- No. 8 Mississippi faces pressure to stay focused on Oklahoma amid coaching rumors surrounding Lane Kiffin.
- No. 19 LSU hopes to salvage its season and playoff chances with a crucial game against No. 3 Texas A&M.
- Nebraska coach Matt Rhule is under scrutiny to keep the Cornhuskers on track following a recent loss.
Last weekend’s competitive loss at No. 5 Georgia didn’t do too much damage to No. 8 Mississippi’s College Football Playoff hopes.
A lopsided loss at No. 11 Oklahoma would ignite a deeper look at the Rebels’ credentials, though, given that four of their six wins to date have come against teams with a losing record and the three remaining SEC opponents — South Carolina, Florida and Mississippi State — are a combined 3-9 in conference play.
This potential debate comes with coach Lane Kiffin the top contender for the Florida opening. In many ways, he represents the ideal hire for a program searching for a Steve Spurrier-like offensive technician.
What happens on Saturday won’t impact the Gators’ search or his candidacy for the position. Still, the pressure is on Kiffin to keep the Rebels focused on the Sooners and not distracted by the nonstop churning of the rumor mill.
He’s been in this position before. Kiffin famously left Tennessee after just one season for Southern California. He also dealt with coaching rumors during his final season at Florida Atlantic but was still able to pilot the Owls to the Conference USA championship.
Kiffin, No. 19 LSU and Nebraska coach Matt Rhule lead the USA TODAY Sports preview of the team, game, coach and quarterback facing the most pressure in Week 9 of the regular season:
Team: No. 19 LSU
LSU can salvage an increasingly dire season by knocking off No. 3 Texas A&M in Death Valley. A win vaults the Tigers back into the thick of the College Football Playoff chase with the bonus of taking pressure off coach Brian Kelly.
The offense has to show up. LSU has failed to score more than 24 points in six games against Bowl Subdivision teams and ranks near the bottom of the SEC in every major category, including rushing yards, yards per game and yards per play.
The Aggies’ 45-42 victory against Arkansas could provide a blueprint. The Razorbacks ran for 268 yards and compiled 527 yards overall in a major setback for a defense that had allowed a combined 36 points in three previous SEC wins.
A third loss would be devastating for the Tigers’ playoff hopes given road trips in November to No. 4 Alabama and Oklahoma. This is also must-win territory for Kelly, who hit the ground running in Baton Rouge but has totally failed to capitalize on his early success.
Game: Houston at No. 25 Arizona State
This is one of two nationally relevant games in the Big 12, joining No. 10 Brigham Young’s trip to Iowa State.
Houston has joined No. 21 Cincinnati as the league’s biggest success stories, even if the Cougars’ 6-1 start under second-year coach Willie Fritz has been goosed by one of the easiest schedules in the Power Four.
The Sun Devils rocketed up the conference standings by beating No. 15 Texas Tech 26-22, moving them one game behind the Cougars and Bearcats and giving them a huge tiebreaker over the Red Raiders.
The defending conference champions are starting to get more out of quarterback Sam Leavitt. He struggled out of the gate this season, including a dud in a surprising loss to Mississippi State, but has four touchdowns without an interception in conference play.
He could be in for a big game against a Houston pass defense that allowed Arizona to hit on 24 of 26 attempts for 269 yards in last weekend’s 31-28 win. But Leavitt will be without one of the nation’s top receivers in junior Jordyn Tyson, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury.
The stakes are clear. With a win, Houston goes from sneaky contender to a legitimate threat for the Big 12 crown. Arizona State would take another step toward a repeat and stay one step ahead of the Red Raiders.
Coach: Matt Rhule, Nebraska
Nebraska’s 24-6 drubbing at the hands of Minnesota last Friday splashed a bucket of cold water on what had been a feel-good 5-1 start in Rhule’s third season.
Losses happen, especially to the Golden Gophers; coach P.J. Fleck has won seven of eight in the series, quietly becoming the Cornhuskers’ biggest nemesis this side of Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.
However, that the loss came as Rhule was considered the most-likely candidate to replace James Franklin at Penn State has threatened to engulf Nebraska’s season and the work he’s done to drag the program back toward respectability.
What happens against Northwestern will determine whether the Cornhuskers build on last year’s seven-win finish. The November schedule is not easy: Southern California comes to Lincoln, followed by road trips to UCLA and Penn State before returning to Memorial Stadium to host Iowa.
And what happens this season could determine the trajectory of Rhule’s career. While he’s very much the top candidate at Penn State, that becomes a harder sell for athletics director and longtime friend Pat Kraft if the Cornhuskers finish with six or even seven wins during the regular season.
Quarterback: Carson Beck, Miami
Miami is almost a 30-point favorite at home against Stanford, which might’ve knocked off Florida State in Palo Alto, California, but would need a borderline miracle to do the same to the Hurricanes.
Well, either a miracle or another four interceptions from Beck. His giveaways led to No. 22 Louisville’s 24-21 upset last Friday and rekindled the concerns over turnovers that defined his final season at Georgia.
From the perspective of the Heisman Trophy, that performance is going to be nearly impossible for Beck to live down. But more broadly, Miami lost by a field goal against an opponent now ranked despite being minus-three in turnover margin; the Hurricanes will be very hard to beat in the ACC if they can play clean football.
That starts on Saturday. The only way the Cardinal mount a challenge is if Beck plays sloppy football.