College football
Alabama’s defense is playing well these days. That fact has been overshadowed by concerns about the struggling offense.
Logan Smothers led a last-minute touchdown drive with a 2-point conversion and then threw his third touchdown pass in overtime to give Jacksonville State a 35-28 win over Sam Houston.
Cardell Williams threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead Tulsa to a 48-26 win over Temple to open America Athletic Conference play.
Pittsburgh travels to Virginia Tech with both programs off to sluggish starts. The Panthers and the Hokies are both riding three-game losing streaks after winning their season openers.
Washington has dominated to start the 2023 season, putting up massive offensive numbers while already being touted as a potential College Football Playoff team.
No. 22 Florida and unbeaten Kentucky each seek to improve to 2-0 in the SEC and stay in East Division contention in pursuit of top-ranked Georgia .
Rutgers will try to bounce back from its first loss of the season when it plays host to Wagner at SHI Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Utah quarterback Nate Johnson took responsibility for 10th-ranked Utah’s disappointing offensive output against UCLA, promising improvement as he looked ahead to Friday night’s game at Oregon State.
Mississippi and LSU bring high-scoring offenses into a matchup of ranked SEC West rivals. The 20th-ranked Rebels are trying to rebound from a division loss to Alabama.
Maryland has a chance to start 5-0 for the first time since 2001 when the Terrapins host Indiana this weekend.
Nevada and Fresno State are programs going in opposite directions. The 25th-ranked Bulldogs come into their Mountain West opener against the Wolf Pack on a 13-game winning streak that has vaulted them into the AP poll for the first time this season.
Texas Tech is going for its longest winning streak in the Houston series at six games in the first Big 12 meeting of the former Southwest Conference foes.
Minnesota hosts Louisiana for its homecoming game. The Gophers are favored by 11½ points, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Until recently, Florida’s only concern against Kentucky was how it would extend its decades-long winning streak rather than if.
Oregon State looks to bounce back from a 38-35 loss last weekend to Washington State on Friday night against visiting Utah.
Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams leads No. 8 Southern California into sold-out Folsom Field to play a Colorado team led by his Colorado counterpart Shedeur Sanders.
No. 8 Southern California visits Colorado on Saturday in Boulder. The Trojans defeated Arizona State 42-28 last weekend but the Sun Devils closed to within 24-21 in the third quarter and USC had to rally for the victory.
Washington looks to avoid a letdown in the final Pac-12 meeting against Arizona. The Huskies opened last season 4-0, then lost their first road game to UCLA and took another loss to Arizona State to drop out of the College Football Playoff conversation.
Arizona State visits California looking to snap a seven-game losing streak against FBS opponents. The Sun Devils lost 42-28 to Southern California last week.
LSU is set to visit Mississippi in a matchup of ranked SEC West teams with dangerous offenses. The 13th-ranked Tigers are already 2-0 in the league.
Arkansas in a long stretch of SEC games away from home. The Razorbacks play the second of four such games Saturday when they play Texas A&M in their annual neutral-site game at AT&T Stadium.
The UCF Knights felt they left plays on the field against defending champion Kansas State in their Big 12 opener.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz hasn’t spent much time thinking about getting the Tigers back into the Top 25 for the first time since 2019.
No. 12 Alabama hopes to continue its domination of Mississippi State and improve to 2-0 in SEC play with a 16th consecutive series victory.
Georgia Tech, led by quarterback Haynes King, will look for back-to-back wins for the first time this season when it faces Bowling Green.
TCU will try to extend a 10-game winning streak in Big 12 regular-season games in a visit from West Virginia.
Syracuse gets its first real test of the 2023 season with a noon showdown at home against the Clemson Tigers.
No. 6 Penn State looks to improve to 5-0 when it visits Northwestern. The Nittany Lions have won nine straight since a loss to Ohio State on Oct. 29.
No. 23 Missouri finally plays its Southeastern Conference opener making the Tigers the last team in the league to play an SEC opponent.
No. 9 Oregon visits Stanford in search of its first 5-0 start to the season since 2013. The Ducks are fresh off a 42-6 win at home over Colorado last week but want to avoid of a repeat of their last visit to Stanford when they lost in 2021 as the third-ranked team in the country.
No. 24 Kansas plays at No. 3 Texas in a battle of two of the Big 12’s last three unbeaten. And it is another big chance for a program-elevating win for Kansas and coach Lance Leipold.