Best of Week 5: Top 25 preview, picks, betting tips, scores and a push-up robot

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9:41 AM ET

  • ESPN staff

Welcome to college football’s Week 5. We’ve got an old-school blue-blood matchup in Ohio State-Nebraska and a couple of intriguing Pac-12 games in USC-Washington and Washington State-Utah. And there’s a chance for some history: Oklahoma and Notre Dame can each win their 900th game, becoming the sixth and seventh teams in history to reach that mark, joining Michigan, Ohio State, Texas, Alabama and Nebraska.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Jump to: Top 25 games | Best of Week 4

Injury updates and latest news

Picks and gambling tips

play

2:20

Scott Van Pelt picks his winners for Week 5 of the college football season.

All lines courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.

Top 25 games

Texas Tech at No. 6 Oklahoma
Time: Noon ET
How to watch: Fox
Line: Oklahoma -27
And our best line: Oklahoma ranks seventh in the FBS in passing yards per game (352.3) and first in completion percentage (77.9%), while Texas Tech ranks seventh in opponent completion percentage (50%) and third in opponent passing yards per game (133.7).

Northwestern at No. 8 Wisconsin
Time: Noon ET
How to watch: ABC and ESPN app
Line: Wisconsin -24.5
And our best line: Wisconsin ranks first in defensive efficiency, points per game allowed, total defense and third-down conversions allowed this season. Northwestern ranks outside the top 80 in FBS in all those categories.

Middle Tennessee at No. 14 Iowa
Time: Noon ET
How to watch: ESPN2 and ESPN app
Line: Iowa -24
And our best line: Under Kirk Ferentz, Iowa is 31-2 as a ranked team at home against an unranked opponent. The losses came to North Dakota State in 2016 and Northwestern in 2009.

Rutgers at No. 20 Michigan
Time: Noon ET
How to watch: BTN
Line: N/A
And our best line: Shea Patterson has a QBR of 49.9 this season, third worst in the Big Ten. Patterson had the second-best QBR (81.5) in the conference a season ago. The 31.6 decrease is the second worst in the FBS, behind only K.J. Costello (-39.9)

No. 23 Texas A&M vs. Arkansas (at Arlington, Texas)
Time: Noon ET
How to watch: ESPN and ESPN app
Line: Texas A&M -23.5
And our best line: Texas A&M has won seven straight against Arkansas, but three of the past five matchups have gone to overtime, all Texas A&M wins. In nine games since 2010, six have been decided by a touchdown or less.

No. 1 Clemson at North Carolina
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
How to watch: ABC and ESPN app
Line: Clemson -27.5
And our best line: Clemson has pressured opposing quarterbacks an FBS-best 47% of the time this season. UNC freshman QB Sam Howell has been sacked 15 times, fifth most in the FBS

Ole Miss at No. 2 Alabama
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
How to watch: CBS
Line: Alabama -37.5
And our best line: Tua Tagovailoa, with 17 TD passes and no INTs and second in FBS in QBR, is facing an Ole Miss defense that ranks 114th in passing defense and has allowed its past three opponents to throw for more than 300 yards.

No. 18 Virginia at No. 19 Notre Dame
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
How to watch: NBC
Line: Notre Dame -10.5
And our best line: Virginia is tied for the FBS lead with 20 sacks and ranks second with a pressure rate of 41%. Notre Dame’s Ian Book has completed 39% of his passes when under pressure this season, eight percentage points below the FBS average

No. 21 USC at No. 17 Washington
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
How to watch: Fox
Line: Washington -10.5
And our best line: USC handily defeated No. 4 Washington in Seattle in 2016 but hasn’t beaten an AP top 20 team on the road since.

Indiana at No. 25 Michigan State
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
How to watch: Big Ten Network
Line: Michigan State -14
And our best line: The Spartans are seeking their eighth consecutive home win vs. the Hoosiers, which would tie Michigan State’s longest home winning streak (1950-1965) against Indiana in series history.

Towson at No. 9 Florida
Time: 4 p.m. ET
How to watch: SEC Network and ESPN app
Line: N/A
And our best line: Kyle Trask threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns in his first start last week. The last Florida player to throw for 275 or more yards in back-to-back games was Tim Tebow in 2007.

Mississippi State at No. 7 Auburn
Time: 7 p.m. ET
How to watch: ESPN and ESPN app
Line: Auburn -10
And our best line: Auburn is averaging 259.5 rush yards per game, most in the SEC. Mississippi State is allowing 4.5 yards per rush, third most in the SEC.

UConn at No. 22 UCF
Time: 7 p.m. ET
How to watch: ESPN2 and ESPN app
Line: UCF -42.5
And our best line: UConn has lost 18 straight against FBS opponents, last winning against Tulsa in 2017. That’s the longest active streak in FBS and nine games longer than any other active streak.

No. 24 Kansas State at Oklahoma State
Time: 7 p.m. ET
How to watch: ESPN+
Line: Oklahoma State -4.5
And our best line: Oklahoma State has won its past four home games as an unranked team against a ranked one. That’s tied for the longest active winning streak with Mississippi State.

No. 5 Ohio State at Nebraska
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
How to watch: ABC and ESPN app
Line: Ohio State -17
And our best line: Since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, Ohio State is 4-1 with four straight wins against the Huskers by an average of 24.8 points.

Washington State at No. 19 Utah
Time: 10 p.m. ET
How to watch: FS1
Line: Utah -6
And our best line: Washington State is averaging 52.8 points and more than 605 yards, both in the top 5 in FBS. Utah’s defense gives up 14.8 points and 275 yards per game, both in the top 3 of the Pac-12

What the results mean

Arizona State 24, No. 15 Cal 17
Cal was the last remaining undefeated team in the Pac-12 before losing at home to Arizona State, but the Bears’ biggest concern now is the status of starting quarterback Chase Garbers, who left in the first half with an apparent shoulder injury. The Bears have as good a defense as there is in the conference, but were already offensively challenged before Garbers went down. If his injury keeps costs him more time, backup Devon Modster will have to be much more effective than he was against Arizona State (5 of 14, 23 yards, 1 interception). — Kyle Bonagura

Week 5’s best

Our new celebration overlords
Cheerleaders and mascots of the world, take notice. Virginia Tech already has a robot ready to take your place in the world of post-score celebratory pushups.

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0:21

Virginia Tech shows off their push-up robot during its loss vs. Duke.

That’s a spicy nugget
Spotted on Union Bay outside Husky Stadium in Seattle: what appears to be a floating fast-food establishment. Wendy’s replied, confirming it is operational and does have a “sail-thru”.

Everything old is new again
For its Sun Belt opener against Coastal Carolina, Appalachian State is wearing helmets featuring its mascot, Yosef, which is a caricature that dates to 1942. According to App State: “Yosef is mountain talk for ‘yourself,’ with the idea being that if you are an Appalachian alumnus, fan or friend and have a heart filled with black and gold, you are Yosef.”

Charlotte, meanwhile, is featuring its own pipe-smoking mascot, a throwback depiction of Norm the Niner, on its helmets for its homecoming game against FAU.

Texas Tech is wearing all-white throwback uniforms for its trip to Oklahoma.

An unnatural selection
Clemson’s social media folks received a lot of attention with this, uh, interesting teaser for the North Carolina game featuring the Tigers’ captains acting as shepherds leading sheep to their assumed demise. See, the North Carolina mascot is Ramses, a Horned Dorset sheep. And Clemson is the Tigers. Tigers would probably eat sheep. Especially if Tigers (the football guys) were guiding them toward Tigers (the animal kind). Pretty normal stuff, really, if you think about it.

This article was originally published by Espn.com. Read the original article here.
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