2020 College Football Insider | Week 7

2020 - Week 7 COLLEGE FOOTBALL

INSIDER | 2020 | WEEK 7

Quote of the week “All in all, we’ve had some crazy games over here.

This was another one.”

- Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban after defeating Ole Miss 63-48

TEAM TO WATCH:

North Carolina

The Tar Heels earned a spot in the AP Top 5 for the first time since 1997 after defeating then No. 19 Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Career performances by running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams led North Carolina past the Hokies, 56-45. Carter ran for a career-high 214 yards and two touchdowns while Williams added a careerbest 169 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Tar Heels’ 399 rushing yards was the highest since 1993.

TEAM OF THE WEEK:

Quarterback Sam Howell joined in with three

MISSOURI

touchdown passes to make it UNC’s highest scoring

In the final minute, Missouri stopped No. 17 LSU four

output ever.

times at the 1-yard line to secure a 45-41 victory.

The Tar Heels are on a five-game winning streak, dating back to last year, and look to make some noise in the ACC leading into a Thanksgiving Weekend matchup

The win gave national recognition for Head Coach Eli Drinkwitz’s offense and forced LSU out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2017.

against Notre Dame. Next up, they face Florida State

Freshman quarterback Connor Bazelak threw for

on the road on Saturday, October 17 at 4:30 pm.

406 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Tigers.

His shining moment came midway through the fourth quarter when Mizzou blocked an LSU field goal and marched down the field in four plays to take the lead on a 69-yard pass to Chance Luper and a follow-up 5-yard touchdown pass to Nico Hea. LSU responded by driving down to the 1-yard line with 44 seconds left. Running back Tyrion Davis-Price was halted twice up the middle and Mizzou knocked away the next two pass attempts to pull off the upset.

Mizzou will get ready for No. 10 Florida on October 24 in Gainesville.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2020 | WEEK 7

games of the week #14 BYU AT HOUSTON 10.16 | 6:30 PM | ESPN

#1 CLEMSON AT GEORGIA TECH 10.17 | 9 AM | ABC

#15 AUBURN AT SOUTH CAROLINA 10.17 | 9 AM | ESPN

LOUISVILLE AT #4 NOTRE DAME 10.17 | 11:30 AM | NBC

#3 GEORGIA AT #2 ALABAMA 10.17 | 5 PM | CBS For a full schedule of Week Seven games, click here. (All times in AZ)

AP Week 7 Rankings 1. CLEMSON

6. OHIO STATE

2. ALABAMA

7. OKLAHOMA STATE

3. GEORGIA

8. CINCINNATI

4. NOTRE DAME

9. PENN STATE

5. NORTH CAROLINA

10. FLORIDA

For the full AP Top 25 Rankings, click here.

WHERE IS COLLEGE GAMEDAY:

Tuscaloosa

In what could be the matchup of the year, College Gameday will travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to see No. 2 Alabama host No. 3 Georgia. Both SEC powers look unstoppable with Georgia coming off two ranked wins against Auburn and Tennessee and Alabama coming off a 63-point performance against Ole Miss.

Gameday has a different look this Fall, but fans are still able to participate online and send in their best Gameday Signs on Twitter by heading to collegegameday.com for a chance to rep their team.

College Gameday airs Saturday, October 17, at 6 am AZ Time.

2020-21 Bowl PREDICTIONS: PLAYSTATION ® FIESTA BOWL

CACTUS BOWL

ESPN Bonagura – Penn State vs. Oregon

ESPN Bonagura – Texas vs. Purdue

ESPN Schlabach – Michigan vs. Oregon

ESPN Schlabach – Texas vs. Purdue

The Athletic Mandel – Notre Dame vs. USC

CBS – TCU vs. Iowa

CBS – Boise State vs. USC

USA Today – Texas vs. Northwestern

USA Today – BYU vs. Oregon 247 Sports – Cincinnati vs. USC

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2020 | WEEK 7

GOLDEN HISTORY:

1991 – THE FIESTA BOWL TURNS 20 Louisville entered the 1991 Fiesta Bowl as a huge underdog and with a dream to fulfill. The Cardinals did just that and a little bit more, as they jumped out to a 25-0 lead after the first quarter and held on to trounce SEC powerhouse Alabama, 34-7, before a crowd of 69,098.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT:

Louisville senior quarterback Browning Nagle,

Travis Etienne

the Offensive Player of the Game, was virtually

Clemson’s senior running back entered the college football record books on Saturday after his 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Etienne now has scored in 39 games, breaking the FBS record for most career games scoring a touchdown, previously held

by Florida’s Tim Tebow. He also became the first nonkicker in ACC history to score 400 points. In addition to his records, Etienne helped power the Tigers to a 42-17 victory over Miami with 149 rushing yards, two touchdowns and eight receptions for 73 yards.

During the 2019 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation ® Fiesta Bowl, Etienne made his mark in the receiving game, leading the Tigers with 98 yards and two touchdowns on three catches. He added another touchdown on the ground with 36 rushing yards as Clemson defeated Ohio State, 29-23.

unstoppable, completing 20 of 33 passes for three touchdowns and a Fiesta Bowl record 451 passing yards. He threw two scoring passes to Anthony Cummings and tied the (then) Fiesta record for longest completion with a 70-yard scoring toss to Latrell Ware.

Louisville had 458 passing yards, which was the most ever allowed by an Alabama team at that time.

According to ESPN, Etienne is second on its 2020 Heisman Watch, trailing only teammate Trevor Lawrence.

Red River Showdown In our latest episode, we talked with Oklahoma Athletics Director, Joe Castiglione and Texas Athletics Director Chris Del Conte before their teams met in the Red River Rivalry. The two executives shared stories, talked about the atmosphere of the game and their friendship.

We hope you haven’t missed the distinguished roster of guests on the Fiesta Bowl Football Focus Podcast. We visited with College Football Hall of Fame coach Mack Brown, who guided Texas to the 2009 Fiesta Bowl title, along with key players from the classic 2003 Fiesta Bowl between Ohio State and Miami.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2020 | WEEK 7

MORE THAN JUST A GAME®

ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT TO APPLY:

DESERT FINANCIAL FIESTA BOWL CHARITIES WISHES FOR TEACHERS For the fifth consecutive year, the Fiesta

Bowl Organization will honor, celebrate and support Arizona teachers with the opening of applications for the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers program.

After several years as a participating sponsor, Desert Financial Credit Union has elevated its

TEACHER FEATURE:

CHRISTY HERNDON Herndon originally started her career casually as a substitute teacher at Maricopa Elementary School to be closer to her daughter who was attending preschool there. She simply went into her profession by accident, but something clicked and she passionately pursued it from there.

“Teaching has been a very amazing journey...to be able to make a difference has been an amazing experience.” Herndon said.

involvement to become title partner, tying into

Like many teachers in Arizona, Herndon inherited

its mission of supporting schools, teachers and

old equipment and technology. When she saw

students to build strong communities.

the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes

All Arizona K-12 public and charter school teachers are eligible, with the application period open through October 16. Fill out the online application at www.wishesforteachers.

for Teachers grant application in her email, she jumped at the opportunity to get adequate and updated resources for her students to accelerate their academic process.

org, detailing the teacher’s school or classroom need. After meeting the criteria, wishes are selected at random for 200 teachers to each receive a $2,500 grant.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2020 | WEEK 7

JAN. 2, 2021 S TATE FAR M STAD IUM

D ATE & TIME TBD C HASE FIE LD

FIESTABOWL.ORG /FIESTABOWL

@FIESTA_BOWL

/CACTUSBOWL

@CACTUSBOWL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL INSIDER | 2020 | WEEK 7