Week 5 rooting guides

BC led Virginia Tech 14-6 into the fourth quarter and lost 21-14. Now it's 2-2, needs to go 4-4, and opens the road slate at No. 21 SMU.

Clemson ran for 255 yards on Cal, and now the Bears face a UNLV back who just posted 167 yards and three touchdowns. Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. PT on CBSSN.

Miami's front is a different animal, and Saturday at 7:30 on ABC will say so.

Duke buried William & Mary 62-7 and closed its opening month unbeaten. During the bye, two ACC games on Saturday move the Blue Devils' title-game math.

FSU's front seven hit a season high in tackles for loss and still forced nothing. Virginia brings a 556-yard offense to Doak Campbell on Saturday.

The Jackets are idle in Week 5, and the bye lands on a team that finally produced the offense it had been promising and lost anyway.

A blocked 57-yard field goal ended Louisville's home loss to Wake Forest. Now the Cardinals make their first true road trip, still favored, still penalty-prone.

Jack Foley ran past JJ Dunnigan for a 49-yard catch at Wake Forest, one of four catches on five targets he allowed for 90 yards. Miami's corners get a night test at Clemson.

The Wolfpack survived a 21-point lead shrinking to a 31-31 tie against App State. Louisville's big-play offense arrives Saturday with NC State already 0-1 in the ACC.

Notre Dame brings the FBS leader in total defense to Kenan Stadium, and UNC's last game ended with a fourth-and-1 pass instead of a handoff.

Pitt shut out Bucknell 59-0 to close non-conference play 4-0. At Virginia Tech, a line missing two starters is the first real test of Cory Sanders' linebackers.

Boston College should be a formality, but nine giveaways in four games say otherwise.

Davis Warren threw for 396 yards to beat Georgia Tech at home. Now Stanford carries a 12-game road losing streak into Winston-Salem as a heavy underdog.

Fran Brown benched Steve Angeli for Amari Odom at Pittsburgh and still hasn't named a starter. Noon Saturday at UConn on CBSSN is where that choice finally shows up.

Beau Pribula went 24-of-28 against Delaware while his line gave up five more sacks, with All-ACC left guard Noah Josey back in the lineup and nothing fixed.

Pitt's interior defensive line is the reason Friday tells us whether that holds.

Nick Keller's 57-yard try was blocked with 15 seconds left in Louisville, Devin Cook fell on the ball, and Wake Forest walked out of an ACC road stadium with a 30-27 win over a ranked team.

Army beat Temple 21-17 behind Cale Hellums and a last-minute stop, but one sack and an unsettled defensive end spot make Louisiana Tech the week's real question.

Three carries for Henry Rutledge, none for Khamani Alexander, and a coach who says he doesn't know why. What Charlotte fans should watch in the conference opener.

Williams threw for 341 yards and three scores in ECU's 42-9 rout of North Carolina Central, and also gave the ball away three times. The bye week's real business starts there.

FAU is a 96% favorite over Texas Southern, with a chance to show the run-heavy win at UL Monroe was a real change.

Memphis opens American play at Charlotte as a big road favorite, against a team it has beaten twice, both times in the final minute or in overtime.

Navy outgained UAB and lost anyway. At Air Force on Saturday, ball security and Braxton Woodson's targeted return decide how the Commander-in-Chief's bid starts.

Jaheim White's four touchdowns and Tayven Jackson's 16-of-18 night buried Houston Christian 63-14. Now the offense travels to a Tulsa team the market likes.

Rice is 1-3 and missing three captains, but the UTSA series is tied 3-3 at Rice Stadium and Jacurri Brown is running like the offense's engine.

Van Buren's 52-yard, six-sack, two-fumble night is the real story of USF's 14-6 win at Bowling Green, and Temple visits Raymond James on Saturday.

Ajani Sheppard threw for 242 yards and two scores in a 21-17 loss to Army. Temple's line is down to spare parts.

Will Hall pulled Kadin Semonza against Southern Miss, Maurice Turner ran for 200, and Tulane gets two weeks to decide who starts at Army.

Hayes has missed two straight games with a knee sprain, and the Golden Hurricane draw a North Texas team they have not beaten since 2011 on Thursday night, five days after a 34-6 loss at Arkansas.

Marlin Dean's strip-sack beat Navy, but Navy still ran for 249 yards. Samford's dual-threat quarterback is the last low-risk look at that problem before Memphis.

UTSA beat Colorado State 59-45 while allowing 500 yards, and a banged-up Rice team missing captains is the cleanest test yet of which defense is real.

Gio Richardson is out with an injury, so Noah Fifita takes the rematch with a passing game that spread four touchdowns across three receivers at Washington State.

Dillingham spent the bye defending Cutter Boley's ball security and confirming Wade Helton and Khamari Anderson are out or doubtful. Baylor just sacked Colorado five times.

Five sacks and 13 tackles for loss against Colorado put Baylor's front in a good light. Arizona State's inexperienced, banged-up offensive line is next in front of it.

Raider Damuni won't be back until mid-to-late October, Faletau Satuala's snaps are still managed, and BYU's No. 2 rushing attack has to cover at TCU.

Cincinnati is 4-0 and unranked heading back to Tucson, where Arizona won 30-24 last November and is now favored by more than a touchdown.

Julian Lewis was benched at halftime in Waco and Isaac Wilson tied the game. Now Colorado's Homecoming opener against No. 12 Texas Tech decides who runs the offense.

Houston is 3-1 and ranked No. 20, but it has managed one sack in each of the last two games, and UCF visits after Keyone Jenkins completed 19 of 20 throws against TCU.

Utah's 31-17 win exposed Iowa State's open-field tackling. Jimmy Rogers blamed his linebackers, who now have to bring down the Big 12's most productive returning runner at Jack Trice on Homecoming.

Kansas hosts Middle Tennessee as a heavy favorite, but the Jayhawks' own giveaways, thin backfield and unsettled quarterback play are what actually decide how Saturday feels.

Cincinnati ran for 271 yards on a defense ranked second nationally, Collin Klein owned it, and the open date is when K-State either fixes it or doesn't.

Drew Mestemaker threw for 274 second-half yards in a 41-24 win at West Virginia. On an idle Week 5, that comeback is the only thing Cowboy fans need to think about.

Craig's two-interception, four-sack night at UCF sent TCU to 2-2. Now a BYU team that won 44-13 last November comes to Fort Worth in a coin-flip home game.

Hammond's three interceptions and 40.2 rating survived Sam Houston because Austin Romaine scored twice. Folsom Field on Homecoming night is a harder place to be careless.

The Knights upset TCU 21-13 behind Keyone Jenkins' program-record day, but the trip to No. 20 Houston is the first real test of a 10-game road losing streak.

Utah won 31-17 at Iowa State to reach 4-0, but eight penalties for 69 yards extended a complaint Morgan Scalley has made four weeks running. Plus four Week 5 games worth watching.

Cam Cook ran for 193 yards and the Mountaineers still lost at home. Rodriguez said his plan failed and his defense never got pressure, and Iowa State's quarterback is next.

Illinois' run game kept working at Ohio State behind an emergency right guard, and Purdue's defense has stopped nobody, so the Homecoming question is whether this looks as easy as it should.

Cignetti said his defense couldn't tackle Northwestern's quarterback. Now Indiana goes to Rutgers as a 23.5-point favorite, possibly without its leading tackler.

Iowa's line lost seven of its top eight 2025 players and is not generating pressure. Now Ohio State brings the Sayin to Smith connection to Kinnick.

After a 54-3 home loss to UCLA and 'fire Locksley' chants, the Terps go to Lincoln as heavy underdogs. What's actually worth watching Saturday on FS1.

A 99-yard kickoff return, 2-for-4 in the red zone and a late personal foul cost Michigan at home. Now the Wolverines take all of it on the road to Minneapolis.

The Spartans lost 31-13 to Nebraska on penalties and turnovers as much as talent. At Wisconsin, a shorthanded roster gets the same problem in a louder building.

Minnesota won 27-24 at Washington behind seven sacks. Now a 3-1 Michigan team its own coach called undisciplined visits Huntington Bank Stadium.

A special-teamer scored both touchdowns at Michigan State, Jamal Rule left hurt, and Nebraska hosts Maryland as a two-touchdown favorite with the running back order unsettled.

So the Wildcats are 2-1 and 0-1 in the Big Ten, having pushed a team that extended the FBS's longest active winning streak to 20 games.

Jeremiah Smith's four touchdowns carried Ohio State past Illinois 42-19 while the defense gave up 462 yards. Now comes a sold-out Kinnick and No. 14 Iowa.

Oregon beat USC 41-27 in its Big Ten opener, then entered an open week with no return timeline for Dante Moore. Here is the Big Ten slate worth watching.

Matt Campbell's team led Wisconsin and lost anyway, and the yardage gap is the tell. The question at Northwestern is whether this offense can operate for four quarters.

Purdue lost 49-10 to Notre Dame and travels to Illinois as an 11.4% underdog, with Browne returning to the stadium where a sack ended the 2024 classic.

Rutgers beat Howard 58-7 without a turnover for the first time all season. Indiana visits SHI Stadium on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET on BTN with Rutgers a 23.5-point underdog.

Four takeaways and 181 yards allowed buried Maryland 54-3. The bye gives UCLA two weeks before Oregon, Michigan and USC ask the harder question.

A targeting ejection leaves the Trojans waiting on a Big Ten ruling for their leading tackler, days after Oregon out-gained USC 504-446 in a 41-27 win.

Both of Williams' interceptions came while he was trying to avoid sacks, a narrow fix Washington needs made before Saturday night at No. 18 USC.

Colton Joseph threw three interceptions and won the game at Penn State. Against Michigan State, a 10-point spread could hide which version of him showed up.

Nick Minicucci left Virginia on crutches, his backup went 2-for-16, and Liberty visits Newark on Friday night with Delaware's Conference USA opener on the line.

FIU beat LIU 20-3 to close nonconference play at 2-2, but Kohl left at halftime with a knee sprain and Zach Marker finished the game. What the bye week should sort out.

The Gamecocks opened Conference USA play with a 23-13 win over Middle Tennessee, and the open week leads straight to an October 7 trip to Kennesaw State.

The Owls lost 17-14 at Arkansas State, but Hopson and the defense posted the team's second-most tackles for loss this season before an open week leads into the Jacksonville State rematch.

Liberty closed non-conference play 3-1 with a 34-17 win at Coastal Carolina. Now the Flames open CUSA at Delaware, a year after a 59-30 rout in Lynchburg.

Gagliano keeps protecting the ball while the run game stalls. What that combination is worth at Kansas, 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPNU.

Casey Woods blamed SMU's edge talent for seven sacks. Whether that explanation holds up in Conference USA is the question of the next two weeks.

Tony Sanchez pulled Trey Hedden in the third quarter of a 42-18 rivalry loss. Adam Damante moved the ball. Western Kentucky arrives Thursday with the job unresolved.

Locke answered two pick-sixes at Texas Tech and the defense forced four turnovers, but a 28-0 second half left the Bearkats idle in Week 5 with real questions.

Rodney Tisdale Jr. was nearly perfect against Mercyhurst, but Tyson Helton praised Brock Glenn's relief work too. Conference USA play opens Thursday at New Mexico State.

Brayden Roggow's first start ended in two second-half interceptions, and with Akron 1-3 and chasing six wins for a bowl, the MAC opener is at Central Michigan.

Ball State finally cleaned up its penalties in a 26-13 loss at Kent State. Toledo, winner of the last four in the series, is a much less forgiving opponent for a backup quarterback.

Bradley's 4.5 sacks led six team sacks and a scoreless first half that held USF to 83 total yards, right before a MAC opener at a suddenly shorthanded Miami.

The Bulls escaped FCS Robert Morris 31-28 after three turnovers. Now the defending MAC champion and its run-first offense visit Buffalo for the conference opener.

Akron visits Kelly/Shorts on Saturday, and the things to watch are whether the ground game returns and who is standing behind center when it does.

Kim threw for 257 yards with no interceptions against Lindenwood. Now Eastern goes on the road to a 4-0 UMass defense that sacks and takes the ball away.

DeShields accounted for all three Kent State touchdowns against Ball State. Now he gets an Ohio defense ranked 132nd nationally on third down, at Homecoming on Zoeller Field.

Pop Watson's cleanest game yet carried UMass past Sacramento State. Now the 4-0 Minutemen host a team that has beaten them four straight times.

David McComb threw for 312 yards against UConn and then limped off. What Miami fans should watch against Bowling Green, plus two MAC results worth tracking.

A Week 4 report had Nick Poulos aiming to return at Kent State, but Matt Vezza's start against Stonehill was his most efficient yet as Ohio opens MAC play Saturday.

The Hornets held the ball longer and converted more third downs than UMass and still lost 35-6. An idle Week 5 is for fixing the self-inflicted part before Bowling Green.

The Rockets are 3-1 and heavy favorites in their MAC opener at Ball State, and the front seven still has a healthy backfield to stop.

Boise State led 32-0 at Waldo Stadium before the Broncos scored. Now Western Michigan opens a road-heavy MAC stretch at Buffalo, where a win is worth a lot in the title-game math.

Air Force escaped Nevada 36-33 in double overtime after letting a 10-point lead go. Navy visits Saturday at 10 a.m. MT on CBS, and three Mountain West games move the math.

Luke Weaver, the backup who won last year's Hawai'i Bowl for Hawai'i, returns to Honolulu as San José State's quarterback with the Dick Tomey Trophy at stake.

On an idle week, one Mountain West result actually moves Nevada's math.

Jason Eck named Toa Fa'avae the starter and cut the playbook to fit him. The Mountain West opener against UTEP tests that plan with Troy Omeire's ankle unresolved.

NDSU is 3-0 on the strength of first-quarter blitzes and takeaways. Wyoming's first trip to the Fargodome, on Homecoming, is the first opponent built to punish a 97-yard second half.

Now an idle Week 5 stands between 0-4 and the first Mountain West game in program history.

San José State opens Mountain West play at the stadium where Luke Weaver won a bowl game for Hawai'i, three weeks after his worst game as a Spartan.

Jackson Arnold's 290-yard, three-touchdown day at Akron gave UNLV its best offensive performance of 2026. Cal comes to Allegiant Stadium to see whether it travels.

A week earlier at Michigan, UTEP had a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.

Now Wyoming visits unbeaten North Dakota State on Homecoming as a 13% underdog.

The Broncos allowed one 20-plus-yard completion at Western Michigan. Now a Utah State quarterback coming off a career-high 242 yards visits for the Pac-12 opener.

Jim Mora called CSU's run defense 'completely unacceptable' after a 59-45 loss at UTSA. Now Oregon State arrives at Canvas Stadium with a back who just broke 100.

Rice ran for 344 yards on Fresno State and still lost 38-24. Now the Bulldogs' takeaway machine goes to Washington State in a coin-flip conference opener.

The Beavers routed UTEP 33-7 to snap a 10-game road skid. Now they open Pac-12 play at Colorado State, where a 129th-ranked defense meets the nation's third-best passing offense.

Sutton and Kinnard were both knocked out at Toledo, and the Aztecs host a top-10 rushing offense in their first Pac-12 game Saturday night.

The Bobcats held Incarnate Word to 10 points and 75 rushing yards in a 63-10 rout. San Diego State, in the first Pac-12 game in program history, is where that starts to count.

Grady Brosterhous threw for 242 yards in Utah State's 21-10 win over Troy and locked down the job. Week 5 sends him to Boise, where the Aggies have lost 10 straight.

Washington State's run game stalled against Arizona and Caden Pinnick gave the ball away twice, and now the Cougars host a Fresno State team that protects it far better.

Two Alabama starting linemen left the South Carolina rout hurt, and the trip to Starkville is a noon kickoff against a ranked, unbeaten Bulldogs team.

Arkansas held Tulsa to 65 rushing yards a week after Georgia ran for 254. Texas A&M's ground game gained 219 on the Razorbacks a year ago. Saturday settles which front is real.

Auburn cut sacks from seven to one against Vanderbilt and snapped a 671-day SEC home drought. Now Alex Golesh goes back to Knoxville as a 27% underdog.

Florida's 52-28 rout of No. 4 Ole Miss was the best week of the Sumrall era, and the defense that produced it still isn't settled.

Georgia beat Oklahoma 41-13 but scored 13 second-half points. Vanderbilt and Jared Curtis visit Athens before road trips to Alabama and Ole Miss.

Kentucky ran for 390 yards against South Alabama and still muffed a punt, stalled twice on downs and lost a player to targeting. Stein tied all of it to Saturday.

McNeese has no realistic path to beating LSU on Saturday night. Whit Weeks' foot and Sam Leavitt's lower body are what actually decide how the Kentucky trip goes.

Mississippi State is 4-0, 2-0 in the SEC, and it just recorded its first win over a ranked opponent while ranked itself since October 2014, when Dak Prescott's team beat Auburn.

Missouri led Mississippi State after three quarters and lost 31-24. Now 4-0 Florida visits Faurot Field, where the Gators have not won since 2019.

John Mateer gave the ball away three times in one quarter at Georgia, and Oklahoma's open date is the only work week before Texas on Oct. 10.

Florida ran for 302 yards and six touchdowns in a 52-28 rout. The bye gives Ole Miss time to fix it, plus four SEC games worth watching Saturday.

Dylan Stewart is suspended indefinitely, Kentucky arrives at No. 24, and South Carolina is a 73 percent home favorite in the game everyone outside Columbia is calling a hinge point for Shane Beamer.

Brandon threw for 145 yards and took 10 sacks in the 20-17 loss to Texas. Auburn at Neyland is where Tennessee's offense either steadies itself or doesn't.

Colin Simmons' five sacks and Jelani McDonald's last-play breakup carried a 20-17 win in Knoxville. Now the bye, an 11-penalty problem, and four games worth watching.

Arkansas at Kyle Field is the softest spot left on the schedule.

Vanderbilt's freshman quarterback was clean but touchdown-free at Auburn. Now he faces the Georgia program he committed to twice, with an 11% shot.

The bye week's real work is everything around him.

Now the Red Wolves open Sun Belt West play at Louisiana, 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+.

The Chanticleers are 1-3 after a 34-17 home loss to Liberty. The Sun Belt opener against Georgia Southern turns on whether they can hold a lead for four quarters.

Johnson finished 26-of-38 for 284 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Taylor, who caught six passes for 119 yards.

The Panthers are 3-1 and host Old Dominion in the Sun Belt opener, but Dell McGee said special teams carried the Northern Illinois win. Week 5 is the first conference read.

JMU routed Old Dominion 46-20 behind nine sacks, but Marshall has won both games it has played in Harrisonburg, including the 2024 double-overtime rally.

Brent Gordon Jr. wrecked Charlotte and Louisiana allowed 137 yards. Arkansas State's Trey Owens brings a cleaner offense to the Sun Belt opener.

Blake Baker is questionable, Trey Kukuk's one full start ran well and threw poorly, and Army has never lost to Louisiana Tech. Week 5 in Ruston, plus two Sun Belt results worth watching.

Marshall beat Gardner-Webb 36-35 and Tony Gibson called his defense an embarrassment. The Sun Belt opener at James Madison arrives Saturday on ESPNU.

ODU gave up nine sacks and finished with negative rushing yards against James Madison. Week 5 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

Now Todd Orlando's defense opens Sun Belt play at home against an 0-4 UL Monroe team.

Lyddy threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns at Tulane with Ethan Hampton out 4-6 weeks. Southern Miss is idle in Week 5, and that clean game is now the standard.

Troy's ground game rebounded to 169 yards in a 21-10 loss at Utah State, but three Goose Crowder interceptions and a 31 percent third-down rate left the new offense unresolved before the bye.

UL Monroe opens Sun Belt play at South Alabama on Saturday with the quarterback job unsettled after a 45-17 home loss to Florida Atlantic.

Jonaz Walton's 44-yard run at Purdue was the Irish backfield's best moment all year. Why the trip to Chapel Hill still leaves the question open, and what else to watch Saturday.

UConn led 14-0 at Miami (Ohio) and lost 24-21. Now the Huskies host Syracuse at noon on CBSSN as an 81 percent favorite, with the fourth quarter the open question.