College football games today: Week 5 schedule for Friday

College football’s Week 5 schedule promises to be an action-packed Saturday with four games involving head-to-head matchups with ranked teams on the same field, but before that gets underway, Friday night lights brings us some early consequential football today.

Today’s early action brings us three games in primetime, two of which will feature ranked teams, including one top 10 squad that emerged as a surprise playoff contender early this season, and another postseason hopeful out of the Big 12 facing off against the conference’s reigning champion.

Here’s what you need to know as Friday’s college football schedule gets underway across the country.

College football games today: Week 5 schedule for Friday

All times Eastern, and game lines are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

Florida State at Virginia
Fri., Sept. 26 | 7 p.m. | ESPN

Line: Florida State -6.5

No team in college football scores as many points per game as the Seminoles, who come into this weekend ranked No. 1 nationally by putting up 58 points per game on average, a number that will come down as ACC play opens up, but illustrates just what kind of a turnaround Tommy Castellanos has enabled early this season.

Florida State’s quarterback is a dual threat in his own right, but this team boasts a very potent rushing attack in the backfield, ranking second in the country by posting 363 yards per game on the ground and scoring an FBS-best 17 rushing touchdowns.

Virginia shouldn’t be overlooked. Despite being 10 games under .500 in three-plus years, head coach Tony Elliott is 3-1 and boasting an offense that has been putting up points itself.

Chandler Morris ranks fourth in the conference with 8 passing touchdowns and his 1,050 yards throwing the ball are the fifth-most in the ACC. This will be the best defense he faces so far, but the early returns are positive.

--

TCU at Arizona State
Fri., Sept. 26 | 9 p.m. | Fox

Line: Arizona State -3.5

Arizona State is the reigning Big 12 champion but a surprise loss on the road against Mississippi State prevents it from having a perfect record this season.

Sam Leavitt returns to pilot the Sun Devils’ offense in tandem with star receiver Jordyn Tyson, and they could find a few angles against the TCU cornerbacks in this matchup.

But the Horned Frogs play some good offense themselves, with quarterback Josh Hoover coming off a personal-best 5 touchdown game, and throwing to some elite receiving threats heading into their Big 12 opener.

--

Houston at Oregon State
Fri., Sept. 26 | 10:30 p.m. | ESPN

Line: Houston -13.5

Oregon State is yet to win a game this season, and as the underdog in this Friday night matchup, it could be on pace to start 0-5 for the first time since the 1996 season.

Key to that failure is a rushing attack that ranks 131st in the country, averaging just 70 total yards on the ground per game and posting a meager 2.6 yards per carry.

Houston is undefeated in part because of its success rushing the football, coming into this game averaging over 200 yards on the ground each time out, but this Cougars offensive line has struggled at times keeping the quarterback clean.

--

AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 5

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Ohio State (52)
2. Miami (7)
3. Penn State (5)
4. LSU
5. Georgia
6. Oregon (1)
7. Oklahoma (1)
8. Florida State
9. Texas A&M
10. Texas
11. Indiana
12. Texas Tech
13. Ole Miss
14. Iowa State
15. Tennessee
16. Georgia Tech
17. Alabama
18. Vanderbilt
19. Michigan
20. Missouri
21. USC
22. Notre Dame
23. Illinois
24. TCU
25. BYU

--