Previewing Florida-Texas A&M, FSU-Notre Dame, USF-East Carolina and more

Viewing guide

Lamest time window: None. There are excellent matchups in every slot. Enjoy!

Noon: No. 4 Florida at Jimbo Fisher’s No. 21 Aggies is the most important locally. But No. 19 Virginia Tech at No. 8 North Carolina could be the most entertaining and the most relevant nationally.

3:30: We’ll see if No. 14 Tennessee is really an SEC East contender when it travels to No. 3 Georgia.

6: Temple finally plays its first game, against underachieving Navy.

7:30: No. 1 Clemson finally gets a challenge against No. 7 Miami.

Local of the week

Virginia Tech defensive end Justus Reed (Clearwater Central Catholic)

After previous stops at Florida and Youngstown State, Reed has found a home at Virginia Tech. He’s one of the team’s most disruptive players with two sacks through two games. If he and the No. 19 Hokies can pressure North Carolina star quarterback Sam Howell, Virginia Tech will have a chance against the No. 8 Tar Heels.

USF’s turnover edge

Only eight teams in the country have forced more turnovers than USF (seven). Expect more of that this weekend. East Carolina’s seven turnovers lost are tied for the seventh most in the nation.

QB gurus

Florida’s Dan Mullen and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher both have reputations as excellent quarterback developers:

Dan Mullen

Heisman Trophy winner: Tim Tebow

No. 1 overall pick: Alex Smith

Other notable quarterbacks drafted: Tebow, Dak Prescott, Josh Harris

Current passer: Kyle Trask (sixth nationally with 196.4 passing efficiency)

Jimbo Fisher

Heisman Trophy winner: Jameis Winston

No. 1 overall picks: Winston, JaMarcus Russell

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Other notable quarterbacks drafted: EJ Manuel, Christian Ponder, Rohan Davey

Current passer: Kellen Mond (125 yards from passing Jerrod Johnson for the most passing yards in Aggies history)

Slow-starting Seminoles staff

Sluggish offensive starts don’t concern Florida State coordinator Kenny Dillingham.

“That’s one thing if you look at the track record of this offense, it usually gets better throughout the season because we figure out what we’re good at.”

The numbers at Memphis back him up:

2016

August-October: 37.4 ppg

November-January: 41.2 ppg

2017

August-September: 35.5 ppg

October-January: 50 ppg

2018

August-October: 42.5 ppg

November-January: 43.5

2019

August-September: 36.8 ppg

October-January: 41.9 ppg

GameDay breakdown

As ESPN’s David Hale pointed out, tight ends have troubled Clemson at times. FSU’s Nick O’Leary put up 161 yards in the 2013 blowout. The Bucs' O.J. Howard had 208 yards for Alabama to earn the 2015 national championship. LSU’s Thaddeus Moss caught two touchdowns in last season’s title game. Tight end also happens to be a position of strength at Miami; the Hurricanes are high on Will Mallory, and Brevin Jordan is the best tight end in the country outside of Florida’s Kyle Pitts. Miami’s upset hopes could hinge on whether Jordan and Mallory find enough holes in the defense.

Hurricanes history lesson

Miami’s last win against the nation’s No. 1 team was a 27-24 upset of Florida State in 2000 (Wide Right III). The Hurricanes were ranked seventh at the time. Is that an omen for this time, as No. 7 Miami tries to knock off No. 1 Clemson?

Eye on the NFL draft

Clemson doesn’t get many real challenges, so use this game as a chance to enjoy its top-tier playmakers. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence has been a presumptive first-round pick since high school and is the best NFL passing prospect since … Andrew Luck? Peyton Manning? John Elway? Running back Travis Etienne is electric, too. We’ll see if Miami’s own talented defenders can contain them.

Audible

“I wish it was the old one, the one we played at Tennessee that didn’t score any touchdowns.” — Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who faces his former boss, Nick Saban. Alas, Alabama is third nationally at 45 points per game.

Hurricane Delta

It wouldn’t be football season in the South without storms messing up schedules. The LSU-Missouri game moved from Baton Rouge to Columbia. Coastal Carolina’s trip to No. 23 Louisiana Lafayette was postponed to Wednesday. And the kickoff for No. 2 Alabama’s game at Ole Miss was moved back 90 minutes to 7:30 p.m. to try to play in drier conditions.

BYU behemoth

No, the No. 15 Cougars have not yet played a good team. But their dominance is still impressive. BYU leads the nation in total offense and total defense while ranking in the top 10 nationally in more than 30 offensive categories and more than 20 defensive categories. Quarterback Zach Wilson has as many touchdowns (11) as incompletions. Will 3-1 Texas San Antonio finally provide a challenge?

Red River remains

For the first time since 2008, the Oklahoma-Texas shootout at the Cotton Bowl doesn’t feature either team in the top 20. It is, however, still relevant. Tom Herman is 1-3 against the Sooners since taking over the No. 22 Longhorns, and his unimpressive 2-1 start would be hot-seat fodder during normal years. A win, even in these circumstances, would help his standing among Texas boosters.

By the numbers

8 Consecutive wins by Tennessee, tied with Notre Dame for the second-longest active streak in the country

15 Years since the Volunteers beat a top-five team (a 30-27 overtime win over No. 4 LSU)

2012 The last time Florida visited Texas A&M. It was the first college game for Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel

6 Overtimes needed in last year’s Virginia Tech-North Carolina game, a 43-41 Hokies win that was the longest game in ACC history

$10 million Approximate total buyout from Arkansas to former coach Chad Morris, who will face the Razorbacks as No. 13 Auburn’s offensive coordinator

6-3 FSU’s all-time record against Notre Dame

3 Consecutive games the Irish have had a 100-yard rusher