Alabama-Arkansas, Baylor-Oklahoma State, Florida State-Wake Forest, more

2 1 minute read

[ad_1]

Alabama receiver Kobe Prentice (80) breaks away from Arkansas defenders, Khari Johnson (19), Chris Paul Jr. (27) and Myles Slusher (2) on his way to score a touchdown on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)

We’re fully into conference schedules across the country, and that’s usually the time the real contenders start to emerge and teams get tested on a more frequent basis.

One of those contenders is No. 2 Alabama, which got the job done with a 49-26 road win over No. 20 Arkansas despite Crimson Tide star quarterback Bryce Young leaving the game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury.

Elsewhere, No. 9 Oklahoma State made a statement of its own with a strong 36-26 road victory over No. 16 Baylor in a rematch of last year’s Big 12 championship.

We’ve also seen multiple ranked teams go down on the road against unranked opponents, with TCU routing No. 18 Oklahoma and Mississippi State pulling away from No. 17 Texas A&M 42-24.

And there’s still one major matchup on tap tonight.

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET | TV: ABC | Line: Clemson -6.5 | Total: 41.5

Elsewhere in the ACC is another marquee game out of the Atlantic Division. And while FSU and Wake Forest may avoid most of the impact coming from Hurricane Ian, heavy rains appear imminent for NC State’s trip to Clemson. Last year, NC State snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Tigers, who failed to win the ACC title for the first time since 2014. This year, both teams are off to 4-0 starts. The win over Wake Forest seemed to show Clemson’s offense has made major strides but the defense may not be quite as strong as it has been in recent years.