We looked ahead to Week 7 a little too much.
Week 6 of the college football schedule was unprecedented. Vanderbilt beat No. 1 Alabama 40-35 for their first win against a top-five team in 61 tries. Five teams ranked No. 11 or higher lost in Week 6.
Oklahoma (4-1) meets Texas (5-0) in the Red River Rivalry. The game time changed to 3:30 ET, but this is now a prime cut in the SEC schedule. The Longhorns are unbeaten. The Sooners are looking to avoid a second loss. Will Quinn Ewers start for Texas after missing the last two games?
That sets up the prime-time matchup between Ohio State (5-0) and Oregon (5-0) – which has been circled since the preseason. The Buckeyes and Ducks have lived up to expectations as the Big Ten favorites so far.
BENDER: Ohio State buries Iowa to set up Oregon showdown
Ole Miss (5-1) travels to LSU (4-1) in the same 7:30 ET window in a battle of one-loss teams that cannot afford to fall behind in the SEC race. Then, for late-night entertainment, we have Colorado (4-1) and Kansas State (4-1) in a showcase game in the Big 12. That's right – Boulder is the place to be in October.
With four weeks until the first College Football Playoff rankings are released, there will be more separation in a wild race. A closer look at those early storylines:
Week 7 best college football games
| MATCHUP | TIME | TV |
| Texas vs. Oklahoma | 3:30 p.m. | ABC |
| Ohio State at Oregon | 7:30 p.m. | NBC |
| Ole Miss at LSU | 7:30 p.m. | ABC |
| Kansas State at Colorado | 10:15 p.m. | ESPN |
Texas vs. Oklahoma: Which QB steps up?
Oklahoma won four of the last five games in the series – all by one score – and there is a 49-0 blowout loss in 2023 mixed in. Quinn Ewers was the quarterback in that game, but he also was on the losing end of a 34-30 thriller last season. We have come to anticipate empty-the-kitchen-sink games at the Cotton Bowl, but the quarterback intrigue on both sides is the story here.
Ewers missed the last two games with an abdominal strain, and Arch Manning had a 200.5 passer rating in two starts. Ewers had 289 yards, 4 TDs and an interception against the Sooners in 2022. He passed for 346 yards, a TD and two interceptions in last year's loss. Steve Sarkisian will start Ewers if he is healthy, and the chances of Manning playing are slim at that point. What happens if Texas loses?
Oklahoma freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. had a bye week to prepare after his first start – where he totaled 161 passing yards and 69 rushing yards with a TD against Auburn. Hawkins is a playmaker, but this is a step up in pressure and competition. How will he handle that against Texas? Will Jackson Arnold – a five-star QB who was in the same class as Manning who was benched after three starts – play a role in this game?
MORE: Grading Arch Manning's first SEC start
Ohio State at Oregon: A blockbuster Big Ten showdown
This is the best game on the schedule in Week 7. Ohio State and Oregon march into a showdown of unbeaten teams looking to seize control of the 18-team Big Ten.
Ohio State routed Iowa 35-7 behind an efficient Will Howard (21 of 25, 209 yards, 4 TDs, INT). Oregon beat Michigan State 31-10, and Dillon Gabriel (20 of 32, 257 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) shook off a pair of red-zone picks.
The quarterbacks will be the focus, but how each team’s rushing attack meshes against front-sevens on defense will be the key. Ohio State has the tag-team of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson – who combine to average 7.8 yards per carry. Oregon’s Jordan James is coming off a 166-yard performance against the Spartans.
There also is the Chip Kelly factor. The Buckeyes hired Kelly as their offensive coordinator this offseason – and the offense has been versatile with the former Oregon coach. Ryan Day and Dan Lanning have a chance to score a perception-altering victory. Which coach will take advantage?
Ole Miss at LSU: Who moves in the SEC race?
In the past, this might feel like a loser-is-out kind of game given both teams have one loss. Yet the Rebels and Tigers are in the mix of a suddenly-wild SEC race that took a huge left turn when Vanderbilt beat Alabama 40-35 on Saturday.
The last two meetings between Lane Kiffin and Brian Kelly have been wild. LSU beat Ole Miss 45-20 in 2022, and Ole Miss returned the favor in a 55-49 shootout where the teams combined for 1,343 yards of offense. Will another shootout break out between quarterbacks Jaxson Dart and Garrett Nussmeier? The Rebels average 80.3 penalty yards per game. The Tigers have 55.4 penalty yards per game. Keep an eye on that during what should be a highly entertaining game.
LSU is 16-1 at Tiger Stadium under Kelly – a stat that will be put to the test in this matchup.
Kansas State at Colorado: Will Coach Prime steal the spotlight?
The Buffaloes are 4-1 and on the fringe of being ranked at the midpoint of the season under second-year coach Deion Sanders. Shedeur Sanders leads the Big 12 with a 70.1% completion percentage. Travis Hunter is among the front-runners – if not the leader – in the Heisman Trophy race. Colorado's last home game produced a Hail Mary finish.
What drama awaits in Boulder this time? The Wildcats lost their last late-night Big 12 matchup 38-9 at BYU. Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson has 879 passing yards and 321 passing yards and has learned from some mistakes in his first year as a starter. The Wildcats lead the Big 12 with 252.2 rushing yards per game, and Colorado transfer Dylan Edwards is a part of that success. Will Kansas State knock Colorado down a peg in the Big 12 race – like Oregon did in the Pac-12 last season? Or will Coach Prime push Colorado into the Top 25 heading into Week 8?
Other Week 7 schedule highlights
That is not all that is on the schedule. Here are a few more games worth watching in Week 7:
- Penn State (5-0) travels to The Coliseum to face USC (3-2) in a game that lost a little shine after the Trojans lost 24-17 at Minnesota. The Trojans will be in full desperation mode here after suffering a second conference loss. Big Ten teams traveling two or more time zones for league games are 1-7.
- Tennessee (4-1) takes on Florida (3-2) at Neyland Stadium. The Vols are coming off a shocking 19-14 loss to Arkansas. The Gators beat UCF in Week 6 and have at least some momentum under Billy Napier, and the Vols survived an upset scare at Arkansas.
- Notre Dame (4-1) meets Stanford (2-3). The Irish are back in the playoff hunt. Can the Cardinal play spoiler in South Bend like they did in a 16-14 upset in 2022?
