Week Six College Football Open Thread

Week 6 of the college football season is upon us. And things are starting to pick up. This week's slate of ‘Hold me over until Sunday' games feature three matchups of top 25 teams.

No. 1 Alabama vs. Georgia State, 9:21 a.m. | SEC Network
No. 2 Oregon at Colorado, 3 p.m. | Pac-12 Network
No. 3 Clemson at Syracuse, 12:30 p.m. | ABC/ESPN2
No. 4 Ohio State at No. 16 Northwestern, 5 p.m. | ABC
No. 5 Stanford vs. No.15 Washington, 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
No. 6 Georgia at Tennessee, 12:30 p.m. | CBS
No. 7 Louisville at Temple, 9 a.m. | ESPN3
No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 25 Maryland, 9 a.m. | ESPN
No. 10 LSU at Mississippi State, 4 p.m. | ESPN
No. 11 Oklahoma vs. TCU, 4 p.m. | Fox
No. 13 South Carolina vs. Kentucky, 4:30 p.m. | FSN
No. 14 Miami vs. Georgia Tech, 12:30 p.m. | ESPNU
No. 17 Baylor vs. West Virginia, 5 p.m. | Fox Sports 1
No. 18 Florida vs. Arkansas, 4 p.m. | ESPN2
No. 19 Michigan vs. Minnesota, 12:30 p.m. | ABC/ESPN2
No. 20 Texas Tech at Kansas, 9 a.m. | Fox Sports 1
No. 21 Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State, 12:30 p.m. | ABC/ESPN Game Plan
No. 22 Arizona State vs. Notre Dame at Arlington, Texas, 4:30 p.m. | NBC
No. 23 Fresno State at Idaho, 2 p.m.
No. 24 Mississippi at Auburn, 4 p.m. | ESPNU

No. 4 Ohio State at No. 16 Northwestern:

• It's good to see Northwestern relevant again for the first time since the mid-90's. They take on a talented Ohio State team in a game that could be closer than some may think.
• Northwestern doesn't have a lot of NFL talent but they do get All-American return man and running back Venric Mark back after he missed the last three games. Mark rushed for over 1300 yards last season while scoring 12 touchdowns. He doesn't have the size (5-7, 175lbs) to be an every down back in the NFL but with spread offenses and pass catching running backs making a killing out there, someone will take a chance on him in the later rounds.

No. 5 Stanford vs. No. 15 Washington:

• I saw an interesting stat on Twitter courtesy of College GameDay (@collegegameday): Washington went 20-2 against Stanford from 1977 to 2003. Since then they're just 2-6.
• The Huskies feature what may be the nation's top tight end in Austin Seferian-Jenkins. At 6-6, 276lbs, Seferian-Jenkins has the size and athleticism that could see him be the first tight end selected in the 2014 NFL Draft. He has some off the field issues having served a one game suspension for a DUI arrest in March. Still, the two sport star (basketball is the other, of course) figures to be a top draft boards in the off-season.

No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 25 Maryland

• The ‘Noles survived a scare last week against Boston College and Maryland is ranked for the first time since 2010. This will be the first time in the last 12 years that both teams are meeting while ranked in the top 25.
• Florida State has pros lined up at just about every position on the field particularly on defense. Last year the 49ers grabbed two Noles in Tank Carradine and Nick Moody. This season, top prospects will include defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan and cornerback Lamarcus Joyner. Jernigan projects as more of a 3-tech DT but has been playing a lot of 5-tech in FSU's reinvented defense. Joyner is an undersized corner at only 5-9 but you'll be hard pressed to find a better tackler at that position. Jernigan is a likely first round pick while Joyner should be available in the middle rounds.

Happy Saturday!