Undefeated Oklahoma headlines NCAA weekend slate on TSN
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Brent Venables and No. 6 Oklahoma continue Big 12 play against UCF. Plus, Wazzu meets No. 9 Oregon and No. 16 Duke takes on No. 4 FSU in a meeting of ACC heavyweights. Here's a look at the Week 8 NCAA football action available this weekend on TSN.
Central Florida (3-3) vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (6-0), Saturday at Noon ET/9am PT on TSN2 - Oklahoma's bye week coming off of the Red River Shootout could have only gone one of two ways: 1. A week of stewing over a loss to archrivals Texas or 2. Basking in the glory of defeating the Longhorns for the final time in Big 12 play. Luckily for Brent Venables and the Sooners, it was the latter with Oklahoma picking up a thrilling 34-30 win over Texas on their final drive of the game. The win brought the Sooners to 6-0 and put them in the driver's seat in the conference with a favourable schedule remaining. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, the man Venables served under for 10 seasons as defensive coordinator with the Tigers, says the Longhorns win is something that he and Oklahoma can use as a true springboard. “That's the type of game that early in your career can put a lot of wind in your sails as far as creating the buy-in to what you really, truly believe in and what you're convicted in," Swinney said. Still, Venables is leery of a letdown against a struggling Knights team, knowing that Gus Malzahn's squad can still give the Sooners trouble, despite being losers of three straight. The Knights have the third-most potent running game in the country and Malzahn teams have never been ones to shy away from trickery. “Everybody’s gonna double-move you if you’re gonna play aggressive in coverage," Venables said of UCF. "They’re a big pop-pass team and they’ll run the pop pass-and-go. If they’re gonna run slant, they’re gonna run slant-and-go. Just all of those kinds of things if you’re gonna be aggressive. That’s part of our process, too, trying to get our guys to play with discipline within the schemes.” For Malzahn, the game will be a chance to get reacquainted with Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was the starter at UCF when he took the job in 2021. Gabriel's 2021 season ended with a broken left clavicle in a 42-35 loss to Louisville in Week 3. He would never suit up for the Knights again, transferring to Norman. “Golly, he’s a special talent who loves football,” Malzahn said of Gabriel to Tulsa World's Eric Bailey. “It was just kind of unfortunate that he got hurt in that third game. We were top five in the country at the time and he ended up getting hurt on the last play of the game. He ended up transferring. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a very talented young man.” Through six games this season, Gabriel has thrown for 1,878 yards on 141-for-195 passing with 16 touchdowns to just two picks. Saturday's game will be the first time that Malzahn, who previously had stints at Auburn, where he won a national title in 2010, and Arkansas State, has coached at Norman.
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Washington State (4-2) vs. No. 9 Oregon (5-1), Saturday at 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT - Oregon's showdown with Washington last week for control of the Pac-12 was everything expected with the Huskies emerging victorious in a 36-33 thriller as Heisman favourites Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix went toe-to-toe. The game turned on a late Ducks possession with Oregon leading 33-29. At midfield on 4th and 3, Bo Nix's pass for Tez Johnson didn't connect and the ball was turned over on downs. It was third time that the Ducks failed when going for it on fourth. The Huskies marched down the field and took the lead with :33 left on Penix's touchdown pass to Rome Odunze. The Ducks had the chance to force overtime, but kicker Camden Lewis was no good from 43 yards out as time expired. “We were a play away from this conversation being extremely different,” Nix said after the game. Back in Seattle, the Ducks will have the chance to get back on track against a good Wazzu team. "Well, they create explosive plays, right?" Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said of the Cougars. "They create a lot of explosive plays. Like I said, this really mirrors a lot of what you know Texas Tech has done in the past. [Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle came from Western Kentucky. He keeps a lot of the things that they did really well last year, as far as system, and they've added some new wrinkles¸, but obviously has an elite quarterback and he knows how to distribute the ball." That elite QB is Cameron Ward who will relish the opportunity to take on Nix. The junior from West Columbia, TX has thrown for 1,779 yards on 147-for-211 passing with 14 TDs to three picks. But Wazzu heads into Saturday's game looking to pump the brakes on what could turn into an ugly skid. After starting 4-0, with wins over ranked teams Wisconsin and Oregon State, the Coogs have dropped two straight in ugly fashion, including a brutal 44-6 loss to Arizona last week. Stopping the bleeding now will be paramount for Jake Dickert and company.
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Pittsburgh (2-4) vs. Wake Forest (3-3), Saturday at 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT on TSN+ - Normally an October game between two ACC teams with no realistic championship ambitions wouldn't be of note, but when there is Canadian content, those north of the border have keen interest. The story of Pitt's early season play was a lack of production at quarterback with Phil Jurkovec. After starting the season at 1-4 and a completion rate of just over 50 per cent, head coach Pat Narduzzi made the decision to hand the reins over to Ottawa's Christian Veilleux heading into last week's date with undefeated No. 14 Louisville, who were coming off of an impressive victory over Notre Dame. The switch to Veilleux got the job done for the Panthers. The Penn State transfer threw for 200 yards on 12-for-26 passing with two TDs as the Panthers handing the Cardinals their first loss of the season, 38-21. “Christian threw some nice balls,” Narduzzi said this week. “He got the ball out quick, as well. He made good decisions with the ball. You think about the weather, and you think about what that [Louisville] quarterback [Jack Plummer] did and what our quarterback did, I liked the decision-making he made. I liked where he placed the ball, especially the Bub [Means] one and the Konata [Mumpfield] one, those are two. But he can do a better job on some of his out routes, which [Panthers offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.] will fix his feet and do all those things, but I thought he had a really nice day." While it would be foolish to overlook the Demon Deacons, you can forgive Veilleux for looking ahead to what comes next. Following the game against Wake Forest, the Panthers travel to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish before returning home to host national title contenders Florida State on Nov. 4.
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No. 16 Duke (5-1) vs. No. 4 Florida State (6-0), Saturday at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT on TSN+ - The Duke Blue Devils are undoubtedly a very good football team and their 5-1 mark thus far attests to that. But just how good they are remains to be seen. They passed their first big test of the season in Week 1 with a comprehensive victory over Clemson, 28-7. They continued to roll with wins until a loss to Notre Dame, 21-14, on Sept. 30 ended their undefeated season. They bounced back last week with a win over North Carolina State, but Saturday night will mark their biggest challenge to date in the form of Jordan Travis and 6-0 Florida State. Head coach Mike Elko, who has been rumoured as a potential candidate for the Michigan State vacancy in recent days, knows what kind of task is in front of his team. Elko was effusive in his praise for both Travis and FSU head coach Mike Norvell. "I think he has built a program, not just a team, but a program," Elko said. "You can see it with how those kids play and the energy and passion that they play the game with. Offensively, this is an extremely talented operation. It starts with the quarterback, Jordan Travis. He is playing at an elite level and really has been for the better part of two years now. He knows exactly what he wants to do in that system. He's managing it really well. You can see him have complete command of the offense not only as a quarterback but also as a leader. It's really impressive to see." Travis currently has the fifth-best Heisman odds at FanDuel (at +1500 - Washington's Michael Penix Jr. leads at -125) after continuing to show the kind of play he did in his breakout 2022 campaign. Through six games, the senior has thrown for 1,482 yards on 115-for-182 passing with 13 TDs to one pick. For FSU, Duke represents the greatest remaining challenge to their undefeated regular season. “You watch film, and you see really good players," Norvell said of the Blue Devils. "They’ve been productive, they’ve done everything they needed to do. They’re one play away in that Notre Dame game; I mean, you kind of felt for him for how it all played out. But this is a very, very talented team, and it’s one that you don’t need to give a motivational speech to any of our guys because they know the challenge that’s ahead. And it’s going to take our best game."
Click here for the rest of TSN's slate of NCAA action this weekend