2022 College Football Insider Week 5

Quote of the week

TEAM TO WATCH: Minnesota

The undefeated Gophers faced a huge test in their conference opener at Michigan State, in the top 25 until last week. After a whopping 34-7 victory in East Lansing, 4-0 Minnesota earned the No. 21 spot in this week’s rankings—and notice from college football faithfuls.

The Gophers lost top receiver Chris Autman-Bell for the season to injury last week, but quarterback Tanner Morgan proved he can spread the ball around, with completions to 10 different players. He leads the country’s number three offense in yards per game (543). The Gophers are second in rushing yards per game, bolstered by running back Mohamed Ibrahim’s 567 total yards, also the nation’s second highest.

Conference play brings tough matchups for the Gophers, who continue their bid for a Big Ten Championship against Purdue this Saturday at 9:00 a.m. PHX on ESPN2.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Kansas State

After a surprising home loss against Tulane, K-State rebounded in a difficult week four matchup at Big 12 rival Oklahoma. The Wildcats have had recent success against the Sooners and added another chapter when they held out on Saturday to stun No. 6 ranked OU in Norman, 41-34.

Up 14-0 within 10 minutes of the game, K-State’s offense started strong led by transfer quarterback Adrian Martinez. Martinez set a career high with five touchdowns—four rushing, one passing—and 382 yards of total offense. He also had no interceptions and wasn’t sacked.

The win squeezed the Wildcats into the rankings at No. 25 and sent the Sooners from No. 6 to 18. K-State faces challenging Big 12 opponents the rest of the season in its quest to return to the conference title game. Its next game is at home against Texas Tech at 9:00 a.m. PHX time on ESPN+.

“It’s always fun to do stuff that nobody thinks you can do. Coming down here 26-point underdogs and kicking their butt like we did… there was no fluke to this.”

- Middle Tennessee State Head Coach Rick Stockstill on his team’s upset win over then-No. 25 Miami

games of the week

#4 MICHIGAN AT IOWA

10.1 | 9:00 AM | FOX

#2 ALABAMA AT #20 ARKANSAS

10.1 | 12:30 PM | CBS

#9 OKLAHOMA STATE AT #16 BAYLOR

10.1 | 12:30 PM | FOX

#22 WAKE FOREST AT #23 FLORIDA STATE

10.1 | 12:30 PM | ABC

#10 NC STATE AT #5 CLEMSON

10.1 | 4:30 PM | ABC

For a full schedule of Week Five games, click here . (All times in MST)

2022 Bowl PREDICTIONS

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

SEMIFINAL AT THE VRBO FIESTA BOWL:

ESPN – Ohio State vs. Alabama

College Football News – Ohio State vs. Alabama

USA Today – Ohio State vs. Alabama

CBS – Ohio State vs. Alabama

Sports Illustrated – USC vs. Oklahoma State

Action Network – Ohio State vs. Alabama

AP

Rankings

For the full AP Top 25 Rankings,

game of the week

#7 KENTUCKY AT #14 MISSISSIPPI

Two of the remaining 21 undefeated teams face off in this pivotal SEC matchup. Both Kentucky and Ole Miss have handled their early matchups with relative ease, but now face the tough road that is conference play in the SEC.

Saturday’s game will be the third in five years between the Wildcats and the Rebels, with Ole Miss claiming wins in their last two meetings. Kentucky running back Chris Rodriguez has the potential to be a difference-maker against an Ole Miss defense that ranks sixth in FBS with only 10.0 points allowed per game.

Kickoff is at 9:00 a.m. PHX on ESPN.

GUARANTEED RATE BOWL:

ESPN Bonagura – Iowa vs. Kansas State

ESPN Schlabach – Iowa vs. Texas Tech

College Football News – Purdue vs. Iowa State

USA Today – Maryland vs. TCU

CBS – Maryland vs. Iowa State

Action Network – Illinois vs. Kansas State

Rookie wide receiver and 2019 Fiesta Bowl alum Chris Olave was the 11th overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft. Through three weeks of his first professional campaign, Olave leads Saints wideouts in receiving yards— including fellow Ohio State alum Michael Thomas—and leads all rookie receivers as well. His 268 yards have him on pace for 1,518 by the end of the season, which would be more than any rookie receiver in history.

Olave’s Fiesta Bowl touchdown reception was part of a storied career at Ohio State. He is third all-time in career receptions (176) for the Buckeyes and fifth all-time in career receiving yards (2,711). If he continues at his current pace, his rookie campaign could be record-setting.

The Saints host the Vikings at 6:30 a.m. PHX on Sunday, October 2, from London.

Big NEWS!

Big Ten Big 12

• The Big Ten has four teams in the AP Top 25 heading into week four: No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Michigan, No. 11 Penn State and No. 21 Minnesota.

• Of the 21 FBS teams that remain undefeated, four are from the Big Ten: Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State and Minnesota. Minnesota is the only undefeated team in the Big Ten West, followed by 3-1 Iowa and Illinois.

• Michigan and Minnesota currently rank among the top 15 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Wolverines rank second nationally in scoring offense, averaging 50.0 points per contest, while ranking seventh in scoring defense (11.0 points per game). The Gophers rank second nationally in scoring defense (6.0 points per game), while ranking 11th in scoring offense (45.8 points per game).

•

The Big 12 has four teams in the AP Top 25 this week: No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 16 Baylor, No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 25 Kansas State. Kansas, Texas Tech and TCU also received votes. Of the 21 FBS teams that remain undefeated, three are from the Big 12: Kansas, Oklahoma State and TCU.

• The Big 12 is the only conference in which 80% of teams finished the first month of play with a winning record. The Big 12 is one of two conferences (SEC) with all teams at .500 or higher.

• The Big 12’s .960 (24-1) win percentage against unranked non-conference opponents leads the nation and the one loss is the fewest.

• Kansas’ Jalon Daniels maintains the nation’s highest QBR (98.0), with TCU’s Max Duggan (86.7), Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel (80.3) and Fiesta Bowl alum Spencer Sanders of Oklahoma State (80.0) in the top 20.

The Guaranteed Rate Bowl features Bowl Season’s only Big Ten vs. Big 12 matchup. As we eagerly await the Dec. 27 kickoff, we’re bringing you weekly game highlights, player reports, and other updates from the two conferences. Here’s the BIG news for week five:

MORE THAN JUST A GAME

REWARD A TEACHER WITH PALO VERDE FIESTA BOWL CHARITIES Wishes for Teachers

In what has become one of Arizona’s most impactful teacher support initiatives, the Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers program provides grants to Arizona teachers for use in their classrooms. The seventh annual program will provide $2,500 awards to 400 teachers, for a total of $1 million in donations.

Applications are still open for all Arizona K-12 public and charter school teachers through this Friday, September 30 at 5 p.m. Teachers simply fill out the online application at www.WishesForTeachers.org, detailing the teacher’s school or classroom need.

Created in 2016, the Fiesta Bowl organization saw that many teachers spent their own money to enhance their classroom experience and developed a program to aid teachers in that effort. In its six years, Wishes for Teachers granted $4.7 million to 1,200 Arizona teachers, impacting 500,000+ students across the state.

The Fiesta Bowl announced legendary Suns announcer Al McCoy as its 2022 Grand Marshal for the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade presented by Lerner & Rowe. McCoy, the longest-tenured announcer in NBA history entering his 51st season, personifies this year’s parade theme of “Legends Made Here” and shares the Fiesta Bowl’s commitment to making a positive impact on Arizona.

McCoy will lead the December 17 parade through its two-mile route in Central Phoenix, beginning at 10 a.m. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Fiesta Bowl Parade, recognized statewide as the highest-attended single day event with 100,000 attendees.

The Fiesta Bowl once again invites and encourages groups to submit an application and be one of those selected entries by Friday, September 30, 2022 to be a part of the Parade.

Al McCoy NAMED VRBO FIESTA BOWL PARADE PRESENTED BY LERNER & ROWE GRAND MARSHAL