College Football

Oregon-Utah highlights Week 9 slate with challenges awaiting some Top 25 teams

Published Oct. 25, 2023 12:25 p.m. ET

The Week 9 schedule in college football is sneaky good.

Even though there are only two Top 25 matchups, five ranked teams will go on the road for what should be challenging games.

No. 8 Oregon visits No. 13 Utah and No. 20 Duke is at No. 18 Louisville for what probably will be knockout games in the Pac-12 and ACC races, respectively.

No. 1 Georgia is a double-digit favorite against Florida for their annual neutral-site game at Jacksonville. But the Bulldogs haven't been as dominant and they are without star tight end Brock Bowers, and the Gators are just outside the Top 25 and much improved in Billy Napier's second year.

No. 3 Ohio State, coming off an emotional win over Penn State, heads to Big Ten West-leading Wisconsin. The Buckeyes have won nine straight against the Badgers, though they needed overtime to win the past two times they were in Madison.

No. 4 Florida State visits Wake Forest, which has three straight wins in the series. No. 11 Oregon State is at surprising Arizona, which has gone to overtime in two of its three losses and dominated a ranked Washington State two weeks ago. No. 21 Tennessee, which squandered a 20-7 halftime lead at Alabama last week, plays at Kentucky.

BEST GAME

No. 8 Oregon (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) at No. 13 Utah (6-1, 3-1), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX and the FOX Sports app).

Utah has won two straight since its loss to Oregon State and the Ducks followed their loss to Washington with a win over Washington State.

RJ Young previews Week 9

A year ago, Bo Nix gave a gutty performance on an injured leg and Oregon intercepted Cameron Rising three times while handing the Utes their first conference loss.

Utah's offense is building confidence coming off its two best games of the season, against Cal and USC, but yards and points will be harder to come by against the Ducks.

Oregon got good news on the injury front. Coach Dan Lanning said he expects top running back Bucky Irving and top cornerback Khyree Jackson to play.

HEISMAN WATCH

Florida State QB Jordan Travis goes against Wake Forest after playing one of his best games in leading the Seminoles' come-from-behind win over Duke last week.

Travis ran and threw for touchdowns in the fourth quarter in the 38-20 win, and he passed 2000 Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke as FSU's all-time leader in total offense.

Travis has accounted for multiple touchdowns in 14 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the country and tied with 2013 Heisman winner Jameis Winston for the Florida State record.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

1 — Oregon's turnovers, fewest in the nation.

5 — Eastern Michigan's home win streak, its longest since a 10-game streak from 1986-88.

16 — Liberty's nation-leading number of interceptions through eight games, two more than it had in 13 games last season.

18 — Consecutive wins by Oklahoma against Kansas, the Sooners' longest active streak against any opponent.

37.8 — Completion percentage by Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill, the lowest since at least 2000 by an FBS quarterback with as many attempts (98), according to Sportradar.

RJ Young recaps last week's thriller

UNDER THE RADAR

UNLV (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West) at Fresno State (6-1, 2-1), Saturday, 10:40 p.m. ET (FS1 and the FOX Sports app)

The Rebels are one of the feel-good stories in college football. They're 6-1 for the first time since 1984, when Randall Cunningham was the quarterback and Ickey Woods the running back. Barry Odom is off to the best start by a UNLV first-year coach since Ron Meyer in 1973.

Picked ninth in the 12-team MWC in the preseason, UNLV is a half-game behind first-place Air Force after a walk-off win over Colorado State. The Bulldogs are in a three-way tie for third. Fresno State has won five straight over the Rebels.

HOT SEAT

Syracuse coach Dino Babers started 4-0 against light competition but is 0-3 in ACC play following losses to Clemson, North Carolina and Florida State. Granted, there's no shame in losing to those three. The problem is that the Orange weren't competitive in any of those games, getting outscored a combined 112-24.

This is Babers' eighth year — he's 40-52 — and it feels like he needs a strong finish to be back for a ninth. Only two of Syracuse's five remaining opponents have winning records.

Reporting by The Associated Press.