Saban looks to give Fisher another lesson
No. 1 Alabama to take on 22nd-ranked Texas A&M today
For the second straight year, Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher will meet in a mentor-mentee matchup.
All signs point toward Saban teaching him another lesson when top-ranked Alabama hosts 22nd-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday in one of two games between Top 25 teams. The other has No. 7 Stanford at No. 20 Oregon.
Fisher was Saban’s offensive coordinator at LSU from 2000-06, and they met in the highly anticipated kickoff to the 2017 season in Atlanta. The Crimson Tide was in total control while winning 24-7 against Fisher’s third-ranked Florida State Seminoles.
Fisher moved on to A&M, where his charge is to challenge Saban and Alabama’s supremacy in the SEC West. No small task. The Crimson Tide has outscored its first three opponents 170-28 and is a 27-point favorite to beat the Aggies for a sixth straight time.
Here’s what’s to know about college football’s Week 4: BEST GAME: Stanford at Oregon
Washington came into the season all the rage in the Pac-12, but the winner of this game has gone on to win the North five times since 2011.
Oregon QB Justin Herbert has put up great numbers, and the defense has held the last two opponents under 100 yards rushing. The nonconference schedule was cushy, though, so this game will be a truer indicator of what first-year coach Mario Cristobal has in Eugene.
Stanford’s Bryce Love , the 2017 Heisman Trophy runner-up, returns after sitting out last week’s game against UC-Davis with an undisclosed injury. The Cardinal defense has allowed a total of 23 points in three games. HEISMAN WATCH: Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama Tagovailoa is a model of efficiency. In the first three
games, 14 of the 20 drives he’s quarterbacked have resulted in touchdowns and a 15th in a field goal. Alabama was 15-for-19 on third downs on those possessions. Going back to the national title game against Clemson, Tagovailoa’s 29 series have ended with 17 touchdowns and three field goals.
The sophomore lefthander made a big move up in the Heisman polls after his performance against Mississippi, and he’s in position to put up monster numbers against a Texas A&M defense struggling against the pass. NUMBERS TO KNOW
10: Florida State’s point total in eight quarters against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents (Virginia Tech, Syracuse).
25: Number of rushing yards Iowa has allowed in its last two games. Next up for the Hawkeyes is Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor, No. 2 in the nation at 171.7 yards per game.
40: Boston College has scored at least that many points in an ACC game five times. Four of those five are in BC’s past six conference games.
593: Consecutive carries without a fumble by Arizona State running backs.
1945: The last time Nebraska started 0-3. The 0-2 Cornhuskers are 18-point dogs at Michigan.
1961: The last time Oklahoma played Army. OU won 14-8 at Yankee Stadium.
OFF THE RADAR: Florida at Tennessee
Seems like a long time ago this was one of the most entertaining rivalries in the nation, let alone the Southeastern Conference. For the first time since 1970, both teams go into this game with first-year head coaches as they look to recapture their mojo.
Florida’s Feleipe Franks got booed at home last week after opening 0-for6 with an interception. He recovered to complete eight of his next nine in a win over Colorado State. Last year, Franks hooked up with Tyrie Cleveland on a 63-yard Hail Mary to beat the Volunteers 26-20 in Gainesville, Fla., but he’s 1-3 as a starter away from home.
Tennessee is holding a 20-year reunion for its 1998 national championship team, QB Jarrett Guarantano is completing 72 percent of his passes and the defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown in its last eight quarters. But the Volunteers have played overmatched competition the last two weeks. Though the Vols are 4½-point underdogs, this is their best chance for their first SEC win since 2016. The four-game gantlet of Georgia, Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina awaits.
STATE D2 GAMES: New Mexico Highlands (2-1) hosts NCAA Division II No. 17 Colorado School of Mines (3-0) today at 1 p.m. (Comcast Channel 26) in Las Vegas. Highlands is 3-15 all time against the Orediggers. NMHU senior running back Dione Alston of Salem, N.J., is third in Division II in rushing yards (440) and yards per carry (9.4). …
Eastern New Mexico (0-3), which fought topranked and defending national champion Texas A&M-Commerce to a 21-11 loss last week, visits Texas A&M-Kingsville today (1-2) at 6 p.m. …
Western New Mexico (0-2), idle last week, plays its Lone Star Conference opener today at noon, hosting West Texas A&M. (1-2, 0-1) in Silver City.
Friday games
No. 10 PENN STATE 63, ILLINOIS 24: In Champagne, Ill., Miles Sanders rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns, and Trace McSorley threw for three scores as Penn State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) beat Illinois (2-2, 0-1).
The Nittany Lions outscored the Illini 35-0 in the fourth quarter. No. 16 CENTRAL FLA.
56, FLA. ATLANTIC 36: In Orlando, Fla., McKenzie Milton ran for a careerbest three touchdowns and threw for three more in helping UCF extend the nation’s longest winning streak with a rout of Florida Atlantic.
Milton completed 21 of 32 passes for 306 yards without an interception as the Knights (3-0) won for the 16th straight time.