Thursday
7:30 PM ET ESPN: #7 Nebraska 4-0 (-11) @ Kansas State 4-0 - Coming into the season, everyone knew the Cornhuskers had a good defense; it was their offense that was questionable. Four games into the season and they've answered most of those questions thanks to frosh QB Taylor Martinez. Martinez has led the Cornhuskers to the nation's 4th best rushing attack at 309.3 ypg. Alone he averages 124 ypg (10th nationally) with 8 TDs. Helping him carry the load is senior RB Roy Helu Jr. and sophomore RB Rex Burkhead. They each average near 76 ypg with 7 combined TDs. The passing game (102nd ranked) isn't very dynamic, as Martinez is averaging 133 ypg with 3 TDs and 2 INTs. Junior WR Brandon Kinnie leads the team with 53.8 receiving ypg, but he has yet to score. The defense ranks 52nd against the run (138.8 ypg) and 3rd against the pass (126.3 ypg). Opposing QBs have the lowest QB rating in the nation against them (74.6) with 3 TDs and 10 INTs. They'll have to buckle down against the run because they'll be facing the nation's 4th leading rusher in the Wildcats' senior RB Daniel Thomas. Thomas is averaging 157 ypg with 6 TDs on 26.3 attempts per game, which leads the nation. Senior QB Carson Coffman is averaging 159.8 ypg with 5 TDs and 2 INTs. He's completing 60.5|PERCENT| of his passes and has the 3rd highest QB rating in the Big 12 (147.61). Sophomore WR Brodrick Smith leads the team with 47.8 ypg receiving and 3 TDs. The defense is 102nd against the run (195.5 ygp) and 13th against the pass (153.8 ypg). The pass defense sounds good with their 153.8 ypg allowed, but they've faced the 95th, 98th, and 118th ranked passing offenses in three of their games. In the other game they played, they allowed 281 yards and 2 TDs to Missouri State, not good. Nebraska is 77-15-2 all time in this series.
Friday
7:30 PM ET ESPN: UConn 3-2 (-5.5) @ Rutgers 2-2 - Big East play starts with this budding rivlary in New Jersey. The Huskies offense focuses on running the ball and running it well. Junior RB Jordan Todman is 3rd in the nation in rushing ypg with 159.5 and 7 TDs. His backups, juniors Robbie Frey and D.J. Shoemate, combine for almost 76 ypg and 4 TDs. Junior QB Cody Endres has stepped in for unproductive senior Zach Frazier. Last week against Vandy, Endres was 21/30 for 179 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. The WR corps is led by junior Michael Smith who is averaging 74.6 ypg with 2 TDs. The defense is 77th against the run (161.8 ypg allowed) and 31st against the pass (176.6 ypg). They have 9 INTs (7th most nationally) and allow QBs to complete 55.6|PERCENT| of their passes. The Rutgers QB situation is a fluid one as they have sophomore Tom Savage banged up (ribs & fingers), frosh Chas Dodd ready, but untested, and sophomore Mohamed Sanu as the team's wildcat threat. Dodd was 13/29 for 176 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT against Tulane last week. Sanu is an integral part of the offense as he leads the team in rushing yards (56.3 ypg w/ 3 TDs) and receiving yards (58.5 ypg w/ 2 TDs). The defense is 8th against the run (80 ypg), but 43rd against the pass (186.8 ypg) nationally. Their ability to stop Todman and the UConn run game will largely define this game. Rutgers has won 4 of the last 5 in this series, with a win margin of just 5 ppg.
9:00 PM ET ESPN2: #22 Oklahoma State 4-0 (-24) @ Louisiana Lafayette 2-2 - This one could be ugly. Cowboys junior QB Brandon Weeden is 5th nationally in passing ypg (314.8), 6th in passer completion percentage (71.3|PERCENT|), and 9th in passer rating (169.7) to go with his 13 TDs and 4 INTs. The main beneficiary of the aerial attack is sophomore WR Justin Blackmon, who leads the nation in receiving ypg (139.5) and TDs (9). On the ground, senior RB Kendall Hunter is 5th nationally in rushing ypg (143.5) and 2nd in TDs (8). This all adds up to the 3rd most total ypg (534.8) for the Cowboys, which is great expect for the fact that their defense isn't very good. They are 49th against the run (134.5 ypg) and 110th against the pass (280 ypg). The Ragin' Cajuns (the mascot looks like a pepper) junior QB Chris Masson is averaging 180.3 ypg with 5 TDs and 1 INT. He's completing just 51|PERCENT| of his passes, so there's that working against them. Junior TE Ladarius Green leads the team in receiving ypg (74) and TDs (3). Junior RB Kevis Streeter averages 38.3 ypg with 1 TD. The run defense is 67th against the run (151.5 ypg), while the pass defense is 103rd (257.3 ypg) nationally. This match-up of the Cowboys pass attack against the Cajuns secondary will likely result in lots and lots of scoring opportunities for OK State. Louisiana Lafayette is 0-6 all time against OK State. I don't know how this game ended up on national television and am a bit surprised the line is this small.
Week 5 Leaders
Passing:
1. Bryant Moniz (Hawaii) - 42/58, 532 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs vs Louisiana Tech
2. Ben Chappell (Indiana) - 45/64, 480 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT vs Michigan
3. Jerrod Johnson (Texas A&M) - 40/62, 409 yards, 5 TDs, 4 INTs vs Oklahoma State
4. Robert Griffin III (Baylor) - 26/36, 380 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs vs Kansas
4. Nathan Enderle (Idaho) - 30/49, 380 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs vs Western Michigan
6. Taylor Potts (Texas Tech) - 42/62, 377 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT vs Iowa State
7. Kyle Padron (SMU) - 24/32, 371 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT vs Rice
8. Russell Wilson (NC State) - 21/49, 362 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs vs Virginia Tech
9. Sean Renfree (Duke) - 28/56, 351 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs vs Marlyand
10. Andrew Luck (Stanford) - 29/46, 341 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs vs Oregon
Rushing:
1. Ray Graham (Pitt) - 29 carries, 277 yards, 3 TDs vs FIU
2. LaMichael James (Oregon) - 31 carries, 257 yards, 3 TDs vs Stanford
3. Matt Brown (Temple) - 28 carries, 226 yards, 4 TDs vs Army
4. Allen Bradford (USC) - 21 carries, 223 yards, 2 TDs vs Washingtton
5. Denard Robinson (Michigan) - 19 carries, 217 yards, 2 TDs vs Indiana
6. Johnathan Franklin (UCLA) - 30 carries, 216 yards, 1 TD vs Washington State
7. Jordan Todman (UConn) - 37 carries, 190 yards, 2 TDs vs Vanderbilt
8. Vai Taua (Nevada) - 19 carries, 188 yards, 3 TDs vs UNLV
9. Derrick Coleman (UCLA) - 15 carries, 185 yards, 3 TDs vs Washington State
10. Darren Evans (Virginia Tech) - 15 carries, 160 yards, 2 TDs vs NC State
Receiving:
1. Tandon Doss (Indiana) - 15 catches, 221 yards, 0 TDs vs Michigan
2. Kealoha Pilares (Hawaii) - 18 catches, 217 yards, 2 TDs vs Louisiana Tech
3. Greg Salas (Hawaii) - 10 catches, 197 yards, 2 TDs vs Louisiana Tech
4. Phillip Payne (UNLV) - 8 catches, 170 yards, 0 TDs vs Nevada
5. Josh Gordon (Baylor) - 4 catches, 161 yards, 2 TDs vs Kansas
6. Cole Beasley (SMU) - 8 carries, 158 yards, 0 TDs vs Rice
7. Aldrick Robinson (SMU) - 6 catches, 148 yards, 2 TDs vs Rice
8. Leonard Hankerson (Miami) - 7 catches, 147 yards, 3 TDs vs Clemson
9. Owen Spencer (NC State) - 6 catches, 145 yards, 0 TDs vs Virginia Tech
10. Kris Adams (UTEP) - 5 catches, 141 yards, 2 TDs vs North Mexico