On the Line: Previewing the biggest games in the Week 4 college football schedule

I didn't want to begin this week's column patting myself on the back but, well... I think I'm one of the few pollsters in the country taking Duke seriously. I ranked the Blue Devils 12th in my latest Super 16 ballot, five spots higher than the AP poll. Only one AP voter ranks Duke higher, and only five agree with my placement in the 12 spot.

It's been my contention that if Virginia Tech smacked Clemson by 21, followed with three wins by an average score of 40-9, and was 13-4 since the beginning of last season, the average pollster wouldn't think twice about putting the Hokies in the top 15.

But we won't have to play such rhetorical games on Saturday night. 

College GameDay (the football version) comes to Durham for the first time ever -- it's Duke's first appearance, anywhere -- and ABC will show the 17th-ranked Blue Devils' game with No. 11 Notre Dame to a prime time audience (7:30 p.m. ET).

Notre Dame's explosive offense was limited to just 14 points and 351 yards in seven drives against Ohio State, but the sledding could even be tougher against Duke.

The Blue Devils are second in the nation 0.48 points per drive allowed, having surrendered five touchdowns in four games. Opponents are completing 55 percent of their passes for just 4.4 yards per attempt (first nationally) with three touchdowns against four interceptions. 

WATCH: Inside Duke Football's Boxer Mentality

Duke has been relatively week against the run, which could be a problem Saturday night, but the Blue Devils average two takeaways per game. This feels like a 21-17 contest. I'm not confident who's the 21 and who's the 17.

Duke was a fixture in the AP Top 10 in the 1950s and early 60s, but the program hasn't climbed higher than 14th since 1971. They're already there in my mind, but the rest of the voting public will join me -- taking Duke higher than they've been in more than half a century -- with a win on Saturday night. 

Once again, Coach Prime takes center stage. Can you remember a time when one team was at, or at least near, the center of the college football universe for five straight games? 

Fox will put Colorado in its "Big Noon" window for the third time in five weeks (the other two games were on ESPN properties), and one has to wonder where America's fascination with the Buffaloes stand, as well as where the Buffaloes themselves stand.

CU returns home after taking its first loss, and the players have to be feeling some sort of fatigue at the end of what we can safely say is the most eventful month in college football history. On top of all the hoopla surrounding the program, Colorado has played the fourth-toughest schedule in the country thus far, per ESPN.

And now comes No. 8 USC. How do we feel about Colorado's defense holding USC under 30 by halftime? Or 45 for the game? 

America loves bright, shiny new objects, and I'll be interested to see if Colorado still qualifies as such in the typical college football viewer's eye if the Trojans take a 42-21 lead in the third quarter on Saturday. 

Additional Games: 

-- Louisville at NC State (7 p.m. ET, ESPN): Louisville has the opportunity to host its biggest home game in a long time -- and what would effectively be the grand opening of the Jeff Brohm era -- if they're undefeated when Notre Dame comes to town next week for a game that's already slated for the ABC Saturday Night Football window. But they need to win here for the Notre Dame visit to have maximum impact. 

-- No. 10 Utah at No. 19 Oregon State (9 p.m. ET Friday, FS1): It's getting late early for Oregon State, who needs to defeat the 2-time defending Pac-12 champions to keep a realistic shot alive of winning the final Pac-12 championship. The Beavers won't be mathematically eliminated with a loss, but it's difficult to imagine them overcoming an 0-2 start. 

-- Cincinnati at BYU (10:15 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN): Both teams are looking to avoid 3-game losing streaks and 0-2 Big 12 starts in their first years in the conference. This game is essentially a must-win for BYU considering the Cougars are at home and still have TCU, Texas and Oklahoma ahead of them. 

-- No. 6 Penn State at Northwestern (noon ET, BTN): Is it unrealistic to think the Nittany Lions could throw out two straight shut outs? Fresh off blanking Iowa, Penn State takes a defense that ranks among the top five nationally in scoring, turnovers, passing efficiency, yards per play and available yards to Evanston to face a Northwestern offense that ranks 111th in yards per play. Penn State last held two straight opponents out of the end zone Oct. 10-17, 2009 and last threw consecutive shutouts Sept. 30-Oct. 7, 1978. 

-- No. 22 Florida at Kentucky (noon ET, ESPN): Kentucky is a 2-point favorite to win its third straight game against the Gators. The Wildcats haven't won three straight since a 4-game winning streak from 1948-51. Mark Stoops's team is No. 4 nationally in net yards per play, but they've also played perhaps the nation's softest schedule so far.

-- Clemson at Syracuse (noon ET, ABC): Four of the last six games in this series have been one-score affairs, but the last five overall have been Tigers wins. Like Kentucky, Syracuse has been mightily impressive (No. 11 in net yards per play) against a soft schedule -- although, in fairness, their 35-20 win at Purdue is more impressive than anything Clemson's accomplished thus far.

-- Texas A&M at Arkansas (noon ET, SEC Network): The Aggie offense actually improved once Max Johnson replaced Conner Weigman, but with Weigman unfortunately out for the season, what can Arkansas dial up knowing they'll face Johnson? Texas A&M is 10-1 against Arkansas since joining the SEC, and it feels like Sam Pittman really needs this one to keep his approval rating above water.

-- No. 1 Georgia at Auburn (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): Georgia's first road game, though it feels like a stretch to say the Tigers will push the Bulldogs.

-- No. 24 Kansas at No. 3 Texas (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC): The only meeting this week of the 26 remaining unbeatens, and a test for the Texas defense against perhaps the Big 12's most dangerous offense. 

-- No. 2 Michigan at Nebraska (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox): It's Michigan's first road game of the season and, like Georgia, it seems unlikely the Wolverines will be tested. The nation's No. 1 scoring defense meets the No. 103 scoring offense. 

-- Illinois at Purdue (3:30 p.m. ET, Peacock): Purdue head coach Ryan Walters faces off against his old team, in what's effectively an elimination game in the B1G West. Both teams are 0-1 in conference play, in a division where six of the seven teams already have at least one loss. After allowing all of 166 points last season, the Fighting Illini have already surrendered 109 this month. 

-- No. 13 LSU at No. 20 Ole Miss (6 p.m. ET, ESPN): Ole Miss and Texas A&M are the only SEC West team to never reach the SEC Championship, and in the last year of the division, a loss all but guarantees the Rebels won't get there this year, either. And it'll only become more difficult to reach the title game starting next year, so....