Week 5 is here and we’ve got some really big games. As always, we’ll be updating all day Saturday. Here we go.
The big games
All times ET
They don’t get much bigger than a huge Big Ten showdown between No. 4 Ohio State at No. 9 Penn State (7:30 p.m. ABC), played amid the Nittany Lions’ annual White Out.
2⃣4⃣ Hours.
There is NOTHING like a Penn State White Out.
Just ask these guys. ⬇️#PSUWhiteOut#WeAre pic.twitter.com/4vZJU1khr2— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) September 28, 2018
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No. 12 West Virginia at No. 25 Texas Tech, noon, ESPN2
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Pittsburgh at No. 13 UCF, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU
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No. 18 Texas at Kansas State, 3:30 p.m., FS1
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No. 7 Stanford at No. 8 Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m., NBC
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No. 20 BYU at No. 11 Washington, 8:30 p.m., FOX
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No. 19 Oregon at No. 24 Cal, 10:30 p.m., FS1
Speaking of white outs, Oregon will wear its “Stormtrooper” uniforms for the trip to Berkeley.
Traveling storm. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/LWpPrttiXe
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) August 16, 2018
Hey man, whatever works
Syracuse’s 27-24 upset of No. 2 Clemson last year was one of the biggest wins in school history, and easily one of the most shocking upsets of 2017. Some of Syracuse’s motivation came from an unlikely source.
Syracuse players say they were livid last year when they found out that Clemson had outbid Syracuse to secure accommodations at the downtown Crowne Plaza, where the Orange usually stay before games. Players found out the week of the game that they instead would be staying at the DoubleTree.
“It was like, ‘Let them stay there,'” offensive tackle Jamar McGloster said. “And then tomorrow, we’re going to go there and show them why we should’ve stayed there.”
Coach Dino Babers admits now that the hotel called him up and told him about Clemson’s bid, and he told them to take the extra money. But in an apparent stroke of genius, he did not let his players know.
On Saturday, Syracuse plays at No. 3 Clemson (noon, ABC) and the closest Crowne Plaza is like 35 miles away, so who knows what’s gonna happen?
Salty in Starkville
Before the 2015 season, Dan Mullen’s defensive coordinator, Geoff Collins, left Mississippi State to become the defensive coordinator at Florida, which Mullen derided as a “lateral move.” Bulldog fans lapped it up like it was frozen custard or something.
When Mullen left for his “dream job” at Florida, fans in Starkville remembered, and man, did a frozen custard shop throw that right back in his FACE.
Dan Mullen used to order the same off-menu creation each time he visited the Starkville frozen custard drive-thru called Bop’s: vanilla concrete, topped with chocolate syrup, caramel, chocolate chips and M&Ms.
Bop’s named it The Mullen.
It’s now called The Lateral Move. pic.twitter.com/2hulLDSLWL
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 26, 2018
That is at least pretty clever, though. A couple of others were a little less subtle. A local company ordered 500 of these rather straightforward T-shirts and they sold out in a few days.
If you’re looking for a shirt to wear to the MSU/Florida game, @MaroonAndCo has you covered.https://t.co/a6FGYwIxF0 pic.twitter.com/YLkL7pE5n6
— Brandon Walker (@BWalker_SEC) September 18, 2018
And a coffee shop got in on the act with a little misdirection.
Well then pic.twitter.com/Udpfs8W14P
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) September 28, 2018
Just repeat about 120 times
Tulane beat Memphis 40-24 on Thursday night while also wearing new helmets with a giant rendition of their angry wave/face mascot thing. They’re pretty darn cool, but look how much work they are for these nice equipment folks!
We know, we know… you’re loving our new helmets.
🎥 Take a look at how each one comes to life:
(Skills provided by @HighDEVINition8 of @TulaneEquipment.)#RollWave pic.twitter.com/TnWOpC6YSl
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) September 27, 2018
The homer highway
Texas A&M and Arkansas are meeting at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, (noon, ESPN) and the Texas Department of Transportation is taking sides, with fans seeing digital signs all over major roads in the state.
According to KAGS in Bryan, Texas, Marc Williams, deputy executive director for TxDOT, is an A&M alum from the class of 1990. He says they try to come up with creative signs to get attention and combat distracted driving. But what of the people taking pictures of the signs?
On the way to @ATTStadium ? @TxDOT reminds you to drive safely. @TAMU @AggieFootball @RazorbackFB #GigEm #DriveSafe 👍👍👍 pic.twitter.com/pPUen453YQ
— Marc Williams, TxDOT (@MarcWilliamsTX) September 28, 2018
He snuck a little rivalry zinger out there on Twitter, too.
…Thinking that for the signs on I-30 from #Arkansas we should have said to keep the tin cans and string down too 🤔 pic.twitter.com/peidB0K6Wr
— Marc Williams, TxDOT (@MarcWilliamsTX) September 28, 2018