College Football Previews

Mississippi State is refreshed after having an open date last week. Arkansas is happy to be home for the first time in five weeks. Both teams will be looking for their first Southeastern Conference win when they meet Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. The Razorbacks (2-5, 0-4) have lost five straight games, including three against ranked opponents by a total of just 13 points, during their out-of-town stretch. “It’s going to be great to be home,”

Arizona has competed well against top 10 teams in back-to-back weeks, with the Wildcats’ task not getting any easier in a matchup against No. 19 Washington State on Saturday at Pullman, Wash. Arizona (3-3, 1-2 Pac-12) lost to then-No. 7 Washington 31-24 at home on Sept. 30 before falling 43-41 in three overtimes at then-No. 9 Southern California on Saturday night. The Wildcats outgained the Trojans 506-351. “When you watch how our team played, what

Rutgers aims to move closer to bowl eligibility when it hosts mistake-prone Michigan State in Big Ten action on Saturday in Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers (4-2, 1-2) opened league play with a 24-7 win over Northwestern on Sept. 3 and then took a 31-7 loss at No. 2 Michigan on Sept. 23. After rebounding with an easy 52-3 victory over visiting Wagner, the Scarlet Knights underwhelmed in last Saturday’s 24-13 loss at Wisconsin. Rutgers trailed 17-0

After rolling to three straight Big Ten victories by a combined 76 points, No. 6 Penn State will take a break from conference play when it hosts Massachusetts on Saturday in State College, Pa. Another lopsided win appears likely for the Nittany Lions (5-0) despite coach James Franklin insisting that the Minutemen (1-6) are “maybe the most explosive team we’ve played this year.” Penn State is healthy and eager to get back on the field

Jalen Milroe no longer has to look over his shoulder and is firmly entrenched as Alabama’s starting quarterback. Benched earlier this season, Milroe has since displayed he is the top signal-caller on the roster, and he will look to help the No. 11 Crimson Tide win their fifth straight game when they face Arkansas on Saturday in Southeastern Conference play at Tuscaloosa, Ala. Milroe further stamped his name atop the depth chart by throwing three

No. 24 Kentucky will look for quarterback Devin Leary to get back on target when the Wildcats host Missouri on Saturday in Southeastern Conference action in Lexington. Leary completed just 10 of 26 passes for 128 yards as the Wildcats (5-1, 2-1) fell 51-13 last weekend at No. 1 Georgia. “Usually, I don’t say a whole lot during games to a quarterback … but there’s no excuse to not hit some of those passes,” Kentucky

Surprising West Virginia will put its four-game winning streak on the line and will look to remain unbeaten in Big 12 play when it visits struggling Houston on Thursday night. It will be the initial meeting between the schools, as well as the first between Mountaineers coach Neal Brown and the Cougars (2-3, 0-2) and the first for Houston coach Dana Holgorsen against West Virginia (4-1, 2-0). Holgorsen left West Virginia in 2018 after eight

Ohio State wants its third trip to the state of Indiana this season to be as successful as the first two when the No. 3 Buckeyes visit West Lafayette to play upset-minded Purdue on Saturday. In a quirk of the schedule for the Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten), the matchup against the Boilermakers (2-4, 1-2) means they will have played as many games in their neighboring state as in Columbus so far this season. Ohio

The quarterback topic is running hot when it comes to Saturday night’s Atlantic Coast Conference game between visiting North Carolina State and No. 17 Duke in Durham, N.C. The Wolfpack (4-2, 1-1) have broken in a new starter, while the Blue Devils (4-1, 1-0) are hoping for a clean bill of health for their QB1. Duke has been off since a devastating Sept. 30 loss to Notre Dame, with Blue Devils quarterback Riley Leonard hurt