In its final home game of the season, No. 16 North Carolina State will look for its third consecutive win when it opposes Boston College on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C.

The Wolfpack (7-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won three of their past four. Most recently, NC State topped rival then-No. 21 Wake Forest 30-21, a result that catapulted the Wolfpack up six spots in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.

It was the first career start for freshman quarterback MJ Morris, who completed 18 of 28 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Morris also rushed 19 times for 43 yards.

He became the first true freshman quarterback to start for the Wolfpack since Philip Rivers in 2000. Morris is also the first NC State quarterback to throw for three scores in their first start since Jacoby Brissett in 2014.

That Morris is in the company of some former NC State quarterbacks who went on to enjoy lengthy careers in the NFL is a good sign for things to come. Still, Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren wants to be patient with the 19-year-old playmaker.

“It’s still a small sample. It’s a game and a half,” Doeren said Monday. “We’re excited about what he’s doing, but at the same time, I think setting him up (for success) is important. What does he do best? Where’s he most confident? It’s no different from when you have a three-year starter, you still want to do what the guy feels most confident with.”

Morris became the starter due to a season-ending injury to Devin Leary, and a less-than-stellar performance from backup Jack Chambers against Virginia Tech on Oct. 27.

For NC State, the victory over the Demon Deacons extended their winning streak at Carter-Finley Stadium to 16 straight games, tying a program record set from 1972-75 under coach Lou Holtz. A win against Boston College (2-7, 1-5) would give this Wolfpack team the school record and put the Wolfpack in position for a better bowl game.

“The culture that we have now, obviously as a head coach you lead it, but these (seniors) are the ones that water it every day,” Doeren said. “They’re the ones that help it grow and hold each other accountable. All these guys … are a part of the success we’re having in a major way.”

Boston College is likely to start a young quarterback on Saturday too. Veteran Phil Jurkovec missed last week’s game against Duke due to a knee injury and did not practice on Tuesday, a sign that redshirt freshman Emmett Morehead may be in line for his second straight start.

Morehead impressed last week at home, completing 27 of 45 passes for 330 yards and four touchdowns. However, it wasn’t quite enough to beat the Blue Devils, as the Eagles fell 38-31, their fourth straight loss.

“What I’m most impressed about Emmett is that he throws the ball really well and his leadership,” Eagles coach Jeff Hafley said Tuesday. “He has a really good grasp of the huddle and the way he gets them in and out. He takes it serious and it’s impressive and we’ll see what happens.”

Last week was just the third time this season that Boston College scored more than 21 points this season.

The Eagles’ top offensive weapon this season has been wideout Zay Flowers, who leads the ACC in receiving yards with 791. He has an ACC-co-leading eight touchdowns among his 60 catches.

NC State is 8-10 all-time against Boston College but has won three of the past four meetings. The Eagles haven’t won in Raleigh since 2016.

–Field Level Media

Wake Forest was derailed the past couple of seasons by North Carolina in notable matchups.

Now No. 15 North Carolina might have lots at stake when the teams collide Saturday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Tar Heels (8-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) can clinch the ACC’s Coastal Division and a date with Clemson in the league championship game with a victory — if that isn’t solved based on other results earlier in the day.

Much of North Carolina’s success this season has come with its 5-0 road record, the program’s highest road win total since 1997. This will be the Tar Heels’ last road game of the season.

“And after last year’s team was 0-6 (away from home), for this team to be sitting here 5-0 is very, very impressive,” coach Mack Brown said.

Wake Forest (6-3, 2-3) is coming off back-to-back road losses that knocked the Demon Deacons out of the rankings for the first time this season.

Demon Deacons quarterback Sam Hartman has been turnover-prone of late, tossing three interceptions in each of the past two games. Still, he has 96 career touchdown passes.

“We’re a team that can’t turn the football over,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said.

The losses to Louisville and North Carolina State were defined by giveaways. There are corrections for the Demon Deacons to make.

“Was it their good play or our poor play?” Clawson said. “Usually when you lose, it’s a little bit of both.”

Even without those issues, Hartman might be overshadowed in the leadup to this game by Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye. The North Carolina freshman has thrown for 31 touchdowns and rushed for four more.

There is some support brewing for a Heisman Trophy campaign for Maye.

“I think we’ve got to finish the season to see,” Brown said. “I think it’s too early.”

Brown said he has instructed offensive coordinator Phil Longo to limit the number of called rushing plays for Maye. Keeping him injury-free and on the field is a priority.

“He’s going to have enough runs when protection (falls apart) and they’re covered,” Brown said, “so let’s not add to that.”

Brown’s staff also might need to find a plan to combat Wake Forest redshirt junior receiver A.T. Perry, who racked up career highs with 12 catches and 159 receiving yards last week at NC State.

North Carolina might be counting on keeping the Demon Deacons in check in the first half.

“The defense continues to play much better in the second half than the first half with the adjustments the coaches are making,” Brown said.

North Carolina leads the series 71-36-2. That includes victories the past two seasons at home in high-scoring matchups. Last year’s clash ended at 58-55, though it was a nonconference meeting between the ACC teams. This season’s game counts in the league records.

Perry made two touchdown catches as part of his 129 receiving yards in the 2021 meeting.

The 2020 game ended in a 59-53 final with the Tar Heels erasing a 21-point, second-half deficit.

–Field Level Media

David Shaw has won a lot of games as Stanford coach, but his squad is one loss away from clinching its third losing campaign in four years.

Shaw will try to rally his team from a demoralizing setback when the Cardinal battle No. 13 Utah (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12) on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Stanford (3-6, 1-6) was pummeled 52-14 by visiting Washington State last weekend for the team’s second consecutive blowout loss. The Cardinal lost 38-13 at UCLA the previous week.

Few people will expect the Cardinal to beat the Utes, and Shaw understands that mindset.

“I’ll take anything I can get right now,” Shaw said Tuesday afternoon. “Whether guys are motivated to go win or if guys think, ‘Hey, it is us against the world.’ We’ll take all that.

“We have to go in and not be shy and not tiptoe into the stadium. We have to go in there face first and give it the best effort that we have.”

Shaw is in his 12th season at Stanford and possesses a 96-51 record. The Cardinal have racked up five seasons of 10 or more wins during his tenure but appear en route to missing out on a bowl berth for the fourth consecutive season.

Shaw points to injuries as a major problem and said that four of the team’s top five tacklers are questionable to play against Utah. That group consists of linebackers Levani Damuni (team-high 52 stops) and Ricky Miezan (38) and safeties Kendall Williamson (48) and Patrick Fields (39).

That is problematic as the Cardinal gave up 306 rushing yards against Washington State — which is the same amount Utah’s offense ran for last week in a 45-20 home rout of Arizona.

And last season, the visiting Utes rushed for 441 yards while routing Stanford 52-7.

This season, the Utes are again clicking and have scored more than 40 points in three of their past five games.

Utah is 5-0 at home this season, including a 43-42 win over then-No. 7 Southern California on Oct. 15. The Utes have won 24 of their last 25 home contests.

Utah also needs wins to improve its positioning in the College Football Playoff. The Utes are 13th and trail Pac-12 foes Oregon (No. 6), USC (8) and UCLA (12).

Utes quarterback Cam Rising is playing through a knee injury that caused him to miss a 21-17 road win over Washington State on Oct. 27. He played against Arizona and passed for 151 yards and one touchdown.

“It felt good to be back out there with the guys and just running the offense again,” Rising said.

Rising has passed for 2,006 yards, 16 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham hopes Rising will be closer to top form against the Cardinal.

“He wasn’t as sharp as he usually is, but that’ll come, and it was great to have him back in the lineup,” Whittingham said of Rising’s performance against the Wildcats. “Overall, another step in the right direction for us, as things wind down and we are still in the thick of it.”

The Utes reached the Rose Bowl last season and are hopeful for another trip this season.

–Field Level Media

Penn State has beaten the teams it was expected to beat and lost to the usual powerhouses of the Big Ten, Michigan and Ohio State.

The Nittany Lions rose one spot to No. 14 in the second edition of the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, and there’s room for them to keep climbing if they win out, starting with their Saturday game against Maryland in State College, Pa.

James Franklin’s Nittany Lions teams won 11 games in 2016, 2017 and 2019 before a rocky span of 4-5 in 2020 and 7-6 last year. After Penn State (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) got back on track last week by thrashing Indiana 45-14, the team is on pace to exceed last year’s win total, and a 10-2 finish with an at-large bid to a New Year’s Six bowl are not out of reach.

The Nittany Lions have a fine overall body of work but lack a so-called signature win. Penn State drilled Auburn 41-12 in a road game in September, but it looks less impressive now that the Tigers have fallen to 3-6 and fired their coach.

“You’ve got some teams and some programs that have not been consistent but have big-time wins, and then you have others that have been consistent but not the signature win, and obviously what you want is you want both, right?” Franklin said. “You want the consistency week in and week out, which we’ve all seen is hard to do, and the signature wins are hard to do. …

“We’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do this week to be 1-0, continue to stack wins and stack days and be positive … and then hopefully at the end of the season we’re where we need to be and put ourselves in the best position possible for the bowl season as well as momentum going into next season.”

Freshman running back Kaytron Allen racked up 86 rushing yards and three touchdowns along with receptions of 45 and 27 yards as Penn State downed Indiana to bounce back from a 44-31 loss to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions’ defense tied a program record with 16 tackles for loss.

Penn State will try to notch its fifth conference win Saturday against Maryland (6-3, 3-3) in a battle between third and fourth place in the Big Ten East.

Coming out of their bye week, the Terrapins fell flat at Wisconsin last Saturday in a 23-10 loss. Taulia Tagovailoa was sacked a season-high five times while being held to season lows in completions (10) and yards (77). He threw one touchdown pass and one interception.

Wide receiver Rakim Jarrett (34 receptions, 376 yards on the season) will be a game-time decision Saturday due to a lower leg injury sustained against Wisconsin. Whether or not he plays, the Terrapins will look for more from fellow receivers Jeshaun Jones, Jacob Copeland and Dontay Demus Jr.

“We’ve talked about all year how our (receiver) room was really deep from top to bottom,” Jones said. “I think that gives credit to the whole room and to (Tagovailoa) spreading the ball around.

“I believe I heard something last week that we have like eight guys who have 10 or more catches … I feel like that’s a pretty nice stat to have as an offense and shows that we’re spreading the ball around.”

Already bowl-eligible, Maryland can ensure its best record yet under fourth-year coach Mike Locksley if it wins two of its final three games. Maryland finished 7-6 last year after winning the Pinstripe Bowl.

Though Penn State leads the all-time series 41-3-1, two of the Terrapins’ wins have come at State College in 2014 and 2020.

–Field Level Media

No. 12 UCLA can run the ball, and Arizona has trouble stopping it. The teams’ Saturday night matchup in Pasadena, Calif., might not get more complicated than that.

The Bruins (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) are seventh nationally and first in the conference in rushing yards per game (242.3), and they are coming off a 402-yard performance on the ground in a 50-36 road win over Arizona State, despite star running back Zach Charbonnet being unavailable due to injury.

Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson contributed 120 rushing yards, Kazmeir Allen rushed for 137 and Keegan Jones added 98.

“It’s a credit to our depth from a skill position standpoint,” UCLA coach Chip Kelly said. “I thought our offensive line and tight ends played really, really well. They understood it was a challenge. When you lose somebody like Zach, that’s a big blow to your football team. … I think our offense, guys on the offensive side of the ball, really responded when they knew that Zach wasn’t gonna play after warmups and what are we gonna do.”

Charbonnet, third nationally with 137.7 yards per game, practiced on Tuesday and likely won’t want to miss a chance to run against the Wildcats (3-6, 1-5). They are 125th in the country in rushing defense, allowing 218.7 yards per game, and have given up 300 rushing yards in a game three times this season.

Arizona has made strides in coach Jedd Fisch’s second season, notably on offense, but needs to play a clean game to compete against the top teams in the Pac-12.

That didn’t happen last week. Arizona fumbled seven times, losing four, in a 45-20 loss in the rain at Utah. Quarterback Jayden de Laura, who has been brilliant but inconsistent, threw for a season-low 159 yards.

“The elements were kind of affecting us,” Fisch said. “I thought we didn’t really handle the full passing game the way we normally would. We certainly are a better football team than we showed.”

The Wildcats might be without leading receiver Jacob Cowing, who was considered questionable on Monday due to a leg injury.

UCLA didn’t see any movement in the College Football Playoff rankings, but still has an outside shot at making the final four. Winning out against Arizona, USC and Cal would land the Bruins in the Pac-12 title game, where they potentially could avenge their only loss — to Oregon.

Kelly has been vocal about late kickoffs affecting how many people get to see — and properly evaluate — his team. This week’s game begins at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

“We had a team run for 400 yards last Saturday night and no one knows about it,” Kelly said. “We’ve got a good football team and I hope people get a chance to see us play.”

While this week’s matchup favors the high-powered UCLA offense, Kelly has been fretting about his defense. UCLA gave up 349 passing yards and 30 first downs last week versus ASU.

“I talked to it a little bit after the game, but I think with the amount of missed tackles we had, we’ve got to do a better job in open spaces,” Kelly said. “And part of that is gang tackling, getting more than one guy to the ball.”

–Field Level Media

The Southeastern Conference’s “Road to Atlanta” was supposed to reach a major intersection this week on the campus of Ole Miss, but one powerhouse school’s hopes of making the SEC Championship Game have diminished while the host school will a little need help, too.

On Saturday afternoon in Oxford, Miss., the No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels will welcome the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide, with neither team having any margin for error if it wants to entertain the possibility of going to the conference title game in Atlanta.

Ole Miss (8-1, 4-1 SEC) lost 45-20 at LSU on Oct. 22, putting the squad in a must-win situation if it wanted to make this season even more special than last year’s 10-win regular season and Sugar Bowl appearance.

Now, the Rebels find themselves needing two situations to take place in order to make it to the SECCG on Dec. 3 — win out, and hope the No. 7 LSU Tigers, holding the head-to-head tiebreaker, fall at least once in one of their final two conference games at Arkansas or at Texas A&M.

So first, they have to take care of Alabama (7-2, 4-2), which fell 32-31 in dramatic fashion last Saturday night on the road at LSU’s “Death Valley.”

Rebels coach Lane Kiffin even reached out to a popular SEC college football host and urged him not to egg on Nick Saban even more. Falling on Saturday would mark the first time Alabama has lost back-to-back games since 2013.

“I texted (Paul) Finebaum on the way over here when I saw his quotes when he normally does and he says the Nick Saban dynasty is over and all that,” said Kiffin, a former Alabama assistant. “Every time he says this — which I tell him — all he does is, I call it, like, GOAT fuel. The opposite of rat poison. You’re just like, giving the GOAT fuel, which for him, that works. He goes and proves them wrong every time.

“So really appreciate you, Paul, saying that right after the game. I’m sure that was on his desk Sunday morning.”

Alabama’s two SEC defeats — to Tennessee and LSU — are uncharacteristic for such a juggernaut of a program, which has struggled four times so far.

While some could argue that the Crimson Tide could have beaten the Volunteers with a shorter late field goal or won in overtime with better clock management, the naysayers will point to a last-second field goal at Texas and a goal-line stand at home against Texas A&M that could have added two more losses to the Tuscaloosa team’s ledger.

“I know people have kind of written us off to some degree,” Saban said. “We’ve had four games that have come down basically to the last play of the game. We won two of them and lost two of them by a total of four points.

“We’re going to play a good team this week, and I’m sure they’re going to want to put up on their mantel, ‘We beat Alabama, too.’ It’s just a matter of whether we’re going to allow that to happen or do everything we can to avoid it.”

Alabama has won six straight in the series after losing to former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze in 2014 and 2015. However, that 2014 triumph was vacated for Freeze using ineligible players.

–Field Level Media

There were a few bumps in the road, but now first-year coach Marcus Freeman has Notre Dame rolling.

The Fighting Irish thoroughly dominated then-No. 4 Clemson last week in a 35-14 home victory. That was enough for them to appear at No. 20 in the College Football Playoff rankings this week after being absent from last week’s debut.

Notre Dame will begin the home stretch of its schedule against Navy on Saturday in Baltimore.

Notre Dame (6-3) took ugly losses to Marshall and Stanford earlier in the season, but it was more impressive and well-rounded in wins over North Carolina, BYU, Syracuse and now Clemson, each of whom has spent some time in the AP or CFP rankings this year.

Notre Dame ran down Clemson’s throats, gaining 263 yards on the ground. Logan Diggs had 114 yards on 17 carries and Audric Estime added 104 yards plus a touchdown on 18 carries. Estime leads the team with 662 rushing yards (5.7 per carry) and nine scores.

Estime and the Irish are preaching focus to avoid a letdown against a lower-caliber opponent.

“We don’t really try to look at an opponent, we just try to focus on our job and doing what we do,” Estime said. “We can’t just play down to a team, we’ve got to play to our standard. And if we play to our standard every week, I feel like we should handle business no matter who the opponent is.”

The Baltimore Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium is the site of this season’s rivalry game with Navy (3-6), which alternates between Notre Dame’s campus in South Bend, Ind., and a variety of mostly neutral sites. The game was set to be played in Dublin, Ireland, for the third time in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic nixed those plans.

But Baltimore is close to the Naval Academy’s base in Annapolis, Md., and the game represents an important tradition for Navy football and one of a number of recruiting-pitch bullet points for coach Ken Niumatalolo.

“Obviously there are a lot of people that want to play Notre Dame,” Niumatalolo said. “We’re grateful for a chance to play such a historic program. We wish we would have a couple more W’s on our side of the ledger. Considering the history, it’s a really special game.”

Navy last won the annual meeting in 2016, 28-27 in Jacksonville, Fla. The Fighting Irish hold a 78-13-1 lead in the all-time series.

The Midshipmen are coming off a 20-10 road loss to Cincinnati, the two-time defending champions of the American Athletic Conference. Navy racked up 176 yards on the ground but allowed two big touchdown passes from Ben Bryant to Tyler Scott.

With Tai Lavatai injured, Xavier Arline started at quarterback for Navy and split time with Maasai Maynor. Arline gained 87 yards on 12 carries and Maynor picked up 81 yards on three completions. Arline figures to start again vs. Notre Dame.

“I thought Xavier played a really good game. I’m proud of him,” Niumatalolo said. “Thought he performed well in a hostile environment, did a lot of good things and super encouraged with his play as we make this stretch run.”

–Field Level Media

Lance Leipold pushed Kansas into the postseason for the first time since 2008. Now the only thing anyone remotely interested in Jayhawks’ happenings wants to discuss is whether the second-year head coach will be around for bowl season.

Leipold and the Jayhawks (6-3, 3-3 Big 12) visit Texas Tech (4-5, 2-4) on Saturday, further distancing Kansas from his 2-10 debut season in 2021.

“I’m really proud of them, happy,” Leipold said as the Jayhawks move past a dominant win over Oklahoma State last week. “If you look, some guys have been around a long time. They’ve kind of gone through adversity and stayed with this program. Holistically (it’s great) for the school. I told them (his locker room) we are pretty demanding in things. There’s a reason we are, for moments like this.”

Leipold has been consistently linked to the opening at Wisconsin, his home state, but the 58-year-old continues to shift the conversation to here, now and KU. Coming out of the bye week, Kansas smothered Oklahoma State, bumped the Cowboys from the College Football Playoff rankings and steered the Jayhawks back into the Big 12 Championship conversation.

No. 4 TCU would have one of those spots if the season ended this weekend. But Texas, which plays TCU, Kansas State and Baylor are all 4-2 in conference play. The Wildcats play the Bears at Waco on Saturday.

Leipold won only once in Big 12 play last season. Getting the Jayhawks into the national conversation at this stage of the season was a program goal.

“I would say we’re proud but not satisfied,” he said. “It’s something that we cannot be content about and be satisfied and still want to make sure we grow and continue to to be the program we want to be here these last three weeks.”

Kansas running back Devin Neal had 228 rushing yards and 110 receiving yards (six receptions) to carry the Jayhawks over Oklahoma State.

“It was special,” Neal said of last week’s effort. “But we’re not done yet.”

Texas Tech is 4-1 at home this season and 21-2 all-time against Kansas, including a 41-14 victory last season.

But the Red Raiders lost their second game in a row last week, 34-24 to TCU, and have allowed 79 points during the losing streak. Tops on the list for coach Joey McGuire this week is identifying his best option at quarterback with Behren Morton expected to be out. The redshirt freshman injured his ankle last week.

“I wish I could tell you that I feel 100 percent that I’m going with Tyler (Shough) or 100 percent I’m going with Donovan (Smith),” McGuire said. “And it’s a deal that we really, we know how important this game is.”

Smith did not attempt a pass last week and Shough was 9-for-22 for 84 yards with an interception and garbage-time touchdown.

Texas Tech led TCU 17-13 late in the third quarter last week before penalties and ill-timed poor decisions by both quarterbacks set the Red Raiders into a tailspin to close the game.

“We have to get this one on Saturday,” McGuire said. “There’s no magic dust … you just have to come to work.”

–Field Level Media

Cadillac Williams, a former Auburn standout running back, will serve as interim head coach for the first time at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night when the Tigers host Texas A&M in a game of two struggling traditional powers.

Both teams are 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the SEC and on five-game losing streaks.

Williams, who took over for Bryan Harsin after he was fired last week, has worked as an assistant at his alma mater since the 2019 season.

Auburn is coming off a 39-33 loss in overtime at Mississippi State in Williams’ debut as the interim head coach. The Tigers erased a 21-point deficit in the first half to get back into the game.

“I’m going to hold it together,” Williams said when asked about walking into Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday. “You can’t make this up. Honestly, I don’t know how I’m going to feel.

“I do know I have a job to do, to get this team ready to play and get these guys prepared and lead these guys.”

Auburn also lost five straight games to end the 2021 season, putting Harsin on the hot seat from the start of this season.

Texas A&M, projected by media to finish second in the SEC West, has lost five straight games for the first time since 1980.

“There is (a lot left to the season). Our kids see it,” Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said. “We’ll play hard. We’ll practice hard. We’ve been doing that.

“Like I say, play these last three games … Auburn is a tough place to play, (and then) come back for UMass and LSU — two home games for these seniors. Play our tails off. The character of these guys, they’ll play, I know that. We’ve just got to do a better job for them.”

The offenses for Auburn and Texas A&M rank in the lower half of the SEC.

Auburn is relying on freshman Robby Ashford to lead its offense. He has completed 98 of 195 passes for 1,374 yards and five touchdowns, with five interceptions.

Texas A&M has used three quarterbacks this season — Haynes King, Max Johnson and Conner Weigman.

King — 104 of 187 for 1,220 yards and seven TDs with six interceptions — is getting most of the snaps.

–Field Level Media