Football Fri-yay: Georgia vs. Alabama

Sep 27, 2024

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It’s Week 5 folks!

Conference play is now in full gear and this week should prove to be a dandy. Also, with the season in full swing now, we will start seeing more ranked match-ups and this week provides some quality games on the slate. In fact, this week there are four games that feature two top-25 teams going head-to-head.

No. 17 Louisville vs. No. 14 Notre Dame
No. 20 Oklahoma State vs. No. 25 Kansas State
No. 21 Illinois vs. No. 8 Penn State
No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Alabama

Those aren’t the only great games on this weekend's docket. There are some other great games, storylines, players, and coaches to highlight, so let’s get to it on this Fri-yay!

Want to know who to pick in these games? Check out our friends at Single Leg Parlay and their weekly College Football Preview podcast.

How Good is Colorado?

The B12 seems to be wide open and Colorado may be in on this race for the conference. Coming into their Week 5 match-up against the UCF Knights, the Buffaloes are 3-1, with a loss to Nebraska. While researching on Pro Football Focus, I noticed that up to this week, none of Colorado’s three wins came against a team that ranks in PFF’s Top 50. The only top-50 team they’ve played thus far is Nebraska, which they were beaten by 18 points.

Head coach Deion Sanders has his group looking better the past couple of weeks and this week’s match-up against UCF (49th ranked team in PFF’s power rankings) could give us a little more of a measuring stick on where the Buffaloes stand in the race to win the conference. Their defense will have their hands full with UCF’s running back R.J. Harvey, who is fourth in the FBS in rushing yards per game with 149.3 yards per game.

Colorado quarterback Shadeur Sanders will have to lead this team to victory. He is third in the FBS in completions and ranks in the top 10 in passing touchdowns as well. If he can continue to progress and fight through their lackluster offensive line, this week’s game could be a huge confidence booster for both Sanders and the Buffaloes.

Heisman Watch for Week 5

Coming off a huge bye week, the Alabama Crimson Tide will be hosting the top-ranked team in the county in the Georgia Bulldogs. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe still has to be in the top three regarding the Heisman conversation, but Miami quarterback Cam Ward has separated himself from the pack to start the season.

Back on the field this week, Milroe will have his hands full with a starving Bulldogs defense. Thus far in three games played, Milroe has thrown eight touchdowns for 590 yards, and also adds six rushing touchdowns to the mix. If he has a big week against Georgia, he could become the frontrunner for the Heisman going into Week 6.

Coaching Hot Seat for Week 5

This week, we’ve got a coach from the ACC on the hot seat.

The NC State Wolfpack have been tough to watch thus far this season. The fan base and some journalists that cover the ACC have mentioned that Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren is under fire. They’re 2-2 with two losses to both Tennessee and Clemson, who are both ranked teams. But, it was the way they lost. They were beaten by 41 points by the Vols, and by 24 points to Clemson (gave up 59 points on defense).

Last year, the Wolfpack won nine games and seemed to be trending in the right direction. They may still be doing so this season. But, if Doeren and the Wolfpack lose to Northern Illinois (who beat Notre Dame two weeks ago), that would put NC State at 2-3 to start the season. The coaching hot seat for Doeren is warming up, and the Wolfpack hope to cool it down this week.

Game Most Likely To Have A Final Score Like NCAA Football on Freshman Difficulty

I’ve never played on Freshman difficulty on College Football 25 myself, but we’ve all seen some screenshots posted by people pretending they’re really good and destroying the computer on Heisman difficulty – yeah, right. I wanted to start a fun new storyline to look at each week and try to predict which game will have the biggest win margin. This week, I’ve got the Oregon Ducks destroying the UCLA Bruins.

UCLA played a decent game against LSU, but the week before that the Bruins were destroyed by the Indiana Hoosiers 42-13. I’m not one to get caught up into trap games, but with Ohio State on the schedule next week for Oregon, they’re really going to try and come out against UCLA and make a statement. Two weeks ago, the Ducks defeated Oregon State 49-14, and this game should be around the same score, if not worse. The Bruins haven’t looked great in the beginning of their Deshaun Foster era, meanwhile while Orego was expected to have a slightly down year after losing Bo Nix to the NFL Draft last year, their offense led by quarterback Dillon Gabriel, this offense will score often this week. Be ready for some video game numbers.

Dedrick Hendrix is a Featured Columnist for Four Verts: A College Football 25 Substack. He also writes for Fansided and Just Baseball. You can follow him on X @dchendrix, Twitch @itsdchendrix, and Instagram @officialdchendrix.