The going-through-the-motions portion of the schedule is over for college football's Power Four programs. Week 5 brings tougher conference matchups across the top 25, and a few contenders are about to learn whether early-season success travels. This is where the potential for upset gets interesting every weekend.
Teams with superior rosters can survive a sluggish quarter against overmatched opponents, but the margin for error diminishes away from home, and there are a couple of unbeaten top-10 SEC teams going on the road as narrow favorites Saturday in a prime spot for a letdown. With the College Football Playoff picture still taking shape, getting out of Week 5 with a win is the assignment. We put Michigan and Louisville on upset alert at home last week, and both were beaten as Iowa and Wake Forest made their respective climbs in the national conversation.
Here are the teams facing the most uncomfortable matchups this weekend as schedules begin to bite. One team that narrowly missed this group this week is Ohio State, which is a 13.5-point favorite at Iowa. The Hawkeyes are unbeaten after beating Michigan, while the Buckeyes already have a loss after the Week 2 setback at Texas.
Everything has been building this season at Northwestern toward this game as the Wildcats open the new Ryan Field on Friday night. This should've been a nationally ranked Penn State team coming to Evanston, Illinois, but the Nittany Lions failed to hold a second-half lead against Wisconsin last week. Northwestern was competitive during a 29-23 loss to Indiana and is playing with extreme confidence thanks to offensive schematic revisions made this fall by Chip Kelly and quarterback Aidan Chiles.
Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht is coming off his worst performance in four seasons as a starting Power Four quarterback after going 12 of 29 for 114 yards and an interception without a touchdown pass against the Badgers. "He is a competitor, he's tough, he processes really well. He throws a really good ball, and ultimately he is a winner," Northwestern coach David Braun said of Becht this week.
"I'm excited to continue to go through our process and identify a limitation or a weakness, but it's really hard to find one right now. I think it's the ultimate compliment -- the guy is a winner." Opponent: at No. 16 Mississippi State (+5.5) The best quarterback duel of the weekend, it would be no shock if Keelon Russell and Kamario Taylor combine for eight touchdowns in this one. Alabama's defense is giving up yards in chunks this season despite coming in unbeaten, while the Bulldogs are fresh off their first top-25 win in three years under Jeff Lebby.
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