On the Line: For Brent Venables, the Tennessee game is everything

We are in the beginning stages of an all-timer of a coaching carousel. I mean, just yesterday we had the governor of Louisiana saying he'd rather the President of the United States pick LSU's next head coach than the next LSU athletics director. This happened in real life, not Nuclear Winter.

But as the calendar flips to November, and we are on the precipice of an admittedly not-so-great slate of games, it's worth taking a little bit of time to remember that the actual season is setting up to be an all-timer, too. 

Ohio State might be in the midst of a historic run. The defending national champions are 7-0 and are in the midst of an 11-game winning streak where they've played one game within 10 points. They won't play another currently ranked team until visiting No. 21 That Team Up North on Nov. 29 -- at which point the pressure will go from a 6 to a 15 -- but until then, the Buckeyes are working out the kinks until, possibly, unveiling Death Star Mode once the season really begins. Quietly, Julian Sayin has become the nation's most efficient and most accurate passer. Ryan Day has seen team after team compromise its own defensive integrity to prevent Jeremiah Smith from beating them single-handedly, which has allowed him to develop an identity around that and/or wait to deploy a counter when he really needs one. The defense has retained its No. 1 yards per play ranking, and may be even better in trading Jim Knowles for Matt Patricia. 

The national championship is supposed to be harder to win than ever, but right now it's Ohio State's to win.

Elsewhere, assuming Ohio State is indeed unbeatable, the race is as wide open as ever.

-- Indiana is a legit threat to win a national championship. I use "threat" there intentionally. Imagine your local Finebaum caller the day after the Big Ten wins a third straight national title with three different programs, and it's won by Indiana.

-- Texas A&M is in the midst of a dream season. The Aggies have not won a conference title since 1998.

-- Texas Tech is in the mist of a dream season; the Red Raiders last won a conference title in 1994, and their last outright conference title came in the Border Conference in 1955.

-- BYU (last conference title in 2007) and Georgia Tech (2009) are currently undefeated. 

-- Vanderbilt is 7-1 for the first time since the 1940s.

-- Or Alabama could win another national title, signaling the beginning of a new Crimson Reich.

We could go on and on. The point is: the explosion of money and movement to players and coaches was supposed to ruin this sport. But point to me a time when college football was better.

No. 18 Oklahoma at No. 14 Tennessee is everything for both teams. Oklahoma fans spent the offseason telling themselves 9-3 or 8-4 would be a solid step forward from last year's 6-7 campaign, with one of the most difficult schedules in the country to tackle. But 6-3 would be a bitter pill to swallow after the candy of a 5-0 start, particularly considering the opponent. Tennessee is coached by former Sooner Josh Heupel, coordinated by former Sooner Joey Halzle, and analyzed by former Sooners Seth Littrell and Landry Jones. OU fired two of those guys. Compound that with the fact that Oklahoma's offense looks a mess, just like it did last season. They were 76th in rushing last season, fired Littrell, and rank 99th last season. John Mateer has been outright bad since returning from injury, ranking outside the national top 100 in efficiency. In the losses to Texas and Ole Miss, he was 37-of-68 for 425 yards with one touchdown against three picks. Worse than that was the passes he didn't throw, continually missing wide open receivers.

On the other side, Tennessee is ranked 14th but criminally under-scrutinized. They're 3-2 in SEC play, but the wins came over 0-4 Mississippi State, 0-4 Arkansas, and 0-5 Kentucky. Two of those wins were within one score. Their best win to date is an overtime loss to Georgia.

Also, who knows what to expect when Oklahoma's offense meets Tennessee's defense (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC). 

Speaking of Movable Objects and Resistible Forces.... Matt Rhule hasn't beaten a ranked team since dethroning No. 19 Navy in the 2016 AAC championship game*. Lincoln Riley is 1-6 in trips to the East or Midwest as USC's head coach. 

The game (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC) is in Lincoln, and USC is ranked No. 23. We checked with the Big Ten office and confirmed either the Trojans or the Huskers has to win this game. Jayden Maiava is fifth in passing efficiency; Nebraska is fourth in pass efficiency defense. The equivalent ranks of the defenses Maiava has faced? FCS, 90th, 119th, 127th, 115th, 41st, 40th. The equivalent ranks of the passing attacks Nebraska has faced? 4th, 126th, FCS, 84th, 72nd, 109th, 94th, 123rd. So, buyer beware in either direction. 

* Nebraska beat Cincinnati while unranked, but the 7-1 Bearcats have since become ranked. Records vs. the AP Top 25 are always flawed in both directions. 

Additional Games:

-- Marshall at Coastal Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN2): This is effectively a Sun Belt East semifinal game. The division is James Madison's to lose at 5-0, but the Dukes still have Marshall (2-1) and Coastal (3-1) to play in November.

-- Tulane at UTSA (7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN): Two coaches on opposite trajectories. Jon Sumrall will likely have his pick of SEC jobs sooner than later, while Jeff Traylor is facing heat for the first time since moving to San Antonio. After going 32-9 overall and 24-2 with two conference titles in league play from 2021-23, Traylor has gone 10-9 and 5-5 since the beginning of last season. But UTSA has won 23 straight home conference games, and the Roadrunners could use some Alamodome magic against the Wave.

-- No. 25 Memphis at Rice (7 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN2): Memphis saved its season by rallying past South Florida last Saturday, but now they've got to play an always-tough conference road game on a short week against a Rice team that's tough to prepare for even on a long week. Gimme the Owls.

-- Penn State at No. 1 Ohio State (noon ET, Fox): It would be bitter irony for Penn State to finally beat Ohio State now, wouldn't it? I wouldn't hold one's breath, though. You know the Ohio State offensive staff have spent the past two weeks -- and the offseason -- positioning themselves to embarrass Jim Knowles. The Bucks will make it nine in a row and 13 of 14 in this series. Good news for Penn State's next head coach: Ohio State cycles off the schedule in 2026-27.

-- No. 9 Vanderbilt at No. 20 Texas (noon ET, ABC): Texas's first home game since Sept. 20 is, technically, the biggest game of the week according to the AP poll. Arch Manning is questionable after suffering a concussion in overtime at Mississippi State last week, clearing the deck for Matthew Caldwell to possibly make his first start since facing Southern Miss as Troy's quarterback last November. The Longhorns have been surviving by the skin of their teeth on the final stages of their extended road trip, so I foresee either a tight Texas win or a Vanderbilt blowout.

-- No. 10 Miami at SMU (noon ET, ESPN): A real bummer for SMU to lose at Wake Forest last week, 13-12, which zapped a lot of juice out of homecoming and the biggest home game in a long time for the Mustangs. Also, this will be Miami's first game outside the state of Florida since the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl Nov. 30, 2024 at Syracuse.

-- Navy at North Texas (noon ET, ESPN2): We covered this one in greater detail than the human mind can possibly comprehend on Wednesday. I suggest you check it out. 

-- Duke at Clemson (noon ET, ACC Network): Another Clemson game notable for how unremarkable it is. Per ESPN's David Hale, the Tigers have lost five straight home games to Power 4 opponents. 

-- Army at Air Force (noon ET, CBS Sports Network): Navy has already beaten Air Force, so the Falcons need a win to avoid going 0-2 against their rivals for the second straight year. An Army win sets up a winner-takes-the-Commander-in-Chief's Trophy showdown on Dec. 13 in Baltimore.

-- Rutgers at Illinois (noon ET, NBC): A special noon kick for NBC and, boy, is this one special. Rutgers halted a 4-game losing streak last week with a 27-24 win at Purdue, but prior to that the Knights allowed all four B1G opponents they've faced to score at least 31 points. Illinois is looking to end its own 2-game losing streak, with its last win also coming over Purdue.

-- Arizona State at Iowa State (1 p.m. ET, TNT): A rematch of the 2024 Big 12 Championship, and that's all it is. If Iowa State wins, both teams will be 3-3 in league play.

-- No. 2 Indiana at Maryland (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): Last week Curt Cignetti convinced his guys that UCLA was actually undefeated when they came to Bloomington. Indiana won 56-6. This week, Cignetti might have his guys thinking they're going to Maryland to play the Baltimore Ravens.

-- No. 5 Georgia vs. Florida (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC): Georgia allowed 21 in the first quarter to Tennessee, 24 in the first half to Alabama, and 21 in the first half to Ole Miss. So, might want to get that fixed moving forward. And this Gunner Stockton story is Pure College Football.

-- No. 13 Texas Tech at Kansas State (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox): Avery Johnson was cooly efficient against Kansas last week, hitting 11-of-17 passes for 231 yards with four total touchdowns and no picks. The key stat there: 17. If K-State can stay ahead of the sticks and attached on the scoreboard, they'll have a chance to pull the home upset.

-- Fresno State at Boise State (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1): In the first meeting of these ancient (for them) rivals (their first meeting was in 1977), Boise holds the all-time advantage but Fresno holds the upper hand lately. The Bulldogs have won two straight overall and two of the last three on the blue, including the 2018 and 2022 MW Championships. 

-- Mississippi State at Arkansas (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network): Bobby Petrino damaged his chances of keeping the Head Hog position by losing to previously-winless-in-conference-play Auburn last week. Next comes winless-in-conference-play Mississippi State. Can Jeff Lebby get his guys off the mat after blowing the Texas game to earn their first SEC win since winning... at Arkansas? The final score of that one was Bulldogs 7, Razorbacks 3. Don't think we're getting that again. 

-- Central Michigan at Western Michigan (4 p.m. ET, ESPNU): Central can win the Michigan MAC Trophy for the first time since 2021, and the seventh time in the trophy's 21-year history, with win in Kalamazoo. This is Western's first crack at the round robin this year, and the Broncos are looking to retain the trophy for the third straight year.

-- Kentucky at Auburn (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network): For those curious, this is Kentucky's fourth time playing on SEC Network this year (with a fifth coming next week vs. Florida) after seven appearances last year. Mississippi State is playing its sixth straight SECN game after playing six last year. The more you know.

-- Washington State at Oregon State (7:30 p.m. ET, CBS): The first of two meetings between the two current Pac-12 members. They only played once last season, a 41-38 win Beavers win in Corvallis.

-- No. 17 Cincinnati at No. 24 Utah (10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN): Utah was blown out at home against Texas Tech, and then blew out Arizona State at home. So the odds tell us we're getting a great game Saturday night, as Utah's 15th-ranked yards per play defense and fifth ranked pass defense meets red-hot Brendan Sorsby, who comes in averaging an even nine yards per attempt with 20 touchdowns against one pick.