Oregon's Jay Harris celebrates against Purdue on Oct. 18, 2024. Oregon’s Jay Harris celebrates against Purdue on Oct. 18, 2024. (Marc Lebryk/Imagn Images.)

Here’s a look at who’s televising and calling (where available) this week’s college football games, with some discussion of a featured game or games in each slot based on announcers, matchup, or both. All times are Eastern.

Tuesday, Oct. 22 (all listings from 506 Sports)

Featured game: Sam Houston @ Florida International
7:30 p.m.
ESPNU
Matt Schumacker, Dustin Fox

Sam Houston's Hunter Watson against UCF on Sept. 7, 2024.
Sam Houston’s Hunter Watson against UCF on Sept. 7, 2024. (Mike Watters/Imagn Images.)

The Bearkats are 5-2 on the year, but are coming off a 31-14 home loss to Western Kentucky last week. They have a solid offense, averaging 401.0 yards and 29.3 points per game, but there are questions about if starting quarterback Hunter Watson will be able to play. He missed the second half of last Wednesday’s loss with an undisclosed injury, and backup Jase Bauer wasn’t as effective. Regardless, Sam Houston is favored by 4.5 against the 2-5 Panthers in this Conference USA tilt, which will come on a special “Vice Night”  for the Panthers, with corresponding uniforms and field at Pitbull Stadium:

UTEP @ Louisiana Tech
8:00 p.m.
CBSSN
Alex Del Barrio, Donte Whitner

Wednesday, Oct. 23

Featured game: Liberty @ Kennesaw State
7:00 p.m.
CBSSN
Jason Knapp, Brock Vereen

Liberty RB Quinton Cooley on Dec. 1, 2023.
Liberty RB Quinton Cooley on Dec. 1, 2023. (Brian Bishop/USA Today Sports.)

The main draw in this Conference USA matchup is Liberty, one of only 10 remaining undefeated teams heading into Week 9. (The others are Oregon, Penn State, Miami, Iowa State, BYU, Indiana, Pitt, Army, and Navy.) The 5-0 Flames still aren’t ranked in the AP or coaches’ polls, but did receive one vote in the former and six in the latter this week. It’s possible they could make a run at the playoff spot for the highest-ranked G5 team if others stumble.

Liberty has the 26th-ranked offense in FBS by yards per game (448.2). A key player to watch there is running back Quinton Cooley, who has 545 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns on 82 carries (6.6 yards per carry). But they have other backfield threats as well, with RB Billy Lucas rushing for 303 yards and four touchdowns on 64 carries and QB Kaidon Salter adding 191 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 52 carries (plus throwing for 1,074 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception).

The Flames’ last game was a 31-24 overtime win over Florida International (then 2-2, now 2-4) on Oct. 8, though, so this season hasn’t all been easy wins for them. But they are 25.5-point favorites here against the 0-6 Owls, so a close game would be surprising. We’ll see what Liberty can do to keep their 11-0 record in CUSA play (they joined the league last year) alive.

Middle Tennessee @ Jacksonville State
7:30 p.m.
ESPN2
Clay Matvick, Steve Addazio

Thursday, Oct. 24

Georgia Southern @ Old Dominion
7:00 p.m.
ESPN2
Jay Alter, Rocky Boiman

Featured game: Syracuse @ No. 19 Pittsburgh
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
Matt Barrie, Dan Mullen

Syracuse QB Kyle McCord against NC State on Oct. 12, 2024.
Syracuse QB Kyle McCord against NC State on Oct. 12, 2024. (Zachary Taft/Imagn Images.)

This clash of former Big East (they faced off there from 1982-2012) and current ACC rivals (they both went to that conference in 2013) sets up as a pretty good Thursday night matchup. It’s the 80th battle all time between these teams, a series dating back to 1916, and it’s one with some notable stakes for both. And both teams are coming off byes, so they should be in good shape for this.

The 6-0 Panthers have been one of this year’s more surprising teams to date, although their path to unbeaten hasn’t been easy. They’re coming off a two-point win over Cal on Oct. 12, and only edged Cincinnati by one on Sept. 7. And now they’re up against a 5-1 Syracuse team that’s won three in a row, with their only blemish a 26-24 home loss to Stanford on Sept. 20. However, the betting line is on Pitt’s side; they opened as a three-point favorite, but that had shifted to -5.5 by Tuesday.

And this could set up as a quarterback duel. The Orange’s Kyle McCord has racked up 2,160 passing yards and 19 touchdowns against six interceptions with a 65.6 percent completion rate, while Panthers’ QB Eli Holstein has thrown for 1,697 yards and 15 touchdowns against five interceptions this season with a 63.5 percent completion rate.

Friday, Oct. 25

Yale @ Penn
7:00 p.m.
ESPNU
Eric Frede, Jack Ford

Louisville @ Boston College
7:30 p.m.
ESPN2
Anish Shroff, Andre Ware

Featured game: No. 17 Boise State @ UNLV
10:30 p.m.
CBSSN
Rich Waltz, Robert Turbin

Boise State's Ashton Jeanty goes airborne against Hawaii on Oct. 12, 2024.
Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty goes airborne against Hawaii on Oct. 12, 2024. (Marco Garcia/Imagn Images.)

While the 5-1 Broncos aren’t undefeated (they lost 37-34 on the road to current No. 1 Oregon back on Sept. 7), they’re the highest-ranked Group of Five team right now and have the inside track on that playoff spot. A lot of that is thanks to the play of RB Ashton Jeanty, who leads FBS with 1,248 rushing yards (Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson is second with 1,035, while no one else is over 1,000). Jeanty also has 17 rushing touchdowns (tied for second nationally, behind only Army QB Bryson Daily’s 19) and is averaging an incredible 9.9 yards per carry despite frequently facing boxes stacked against him.

With all that, Jeanty is emerging as the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. And he’ll get a good showcase game Friday night against a 6-1 UNLV team that has their own impressive players. Those include QB Haji-Malik Williams, who took over from season starter Matthew Sluka beginning in late September around NIL drama that saw Sluka redshirt, claiming unfulfilled financial promises. In four games, Williams has thrown for 838 yards and 10 touchdowns against two interceptions (with a 70.5 percent completion rate) while also rushing for 390 yards and four touchdowns (while averaging 6.1 yards per carry). We’ll see how he and the 2.5-point underdog Rebels do against Jeanty and the Broncos.

Rutgers @ USC
11:00 p.m.
Fox
Jason Benetti, Brock Huard

Saturday, Oct. 26, early window

Featured game 1: No. 12 Notre Dame vs No. 24 Navy (at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ)
12:00 p.m.
ABC
Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy

Navy QB Blake Horvath warming up ahead of an Oct. 19 game against Charlotte.
Navy QB Blake Horvath warming up ahead of an Oct. 19 game against Charlotte. (Daniel Kucin Jr./Imagn Images.)

The unbeaten Midshipmen are off to a remarkable 6-0 start in Brian Newberry’s second year at the helm. Newberry, the former defensive coordinator (2019-22) under past head coach Ken Niumatalolo, went 5-7 in his head coaching debut last year (a step up from their previous 4-8 mark), and now has them making a big leap forward. They’re fourth in FBS in team rushing, averaging 274.8 yards per game. Junior quarterback Blake Horvath has been excellent, leading the team with 621 rushing yards (he averages 7.9 yards per carry) and 10 rushing touchdowns while also throwing for 888 yards and 10 further touchdowns with one interception and a 63.9 percent completion mark.

But Navy now gets their toughest opponent to date in the 6-1 Fighting Irish, who are favored by 12.5 points. Yes, Notre Dame fell to Northern Illinois 16-14 back on Sept. 7, but that’s their only blemish on this campaign. We do have more to learn about them, with Texas A&M (currently No. 14 in the AP poll) their only past opponent currently ranked, but they’ve had some good performances. QB Riley Leonard is one to watch; he’s thrown for 1,182 yards and six touchdowns (with three interceptions and a 66.7 percent completion mark) to date and rushed for 456 yards (just six behind his team’s leading rusher, RB Jeremiah Love, and on just two fewer carries) and 10 more touchdowns.

Nebraska @ No. 4 Ohio State
12:00 p.m.
Fox
Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt

Oklahoma @ No. 18 Ole Miss
12:00 p.m.
ESPN
Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick

Tulane @ North Texas
12:00 p.m.
ESPN2
Brian Custer, Rod Gilmore

Charlotte @ Memphis
12:00 p.m.
ESPNU
Courtney Lyle, Rene Ingoglia

North Carolina @ Virginia
12:00 p.m.
The CW
Thom Brennaman, Max Browne

Featured game 2: Washington @ No. 13 Indiana
12:00 p.m.
BTN
Guy Haberman, Yogi Roth

Indiana's Shawn Asbury II celebrates an interception against Nebraska on Oct. 19, 2024.
Indiana’s Shawn Asbury II celebrates an interception against Nebraska on Oct. 19, 2024. (Rich Janzaruk/The (Bloomington) Herald-Times, via Imagn Images.)

Yes, ESPN’s College GameDay is going to a game televised on BTN, and not just because Lee Corso used to coach at Indiana. The Hoosiers are 7-0 for the first time since 1967, and they’re fresh off a 56-7 thumping of Nebraska. (The Huskers now have to go face Ohio State in another game in this window, so that seems not fun for them.) And while the Huskies are an underwhelming 4-3 in their first Big Ten season so far, they are last year’s national runners-up, and they beat Michigan 27-17 two weeks back (but fell 40-16 to Iowa last week). They’re 6.5-point underdogs, but they’re certainly not a walkover.

For Indiana, fifth in the country with 512.7 yards of offense per game to date, the big question is at quarterback after starter Kurtis Rourke had thumb surgery this week. He hasn’t been ruled out for Saturday (he’s been stated as doubtful), but a return next week against Michigan State seems more likely. Rourke (the younger brother of CFL-turned NFL-turned CFL QB Nathan Rourke) is in his sixth year of college football, but his first at Indiana after transferring from Ohio, and he’s been a star for the Hoosiers so far, throwing for 1,941 yards and 15 touchdowns with three interceptions and a 74.6 percent completion rate. If he can’t go, Indiana seems set to turn to backup and redshirt sophomore Tayven Jackson, who only has five career starts and has only thrown 18 passes this year.

Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech
12:00 p.m.
ACCN
Chris Cotter, Mark Herzlich

Buffalo @ Ohio
12:00 p.m.
CBSSN

Arkansas @ Mississippi State
12:45 p.m.
SECN
Dave Neal, Aaron Murray

Georgia State @ Appalachian State
1:00 p.m.
ESPN+

Central Michigan @ Miami (OH)
2:00 p.m.
ESPN+
Doug Sherman, Forrest Conoly

Temple @ East Carolina
2:00 p.m.
ESPN+
Mike Corey, Reggie Walker

Saturday, Oct. 26, afternoon window

Featured game 1: No. 21 Missouri @ No. 15 Alabama
3:30 p.m.
ABC
Joe Tessitore, Jordan Rodgers

Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer against Vanderbilt on Oct. 5, 2024.
Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer against Vanderbilt on Oct. 5, 2024. (Steve Roberts/Imagn Images.)

The Tess Effect is in full swing this year, with three of Tessitore’s games (Miami-Louisville, South Carolina-Alabama, Oklahoma-Auburn) finishing within a touchdown and others coming close. And there’s a good chance for some craziness here following Alabama’s second loss in three weeks. The Tide are still 5-2 overall and still ranked No. 15, but defeats against Tennessee and Vanderbilt have many wondering about how things are going overall in head coach Kalen DeBoer’s first season at the helm.

Meanwhile, fifth-year Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz is building off last year’s 11-2 campaign (the first time he’d won more than six games there) with a 6-1 mark to date. But the Tigers did take a 41-10 thumping from Texas A&M on Oct. 5, and they’ve had some other close calls, including a four-point win over Auburn last week. They have a good rushing attack with a 1-2 punch of Nate Noel (503 yards, two touchdowns, 5.9 yards per carry) and Marcus Carroll (321 yards, six touchdowns, 4.9 yards per carry), but they’re still 13.5 point underdogs here. We’ll see what they can do against the Tide.

Featured game 2: No. 20 Illinois @ No. 1 Oregon
3:30 p.m.
CBS
Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson

Illinois QB Luke Altmyer (center) celebrates with teammates against Michigan on Oct. 19, 2024.
Illinois QB Luke Altmyer (center) celebrates with teammates against Michigan on Oct. 19, 2024. (Ron Johnson/Imagn Images.)

Nessler and Danielson were there to call Illinois’ 21-7 win over Michigan last week, and even donned 1924-style press outfits for an open in honor of the Illini commemorating the centenary of their famed Red Grange-led win over the Wolverines. They now will call a tougher test for 6-1 Illinois, with the Illini 21.5 point road underdogs against the top-ranked 7-0 Ducks.

Oregon is 21st in FBS with 458.6 offensive yards per game to date, and they’re coming off an impressive 35-0 road shutout of Purdue last week. But they barely edged Ohio State 32-31 the week before. This sets up favorably for them, though, and QB Dillon Gabriel (2,080 passing yards and 15 touchdowns against four interceptions with a 77.0 percent completion mark) gets a chance to boost his Heisman odds against a decent opponent. We’ll see what he can do here.

Texas Tech @ TCU
3:30 p.m.
Fox
Tim Brando, Devin Gardner

No. 11 BYU @ UCF
3:30 p.m.
ESPN
Mike Couzens, Brock Osweiler

Maryland @ Minnesota
3:30 p.m.
FS1
Connor Onion, Spencer Tillman

Alabama State vs Alabama A&M
3:30 p.m.
ESPNU
Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker

Northwestern @ Iowa
3:30 p.m.
BTN
Chris Vosters, Anthony Herron

Wake Forest @ Stanford
3:30 p.m.
ACCN
Jorge Sedano, Orlando Franklin

Rice @ Connecticut
3:30 p.m.
CBSSN

Oklahoma State @ Baylor
3:30 p.m.
ESPN+
Ted Emrich, Charles Arbuckle

Bowling Green @ Toledo
3:30 p.m.
ESPN+
Michael Reghi, Je’rod Cherry

Eastern Michigan @ Akron
3:30 p.m.
ESPN+
Anthony Lima, Ryan Cavanaugh

Kent State @ Western Michigan
3:30 p.m.
ESPN+
Michael Reghi, Je’rod Cherry

Northern Illinois @ Ball State
3:30 p.m.
ESPN+
Kelsie Kaspar, Marcus Ray

Southern Mississippi @ James Madison
3:30 p.m.
ESPN+

UTSA @ Tulsa
3:30 p.m.
ESPN+
James Westling, Leger Douzable

Wagner @ Massachusetts
3:30 p.m.
ESPN+

Oregon State @ California
4:00 p.m.
ESPN2
Mike Monaco, Kirk Morrison

No. 5 Texas @ No. 25 Vanderbilt
4:15 p.m.
SECN
Tom Hart, Cole Cubelic

New Mexico @ Colorado State
5:00 p.m.
Altitude, MWC Digital

ULM @ South Alabama
5:00 p.m.
ESPN+

Saturday, Oct. 26, evening/late-night window

Featured game 1: Florida State @ 6 Miami (FL)
7:00 p.m.
ESPN
Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward (1) throws a pass against the South Florida Bulls in the third quarter at Raymond James Stadium on Sept. 21, 2024.
Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward (1) throws a pass against the South Florida Bulls in the third quarter at Raymond James Stadium on Sept. 21, 2024. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images.)

The Seminoles are 1-6 on the season, which is something few expected at this point. Their lone win was a 14-9 home edging of Cal back on Sept. 21, and they’re coming off a 23-16 loss to Duke last week. So they don’t seem to set up as the most formidable opponents for the 7-0 Hurricanes (who lead FBS with 577.0 offensive yards per game) and star QB Cam Ward, and they enter this one as 21-point road underdogs. But weird things can and often do happen in games between long-time Florida rivals, and this one will at least be worth checking in on to see how Ward plays.

West Virginia @ Arizona
7:00 p.m.
FS1
Alex Faust, Robert Smith

Utah State @ Wyoming
7:00 p.m.
CBSSN
John Sadak, Luke Kuechly

Utah @ Houston
7:00 p.m.
ESPN+
Richard Cross, Barrett Brooks

Troy @ Arkansas State
7:00 p.m.
ESPN+

Featured game 2: No. 8 LSU @ No. 14 Texas A&M
7:30 p.m.
ABC
Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit

LSU players and coach Brian Kelly celebrate beating Arkansas on Oct. 19, 2024.
LSU players and coach Brian Kelly celebrate beating Arkansas on Oct. 19, 2024. (Nelson Chenault/Imagn Images.)

Speaking of matchups where strange things can happen, LSU-Texas A&M certainly qualifies. This is the series that saw the incredible 74-72 eight-overtime game A&M won in 2018, which led to changes in the overtime rules. LSU leads that overall series 36-23-3, but the teams have evenly split the last six contests, with the home team winning each time (which probably factors into the Aggies being 2.5-point favorites here). And this one has notable stakes, with both teams 6-1 and in the top 15.

Texas A&M has had some quarterback debates this year. Redshirt sophomore Connor Weigman started the year, but suffered an injury in their opening game against Notre Dame and reaggravated it against McNeese State, leading to them going with redshirt freshman Marcel Reed for a few weeks. Head coach Mike Elko called each week’s starter a “game-time decision” back in September, but Weigman returned for an Oct. 5 win over Mizzou and also started last week’s win over Mississippi State.

However, Weigman’s play in that latter game (217 passing yards and one touchdown with two interceptions and a 60.0 percent completion mark) has some wondering if he deserves to keep the starting spot. Meanwhile, LSU has a more settled and impressive QB situation with junior QB Garrett Nussmeier, who has 2,222 passing yards and 18 touchdowns against six interceptions with a 64.7 percent completion mark. But the Aggies have only allowed 209.0 passing yards per game so far, so we’ll see what they can do to slow down the Tigers.

No. 3 Penn State @ Wisconsin
7:30 p.m.
NBC
Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge

South Dakota vs South Dakota State
7:30 p.m.
ESPNU
Lowell Galindo, Fozzy Whittaker

Michigan State @ Michigan
7:30 p.m.
BTN
Jeff Levering, Jake Butt

Auburn @ Kentucky
7:45 p.m.
SECN
Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb

Kansas @ No. 16 Kansas State
8:00 p.m.
ESPN2
Roy Philpott, Sam Acho

No. 22 Southern Methodist @ Duke
8:00 p.m.
ACCN
Wes Durham, Tom Luginbill

San Jose State @ Fresno State
8:00 p.m.
TruTV
Ari Wolfe, Darius Walker

Cincinnati @ Colorado
10:15 p.m.
ESPN
Mark Jones, Roddy Jones

Washington State @ San Diego State
10:30 p.m.
CBSSN
Carter Blackburn, Taylor McHargue

Nevada @ Hawaii
11:59 p.m.
Hawaii PPV, Team1Sports

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.