Here’s our weekly look at the top NCAA football games worth watching this weekend:

Friday, Sep 25

21 Stanford at Oregon State (7:00 pm, FOXS1)
Stanford will be looking to continue their success this week against the Beavers after a huge win over the previously 9th ranked USC Trojans. Fifth year senior QB, Kevin Hogan, led the Cardinal to a huge upset, throwing for 279 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, Hogan slightly sprained his ankle Saturday, and his status is unknown at the moment. Sophomore Ryan Burns will take over the offense if Hogan will be unable to play. The Oregon State Beavers are coming into this matchup at 2-1 but haven’t looked particularly great. The only big conference team the Beavers have played was Michigan in week 2, losing 35-7. If Kevin Hogan is healthy Friday, the Cardinal should walk away with this one, but if Burns is under center, this game will be a whole different story.

Saturday, Sep 26

8 Louisiana State at Syracuse (9:00 am, ESPN)
Sophomore running back Leonard Fournette has emerged as a Heisman Trophy candidate for the LSU Tigers. Through LSU’s first two games, Fournette has rushed for 387 yards and 6 touchdowns. Last week against Auburn, the sophomore running back had his first breakout performance rushing for 228 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Tigers will be taking on the 3-0 Orange of Syracuse. Syracuse will be short handed without freshman starting quarterback and Lakeridge High School alum, Eric Dungy. Dungy left last week’s game after a blow to the head, and Austin Wilson replaced him. Wilson threw a game winning touchdown to beat Central Michigan in the final minutes on Saturday. Without Dungy, the Orange might struggle offensively, while Fournette and the Tigers will most likely, once again, run all over the Orange’s defense.

9 UCLA at 16 Arizona (5:00 pm, ABC)
In one of the more important Pac 12 games of the season, the UCLA Bruins will take on the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona’s All American Linebacker, Scooby Wright, has been out so far this season with a knee injury. Wright’s status for Saturday is unknown, and the game time decision will play a big part on the outcome of this matchup. The Wildcats defense will have a hard time stopping freshman star quarterback, Josh Rosen. Rosen struggled last week against BYU, throwing 3 interceptions and only 1 touchdown, but has the capability to have another big game, like in the first 2 weeks.

18 Utah at 13 Oregon (5:30 pm, FOX)
Sure, Oregon is flashy, speedy, and explosive, but are they still the Ducks from recent years? The Ducks have yet to look impressive on either side of the ball this season. Sure, the Ducks’ only loss came to a great Michigan State team, but they haven’t looked remotely like themselves against Eastern Washington and Georgia State. The Ducks offense hasn’t looked bad, but not as explosive as last year. More importantly, Oregon’s defense has looked atrocious. Giving up 40+ points to a FCS team (whose star QB transferred to Oregon) is not impressive at all. Utah’s offense has looked solid so far, averaging 31 points a game, and will look to capitalize on the holes on Oregon’s D. Utah was very close to coming up with an upset last year, and will be seeking revenge this time around in Eugene. If Oregon’s defense can play respectively well, the Ducks should pull away late, but if not, this one could end up being the closest of the week.

19 USC at Arizona State (7:30 pm, ESPN)
In USC’s first real test this season, the Trojans fell to the unranked Stanford Cardinal 41-31. The ASU Sun Devils have looked good since their first game loss to Texas A&M, and this game is big for both teams. If either team wants a shot to make it to the Pac 12 championship, this is a must win game. The Trojans offense has been led by Senior QB Cody Kessler, throwing for 922 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Sun Devils offense has had no trouble scoring this season, averaging around 35 points per game. The matchup that will really decide the outcome of the game will be USC’s offense and ASU’s defense. USC has been solid on the offensive side, and it will be tough for the Sun Devils to stop them.

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Have any comments or questions about any of the games above? Write them down in the comments below!

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