After losing back-to-back games to open the season, Notre Dame has clawed back into the College Football Playoff picture.

Just don’t tell Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman about his team’s No. 10 ranking.

Notre Dame (6-2) will get an opportunity to bolster its playoff credentials when it faces Navy (7-1) on Saturday evening in South Bend, Ind. The Fighting Irish have won six straight games, including their past four home contests.

Freeman said it would be “wasting time” to try to use the playoff rankings to motivate his group.

“If I sit in my office and try to come up with some way to utilize our ranking to use it as motivation, I’m wasting time that I need to be really using to prepare for this upcoming game on Saturday,” Freeman said. “So that’s the motivation, is this opportunity that we have on Saturday.
“That’s all we need to spend time thinking about.”

The Midshipmen will try to play spoiler against an opponent they know well. Navy won its first seven games of the season before losing 31-17 at North Texas last Saturday.

Blake Horvath has thrown for 1,143 yards and seven touchdowns against five interceptions to go with 926 rushing yards, including 13 scores. Five other Midshipmen players have rushed for at least 100 yards, including Alex Tecza with 523 yards and six touchdowns.

Navy coach Brian Newberry said he and his players are excited to renew the storied rivalry.

“I don’t think I have to do a whole lot to get our guys pumped up,” Newberry said. “I want to make sure that we understand we’re going up there to win the game, not to have a good showing or to get a pat on the back. I think our guys feel the same way.

“So we’re super excited about the opportunity. (We) have to have a great week of preparation, but we’re going to go swing the bat, that’s for sure.”

Navy must find a way to slow down a talented one-two punch in the Notre Dame backfield. Running back Jeremiyah Love has rushed for 894 yards and 11 touchdowns, and teammate Jadarian Price has run for 521 yards and eight scores.

CJ Carr provides a threat in the passing game, as well. The first-year starting quarterback has completed 66.5% of his passes for 2,057 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Freeman said it was important for the offense to include multiple threats.

“We have to be able to run the ball, but if teams aren’t going to allow you to run the ball, as you’ve seen some teams try to do, we’ve got to be able to throw the ball to the top of the defense,” he said. “And we’re having some success doing it.”

On defense, Freeman said, the Fighting Irish need to stay disciplined.

“It isn’t one where you can have a whole bucket list of calls defensively,” he said. “Because they do so much, and it’s a unique offense that you’re going to have to make sure your eyes are in the right spot.”

–Field Level Media

Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire noticed something different this week as he prepared for his team’s high-stakes game against BYU in Lubbock, Texas.

A group of students were camped out near Texas Tech’s stadium. They were waiting for ESPN’s “College Football GameDay” broadcast to begin and for the gates to open — not in a matter of minutes or hours, but more than five days later.

The excitement is buzzing as No. 8 Texas Tech (8-1, 5-1 Big 12 Conference) prepares to take on No. 7 BYU (8-0, 5-0) on Saturday afternoon. The teams sit side by side in the College Football Playoff rankings, and this weekend’s matchup could go a long way toward determining the Big 12 standings at the end of the year.

McGuire is well aware of the high stakes. He’s more impressed with the fan response.

“It is really cool to walk out of the office last night and see students camping out,” the 54-year-old McGuire said. “Because whenever they’re my age, that’s what they’re going to remember — the experience.

“You have heard me say it, the pageantry of college football and the experience of ‘GameDay’ being on campus and all of that, it’s so cool. We haven’t had this opportunity in a long time.”

BYU will try to spoil the party as it heads south to take on the Red Raiders.

The Cougars remained undefeated last week by earning a 41-27 win over Iowa State on a blustery afternoon. That followed a three-point win over then-No. 23 Utah and an overtime win against Arizona.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake does not want his players to feel overconfident because of the team’s undefeated record.

“I think we did enough to be 8-0 right now, but I still feel like there’s a lot that we can improve at,” Sitake said. “My job is to make sure that we play at our best and can play a full 60 minutes on Saturday.”

BYU will try to slow down Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton, who is coming off a strong performance in a 43-20 road win against Kansas State. Morton completed 21 of 32 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns and has thrown for 15 TDs compared with four interceptions this season.

Cameron Dickey is Texas Tech’s top threat on the ground; he has rushed for 746 yards and 10 touchdowns. Caleb Douglas leads the team with 41 catches for 594 yards and four scores.

BYU will counter with Bear Bachmeier, who has passed for 1,693 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. LJ Martin has rushed for 789 yards and five scores.

Martin left last week’s game against Iowa State because of an unspecified injury, but Sitake indicated he might be able to return this week. He offered a similar hopeful prognosis for linebacker Jack Kelly.

“They’re doing great,” Sitake said. “We’ll see how they progress during practice this week.”

Meanwhile, Texas Tech is focused on winning the battles at the line of scrimmage.

“They’re big humans that take up a lot of space,” McGuire said of BYU. “We’re going to have to do a great job up front on our double teams. You know we’re going to have to win our one-on-ones. I think that’s huge.”

–Field Level Media

Picked 14th in the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll, first-place Virginia faces a clear path to the conference championship game as the only remaining unbeaten team in ACC play.

Ranked 14th in the first College Football Playoff poll released Tuesday, the Cavaliers (8-1, 5-0) will play two of their last three games in Charlottesville, Va., starting Saturday night against Wake Forest (5-3, 2-3).

After hosting the Demon Deacons, the Cavaliers will visit Duke on Nov. 15 before returning from a bye to welcome rival Virginia Tech on Nov. 29. Those three Virginia opponents are a combined 0-6 this season against teams in the AP Top 25.

This is the highest CFP ranking ever for Virginia. The Cavaliers were 25th in the initial rankings in 2018 and returned for the final two rankings in 2019 at Nos. 23 and 24.

Virginia has won seven consecutive games — three in overtime — since its only blemish, a four-point loss at North Carolina State in a non-conference contest on Sept. 6.

The 8-1 start is the Cavaliers’ best in 35 years, and it’s the first time they’ve ever been 5-0 in the ACC. Defeating Wake Forest would mark their first eight-game winning streak in a single season; they won 10 straight across 1914-15 and 1951-52.

Virginia coach Tony Elliott said he told his players to focus on football and “simplify your life.”

“I’ve tried to tell them that a lot more people are going to come out of the woodwork,” Elliott said Tuesday. “You’re going to get a lot more messages after every game. A lot more people are going to want to be a part of what’s going on, and unfortunately, that becomes a distraction.”

The Demon Deacons are coming off their worst loss under first-year coach Jake Dickert, falling 42-7 last weekend at Florida State. They were outgained 421-247, were penalized 11 times for 93 yards, and committed two turnovers.

“This is a culture test,” Dickert said of his team being able to bounce back this week. “It’s a test of who we are and what we’re about. I know the way our team’s going to respond to this. … We have to be better as a football team. It starts with me and me only, and I’ve got to put our players in a better position to succeed.”

Wake Forest nearly won its only game against a ranked team this season, losing 30-29 in overtime to then-No. 16 Georgia Tech on Sept. 27. The Demon Deacons have dropped eight straight games to Top 25 foes dating to 2022.

“You’re starting to see them formulate an identity under the new staff,” Elliott said of Wake Forest. “They play really hard. They play a physical brand of football. They have some very dynamic weapons on offense that can score at any time. … So don’t let the record or the scores of previous games fool you.”

The Demon Deacons’ weapons include running back Demond Claiborne (639 rushing yards and eight touchdowns) and a pair of quarterbacks — Robby Ashford and Deshawn Purdie — who are capable of engineering an upset.

The Cavaliers will counter with a balanced offense led by Chandler Morris (2,069 passing yards and 16 total touchdowns) and J’Mari Taylor (686 rushing yards and 11 TDs).

Wake Forest has won five of the last six meetings with Virginia, including the last two in Charlottesville (2012, 2021).

–Field Level Media

No. 3 Texas A&M can take another step toward landing a high seed in the College Football Playoff when it faces No. 22 Missouri on Saturday afternoon at Columbia, Mo.

The Southeastern Conference matchup is big for both schools but carries even more weight for the Aggies after the initial CFP rankings were released on Tuesday night.

Texas A&M (8-0, 5-0) is the highest-ranked team in the conference, ahead of No. 4 Alabama (7-1, 5-0), No. 5 Georgia (7-1, 5-1) and No. 6 Ole Miss (8-1, 5-1). But in this era of the 16-team SEC, the Aggies play none of those three teams this season.

Asked how to quantify why Texas A&M is the best of the bunch, Aggies coach Mike Elko didn’t pull any punches.

“Um, we haven’t lost yet,” he said with a laugh. “That would probably be a good starting point.”

Elko acknowledged it isn’t easy to have a handle when trying to dissect foes.

“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s hard to compare yourself to other teams in the league,” Elko said. “I’m just trying to figure out how to play good football on Saturday against Missouri.”

The Aggies have come up with the answers each week and have topped 40 points five times. Texas A&M pounded host LSU 49-25 on Oct. 25 and then had a bye last weekend.

Sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed has passed for 1,972 yards and 17 touchdowns against six interceptions for the Aggies. He also has rushed for six scores.

Reed’s stellar season reminds Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz of the recruiting process.

“I’ve believed in Marcel Reed for a long time,” Drinkwitz said. “I was first on the bandwagon. He’s a really good player. You can tell the guys love playing for him. They love playing around him. When he makes a mistake, he bounces back and keeps on going. The moment is never too big.”

Meanwhile, the Tigers have lost two of their past three games following a 5-0 start.

Freshman quarterback Matt Zollers will make his first career start after Beau Pribula was lost to a dislocated ankle during a 17-10 road loss to then-No. 10 Vanderbilt on Oct. 25.

Zollers replaced Pribula and completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown after entering in the third quarter. The coaches then worked extensively during the bye week to incorporate things into the playbook that will be a fit with Zollers’ style of play.

Drinkwitz said he liked the poise Zollers displayed against the Commodores. He also was impressed with the throws.

“The No. 1 talent that Matt has is his arm,” Drinkwitz said. “I think the way the ball jumps off his hand, I think we all can see it. He’s got really good arm talent. There’s no defense for the perfect throw. That’s just the reality of it.”

Standout running back Ahmad Hardy can take pressure off Zollers with another productive day. He ranks fourth in the nation with 937 rushing yards and is tied for fifth with 11 rushing touchdowns.

Elko said his team is preparing for a Missouri squad that will be immensely fired up.

“In terms of Missouri — this is the challenge that you have in college football today, they’re still very much alive for the playoff,” Elko said. “This is a playoff game for them. They obviously know they’re going to have to win out in order probably to get in. So this is a huge opportunity for them at home on a big stage.”

The Aggies routed then-No. 9 Missouri 41-10 last season in College Station, Texas.

–Field Level Media

No. 19 Southern California will begin its closing four-game stretch of the season in the thick of both the Big Ten Conference championship and College Football Playoff races.

The Trojans will face another stout defense in Northwestern on Friday night in Los Angeles.

Southern California (6-2, 4-1) will return home for the first time since a 31-13 win over then-No. 15 Michigan on Oct. 11, bookending its Oct. 25 bye with a 34-24 loss at rival Notre Dame and a 21-17 victory at Nebraska last Saturday.

The grind-it-out defeat of the Cornhuskers helped land the Trojans at their position in the first playoff rankings of the season.

Northwestern (5-3, 3-2) will visit the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 1969 in the program’s first matchup with Southern California since the 1996 Rose Bowl Game. No Wildcats squad has ever beaten the Trojans, going 0-5 in a series that started in 1952.

This season’s Wildcats come in off of a bye week, having last played on Oct. 25 against Nebraska. The Cornhuskers snapped Northwestern’s four-game winning streak in a 28-21 decision in Lincoln, Neb.

The 28 points the Wildcats allowed were almost the team’s high for the season, save a 34-14 setback to Oregon on Sept. 13. Northwestern allowed just 42 points combined in wins over UCLA, Louisiana-Monroe, Penn State and a shutout of Purdue between the two losses.

The Wildcats are allowing an average of just 16.8 points per game this season, which is the 13th fewest in the nation.

The Trojans’ output dipped to 39.8 points per game after the win over Nebraska, still good for eighth-most nationally. Quarterback Jayden Maiava remains ranked in the top 10 of the FBS for average passing yardage with 289.4 per contest.

With Nebraska limiting Maiava to season lows of nine completions on 23 attempts and 135 yards, Southern Cal leaned on its run game, which Northwestern coach David Braun highlighted as an element that makes the Trojans dangerous.

“With the style of offense they play, it can be easy to fall into thinking they’re passing the ball all over the place. That’s not the case,” Braun said. “They’re very balanced. They’re running the ball very effectively. … Scary operation.”

With Waymond Jordan and Eli Sanders both sidelined due to injuries, King Miller stepped up for 129 yards on 18 carries. He has exceeded 100 yards in two of the Trojans’ last three outings, also rushing for 158 yards against Michigan.

Southern California’s ground game is among the most effective in college football, averaging 5.8 yards per carry — ninth-most in the nation.

Northwestern will counter with a front seven, and specifically a linebacker group, that Trojans coach Lincoln Riley called a “really smart group” when discussing the Wildcats defense following practice on Tuesday.

“Tough and physical,” he said. “You can tell they communicate really well (because) you don’t see a lot of busts. …They don’t give up a lot of big plays.”

–Field Level Media

No. 23 Washington will look to move into the upper echelon of the Big Ten standings on Saturday afternoon when it visits reeling Wisconsin in Madison, Wis.

Both the Huskies (6-2, 3-2) and Badgers (2-6, 0-5) were idle last week. Before the bye, Washington recorded a 42-25 victory over then-No. 23 Illinois while Wisconsin dropped its sixth straight decision with a 21-7 setback to then-No. 6 Oregon.

The Huskies, who have won three of their last four games, are among four teams with two conference losses. There also are four teams with one conference loss, trailing undefeated Ohio State and Indiana, ranked first and second in the country, respectively.

“We certainly understand the task at hand,” Washington coach Jedd Fisch said Monday about the Badgers. “We know that it has always been one of the best defenses in college football in the Big 10. We know we’ve got to be on our P’s and Q’s and be locked in and ready roll, so we’re ready for them.”

Huskies running back Jonah Coleman leads the nation in total scores (15) and is tied for second in rushing touchdowns (13). Demond Williams Jr. is No. 2 nationally in completion percentage at 73.1. Williams has thrown for 2,117 yards and 14 touchdowns, with four interceptions.

Denzel Boston is the top target with 44 receptions for 668 yards and seven touchdowns, and Dezmen Roebuck has 24 catches for 394 yards and four scores.

The Huskies average 35.5 points and 438.6 yards per game. Washington’s two losses were 24-6 to Ohio State on Sept. 27 and 24-7 at Michigan on Oct. 18.

Wisconsin has struggled offensively since opening the season with victories over Miami (Ohio) and Middle Tennessee.

Until their fourth-quarter score against Oregon, the Badgers had gone 14 quarters without a touchdown.

Starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., a senior transfer from Maryland, was injured in the opener. Backup Danny O’Neil was ineffective before giving way to Hunter Simmons, who has completed 50% of his passes with two touchdowns and five interceptions.

Carter Smith is in the quarterback mix for Saturday’s game, Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said Monday.

“After a bye week, we got him out there, got some more opportunities for him,” Fickell said. “And then that’s one of those things we’ll just have to see. So there’s a lot of chances for a lot of guys, but Carter is definitely one of them.”

Fickell announced Monday that leading rusher Dilin Jones will have season-ending surgery for turf toe. Starting center Jake Renfro also will miss the rest of the season, along with safety Matthew Traynor.

Gideon Ituka rushed for 85 yards against Oregon, the single-game high this season for the Badgers.

Wisconsin averages just 12.5 points per game, allowing 23.9. The Badgers average 261.9 yards per game, giving up 341, including 230.3 through the air.

Washington, making its first trip to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison since 1968, has won all four games played against Wisconsin. The Huskies’ last win in the series was 27-10 at home in 1992.

–Field Level Media