One game stands out above the rest this weekend, but it's far from the only intriguing matchup on the schedule. Here's a sneak peek at Week 5:
Top 5 games to watch
5. No. 20 BYU at No. 11 Washington (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX)
Washington needs to go undefeated the rest of the season if it wants to have a shot at the playoff. And BYU's win over Wisconsin should have Chris Petersen's team on notice - the Cougars will be no walkover.
All of BYU's jet motions and fly sweeps will challenge Washington's down linemen and linebackers in a way they haven't been so far this season. Washington sees plenty of pre-snap movement in-conference, but nothing quite like this.
Jeff Grimes likes to run his offense out of heavy sets. Washington is going to have to put more mass on the field than it would typically like to. Explosive runs on the ground versus explosive passes through the air will define the game.
What Jake Browning will we get? BYU doesn't have the athletes to match Washington's vertical attack. Browning should feast. But he's tough to trust.
Browning will soak up the creative burden once again this week. The Huskies will need him to be at his best.
4. No. 12 West Virginia at No. 25 Texas Tech (12 p.m. ET, ESPN 2)
A tale of two passing defenses. Will either of them show up?
It's easier to have faith in West Virginia. It's flashed moments of serious disruption. Kenny Bigelow has proven to be the kind of missing piece who can gobble up blockers and make everyone surrounding him better. The Mountaineers will need him to live in the backfield on Saturday.
Texas Tech's defense is improving, but it's still not good. It's not even average (it ranks 90th in defensive S&P), but it's improving nonetheless. Tech's defense played well enough to shut out Oklahoma State for the final 40 minutes last week. That's no mean feat.
Keep an eye on Tech linebacker Dakota Allen. The star of a "Last Chance U" series, Allen has been the best off-ball linebacker in the country in 2018. He's the team's defensive fulcrum and covers so much ground that he allows the team to take a linebacker off the field and stick on another defensive back. And he's a big part of the team blitz-and-bluff packages. Both will be essential against Will Grier this week.
Somehow, Grier has gotten even better this season. Sometimes you just know a player has made a mini-leap even if the numbers don't show it. And Grier's numbers are still stupidly good.
He continues to refine the subtleties - footwork, timing, arm positioning. Tech will face other good quarterbacks this season but will see nothing like the Grier-Jake Spavital marriage.
One tidbit: Of the 25 touchdowns David Sills has scored in his last 16 games, 16 have been in the red zone, 12 have been inside the 10-yard line, and six have come from inside the five. Sills is a deadly red-zone target and the first person Grier looks for.
Tech needs to be smarter in the red zone. Singling Sills is a non-starter. It's time to show some systematic creativity: role coverage, trap one side of the field, run a combo coverage (man on one side, zone on the other), or run gunner-coverage - treating Sills like he's on special teams.
Kliff Kingsbury looks to have kicked away the hot seat. Inserting true freshman quarterback Alan Bowman has already paid massive dividends. Bowman has spent his first few weeks as a starter smashing records set by Patrick Mahomes. He'll need to continue that trend to keep up with Grier and Co. in what should be a shootout.
This one is a legitimate toss-up.
3. Florida at No. 23 Mississippi State (6 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Dan Mullen is heading back to Mississippi State at a good time. Joe Moorhead's team is smarting after a disappointing performance against Kentucky last week.
Kentucky generated a consistent surge against the Bulldogs' fearsome front a week ago. Can Florida do the same? It seems unlikely. Florida has some excellent athletes lining up in its backfield but the team's offensive line lacks the functional strength to push anyone back.
Mullen will need to get creative. Kentucky did a nice job of keeping Mississippi State off-balance, subsisting on a steady diet of creative runs, supplemented with old-school, line-up-and-run-you-over stuff.
Florida will lean more on the former. The team has been better on money-downs under Mullen. Feleipe Franks remains a flawed quarterback - more of a runner than he is a thrower and certainly not the field general Mullen needs - the kind of guy who can operate things from the line of scrimmage.
Still, almost everything Franks does is a delight, though it's not quite clear whether he knows exactly what he's doing. He stumbles and bumbles his way around the pocket, he clangs and bangs into defenders, but he almost always falls forward and finds ways to pick up first downs.
Florida's defense is improving, too. Its second-level is still a concern, particularly against a coach like Moorhead, whose entire philosophy is built on conflicting second-level defenders. The other two levels, however, are solid, if not downright good.
Its defensive backfield has a whole host of talent. Losing Marco Wilson for the season hurts, but CJ Henderson is way ahead of the development curve - playing like an elite corner as a true sophomore.
The Gators' front is going to need to find some way to pressure Nick Fitzgerald. Kentucky lived in the Bulldogs' backfield last week. The Wildcats did a nice job of using formations and alignments to scheme up one-on-one opportunities for their best player, Josh Allen, isolated on weaker blockers.
If Todd Grantham can do the same, Florida will have a real shot.
2. No. 7 Stanford at No. 8 Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
Are we sure Stanford is good? Are we sure Notre Dame is good? Your guess is as good as ours on both counts.
We know this: neither is a legit national championship contender. They have too many flaws. But this will still be a fun game!
It would've been less interesting a week ago. But Ian Book's emergence at quarterback changes the direction of Notre Dame's season. Book is a decisive, smart thrower with just enough athleticism to extend plays and pick up first downs when needed. He looked in total control against Wake Forest.
Get past Stanford, and Notre Dame is starting to stare down the barrel of an undefeated season. There isn't another team on its remaining schedule with the same level of depth and proven talent.
Brian Kelly has to get by Stanford first. The key to the game will be tricking K.J. Costello. That's not an easy proposition. Costello has shouldered the offensive burden of the Cardinal while Bryce Love continues to battle injuries.
This isn't your typical Stanford offense. It's throwing the ball more thanks to a raft of talented receivers, headlined by J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Costello has improved, too. He's making better decisions while sustaining his trademark aggression.
Clark Lea's defense features more post-snap movement than any defense this side of Don Brown. Defensive linemen stem, linebackers shift all over the shop, cornerbacks and safeties rotate from one spot to another (there's a series of invert coverages where corners and safeties displace one another post-snap), and there are all manners of stunts, twists, and gap exchanges. That's without mentioning all the bluffs or trap coverages.
Lea is going to throw everything at Costello. If the quarterback can absorb it all and keep his offense on schedule, Stanford will have a chance to pull off the upset.
1. No. 4 Ohio State at No. 9 Penn State (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Happy Valley. Whiteout. Penn State. Ohio State. What more do you need? Ohio State-Penn State might just be the best annual game in college football right now.
This year's game holds extra intrigue. Penn State's offense has survived the losses of Joe Moorhead and Saquon Barkley without missing a beat. Trace McSorley has picked up more of the workload and run with it.
This isn't your typical Urban Meyer-led Ohio State offense. Dwayne Haskins is developing into a legitimate, first-round NFL draft prospect, throwing from the pocket. His role is to spread the ball outside the numbers and challenge downfield.
Complementing that is a nasty ground game that features two studs at running back in J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber.
How Penn State's front-seven holds up against OSU's run game will be the deciding factor. TCU had success against Haskins when it backed him up into third-and-long situations and could send more exotic blitz looks. Leave Haskins in third-and-short, and James Franklin's side has no chance.
Player to Watch
QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson (vs. Syracuse)
All eyes will be on Lawrence this week. Dabo Sweeney has handed the keys to his program over to the No. 1 prospect in the nation. Former starting QB Kelly Bryant instantly announced his transfer.
This is Lawrence's team now, for better or for worse.
It should be better. Lawrence is a more precise thrower than Bryant, as he's able to throw to specific spots against certain coverage principles and leverage. His raw talent leaps off the screen:
A tactical twist Clemson has shown this season is rolling the pocket. Neither Bryant nor Lawrence is yet as nuanced a passer from the pocket as Deshaun Watson was.
Lawrence has shown he's comfortable throwing on the move:
That should form the bedrock of Clemson's game plan, helping shrink the field and make decisions easier. Clemson will need Lawrence to be more decisive from the pocket. The Tigers have as much artillery on the perimeter as any team in the country, so distributing the ball needs to be better.
Lawrence has an ugly habit of staring down his guy. The ball comes out a beat too late and his release could be a tick snappier:
All of this will come with more reps and more time spent throwing in game situations.
Lawrence has already shown a bunch of the intangible attributes. Guys rally around him and he has a willingness to stand in the pocket, absorb a shot, and a deliver a throw:
Players respond to that.
This week should prove to be an interesting matchup. Syracuse's defense is solid, if unspectacular. Dino Babers is known as an offensive mind, but he's yet to get that thing truly rolling - outside of upsetting Clemson a year ago.
The team has leaned on its defense, which ranks 61st in defensive S&P+. It will be interesting to see if it has any tricks up its sleeve for the true freshman.
Under-the-radar matchup
No. 19 Oregon at No. 24 California (10:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
OK, so this isn't quite under the radar, but we had to find a way to squeeze it onto the list.
If we're being honest, the Ducks were the better team against Stanford. They were one yard away from going up 31-7. Unforced errors, including a late fumble while running out the clock, cost them a big win. Will there be a hangover effect?
Justin Wilcox's side has started to take on his persona. It plays fast, physical defense. The offense has stuttered.
This is a statement game for Mario Cristobal and Oregon. The Ducks have the most underrated offensive line in the country. It went toe to toe with Stanford last week and should be too big and physical for Cal this Saturday.
Oh, and Justin Herbert was near-perfect a week ago. He's a joy to watch: on-script, off-script, funky arm angles, he makes all the plays. Enjoy him while you can, he'll be suiting up on Sundays soon enough.
Coach who needs a win
Chris Ash, Rutgers (vs. Indiana)
We're into year three of the Chris Ash project at Rutgers and things are going ... not well. Rutgers is currently 118th out of 130 teams in S&P+. If that holds for the entire season, that would be its worst ranking ever. And this was supposed to be the easy part of the Scarlet Knights' schedule!
Ash's side is currently running the least efficient offense in the country. It still has to face Wisconsin, Maryland, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State. Things could get pretty brutal.
Rutgers faces Indiana this week in one of its only winnable games. Nobody expected Ash to win big early. He tore the program down to its foundation and has overhauled the roster, but folks didn't expect it to be this bad.
If Ash continues to post the team's worst season in recent memory, the school will have no choice but to look for other candidates.