5 College Football Games to Watch During Penn State’s Bye Week

Week 10 is quite unusual, as many teams on a bye week have resulted in a lackluster Saturday without the usual long list of tantalizing games. However, it’s now November so you are personally obligated to spend this Saturday consuming as much college football as possible.

Virginia Tech at (#16)Notre Dame
2:30 p.m., NBC

Notre Dame will need to bounce back from an embarrassing loss in the Big House that crushed its hopes for a playoff berth. Virginia Tech is off to a 5-2 start, but will be playing its first ranked opponent of the season. The Hokies will come into this game extra-motivated to knock off the Irish will also gaining bowl eligibility - something that wasn’t a sure thing after a rough offseason. Notre Dame is the better team, but will come down to how they handle adversity now that the Irish needs to re-set its goals for the season.
Prediction: Notre Dame-27, Virginia Tech-20

(#8)Georgia vs. (#6)Florida
3:30 p.m., CBS

Not many people outside of Gainesville thought Florida would be the higher-ranked team coming into this contest. The Gators have been impressive this season, outlasting Auburn and with its sole loss coming to #2 LSU. Georgia’s season has been flipped upside down by a shocking home loss to South Carolina, but the Bulldogs still have as much pure talent as anyone in the nation. With the remaining schedule and SEC Championship in play, both teams have a shot for a playoff berth, but a loss here will end those dreams. It’s survive and advance time in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
Prediction: Georgia-27, Florida-24

(#22)Kansas State at Kansas
3:30 p.m., FS1

How about a little love for the Sunflower Showdown? Kansas still has a long road ahead, but has quickly become an entertaining team under Les Miles. The Jayhawks have played in two of the best games of the college football season in the past two weeks, a 50-48 loss to Texas followed by another dramatic game that went down to a last-second field goal, this time leading to a victory over Texas Tech. Kansas State is riding high after its monumental upset against Oklahoma, setting up for an unexpectedly promising rivalry battle.
Prediction: Kansas State-42, Kansas-40

(#15)SMU at (#23)Memphis
7:30 p.m., ABC

The one nice thing about the schedule shaking out the way it did is that it allows the opportunity for these programs to bask in the spotlight for the evening. The atmosphere will be absolutely electric in Memphis as they welcome College GameDay for the first time for a daylong party. SMU certainly deserves its turn in the spotlight as well. The Mustangs have been one of the defining storylines of the 2019 season after fighting and clawing its way back to relevancy for the last several decades. SMU stands at 8-0 thanks to a highly productive and balanced offense that can put up points in bunches. This should be a really fun one.
Prediction: SMU- 45, Memphis-41

(#7)Oregon at USC
8 p.m., FOX

The only consistent thing about the PAC 12 this year is a complete lack of consistency for most if its team week-to-week. This is especially true for USC, a team filled with talent that can upset a top ten Utah team one week, but also lose to BYU another week. Can they show up at home to beat another top 10 team? You’ll have to tune in to find out.
Prediction: Oregon-31, USC-24