College football Week 5: No. 5 Ohio State gets its first real test, at Nebraska

Coming off a week in which five ranked teams were defeated by teams not in the AP Top 25, Week 5 features two games involving ranked opponents.

But it’s a contest between a top-five team and a former resident of the rankings that has our eye.

The prevailing thought was that AP voters had overrated Nebraska when they voted the Cornhuskers 24th in the 2019 preseason poll. After a 1-1 start, the Huskers not only fell out of the Top 25, but they haven’t gotten a single vote the last three weeks.

Now Ohio State comes into Lincoln having outscored its first four opponents, 214-36, under new coach Ryan Day. The Buckeyes are on a high, but they’d be foolish to forget last year’s game against Nebraska when quarterback Adrian Martinez (338 total yards, three touchdowns) engineered a near-upset, with Ohio State escaping, 36-31.

The Cornhuskers, who haven’t defeated a top-five team since 2001, would like to prove their preseason ranking was not a mistake. They rolled for 673 yards last week against Illinois, but four turnovers kept the game close in their 42-38 victory. Martinez threw for 327 yards and rushed for 118.

Justin Fields, who originally committed in high school to Penn State, flipped to Georgia, then transferred to Ohio State, has thrown for 13 touchdowns without an interception. The Huskers have picked off six passes, so he will have to be sharp in the middle of one of the best college football environments.

The Fighting Irish fought last week in a 23-17 loss at No. 3 Georgia, and that begs the question: Have they recovered enough physically and mentally to resist the challenge of the surprising Cavaliers?

“I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot physically,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “We’re only three weeks into the season. We had a bye week. It is not like we’re begging for a week off. We came out of [Georgia] pretty good. I think our guys are ready for more; that’s the sense I got.”

The Cavaliers, looking for their first 5-0 start since 2004, are 14th in FBS in total defense, allowing 263.8 yards per game, and their 20 sacks are tied for first in the nation. Irish quarterback Ian Book was not sacked in 47 passing attempts against Georgia.

Note: ACC teams have lost 20 straight games against a ranked Notre Dame team in South Bend.

Hey, here’s a game the Wolverines can win. But after a 35-14 beating at Wisconsin, which followed lackluster wins over Army (in double overtime) and Middle Tennessee, Jim Harbaugh’s team needs to prove to the world — and especially Michigan fans — that it can rise to the preseason hype and contend for the Big Ten title.

Harbaugh, who is 8-11 versus ranked teams but just 1-9 against Top 10 opponents, might be feeling a little heat, but the thought is he’ll be allowed to fix whatever is ailing the Wolverines.

The site BetOnline listed odds this week as to who else might be coaching Michigan in Week 1 of the 2020 season. The fifth choice is none other than Urban Meyer, the former Ohio State coach. In a radio interview Wednesday in Columbus, a host jokingly asked Meyer about it, and he replied, “No, that’s not going to happen.”

Someone pointed out this week that Tar Heels freshman Sam Howell has a higher passing efficiency rating (35th) than Trevor Lawrence (54th), the Tigers’ quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate. Howell has thrown for nine touchdowns with two interceptions. Lawrence, with seven TDs, has thrown five picks.

But Dabo Swinney has pointed out that he does not want to wear out his starters in lopsided games. Three of Clemson’s wins have been by 38, 35 and 42 points. Lawrence left last week’s game in the second quarter.

“If we leave Trevor out there, he could have had all kind of stats and could have been written up for the Heisman this week,” the Tigers coach said. “But we [aren’t] interested in that. We are just interested in winning the game, winning with class and not getting anybody hurt.”

Lawrence doesn’t mind. “Guys get opportunities,” he said. “I love that, and if I were in their shoes, I would want the same thing.”

Man, have you seen the numbers Jalen Hurts has put up for the Sooners? The Alabama transfer is second in the nation in total offense with a 417.7-yard average, first in passing efficiency (80.3%, 880 yards, nine touchdowns, zero interceptions), and 10th in rushing at 124.3 yards per game.

This is the Trojans’ fifth game of 2019, and junior Matt Fink will be their third starting quarterback. Fink came on last week after Kedon Slovis was injured on the second play of the game and passed for 351 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Utah.

Fink will be his team’s only scholarship quarterback. Among his backups are a starting wide receiver and a walk-on safety.

- After managing just 42 points in its first three games, UCLA scored 50 points in the second half last week and defeated Washington State, 67-63. The Bruins will host Arizona in what could be another shootout between two of the nation’s worst defenses, units that have allowed 1,012 combined yards per game on average.

- No. 7 Auburn has gotten off to an impressive start defeating a pair of ranked teams, including Texas A&M on the road last week. The Tigers return home to take on Mississippi State, which will pound them with Kylin Hill, the top rusher in the SEC.

- It’s another ho-hum Saturday for second-ranked Alabama, and Tua Tagovailoa gets to add to his numbers — 17 touchdown passes, zero picks — against a Mississippi defense that is allowing 288 passing yards per game.

Alex Pechin, a fifth-year senior at Bucknell who played his high school football at Unionville, is the top punter in FCS. The 6-foot, 210-pound Pechin, who was named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy given to the nation’s top football scholar-athlete, is averaging 50.3 yards per punt, with 15 of his 22 punts covering 50 yards or more.