertson in the nation in passing yards (1,893). He is tied for second with 18 TD passes while throwing only six interceptions.

The two programs have played 120 times on the gridiron since the series began in 1899, with TCU holding a 59-54-7 all-time lead. Baylor won 37-34 last season in Waco, Texas, just the Bears’ second win in the teams’ past 10 meetings.

–Field Level Media

Indiana left no doubt over the weekend that it is a legitimate playoff contender. Following that statement victory on the road over then-No. 3 Oregon, the Hoosiers now seemingly get a schedule break.

They will oppose reeling Michigan State on Saturday afternoon in Bloomington, Ind.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza bounced back from a game-tying pick-six early in the fourth quarter at Oregon to throw a go-ahead, 8-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt.

Nico Radicic’s 22-yard field goal sealed the 30-20 win over the Ducks. Indiana (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) vaulted to No. 3 in the rankings this week.

Now, the challenge for the Hoosiers is to not get overconfident.

“Rip off the rearview mirror, so to speak. Total focus on Michigan State,” coach Curt Cignetti said. “I think the key now is our response coming off of this game.”

Mendoza, a transfer in his first season at Indiana, already has surpassed his passing touchdown total from last season at Cal. He threw for 16 scores in 386 attempts in 2024. He has racked up 17 in 153 attempts this season while completing 71.2% of his passes.

“The quarterback is the key figure. He gets too much credit and too much blame,” Cignetti said. “You know, he overcame adversity. That (pick-six) play wasn’t all on him, but at the end of the day, the ball came off his hand.

“… You don’t go on the road and win a game like this without being able to overcome adversity and never let doubt or frustration creep in. And that was a prime example of that.”

Mendoza has been complemented by a rushing attack averaging 5.6 yards per carry with 13 touchdowns. The defense has allowed just 11.3 points per game. Oregon was limited to 267 total yards, and Ducks quarterback Dante Moore was picked off twice and sacked six times.

“This team has met every challenge up to this point, because they’ve been hungry and humble, prepared properly and put it on the field,” Cignetti said.

It was uncertain who would start at quarterback for the Spartans, as Aidan Chiles was considered questionable early in the week due to an undisclosed injury. He left in the third quarter last Saturday after taking a hard hit during a 38-13 home loss to UCLA.

If Chiles can’t go, redshirt freshman Alessio Milivojevic would get the nod. He threw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter after Chiles was sidelined.

“(Milivojevic) showed some good signs,” coach Jonathan Smith said. “We do have confidence in his capabilities and his preparation.”

The Spartans (3-3, 0-3) have lost three straight, all in conference, while giving up 121 points. The pressure from alumni and fans on Smith, who is in his second year in the program, has increased.

“Definitely, I have a greater awareness when things are out there, whether they’re talking about me particularly or things around the program,” Smith said.

A game against the undefeated Hoosiers couldn’t have come at a worse time for Michigan State. Indiana clobbered the Spartans 47-10 in East Lansing, Mich., last season.

Smith and his staff met with his team on Sunday after the UCLA debacle.

“Let’s face it — six games in, 3-3 and coming off a loss that was not good enough, obviously. We leaned on the leadership of this team,” he said. “The discussions were of what we want this thing to look like looking forward and any potential issues we might have.”

–Field Level Media

Bill Belichick, seemingly catching heat from all directions, hopes to cool the temperature of his seat when he leads North Carolina into a game against Cal on Friday in Berkeley, Calif.

The legendary NFL coach’s five-game college football tenure has been disappointing and reportedly dysfunctional.

The Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) were blown out 38-10 in their league opener against visiting Clemson on Oct. 4, prompting speculation about the future of Belichick, 73, and his five-year, $50 million contract in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina’s three losses were by 87 points. Neither of the Tar Heels’ wins came against a power-conference opponent.

“Everybody’s most interested in the final score, and I’m at the top of that list,” he said. “But it’s a process. You build a culture, you build a program, and eventually the results will come. When will that happen? Hopefully as soon as possible. We’re working hard to get there.”

Belichick called rumors of his impending departure “categorically false.”

He added, “There’s zero truth to any of that. I’m glad I’m here. We’re working toward our goals. We believe very much in the process. We need to just keep working and grinding away, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Also returning to action following a bye week, Cal has dropped two of its past three games after an encouraging 3-0 start to the campaign.

The Golden Bears (4-2, 1-1) need to win two of their remaining six contests to become bowl eligible for the third consecutive season.

The preseason media poll picked Cal to finish 15th in the 17-team ACC, but new Golden Bears general manager Ron Rivera thinks the program has a shot to be special.

“You know, the head coach’s arms have been tied behind his back,” Rivera said of ninth-year coach Justin Wilcox. “One arm’s been tied behind his back because we haven’t gotten the resources. We finally got the resources.

“So I want to tell everybody, ‘Let’s slow down, let’s focus on the rest of the year. We’re 4-2, OK?’ ”

The Tar Heels will need improvement on offense if they are to slow Cal’s momentum. North Carolina ranks last among ACC teams in scoring (18.8 points per game) and in passing (162.6 yards per game).

Cal averages 24.2 points per game, 14th in the ACC, and allows 22.5, eighth in the league.

Golden Bears quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has thrown for 1,487 yards and nine touchdowns, but he has tossed seven interceptions while getting sacked seven times.

Kendrick Raphael paced the ground game with 414 yards (4.5 per carry) and four TDs.

It was unclear early in the week who would start at quarterback for the Tar Heels. Regular starter Gio Lopez missed the Clemson game due to a lower-body injury. Max Johnson stepped in and connected on 26 of 42 passes for 213 yards.

On the season, Lopez has 430 passing yards to go with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Johnson, who came off the bench in losses to TCU and UCF, has thrown for 383 yards and two TDs without an interception.

The first conference meeting will be the third all-time between the schools. The Golden Bears swept a home-and-home series in 2017 and 2018.

–Field Level Media

While it has been overshadowed by Penn State’s collapse, the first half of Michigan’s season hasn’t exactly gone to plan.

The Wolverines’ 31-13 loss last week at Southern California dropped them to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten, which means they’ll probably have to win their last six regular-season games to have a shot at qualifying for the College Football Playoff.

Step One in that task comes Saturday when Washington (5-1, 2-1) visits Ann Arbor, Mich., for a conference clash.

Not much went right for Michigan in Los Angeles. The defense gave up 489 total yards and missed 14 tackles, while the offense averaged only 3.5 yards on 31 rushes and converted just 2 of 11 third downs.

Second-year coach Sherrone Moore passed on a simple message to his team Monday.

“We got to go back to work,” he said. “There’s no pouting. There’s no worry about it. There’s no making excuses for it. That’s all we got to do. They’re trying to fix all the problems and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The Wolverines defense will get a stiff test from Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. In a 38-19 win last Friday against Rutgers, Williams set a school record with 538 total yards of offense as he threw for 402 yards and rushed for another 136.

Williams, who set career highs for passing yards, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, fired two scoring strikes and ran for two touchdowns. He became the 16th player in FBS history to throw for at least 400 yards and run for at least 100 in the same game – joining a club that features Lamar Jackson, Taysom Hill and Johnny Manziel.

On the season, Williams has accounted for 2,010 yards of offense — 1,628 in the air. He has completed an impressive 74.1 percent of his passes with just one interception in 158 attempts.

“He made great decisions with the ball,” said Washington coach Jedd Fisch. “Everything that he’s continuing to do, he’s doing it at a high level. It was fun to watch.”

The Huskies won last year’s meeting with Michigan 27-17, which cut the Wolverines’ series lead to 9-6.

–Field Level Media

Texas A&M stands No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, which makes the Aggies the highest-ranked team in the Southeastern Conference.

But the Aggies are expecting to be without top rusher Le’Veon Moss when they take on host Arkansas (2-4, 0-2 SEC) on Saturday afternoon in the annual Southwest Classic.

Head coach Mike Elko said Monday that Moss will be out “for a significant period of time” with an ankle injury, which adds a layer of difficulty for the Aggies (6-0, 3-0) as they try to build on their best start since 2016.

Moss exited to the locker room before the end of Texas A&M’s 34-17 home win over Florida on Saturday. He has rushed for 389 yards and six scores in just 70 carries this season.

“It’s an unrelated injury to anything that he has been dealing with,” Elko said. “It has nothing to do with last year. It has nothing to do with what he has been dealing with earlier this year. It is an isolated injury on that tackle (the play he was injured on). It’s an ankle, not a knee, which is a really positive sign. He is going to have to go get it looked at and we will kind of figure out where it is at.”

Rueben Owens II is likely to pick up most of the slack in Moss’ absence as he was the Aggies’ leading rusher last week with 51 yards and his first touchdown of the year.

Quarterback Marcel Reed (1,490 yards, 12 touchdowns, four interceptions) leads a balanced Aggies offense that averages 34.7 points per game. Defensively, the Aggies have been solid against the run and rank 22nd nationally in rushing yards allowed per game (103.3).

Arkansas leads the all-time series 42-36-3, but the Aggies have won the past three meetings.

This will be the first time the Southwest Classic game will be played on Arkansas’ home field since 2013. The past 11 matchups were played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., with the exception of the 2020 game, which was played at College Station, Tex.

The Razorbacks are riding a four-game losing streak, but they played much better last week in a 34-31 loss to Tennessee during interim coach Bobby Petrino’s first game since taking over for Sam Pittman after he was fired following a 56-13 loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 27.

Arkansas lost three fumbles in the game, but Mike Washington ran for 131 yards and a touchdown. The Razorbacks were tied at 17 at halftime and cut a 34-17 deficit to three late in the fourth on a pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Taylen Green, who was sacked five times.

Arkansas has had one of the most explosive offenses in the nation, ranked 27th with 36.3 points per game. But the Razorbacks are ranked 114th in scoring defense (30.7 points per game) and 118th in turnover margin (minus-5).

“We were very, very competitive,” Petrino said Monday. “I liked the way we played with emotion and excitement, but we got to actually play the game of football better to get a win like that.”

–Field Level Media

Nebraska will try to keep its first national ranking of the season from being a one-week outlier when it visits Minnesota for a Big Ten clash Friday night in Minneapolis.

The Cornhuskers (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) entered the Associated Press Top 25 at No. 25 after winning in dramatic fashion last week at Maryland – just the third time in seven years that Nebraska has appeared in the poll.

They accomplished the feat after winning their first road game of the season. Now comes their second road game on a short week.

“We haven’t won road games in back-to-back weeks since 2006, which is mind-boggling,” said Nebraska coach Matt Rhule.

Minnesota (4-2, 2-1) comes off a comeback victory over Purdue, its fourth win in as many tries at home. Both Big Ten wins have been by one score and the Gophers have owned a plus-4 turnover margin in those games.

“One-possession games usually come down to (taking care of) the ball,” said Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck. ” … You’ve got to be able to win close games, you have to do it.”

Nebraska sophomore Dylan Raiola ranks second in the Big Ten in touchdown passes with 16. He threw four last week — including the game-winner to Dane Key with 1:08 left — but also had three interceptions. That contributed to the Cornhuskers blowing a double-digit lead for the second straight game.

“I love what we’re doing in the fourth quarter,” Rhule said. “Need to improve the third quarter.”

Minnesota redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey bounced back from a tough game against No. 1 Ohio State by throwing for 232 yards and two TDs against Purdue. That helped offset a rushing game that netted just 30 yards on 18 carries. In three Big Ten games, the Gophers are averaging a league-worst 44.3 yards per game on the ground. Nebraska, meanwhile, ranks second-worst in the conference in defending the run.

“We haven’t been able to do it very successfully to this point,” Fleck said, noting his team has been down early in each Big Ten game. ” … We have to execute better across the board.”

Nebraska’s Emmett Johnson stands second in the Big Ten with 650 yards, including 176 last week. Minnesota just allowed a season-worst 253 rushing yards to Purdue.

Minnesota holds a 37-25-2 advantage against Nebraska, winning the last five matchups including the most recent in 2023. The Cornhuskers’ last victory in the series was in 2018 and their last in Minneapolis was in 2015.

“This Nebraska team has nothing to do with seven years ago or five years ago,” Fleck said.

Rhule, who owns a 17-14 record in his third year at Nebraska, has had his name mentioned for the opening at Penn State, his alma mater, following James Franklin’s firing on Sunday.

“I’m not going to talk a lot about job openings when they come,” Rhule said. “Maybe it’s been a while here, but this is what happens when you win. I’ve dealt with it at Temple, when we won a lot at Baylor. … I want us to continue to take the steps needed to turn this into a beast.”

A win for Nebraska would make it bowl eligible for a second consecutive season, which last happened in 2015-16. The Cornhuskers missed the postseason seven straight years before winning the Pinstripe Bowl last year.

–Field Level Media

For the third time this season, Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton left the field with an injury during a game the Red Raiders won.

And head coach Joey McGuire said Monday there’s a good chance Behren Morton will go three-for-three being back in the lineup to start a week later.

Morton was favoring his right leg following a sack in the second quarter against Kansas on Saturday, but he’s likely to be available for the undefeated Red Raiders (6-0) when they play defending Big 12 champion Arizona State (4-2) in Tempe this week.

“That dude’s the toughest kid I’ve ever coached. His pain tolerance and just toughness and care factor is really high,” McGuire said. “So he’s day-to-day. We’ll see how he feels.”

Morton started all six games for the No. 7 Red Raiders this season, but he has finished only one. He’s been able to lean heavily on a strong running game. Cameron Dickey is coming off a 263-yard performance against Kansas last week.

Morton has completed 68.4% percent of his passes (104 of 152) for 1,501 yards with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions in 2025.

Texas Tech is 3-0 in the Big 12 with the defending conference champion Sun Devils up next. Texas Tech jumped ahead of ASU 14-0 in the first quarter and won 30-22 in Lubbock last season. Morton passed for two touchdowns and 201 yards.

The Sun Devils are not fully healthy at quarterback. Sam Leavitt played through an injury for multiple weeks and then was downgraded before the Utah loss. If Sims can’t play, backup Jeff Sims gets the call again.

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said Leavitt will attempt to practice this week before any decisions are made on the QB depth chart.

“We’re still in that same holding pattern I would say, unfortunately,” Dillingham said.

Dillingham pointed to Texas Tech’s win over Utah this season as a warning for his team not to overlook the Red Raiders if backup Will Hammond gets the start in Morton’s place. Hammond came on in relief to help the Red Raiders beat the Utes, the team that buried Arizona State 42-10 last week.

“Texas Tech played this team (Utah) and they won. And they won the line of scrimmage. So that tells you what their front is like on both sides of the ball,” Dillingham said of focusing on the task at hand. “We lost. It sucks. Learn from it. And you gotta go to the next game.”

–Field Level Media

Ty Simpson, step on up, you are the newest in a growing list of “Who wants to win the 2025 Heisman Trophy” contestants.

While Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer was sticking a fork in his fledgling Heisman hopes with a three-interception performance against Texas and Oregon’s Dante Moore put a significant dent in his with two picks in a home loss to Indiana, Alabama’s junior signal-caller leapt to the front of the pack with another impressive outing at Missouri.

Simpson threw three touchdowns in the 27-24 win over the Tigers, pushing his season total to 16 against a lone interception. Simpson is now the co-favorite at +350 at BetMGM along with a familiar foe — former Georgia and current Miami quarterback Carson Beck.

Beck, who was the +500 favorite last week, saw his odds trimmed even further despite not even playing.

That’s because Moore, who owned the second shortest odds at +700, couldn’t overcome poor pass protection in the Ducks’ 10-point home loss to the Hoosiers. That more than wiped out the good vibes from a three-touchdown performance against Penn State, which just fired its coaches after two embarrassing losses since.

Moore is now in longshot status at +1700, which also places him behind Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (+550), Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (+1400) and his Buckeyes teammate quarterback Julian Sayin (+1500).

Just behind Moore are three quarterbacks from undefeated teams: Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed (+2000), Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss (+2000) and Southern Cal’s Jayden Maiava (+2200).

Beck holds a slight +360 edge over Simpson (+370) at DraftKings, where Mendoza is +550 followed by Sayin at +1500 and Smith at +1600

HEISMAN TROPHY ODDS*
PLAYER, POS, TEAM, OPEN, WEEK 7, CURRENT
Carson Beck, QB, Miami (+2000), (+500), (+350)
Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama (+5500), (+800), (+350)
Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana (+5500), (+1300), (+550)
Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State (+1300), (+800), (+1400)
Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State (+2000), (+1500), (+1500)
Dante Moore, QB, Oregon (+2000), (+700), (+1700)
Marcel Reed, QB, Texas A&M (+4000), (+2000), (+2000)
Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole Miss (OFF), (+1500), (+2000)
Jayden Maiava, QB, Southern Cal (+6000), (+3000), (+2200)
Gunner Stockton, QB, Georgia (+3500), (+3000), (+2500)
CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame (+5000), (+2000), (+3000)
Joey Aguilar, QB, Tennessee (+5000 Week 2), (+2000), (+3000)
Arch Manning, QB, Texas (+900), (+8000), (+8000)

Simpson’s rise into the Heisman conversation has been steady since the Crimson Tide’s season-opening loss at Florida State. After being +5500 to start the season he was still on the outside looking in at +1000 just two weeks ago. But with others continuing to stumble, Simpson has taken full advantage.

Mendoza also enjoyed a strong jump back into the thick of the conversation in leading Indiana’s win at Oregon that vaulted the Hoosiers to No. 3 in the nation.

The constant churn at the top is setting up to be a big win for sportsbooks.

Moore had just taken over as the biggest liability at BetMGM, having accounted for 16.9 percent of all money wagered on the Heisman market. That had surpassed preseason favorite Manning, who has drawn 9.5 percent of the money but fell out of the race with poor outings in losses to Ohio State and Florida.

The book’s third-biggest liability is Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, who received some love from the public as a longshot to begin the season but has not emerged as a Heisman factor. Mateer stood to be a big liability after bursting out of the gates, but may have too far to go to recover from his three-pick outing in a return from hand surgery Saturday.

The biggest remaining liability for BetMGM is Smith, who has the shortest odds among non-quarterbacks. The sophomore has hauled in 40 passes for 505 yards and 7 touchdowns during the Buckeyes’ 6-0 start.

Also likely out of the conversation are LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, who spent short stints atop the Heisman odds earlier this season.

Nussmeier, who outdueled Sellers in a 20-10 win by the Tigers, has drawn 6.3 percent of the total bets but currently sits as a +4000 longshot. Sellers has plummeted to +10000 but remains fifth at the book while being backed by 5.7 percent of all bets.

–Field Level Media

Reading the trajectory of the program from the top seat, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft felt he was left with no choice but to remove James Franklin as head coach on Sunday.

On Monday, he committed to finding an “elite” replacement who lives out the meaning and magnitude of “We are,” referring to the university’s defiant motto, “We are … Penn State.”

“This person has to fit Penn State. They need to represent the toughness, the blue-collar work ethic and the class that defines this institution. We want someone who honors our tradition but isn’t afraid to evolve, someone who understands the weight of ‘We are’ and leads us forward with a vision of championships,” Kraft said.” “The right coach will rebuild the unity and pride that defines this historic program, and they will ignite this fan base around a shared belief that we’re capable of greatness, and we’re going to do it the right way. We are the best program in the country.”

Penn State lost three games in a row after cracking the Top 5 in the AP poll. The season unraveled with consecutive losses to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern before Kraft pulled the plug on Sunday.

Kraft promoted associate head coach Terry Smith to interim coach and said he would “absolutely” be in position to earn consideration for the full-time role.

In an emotional press conference Monday, Kraft called on Penn State’s fan base to amplify their support for players on the current roster and point their rage at him. The response was in part a critique of indefensible video of fans screaming in the faces of Franklin’s children and harsh words shared after quarterback Drew Allar left his home field for the final time on Saturday with a season-ending injury.

“You can hate me, you can hate James,” Kraft said. “But rally around (the players). They deserve it. That’s who Penn State is. That’s who we are.”

Turning around the season is a tall order for Smith, who not only lost Allar as the QB1 but has a remaining schedule as daunting as any team in the nation with No. 1 Ohio State and No. 3 Indiana on the docket. With little time to exhale, Smith said he’s working diligently to get quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer ready for the challenge.

“He’s been thrown in there just like I’ve gotten thrown in there, so we got something in common,” Smith said, adding he would love the opportunity to stay as PSU’s head coach.

“It means everything to me. I don’t see working here as a job. I love waking up every morning and showing up for work and trying to make us better.”

Smith said Monday afternoon he was able to discuss the events of the past 24 hours with Franklin. Their conversation was packed with emotion, much like the team meeting Franklin led to inform the team of Penn State’s new direction.

“I was stunned, like most people in the building, most people around the country,” Smith said.

Kraft’s message to Smith was straightforward. His move might have been a surprise, but it wasn’t a revelation made after a losing streak.

“This is not a three-game thing. This is really diving into where we were as a program,” Kraft said. “What is the trajectory of this program? And you all know, I’m not shy to admit it: I’m here to win national championships.”

Franklin guided Penn State to the College Football Playoff for the first time last season before a loss in the semifinals to Notre Dame dashed national championship goals. The Nittany Lions were among Big Ten and national title favorites when the 2025 season began.

“James Franklin is a tremendous man, husband, father, mentor to countless student-athletes, and a good friend who has always carried himself with dignity and represented Penn State with absolute class. We are all incredibly fortunate to have had James Franklin lead our football program for over a decade, and we will forever be grateful to him and his family,” Kraft said. “That said at Penn State, we hold all our programs to the highest standards in our shared pursuit of excellence. My job is to evaluate everything and make hard decisions for what is in the best interest of our athletes, our program and our department. Football is our backbone. We have invested at the highest level with that comes high expectations. Ultimately, I believe a new leader can help us win a national championship, and now is the right time for this change.”

–Field Level Media

Nebraska coach and Penn State alum Matt Rhule sidestepped speculation he was interested in returning to his old stomping grounds days after James Franklin was fired as head coach of the Nittany Lions.

“Maybe it’s been awhile here, but this is what happens when you win. I’m not going to talk a lot about job openings when they come. I’m not going to talk about my contract here,” Rhule said Monday. “I absolutely love it here. I want to continue to take the steps needed to turn this place into a beast.”

Nebraska (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) is No. 25 and in the AP poll for the first time this season, but began last year with the same record before winding up 7-6.

“I love Penn State. Met my wife there. It’s my alma mater. Probably had a Penn State shirt since I was born. I love (athletic director) Pat Kraft,” Rhule said. I’m really sad, really sad to see Coach Franklin go. When you think about what he did for my alma mater.

“I love that place. I love James Franklin. But I’m really happy here and excited to get going this week on Minnesota.”

Rhule, who lost three games to Penn State and Franklin from 2014-16 while serving as Temple’s head coach, said he has a great relationship with Cornhuskers athletic director Troy Dannen, and they are in “constant contact” about what it will take to keep Nebraska on a winning track.

Then again, Penn State’s Kraft served as Temple’s AD during Rhule’s time at the university.

“Troy and I are in an unbelievable relationship too. Troy and I are in constant, constant, constant communication about this program and where we’re headed,” Rhule said. “I came here for two reasons. I love the community here and wanted to live here. And I love it here. And I wanted to rebuild Nebraska football. Troy and I understand the steps you need to take to be Big Ten champions, national champions.”

Rhule was 28-23 at Temple when Baylor hired him away. After two seasons and a 19-20 record, the NFL’s Carolina Panthers made a massive offer to bring him to Charlotte. Rhule was fired after going 11-27.

He is 17-14 at Nebraska with an 8-13 Big Ten record.

Penn State (3-3, 0-3) fired Franklin on Sunday after a third consecutive loss. The Nittany Lions were 3-0 and ranked in the top 5 before the skid began with a loss to Oregon followed by a shocking upset at UCLA. Northwestern beat Penn State, 22-21, on Saturday.

–Field Level Media