Northern Illinois (2-0) at No. 1 Ohio State (2-0) – 3:30 p.m.

Cardale Jones will start for the top team in the country, but backup quarterback J.T. Barrett will play for the Buckeyes, coach Urban Meyer told reporters. Ohio State has averaged 40 points per game in victories over Virginia Tech and Hawaii to start the season.

 

No. 9 Florida State (2-0) at Boston College (2-0) – 8 p.m.

It’s a tale of two teams coming off of complete opposite performances in week two. Florida State travels to Boston College after struggling in the first half against South Florida before pulling away behind 266 yards from running back Dalvin Cook. The Seminoles will face a Boston College team that led Fordham 62-0 at halftime before the third and fourth quarters were shortened.

 

No. 23 Northwestern (2-0) at Duke (2-0) – 12:30 p.m.

Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald has the Wildcats back in the Top 25 two weeks into the 2015 season after a disappointing 2014 campaign. This week, NU matches up with Duke in a battle of strengths. The Wildcats rank ninth in the nation in pass defense, but will face a difficult test facing the Blue Devils, who have the No. 14 pass offense in the country behind quarterback Thomas Sirk.

 

No. 14 Georgia Tech (2-0) at. No. 8 Notre Dame (2-0) – 3:30 p.m.

Georgia Tech, picked by many as the most likely team to dethrone Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference, will take its triple-option attack to South Bend to face Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are coming off of a heart-stopping, last-second victory over Virginia, but will be without quarterback Malik Zaire, who fractured his ankle in last week’s game.

 

No. 18 Auburn (2-0) at No. 13 Louisiana State (1-0) – 3:30 p.m.

Auburn escaped against Jacksonville State with an overtime win last week, avoiding being on the wrong end of one of the biggest upsets of all time. They’ll face a stiff test when they travel to Baton Rouge to face star running back Leonard Fournette and the Tigers. LSU will visit the Carrier Dome next week to play Syracuse on Sept. 26.

 

No. 15 Ole Miss (2-0) at No. 2 Alabama (2-0) – 9:15 p.m.

Ole Miss has scored 73 and 76 points in its first two games, respectively. Its first real test of the season comes at Bryant-Denny Stadium against Alabama. The Crimson Tide opened up the season by disposing of Wisconsin and then beating up on Middle Tennessee State. This is one of four Southeastern Conference games happening Saturday.

 

No. 19 Brigham Young (2-0) at No. 10 UCLA (2-0) – 10:30 p.m.

BYU has had a charmed season so far, beating Nebraska week one on a last-second Hail Mary and then knocking off then-No. 20 Boise State after trailing for most of the game. UCLA, led by 18-year-old freshman Josh Rosen, has guided the Bruins to a pair of impressive wins over Virginia and UNLV to start the season.

Published on September 18, 2015 at 12:30 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27