Who: No. 10 Virginia Tech Hokies at No. 20 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
When: 8 p.m. ET Thursday

Who: No. 19 Nebraska Cornhuskers at No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions
When: noon ET Saturday

Who: West Virginia Mountaineers at No. 23 Cincinnati Bearcats
When: noon Saturday

Who: Texas A&M Aggies at No. 17 Kansas State Wildcats
When: 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday

Who: No. 24 Auburn Tigers at No. 14 Georgia Bulldogs
When: 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday

Who: TCU Horned Frogs at No. 5 Boise State Broncos
When: 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday

Who: No. 6 Oregon Ducks at No. 3 Stanford Cardinal
When: 8 p.m. ET Saturday

Martin

SU

55 Jonathan Martin
Stanford
6-6 | 304 | Sr. | OT

Key Notes: In the biggest matchup of the weekend — and the third top-10 showdown in seven days — Stanford plays host to Oregon. Stanford has reeled off a school-record 17-game winning streak thanks in large part to Martin and the offense. Martin, a finalist for the 2011 Lomardi Award, plays a large role in that success, protecting Heisman hopeful QB Andrew Luck and helping the offense rank in the top 20 nationally in rushing and total offense as well as fourth in sacks allowed (4.0 in nine games).       

Other Players to Watch this Week: George Atkinson III, Notre Dame (Fr., RB/KOR); Sammy Brown, Houston (Sr., LB); Patrick Edwards, Houston (Sr., WR); Chandler Harnish, Northern Illinois (Sr., QB); Stansly Maponga, TCU (So., DL); Tyler Tettleton, Ohio (So., QB); Chase Thomas, Stanford (Sr., LB); Jordan White, Western Michigan (Sr., WR); Fozzy Whittaker, Texas (Sr., RB).

So, you win five consecutive games — your longest win streak since 2004 — and what does it get you? In Western Kentucky’s case, a date with the nearly unanimous No. 1 team in the country. The Hilltoppers, guided by Willie Taggert who was at Stanford as an assistant when the Cardinal started their current turnaround in 2006, have jumped to 5-1 in Sun Belt Conference action and hope to take that momentum to Death Valley Saturday. RB Bobby Rainey is one of the most underrated backs in the country after averaging 129.9 yards per game on the ground to rank fourth nationally. The question is: can he pose enough of a challenge for the Tiger defense that limited Heisman hopeful Trent Richardson last weekend. 

Just a quick shout out to the Broncos. QB Kellen Moore picked up the all-time wins record, surpassing the mark previously set by Texas’ Colt McCoy who had 45 wins in his college career. Now he gets to push BSU into a matchup with last year’s Rose Bowl champion TCU on Saturday in one of the most anticipated matchups since the Broncos joined the Mountain West. This week the Horned Frogs look to grab sole possession of the MWC record after they tied the mark with their 11th consecutive legaue road win a week ago.  

After 46 years, this weekend will mark the first time without Joe Paterno as head coach. Instead of celebrating the team’s 8-1 start and a top-20 matchup with the Cornhuskers, marking two of the nation’s winningest programs, there are more questions about how the team will hold up with the whirl-wind of change that has swirled through Happy Valley this week. 

Oklahoma State won’t mind getting in a shootout with Texas Tech. The Cowboys like their chances with QB Brandon Weeden at the helm as the gun-slinger has quietly put up record numbers. Last week, he threw for a school record 502 yards and four TDs to help the No. 3 Cowboys outlast No. 17 Kansas State and keep the national championship hopes alive with a 52-45 victory against the Wildcats.

It wasn’t a complete salve for the hurt the Badgers suffered each of the previous two weeks, but Montee Ball helped sooth some of the angst in Madtown as he rushed for a career-high 223 yards with three TDs in a 62-17 rout of Purdue last week. This week, they get Minnesota, which has rebounded from looking terrible the first seven weeks of the season to knock off Iowa and push Michigan State last week. 

When does the carousel of change start? It got its first spin this week when Mississippi’s Houston Nutt announced he would resign at the end of the season. Ole Miss has lost 12 consecutive Southeastern Conference games and has gone 4-23 under Nutt in league play.