Top 10 storylines for college football Week 7

Two games featuring top-10 teams headline what should be a fantastic weekend of college football in Week 7.

No. 1 Alabama will attempt to conquer yet another SEC foe when it hits the road for the second week in a row to take on No. 9 Tennessee. Later in the evening No. 2 Ohio State will take on No. 8 Wisconsin in a critical Big 10 battle with potential playoff implications.

We’ll take a close look at both of these huge games and eight more as we break down the biggest storylines for college football Week 7.

1. Can the Badgers hand the Buckeyes their first loss?

No. 8 Wisconsin presents a unique challenge to No. 2 Ohio State this Saturday in that the Badgers feature the kind of dominant defense the Buckeyes have yet to face.

There is no single area of weakness on Wisconsin’s defense, which kept Michigan in check at The Big House two weeks ago to the tune of just 14 points. Taking this game off the table, the Wolverines have averaged 57.2 points per game, which is more than the 53.2 points per game Ohio State has averaged to this point.

Interestingly, Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett is coming off the worst game of his season in which he went 9-of-21 for just 91 yards passing with one late touchdown to go along with his one interception.

Another game like that will send the Buckeyes back home to Columbus with a dreaded tick on the old loss column.

Of course, this concept of dominant defense making life difficult for an opponent works the other way as well. Ohio State’s defense has been brutally tough this year, allowing just 10.8 points per game.

Freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook had a terrible outing against Michigan. He was rattled in that game and must bounce back with a strong showing at home to avoid two straight losses. That hasn’t stopped him from taking a confident approach to the upcoming Big Ten tilt.

, per ESPN’s Jesse Temple. “We still have opportunities ahead of us, and that’s a big thing for us.”

Look for both teams to attempt establishing the running game, which will be crucial to keeping pass rushers at bay.

It should be quite an epic showdown Saturday night in Madison. Camp Randall Stadium will be rocking and rolling for this Big Ten prime-time slugfest.

2. Will ‘Bama continue steamrolling SEC competition?

Ever since Ole Miss went up over No. 1 Alabama by three touchdowns in the second quarter in Week 3, the Crimson Tide have been on a roll against their SEC competition.

As we know, Nick Saban’s team woke up from its slumber in that game, winning by five points on the road, and never looked back.

Last weekend the Razorbacks had no chance of keeping Alabama’s offense from moving the ball, either on the ground or through the air. And on the other side, the Crimson Tide brought wave after wave of defensive pressure to bear on Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen, who threw three interceptions to Minkah Fitzpatrick — one of which went 100 yards the other way for six.

Up next in Alabama’s crosshairs is No. 9 Tennessee, which finally ran out of late-game luck last weekend against Texas A&M.

The Vols have a solid, but not great, defense and an offense that tends to take a while to get rolling. That could spell doom this Saturday, even at home against this behemoth known as Alabama.

The atmosphere at Neyland Stadium is always electric. Tennessee fans will be there to paint a glorious sea of orange. But it may not matter. Alabama should keep steamrolling its way through the SEC en route to another top finish in the conference.

3. Lamar Jackson back in action after brutal loss

Jackson and No. 7 Louisville got an extra week to lick their wounds after being defeated by Clemson by a narrow margin in Week 5. The Cardinals will be hosting Duke on Friday night, which has as a feather in its cap this year a win over Notre Dame.

That’s really not an indication that the Blue Devils will be any kind of threat to the Cardinals, however. Notre Dame is a sinking ship, while Louisville is still right in the thick of things as a national power midway though the season.

So while we aren’t expecting a tightly contested affair, this game will be all about watching Jackson do things that only he can do. A rare athlete who runs like the wind and carves up opposing defensive secondaries with a rocket arm, he’s got a stranglehold on the Heisman Trophy.

Just please, don’t ask him for an autograph.

With 28 touchdowns through just five games, he’s on pace to finish the regular season with 67 touchdowns — a staggering amount. As a point of reference, the most ever for anyone in college football history for a single season is 63, set in 2006 by Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan.

So if you’re not doing anything Friday night and are looking for some cheap entertainment, tune in to ESPN at 7 p.m. ET for a show worth watching.

4. NC State no pushover for Clemson

If NC State manages to win, it would represent one of the bigger upsets of the season. That said, No. 3 Clemson knows that the Wolfpack cannot be taken lightly.

Just last year NC State hung with the Tigers until a 21-point third quarter explosion propelled Clemson to a 15-point win. And while Jacoby Brissett is no longer behind center for Dave Doeren’s program, Ryan Finley has proved quite a nice quarterback for the Wolfpack.

Perhaps the best thing NC State can do Saturday is run the ball and try to move the chains while eating up the clock. Senior Matthew Dayes is the primary back, and he’s had a nice season so far, well on his way to 1,000 yards.

Clemson’s offense is among the most explosive in the nation, but NC State should be able to generate enough scoring to make things interesting. The Wolfpack better be ready to run, because the Tigers are coming off an incredibly dominant performance on the road against Boston College.

Head coach Dabo Swinney summed up just how well his team played.

,” Swinney said Sunday, via the Independent Mail. “Defensively, outside of two or three plays, just a dominant game … Offensively, by far our best game … And then the same thing in special teams.”

It’s homecoming week for Clemson, and this is an early game. You can be sure the Tigers are going to be amped up like crazy to give the 100,000 or so fans at Death Valley something to cheer about.

5. Can West Virginia shut down Patrick Mahomes and the Red Raiders?

Coming off a bye, the No. 20-ranked Mountaineers better have their track shoes ready and a masterful plan to keep Mahomes and Co. in check Saturday in Lubboch, Texas.

West Virginia has a potent offense, but it doesn’t score nearly enough points to win a shootout on the road, especially considering quarterback Skyler Howard has thrown an interception in every game so far this year.

It’s going to be up to defensive coordinator Tony Gibson to devise a scheme that will bring pressure up front while not giving up any room on the back end.

That’s not something most teams have the personnel to do. Mahomes has already passed for 2,274 yards (leads the nation) with 20 touchdowns and just four interceptions in his first five games.

It’s not likely that the Mountaineers will be able to stop the bullet train that is the Red Raiders offensive assault. As such, we’re picking Texas Tech to hold serve at home.

6. Nebraska no lock to beat Indiana

It seems strange that the Cornhuskers are No. 10 in the nation, despite not a single signature win to date. The closest they came to such a thing was in Week 3 against a terribly overrated Oregon Ducks team that played the second half without Royce Freeman and lost by just three in Lincoln.

In fact, it could be argued that Indiana’s win over Michigan State was more impressive than anything Nebraska has done so far this season.

Additionally, Hoosiers held their own against the No. 2 team in the nation last weekend, losing to Ohio State by the score of 34-17. Indiana’s defense was spectacular against the pass in this contest, holding J.T. Barrett to just 93 yards on 9-of-21 passing with a touchdown and an interception.

Playing at home, with those two impressive performances in a row, the Hoosiers have every right to feel confident this weekend hosting Nebraska.

This is especially true considering the Cornhuskers have allowed more yards per play than every team in the Big Ten but one. Look for Richard Lagow and Co. to have success against Nebraska’s overrated defense at home.

On the other side, fans shouldn’t be surprised if Tommy Armstrong ends up a bit more frustrated than usual going up against Indiana’s underrated defensive secondary.

7. Hurricanes facing must-win at home against Tar Heels

It’s quite an interesting divisional battle brewing between North Carolina and No. 16 Miami. Both programs were stunned last weekend at home, albeit in different ways.

The Tar Heels got their teeth kicked in by Virginia Tech (34-3) playing on a soggy field at Chapel Hill, while the Hurricanes lost in agonizing fashion to Florida State thanks to a botched extra point late in the fourth quarter, losing 20-19 to their in-state rival.

It was a brutal way to lose, but things don’t get any easier this weekend.

“Losing to Florida State, that’s not easy to get over, but like you said, we’ve got a big opponent in North Carolina for the Coastal,” running back Mark Walton said, per the Sun-Sentinel. “We just have to have short-term memory and know that if we want to have a chance at the Coastal, we have to get that past us and move on as a team and get better as an offense.”

Both teams desperately need this win, but Miami absolutely must win to have any shot at hanging around as a potential College Football Playoff contender. The Hurricanes also have reason to be extra motivated in this one, as they were torched last year to the tune of 59-21 by the Tar Heels.

It should be a fun game for the average fan to watch. Both teams feature quarterbacks who can move the ball and score points.

Miami’s Brad Kaaya played well last weekend but threw a critical interception. His opponent in Week 7, Mitch Trubisky, was miserable against Virginia Tech and needs to step up his game in a major way to give the Tar Heels a chance.

8. Arkansas faces difficult task to stave off second loss in a row

After hosting and losing to Alabama last week, Bret Bielema’s program gets no reprieve. No. 22 Arkansas will welcome Chad Kelly and No. 12 Ole Miss to Razorback Stadium for another critical SEC showdown that will greatly shape the rest of the season for both teams.

It’s an attractive game for those who like offensive showdowns.

Ole Miss won’t provide nearly the defensive pressure that Alabama did, so Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen should have much more time to actually find his receivers in this game than he did last weekend.

Arkansas’ defense has been effective this year at stopping teams from scoring through the air (five touchdowns allowed) but hasn’t faced an offense like the one Ole Miss features. Chad Kelly regularly connects with his big-play receivers deep down the field, and Arkansas allows nearly 13 yards per reception.

Interestingly, the Razorbacks have had the Rebels’ number the past two years and are the only team to beat them twice from 2014-15.

Expect that trend to change Saturday evening. Since losing to Florida State and Alabama the first three weeks, Ole Miss has tightened things up considerably on defense, and Kelly has been hot.

9. How will Houston respond to being bullied by Navy?

Greg Ward Jr. and Co. were shocked by Navy last weekend. The 46-40 loss ruined No. 13 Houston’s chance at making it into the College Football Playoff later this year, but you can be sure Tom Herman will have his men ready to take on Tulsa at home, regardless.

“I think the guys are itching to get back to work and prove that was an aberration,” Herman said, per the Houston Chronicle.

Tulsa likely doesn’t stand a chance of matching Navy’s feat Saturday night in Houston.

Despite losing just one game so far this year, the Golden Hurricane have let the likes of Fresno and SMU come way to close to beating them the past two games. Even more troubling, Tulsa allows 32 points and 387 yards per game.

Ward should have a field day, both through the air and on the ground.

And after a poor showing against Navy, Houston’s defense will be ready to shut down the strong running game of Tulsa.

It would be doubly shocking to see Houston lose this one after the poor showing against Navy. Don’t bet on it.

10. Two reeling programs clash when Notre Dame hosts Stanford

The fall from grace that is Notre Dame right now is stunning. The Fighting Irish went from starting the season as the No. 10 team in the nation based on AP preseason rankings to a 2-4 squad that can’t stop teams from scoring at will.

Plus, head coach Brian Kelly has become his own worst enemy and an unaccountable buffoon speaking to the media after bad losses (more on that here).

The Irish are hosting another team that has fallen on hard times of late, the Stanford Cardinal, who entered the season No. 8 in the preseason poll. They have lost their last two by wide margins to No. 5 Washington and then Washington State. In fact, the Cardinal lost those two games by a combined score of 86-24.

Needless to say, both programs (now unranked) enter the weekend in desperation mode.

Notre Dame’s season is likely already lost. Winning would signal a sign of life that hasn’t been seen since Week 2.

Stanford still has an outside chance at making some noise in the Pac 12. But one more loss would be catastrophic to the Cardinal.

As a positive to note, two future NFL stars, DeShone Kizer and Christian McCaffrey, will be on display and should have big games for their respective teams.