College football Week 7: Ohio State-Indiana and Notre Dame-BYU among six Top 25 matchups

Week 7 of the college football season stacks up to be the best so far with six games pitting teams ranked in The Associated Press Top 25, including a top-five showdown and another in the top 10.

No. 4 Ohio State visits No. 5 Indiana in a meeting of the last two national champions. The winner of this Saturday matinee gains the inside track for a spot in the Big Ten championship game and also will get a bump in College Football Playoff seeding consideration.

At night, No. 2 Notre Dame plays at No. 8 BYU in the first top-10 game in LaVell Edwards Stadium history. This game has significant playoff implications because of its resume-boosting potential. Neither team has played a difficult schedule so far.

No. 16 Mississippi State goes to No. 22 LSU, and a Bulldogs win would all but douse LSU’s hopes of making the playoff in Lane Kiffin’s first season. No. 6 Alabama will be looking to bounce back from its home loss to now-No. 1 Georgia when it goes to No. 14 Tennessee.

The quarterback matchup is intriguing for No. 13 Missouri at No. 9 Mississippi. The Tigers’ Austin Simmons began last season as Mississippi’s starter and gave way to Trinidad Chambliss, who still holds the job in Oxford.

The other Top 25 game has No. 18 Oklahoma State at No. 20 Houston in the Big 12. The Cowboys were horrid the last two years and now, with 91 newcomers and first-year coach Eric Morris, have become one of the feel-good stories of the season after losing to Tulsa and starting their current four-game win streak with an upset of Oregon.

Best game

No. 4 Ohio State (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten) at No. 5 Indiana (6-0, 3-0), noon ET (Fox)

The Buckeyes have won four straight since their fourth-quarter meltdown at Texas. The defending national champion Hoosiers have won 22 straight after their fourth-quarter rally to win at Nebraska.

Ohio State was the reigning national champion and ranked No. 1 the last time the teams met. That was the Big Ten championship game last year, and Indiana’s 13-10 win was its first in 31 games in the series and it ended the Buckeyes’ 16-game win streak.

Lots of eyeballs will be on three of the best receivers in the country. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith has put up prodigious numbers, and Indiana has the nation’s top tandem in Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh.

Heisman Trophy watch

Preseason Heisman favorite CJ Carr of No. 2 Notre Dame has done nothing to hurt his candidacy through six games. He has 16 touchdown passes against one interception and is averaging 229 yards passing per game on 70% accuracy.

The problem is he’s played a middling schedule, and he has slipped behind Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith and Miami QB Darian Mensah, at least in the wagering markets. Both have put up phenomenal numbers. Carr has an opportunity to make a statement going against BYU’s top-10 defense.

BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier has had to carry a heavier load since star RB LJ Martin got hurt against TCU on Oct. 3. Bachmeier passed for 329 yards and ran for 109 yards last week against Iowa State and is starting to enter the Heisman conversation. Like Carr, he gets the big stage, except Bachmeier will be going against what on paper is an even better defense.

Numbers to know

4 — Kicks or punts Vanderbilt has had blocked, most in the nation, after having none blocked the previous two seasons.

10 — Oregon State freshman Jesse Legree’s nation-leading receptions of 30-plus yards.

18 — Pittsburgh’s interceptions returned for touchdowns since 2020, most in the nation.

23 — Nebraska has held each of its first six opponents to this many points or fewer for the first time since 2010.

47.8% — Utah opponent pass completion rate, on track to be the lowest by a team since 2016.

106 — UTEP’s consecutive games since 2017 without its defense returning an interception for a touchdown, the longest streak in the country.

Under the radar

Northwestern (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) at Michigan State (2-4, 0-3), noon ET (Peacock)

It’s the Pat Fitzgerald Bowl. Fitzgerald bled Northwestern purple as a two-time consensus All-America linebacker during the halcyon days of the mid 1990s and for 17 as the program’s longest-tenured head coach.

He was fired shortly before fall camp opened in 2023 amid a hazing scandal. He filed a $130 million wrongful termination lawsuit, and the two sides settled last summer with Northwestern acknowledging it could not establish Fitzgerald was told by players about the hazing or that he directed or condoned it.

Fitzgerald restarted his college coaching career in December when Michigan State hired him. David Braun, who joined the Northwestern staff as defensive coordinator seven months before Fitzgerald’s firing, is now head coach and has the Wildcats out to their best start in six years.

Hot seat

Rutgers’ Greg Schiano was listed here five weeks ago on the heels of an embarrassing 37-21 season-opening home loss to UMass. Maryland’s Mike Locksley was here two weeks ago after a 51-point home loss to UCLA. Things haven’t gotten better for either team. The Scarlet Knights’ only win during a 1-4 start was against Howard. The Terrapins are 2-4 with wins over Hampton and UConn.

Locksley is the only coach on a hotter seat than Schiano, according to rankings by CoachesHotSeat.com and a host of other observers. Neither athletic department wants to pay a buyout and do a coaching search, but it appears imminent for one and probably both. Locksley would be owed $9.7 million and Schiano about $18 million, according to media reports.

Rutgers visits Maryland on Saturday. May the best coach win.

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