The hype for Oregon-Washington is coming from inside the building. "They're the best pass defense in the United States of America," Washington wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard said Tuesday. "Probably the best pass defense I've seen in my entire coaching career."
No. 8 Oregon enters its game Saturday with No. 7 Washington (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) tied for the FBS lead at 4.8 yards per attempt allowed, while Washington's Michael Penix, Jr., leads the nation at 11.2 yards per attempt. Penix is one yard -- literally, one yard -- shy of 2,000 for four games, which makes him the nation's most productive and efficient passer; he's second in the nation in yards (Shedeur Sanders has thrown for 21 more yards over one more game and 78 more passes) and 34th in attempts.
Washington has hit a national-best 39 completions of 20-plus yards; Oregon has surrendered a national-best seven completions of 20-plus yards.
And so that "irresistible force/immovable object" matchup sets the stage for the biggest Pac-12 regular season game in a decade, and the biggest Oregon-Washington game ever. These teams have rarely been good at the same time over their previous 114 meetings, but they haven't let that stop them from hating each other. Washington leads the all-time series by 13 games; but Oregon is 15-3 since 2004; but Washington is 3-3 since 2016, and won last year's meeting.
Against FBS competition, Washington is second in the nation at 3.98 net yards per play, while Oregon is third at 3.37.
What might tip the scales in a game as evenly matched as this? The simple things like turnovers, stopping the run, and home field. U-Dub is 9-0 at home under Kalen DeBoer, and only one game was within 10 points.
An interesting reunion for Dana Holgorsen. The plan when Houston hired Dana Holgorsen away from West Virginia was for U of H to find its way into the Big 12, so that part worked. But when U of H re-joined the big time, the plan was not for his old team to be in the midst of a surprise run to the top of the Big 12 standings while the Cougars are fighting like heck to stay out of 14th.
But that's the reality as Houston (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) hosts West Virginia (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) on Thursday night (7 p.m. ET, FS1).
With No. 9 Texas coming to town next week, it could be a big two weeks for Holgo, one way or the other.
Yet another reckoning point for Jimbo Fisher. Texas A&M blew its chance to take control of the SEC West in losing 26-20 to Alabama last week, and now the Aggies must fight to forge a successful season.
And to do that, the Aggies are going to have to win on the road. I don't mean that in a general sense. We're talking about winning one road game.
If Texas A&M loses at No. 19 Tennessee on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS), they'll cross the 2-year anniversary since their last victory in an opponent's stadium -- Oct. 16, 2021 at Missouri. The Aggies have dropped all seven true road games since then.
Texas A&M still has trips to Oxford (Jimbo is 0-2 against Lane) and Baton Rouge (A&M is 0-5 in Tiger Stadium since joining the SEC) after their tirp to Neyland, so Jimbo is looking at a 7-5 season at best if he can't figure out his road troubles.
A critical USC-Notre Dame game. USC is 6-0, and in the process has dropped four spots in the polls. Despite Lincoln Riley's protests, the public has had it with a USC defense that, after ranking 93rd in scoring defense a year ago, sits at 80th today.
USC has yet to play an AP Top 25 team, and Saturday night against No. 21 Notre Dame begins a string of five currently-ranked opponents in their final six games. So, it's put up or shut up time in Troy.
If USC's defense really is as improved as he claims it is, we'll see. If it's not, we'll see that, too.
On the home sideline, Marcus Freeman needs a win to avoid his season -- which was literally one play away from a 4-0 start and a top-5 ranking just three weeks ago -- from devolving from "merely disappointing" to "abject failure."
Additional Games:
-- No. 1 Georgia at Vanderbilt (noon ET, CBS): Georgia's ongoing 23 game winning streak still has a ways to go to set the SEC record, but the Bulldogs have now spent 16 straight weeks atop the AP poll, which broke Alabama's SEC record of 15 straight, set in 2012 and '13.
-- Syracuse at No. 4 Florida State (noon ET, ABC): After starting 6-0 and finishing 7-6, Syracuse started this season 4-0 and has dropped its last two by a combined score of 101-21. The Orange have not finished above .500 in ACC play since 2018 and look to avoid an 0-3 start this season.
-- BYU at TCU (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN): It's the first meeting between the Cougars and Horned Frogs since TCU left the Mountain West after the 2011 season. Having dropped their last two and with QB1 Chandler Morris injured, TCU looks to avoid falling to 3-4 and 1-3 in Big 12 play after going undefeated in the regular season a year ago.
-- Iowa at Wisconsin (4 p.m. ET, Fox): Might this be the de facto, and final, B1G West championship game? A Wisconsin win puts Luke Fickell's team at 3-0 in conference play with a 2-game lead over their putrid division, while Iowa (2-1) takes first place with a victory. As with any Iowa game, first to 14 wins.
-- UNLV at Nevada (5 p.m. ET): The Battle for the Fremont Cannon finds UNLV in the thick of the Mountain West title race while Nevada owns FBS's longest losing skid. Nevada leads the all-time series 28-20, but UNLV has won three of the last five, including a 27-22 decision last year.
-- Wyoming at Air Force (7 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network): It's a battle for first place in the Mountain West. This is an opportunity for 5-0 Air Force and their top-10 defense (No. 2 in yards, No. 8 in scoring) to shine.
-- No. 25 Miami at No. 12 North Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC): By not taking the air out of the ball in the final minute last week, Mario Cristobal took a lot of the air out of this game. The Hurricanes are second in the nation in rushing defense (58.2 yards per game) and 13th in rushing offense (211), so it's a showcase opportunity for Drake Maye against a team that has controlled the line of scrimmage all season long.