College football TV schedule: How to watch Texas vs. Oklahoma

It’s an okay Saturday of college football, one that should provide a few answers to recurring questions such as “Is Texas back (for real, no, we mean it this time)?” “Alabama: somehow not good?” and “What would happen if a team (Georgia) spent a whole season deciding not to try in the first quarter?”

All times Eastern

Texas and Oklahoma meet as Big 12 opponents in the Red River Rivalry for the final time before both depart for the SEC. It has been one of the more competitive rivalry games in recent seasons, with eight of the past 10 meetings decided by eight points or fewer, and one of the more high-scoring, with an average final score of 41-30 in those 10 games. For the first time since 2011, both teams are unbeaten entering the game, though Texas’s win at Alabama is far superior to any of the victories on Oklahoma’s résumé. (The Sooners’ toughest opponent this season probably was Cincinnati, and the Bearcats are just 2-3.) … Missouri, which hosts LSU, is 5-0 for the first time since 2013, which has done wonders to cool Coach Eli Drinkwitz’s seat. Drinkwitz went 17-19 over his first three seasons in Columbia, but quarterback Brady Cook and do-it-all wideout Luther Burden III have proved to be a potent duo. LSU’s offense, paced by quarterback Jayden Daniels, has been similarly effective, but both teams have been fairly dreadful in terms of pass defense: LSU is allowing eight yards per pass attempt (No. 102 in the nation), and Missouri has given up 55 passing plays of at least 10 yards (No. 124). …

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Alabama visits Texas A&M looking to avoid its second loss. The Crimson Tide hasn’t had two losses before November since 2007, which was Nick Saban’s first year at the helm, but there’s no denying Alabama has been stunningly mediocre in certain key aspects this season: It ranks 46th in offensive success rate, 79th in expected points added per pass play and 54th in rushing defense expected points allowed per play. Take away a 48-33 loss at Miami on Sept. 9, and the Aggies have had one of the nation’s stronger defenses: In their other four games, they have given up just 11.3 points per game. Opposing quarterbacks have completed just 53 percent of their passes against Texas A&M (No. 8 nationally), and the Aggies are averaging four sacks (third in the nation). Perhaps because of Jalen Milroe’s limitations as a passer, Alabama had him throw the ball only 13 times in last weekend’s win over Mississippi State. A similar plan might be needed on the road against Texas A&M’s stingy defense. …

Mark Stoops’s recipe for success at Kentucky — the Wildcats have gone bowling in seven straight seasons and, at 5-0 this year, are almost certain to make it eight in a row — has been fairly simple: grind things out on offense and defense. And while this year’s Kentucky defense is stingy as usual, the Wildcats’ offense has reeled off 33 plays of at least 20 yards, which ranks 10th nationally. Georgia, the Wildcats’ opponent Saturday night, has allowed only 10 plays of 20-plus yards, so something will have to give. At some point, the Bulldogs’ penchant for sleepwalking through the first quarter is going to hurt them: Their scoring differential in the first 15 minutes is zero, which is the worst of any team in the Associated Press top 20. One of these days, Georgia is going to find itself down an insurmountable margin after a slow start. … Notre Dame running back Audric Estime is averaging 112 rushing yards and has scored seven times, but Louisville’s rushing defense ranks third nationally in EPA per play and is coming off a game in which it held North Carolina State to fewer than three yards per carry. The Fighting Irish visit Louisville, the third game of an arduous four-game stretch for Notre Dame (Ohio State, at Duke, at Louisville, Southern California next weekend).

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