Weekend Watch Guide: An Oklahoma State Fan’s Guide to Week 5 of the College Football Season

The Cowboys are off this weekend, as are their Week 6 foe Kansas State, but that just gives us more time to take a look at what’s happening elsewhere around the country.

Here is an Oklahoma State fan’s guide to Week 5 of the 2023 college football season.

Big 12 Schedule

Cincinnati at BYU — 9:15 p.m. Friday on ESPN
No. 24 Kansas at No. 3 Texas — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
Houston at Texas Tech — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FS2
Baylor at UCF — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FS1
Iowa State at No. 14 Oklahoma — 6 p.m. Saturday on FS1
West Virginia at TCU — 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2

After conference newcomers started conference play 0-4, one is guaranteed to get into the win column Friday night in Provo as BYU hosts Cincinnati. The Bearcats have dropped two straight, but they did hold Oklahoma to its lowest scoring output of the season last week. Meanwhile, BYU is coming off an 11-point loss to Kansas in which the Jayhawks scored a pair of defensive touchdowns.

Kansas at Texas will have all the eyeballs being the league’s lone ranked matchup of the weekend. The Jayhawks have won twice against Texas since 2016 with their most recent victory coming in overtime in Austin during the 2021 season.

Former Texas Tech quarterback Donovan Smith will go back to Lubbock this weekend to play the 1-3 Red Raiders. Tech quarterback Tyler Shough suffered an injury that is set to see him miss at least six weeks, leaving the offense in the hands of sophomore Behren Morton.

After being picked last in the preseason, West Virginia has started the 2023 season as good as anyone could’ve imagined at 3-1, and after a Week 1 loss to Colorado, TCU has recovered nicely and also enters Saturday 3-1.

Thursday Helpings

Temple at Tulsa — 6:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN

Tulsa and Temple each enter Thursday night’s contest at 2-2, but both teams’ losses came against Power Five foes. Tulsa is a squad with a handful of former Pokes playing meaningful snaps. Kanion Williams is TU’s second-leading tackler, and Ben Kopenski leads the way with two sacks.

Friday Night (College) Lights

No. 10 Utah at No. 19 Oregon State — 8 p.m. Friday on FS1
Cincinnati at BYU — 9:15 p.m. Friday on ESPN

The Pac-12 is the conference that keeps on giving with the ranked matchups in the league’s swansong season. Oregon State dropped its first game of the season this past week at Washington State, but the Beavers return home to face an unbeaten Utah squad fresh off a 7-point win at home against UCLA.

Saturday Selections

No. 8 USC at Colorado — 11 a.m. Saturday on FOX
Texas A&M vs. Arkansas — 11 a.m. Saturday on SEC Network
No. 13 LSU at No. 20 Ole Miss — 5 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
No. 11 Notre Dame at No. 17 Duke — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
South Carolina at No. 21 Tennessee — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network

After getting flattened in Eugene, Coach Prime and Colorado return to Boulder for a bout with No. 8 USC. Can the Buffaloes recapture the magic of their 3-0 start or was Saturday’s 36-point loss more indicative of where this team is right now?

Texas A&M and Arkansas are two proud programs that are each in an interesting spot entering Saturday’s matchup in AT&T Stadium. A&M enters at 3-1 after a 17-point win against Auburn, but the Aggies lost quarterback Conner Weigman for the season. Meanwhile Arkansas is 2-2 with back-to-back losses to BYU and LSU.

Speaking of LSU, the Tigers travel to Mississippi where the Rebels are fresh off a loss to Alabama. It’s the first ranked team LSU has played since its season-opening loss to Florida State.

Notre Dame was painfully close to picking up a signature win against Ohio State last week, and the Irish’s reward is a trip to unbeaten Duke. The Blue Devils had a ton of hype surrounding them following their 28-7 win against Clemson to open the year and enter Saturday’s game with an average margin of victory of 26 points.

South Carolina’s two losses this season have come against ranked teams, but the Gamecocks will get another shot to get a ranked win Saturday with a trip to Knoxville. Tennessee enters with the better record at 3-1, but the Vols wins are against 0-4 Virginia, Austin Peay and UTSA.