Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press
Sam Pittman left his job as an assistant coach at Georgia in December 2019 to try to rebuild Arkansas’ football program, but it was never going to happen immediately.
Arkansas may have turned things around sooner than many anticipated, though. And when Pittman leads it into a matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on Saturday afternoon, it will have a chance to pull off a big upset and solidify its spot among the top teams in the country this season.
No. 2 Georgia is set to host No. 8 Arkansas in one of the most exciting matchups of Week 5. Before that huge SEC clash kicks off, ESPN’s College GameDay will be on the Bulldogs’ campus in Athens, Ga., to preview the matchup and the rest of Saturday’s action.
This weekend will mark the first return visit for Pittman, who went 3-7 with Arkansas last season before guiding it to a 4-0 start to begin 2021. Meanwhile, Georgia is also 4-0 and has national championship aspirations, having already knocked off Clemson to open the year.
Here’s everything you need to know heading into Week 5 of the season.
Week 5 Top 25 Schedule, Predictions
Friday, Oct. 1
No. 5 Iowa at Maryland, 8 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1
No. 13 BYU at Utah State, 9 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network
Saturday, Oct. 2
No. 8 Arkansas at No. 2 Georgia, noon ET, ESPN
No. 14 Michigan at Wisconsin, noon ET, Fox
Louisville at No. 24 Wake Forest, 12:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3
No. 7 Cincinnati at No. 9 Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC
UL Monroe at No. 16 Coastal Carolina, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+
No. 12 Ole Miss at No. 1 Alabama, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS
No. 3 Oregon at Stanford, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
No. 6 Oklahoma at Kansas State, 3:30 p.m. ET, Fox
No. 11 Ohio State at Rutgers, 3:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
No. 10 Florida at Kentucky, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN
Louisiana Tech at No. 23 NC State, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Mississippi State at No. 15 Texas A&M, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network
No. 21 Baylor at No. 19 Oklahoma State, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Indiana at No. 4 Penn State, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC
Western Kentucky at No. 17 Michigan State, 7:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1
Boston College at No. 25 Clemson, 7:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network
No. 22 Auburn at LSU, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
Arizona State at No. 20 UCLA, 10:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1
No. 18 Fresno State at Hawai’i, 11 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network
Picks in bold
Week 5 Preview
There are three games featuring a pair of top-12 teams this week, so Saturday is going to have a ton of intriguing action. And two of those matchups are taking place in the SEC in a big week for the conference.
First, Georgia will look to continue its recent dominance against Arkansas. The Bulldogs have won eight of the past nine meetings between the two programs, which included a road victory last season. In that matchup, they won 37-10 at Arkansas on Sept. 26, 2020.
This time, though, the Razorbacks are a much more formidable opponent. During their 4-0 start, they’ve notched impressive victories over Texas and Texas A&M.
If Arkansas is going to pull off an upset, though, it will need to find ways to score against Georgia’s impressive defense. The Bulldogs have allowed only 23 total points in four games.
The scary part for future opponents? Head coach Kirby Smart doesn’t think the defense has reached its “full potential” yet, per Charles Odum of the Associated Press:
“We are going to face better offenses than we have already faced, so we are not really buying into all that hype. We have to play. We have to play better. We are going to play better people than we have played, so I think that verdict is still out. These guys will either answer the bell or they won’t because we are going to play against a really good team and a really good offense Saturday.”
It’s possible Georgia-Arkansas will be a defensive battle, but Alabama-Ole Miss won’t be.
The No. 1 Crimson Tide are set to host the No. 12 Rebels in what will be Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin’s first time at Bryant-Denny Stadium since his tenure as Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16. Last year, the Crimson Tide pulled out a 63-48 road win over the Rebels, their fifth straight victory in the series between the two teams.
This year’s matchup features a pair of Heisman Trophy front-runners. Alabama sophomore quarterback Bryce Young has passed for 1,124 yards, 15 touchdowns and one interception during the Tide’s 4-0 start. Ole Miss redshirt junior quarterback Matt Corral has led the Rebels to a 3-0 start by passing for 997 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for five touchdowns.
Ole Miss will likely score a lot of points. But they’re going to have to put up a huge number if they want to pull off an upset against Alabama, which hasn’t lost a game since its 2019 regular-season finale.
“Any time you play Alabama, you’re going to have to do everything,” Kiffin said, per John Zenor of the Associated Press. “You’re going to have to have your best game coaching, best game playing, get a break here or there just to have a chance. Because obviously as we’ve seen every [NFL] draft, they’ve got better players than everybody else in the country.”
There will be exciting Week 5 matchups outside the SEC, too. The biggest is a non-conference meeting between No. 7 Cincinnati and No. 9 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are 4-0 and coming off a strong win over Wisconsin as they host the Bearcats, who have started 3-0.
It’s only the second time that Notre Dame and Cincinnati are going head-to-head. The Fighting Irish won the previous meeting, notching a 58-0 victory on Oct. 20, 1900.
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