It’s Week 4 and our little college football season is all grown up. There are three games featuring two Top 25 opponents! The SEC is playing conference games!
There’s intrigue: Mike Leach in his first game at Mississippi State visiting LSU and a bunch of new faces in Ed Orgeron’s lineup (and coaching booth). Florida travels to Ole Miss in Lane Kiffin’s return as an SEC head coach.
There are subplots: Oklahoma faces Kansas State a year after the Wildcats handed the Sooners their only regular-season loss. Florida State, whose coach, Mike Norvell, tested positive for COVID-19, will be led by Chris Thomsen when the Seminoles visit hated Miami.
The Pac-12 and MAC are opting back in (and yes, we know it’ll be a bit, but at least Oregon State fans don’t have to wait four years for the Beavers — in a river no less — like this guy). We’re all grateful to see Rondale Moore returning to add some electricity to our Saturdays.
We’ve got all that and more this week. Plus lots of cool uniforms, as you’ll see below. But probably most importantly, there’s Gary Patterson extolling the greatness of college football in song.
Top 25 games
All times Eastern. Lines courtesy of Caesar’s Sportsbook.
Kansas State at No. 3 Oklahoma (Line: -28), noon, FOX
No. 5 Florida (-14) at Ole Miss, noon, ESPN/ESPN app.
No. 23 Kentucky at No. 8 Auburn (-7.5), noon, SEC Network/ESPN app.
No. 13 UCF (-27) at East Carolina, noon, ABC/ESPN app.
Georgia Southern at No. 19 Louisiana (-11.5), noon, ESPN2/ESPN app.
No. 24 Louisville at No. 21 Pittsburgh (-3), noon, ACC Network/ESPN app.
Mississippi State at No. 6 LSU (-16.5), 3:30 p.m., CBS
No. 8 Texas (-17.5) at Texas Tech, 3:30 p.m., FOX
No. 22 Army at No. 14 Cincinnati (-13), 3:30 p.m., ESPN/ESPN app.
West Virginia at No. 15 Oklahoma State (-6.5), 3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN app.
No. 4 Georgia (-28) at Arkansas, 4 p.m., SEC Network/ESPN app.
No. 2 Alabama (-28) at Missouri, 7 p.m., ESPN/ESPN app.
Vanderbilt at No. 10 Texas A&M (-30.5), 7:30 p.m., SEC Network/ESPN app.
Florida State at No. 12 Miami (-11), 7:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN app.
No. 16 Tennessee (-3.5) at South Carolina, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network/ESPN app.
North Carolina State at No. 20 Virginia Tech (-7), 8 p.m., ACC Network/ESPN app.
Troy at No. 18 BYU (-15), 10:15 p.m., ESPN/ESPN app.
A legendary throwback
Oklahoma State is inducting Thurman Thomas, who was a two-time first-team All-American at OSU, into its new Ring of Honor this weekend during its game against West Virginia. To celebrate, the Cowboys are going to dress just like Thurman did in 1987 when he ran for 157 yards and four touchdowns against West Virginia in the Sun Bowl.
This Saturday … we honor a legend like it’s 1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣7️⃣.
❄ @thurmanthomas ❄#LetsRide | #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/4FgTPXd2UH
— OSU Cowboy Football 🇨🇦🤠 (@CowboyFB) September 23, 2020
Sing it, Coach
You think you’re ready for some football? TCU coach Gary Patterson wrote and sang a whole song about it.
“I keep telling people, creativity takes courage,” Patterson said last week. “Me singing a song like that takes courage. It’s all about getting back to college football. That was the inspiration.”
It’s the second song Patterson released this offseason, after “Take A Step Back,” which he posted in June.
“It’s gotta be the shoes”
The University of Florida dropped the Gators’ new cleats, retro Jordan 10s, for the opening week of the season.
If you think the players and alumni aren’t excited about them, just ask former Gator and current Pittsburgh Steeler, Joe Haden.
I need these ASAP!!!!!! @GatorsEquipment 🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊 go Gators!!! https://t.co/eJxZSJKyhb
— Joe Haden (@joehaden23) September 21, 2020
Milkmen
It certainly seems like Notre Dame long snapper Michael Vinson, or “Milk” as his teammates call him, has won over the team.
The Fighting Irish created “Milk Monday” this week and the junior was the talk of the locker room. Everything from Vinson’s ability as a long snapper to his skills on the golf course were covered and the Notre Dame players even got the chance to list their favorite milks.
Unfortunately, following Milk Monday, the team was forced to cancel its game on Saturday with Wake Forest because of coronavirus concerns.
The Fighting Irish might not be able to play this week but at least they’ll be able to kick back and watch some games with a tall glass of milk, be it whole, strawberry or chocolate.
The Man. Myth. Milk.
So many different types of 🥛 out there but only ONE of Notre Dame football. #GoIrish x #BeatDeacs pic.twitter.com/5rhRIexAPn
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 21, 2020
Your educational uniform update
Pitt’s first alternate uniforms since 2016 honor the city’s steel history. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, there are several nods to the school’s Gothic Revival skyscraper, the Cathedral of Learning.
The “H2P” logo (for “Hail To Pitt”) is meant to evoke the “USS” mark that United States Steel Corporation employees wore. A yellow badge on the front left features an icon of master blacksmith Samuel Yellin, who forged the Cathedral’s 18-foot ornamental gates, at work. And, the paper adds, “above a black and yellow panther logo, reminiscent of steel’s smelting process, is Yellin’s Cathedral gates design gracing the jersey’s neckline.”
𝟵.𝟮𝟲.𝟮𝟬
ꜰᴏʀɢᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴜᴛᴜʀᴇ
ʙᴇᴀᴛ ʟᴏᴜɪꜱᴠɪʟʟᴇ
⛓️ #H2P ⛓️ pic.twitter.com/BegciILZs9
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 20, 2020
If you prefer your uniform reveals with a little more ancient history, take a gander over at Troy. While the uniform combo is no doubt a good one, what’s the deal with the scene?
The Troy website explains: “The Janice Hawkins Cultural Arts Park is home to 200 permanently exhibited Terracotta Warriors made by Dr. Huo Bao Zhu, from Xi’an China. The Warriors were constructed upon careful inspection of the original Terracotta Army buried with China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di to accompany him in his afterlife.”
Elsewhere, the school explains the significance: “The warriors celebrate TROY’s reputation as ‘Alabama’s International University,’ in particular the University’s long association with partner schools in China.”
Something a little 🆕 for the 𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝘼𝙇 𝙎𝙋𝙊𝙏𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏‼️
💨
⚪️
💨#DTW | #OneTROY ⚔️🏈 pic.twitter.com/nduSw1ongo— Troy Trojans Football 😷 (@TroyTrojansFB) September 24, 2020