College football sneak peek: Red River Competition, Ohio State-Oregon and more

Oct 10, 2024, 07:20 AM ET Week 7 is here as we look toward some amazing conference matches this weekend that you won’t wish to miss.The Red River Rivalry game is Saturday as No. 1 Texas will deal with No. 18 Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. In simply his second profession start, Oklahoma’s true freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. will be making history. Oklahoma has actually won four of the past 5 Red River Rivalry games, but will Hawkins ‘grace be enough to remove its top-ranked opponent?No. 3 Oregon and No. 2 Ohio State will face-off as conference challengers for the first time this weekend, but this isn’t their first time betting each other. Ten years back, Ohio State leaned on its third-string quarterback to rally the Buckeyes after injuries rocked the group at the position. Ohio State and Oregon satisfied in the national championship game that year and the Buckeyes ‘third-string quarterback did indeed step up.Our college football professionals sneak peek huge games and storylines to know about and share quotes of the week ahead of Week 7. Dive to a section: Ohio State-Oregon|Red River Competition New conference enemy|Quotes of the Week How Cardale Jones stepped up when the Buckeyes required him most Safety Tyvis Powell kept in mind”all the oxygen”vaporizing from Ohio Arena when J.T. Barrett could not get up with a fractured right ankle

. Tailback Ezekiel Elliott called it a” shock”seeing Ohio State’s quarterback get carted off the field versus Michigan a years ago.” J.T. was having an insane season,”Elliott said.”He most likely would’ve won the Heisman. “The Buckeyes had actually already lost star quarterback Braxton Miller in the preseason to shoulder surgical treatment. With the season on the line, Barrett was headed for surgical treatment, too. “It resembled,’ Oh man, here we go again,'”Powell stated.”

We conquered the Braxton [injury], which was hard enough. We lastly got this train rolling and boom, we get hit by another quarterback injury.”Powell, Elliott and the Buckeyes felt ravaged. But they also knew their third-string quarterback, Cardale Jones, owned a rocket arm. “I do not understand if I’ve played with a quarterback with a stronger arm, “Elliott said. “We knew he had all the tools. We simply had not seen it yet.” Saturday in Eugene, Ohio State gos to Oregon in their very first showdown as Big 10 competitors– 10 years after facing off for the nationwide

title in Arlington, Texas, where Jones and fourth-seeded Ohio State finished a not likely championship season. “The closest individual to do what Cardale did was an imaginary character by the name of Steamin ‘Willie Beamen, “said Powell, referring to the Miami Sharks backup quarterback played by Jamie Foxx in the 1999 movie “Any Given Sunday.”With Jones, the Buckeyes didn’t miss a beat. They rounded off Michigan, then obliterated Wisconsin 59-0 for the Big Ten championship, to slip into the inaugural four-team playoff. They stunned Alabama in the Sugar Bowl semifinal 42-35. Then, they took down Oregon 42-20 for the championship game. Over those three games, Jones passed for 742

lawns, rushed for another 90 and amounted to six touchdowns.”I understood the expectations. I knew the culture we developed, “said Jones, who, until Barrett’s injury, had never played a meaningful snap.”Everybody was expected to do their job, which’s how they treated me, from the coaching personnel on down. Nobody babied me, nobody tried to stroll me into things.

It was, ‘Hey, you know your f– ing job, let’s do it.” Powell understood Jones meant company when he got home from class the Monday after the Michigan game. Powell generally found his roommate playing Call of Duty in the living room. That evening, Jones was at the football center studying film with then offensive planner Tom Herman. “That was a calming thing, like’Oh, you’re locked in,'”Powell stated.”At that point, I understood we’re going to be fine. “Later on that week, Herman compiled an emphasize tape of Jones’finest plays from Cleveland Glenville High School and revealed it to him.”He wished to make certain I was assured that hi, I belong here,” Jones stated,”which I have all the ability in the world to help us.”Barrett kept telling him the very same:” You’re here for a factor. “After thumping Wisconsin, the Buckeyes didn’t

collect to enjoy ESPN’s playoff choice program. In reality, Jones was driving home to Cleveland when he started getting texts and calls from teammates and coaches, telling him Ohio State had actually jumped TCU and Baylor, to secure the choice committee’s coveted No. 4 seed.Ohio State fell back No. 1 Alabama early in their semifinal match. But in the second half on third-and-long, Jones lofted a 47-yard touchdown strike to Devin Smith to provide the Buckeyes the lead. They never handed it back.Against Oregon in the title game, Jones kept completing big passes, matching the play of Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. Together with a stingy defense– highlighted by Powell’s fourth-down, goal-line stuff– and Elliott’s ruthless rushing, the underdog Buckeyes rolled past the Ducks.Elliott, who ran for 246 lawns and four touchdowns, made offensive MVP title game honors. Powell, who likewise had the game-ending interception versus Alabama, was named defensive MVP. And Jones, in simply a little over 3 games, sealed an Ohio State legacy.– Jake Trotter The presence of Oklahoma’s Michael Hawkins Jr. Michael Chang/Getty Images Dontonio Jordan is the founder of 940 Elite, a Denton, Texas-based, 7-on-7 program. And before Michael Hawkins Jr. began avoiding SEC defenders, Jordan chased the young quarterback for the much better part of two years.It took till the spring of 2023 for Jordan to finally get Hawkins to join his team for a training session. When Hawkins stepped onto the turf, Jordan needed all of two minutes

to identify the young quarterback’s grace, the very same aura Hawkins has actually exuded since taking control of as No. 18 Oklahoma’s starter versus Tennessee on Sept. 21.”I saw it before he even tied his shoes,”Jordan, who played pass receiver at Stanford from 2012 to 2015, told ESPN.” I trained with Andrew Luck and I played with Christian McCaffrey. Guys like that have a specific energy. They do not even try to do it. It’s simply their existence. And Mike Hawkins has that type of presence.”

Hawkins ‘composure, along with his tendency for tossing himself into and over opposing protectors, has actually defined a short, yet brilliant start to life as Oklahoma’s quarterback. At the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, 38 miles from the high school field where Jordan first worked with Hawkins, the Sooners’freshman will make Red River Competition history against No. 1 Texas.No. 1 Texas vs. No. 18 Oklahoma Watch Saturday’s Red River Rivalry in between the Longhorns and Sooners on ABC and ESPN+ at 3:30 p.m. ET.Sign up today!|View the game here – Connelly: Ranking the unbeatens – Horns anticipate Ewers to begin|More CFB news Hawkins will become the first Oklahoma true freshman quarterback to start against the Longhorns in the 120-game lore of this bitter competition, in the same Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex where he once tormented opposing high school defenses and learned to toss under the tutelage of Kyler Murray’s daddy.”It implies a lot simply going to a huge phase,”Hawkins stated last week.” It’s my very first time playing in this stadium and versus this team, too. So this is a huge minute for me.” Murmurs of Hawkins’instant guarantee and maturity drained of the Sooners’spring

and fall camps previously this year. But ESPN’s No. 7 dual-threat quarterback in the 2024 class only took spotlight after
Brent Venables pulled Jackson Arnold before halftime against Tennessee last month, benching the former first-class passer just 5 games after handing him the reins . Hawkins’s composure revealed when he steadied Oklahoma in an eventual 25-15 loss to the Volunteers. A week later on, when Hawkins made his first career start at Auburn, his grace overruned during an 11-point, fourth-quarter comeback, which Hawkins flourished by careening into the end zone on a pivotal, late-game 2-point conversion.”He’s a guy to bet on simply from a maturity, process-driven, consistency [viewpoint], “Venables said of Hawkins this week.”

How he handles difficult moments … he’s got a lot of actually good qualities that perhaps sometimes a younger player doesn’t have. “Those qualities quickly became clear to Jordan. From that initial training session, Hawkins joined 940 Elite, and soon, he was a commanding existence within the 7-on-7 program that has produced players such as Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech freshman All-American linebacker Ben Roberts, Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson and a handful of Hawkins’Oklahoma colleagues, consisting of protectors Peyton Bowen and Eli Bowen and tight end Davon Mitchell.At Frisco Emerson High School, where Hawkins moved for his senior season after three years at Allen High School, head coach Kendall Miller saw Hawkins’characteristics, too.

Beyond the physical tools that powered Hawkins’4,211 all-purpose lawns and 55 goals in 2023, Miller saw something unique in the maturity of the quarterback who led Emerson to the 5A state semifinal in his only season at the school.”He had the exact same temperament in the semifinal as

he carried out in Game 1,” Miller stated.”I think he’s simply got something within him. If I could simply find what he has, I ‘d go get a few of it and provide it to a lot of other guys.”Before he ended up being Oklahoma’s freshman quarterback, Hawkins’poise was a driving force of his game. When he steps onto one of college football’s most significant phases Saturday, it might be his greatest possession.– Eli Lederman Be familiar with your new conference opponent These 2 programs are not totally unfamiliar with each

other. In 2017, James Franklin and Penn State held a 14-point lead heading into the 4th quarter of the Rose Championship Game. USC then scored 17 points, consisting of a game-winning basket in the last seconds to win one of the most awesome variations of the bowl game in recent years.Now, 7 years later, the No. 4 Nittany Lions are headed back to the West Coast to face the Trojans again, this time as a conference opponent.The Trojans

are 1-0 (beat Wisconsin)in home games versus Huge 10 opponents and 0-2 on the roadway (lost to Michigan and Minnesota). Editor’s Picks 2 Associated The Nittany Lions have among the best defenses and USC’s offense has actually looked subdued in

the trenches when dealing with tougher opponents, which has, in turn, asked a great deal of its better however not perfect defense. This is not exactly the kind of solve game that the Trojans needed after a harsh loss in Minnesota. However it

also might be the type of trap game that Franklin’s

group needs to prevent on its quest for a playoff spot.As Lincoln Riley explained just recently, Big Ten games have actually had less possessions and are slower paced than what he and the Trojans are accustomed. Franklin and Penn State, maybe more than many groups, grow in such games.Riley has argued that the Trojans are 2 plays far from being 5-0. On one hand, that’s not necessarily wrong. On the other, they have permitted themselves to lose 2 games because of 2 plays. Whether it’s the slower-paced games with fewer plays,

the physicality or simply the travel, USC has had a hard time to carry out. It dropped being ranked No. 11 to unranked after its newest loss.This week, the job won’t be

any much easier

. The Trojans will require a win to keep any slim playoff or conference hopes alive.– Paolo Uggetti Quotes of the week”[ They’re] not a determining stick for myself or for this program. Their success does not have anything to do with ours. And their lack of success doesn’t have anything to do with ours. So we’re focused on us– the important things that we can control. We complete on the field once a season, and it’s a huge game, always is.”– Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, on whether his job is more difficult when Texas is riding high. “I’m buddies with him. He’s a good guy. … Male, he’s an excellent player. He can sling it. Ball comes out of his hand well. … He’s a man, for sure.

I’m thrilled to go against him in this big match.”– Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, on facing former Big 12 competing and Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel. The 2 previously dealt with each other when Howard was at Kansas State and Gabriel at Oklahoma.”Among the important things I believe we need to talk about is increasing the size of the runway here and the size of the airport for a lot of factors, for the university, for the community, for organizations, and for the athletic department. You’re talking about adding another 2 hours on top of your flight. … That’s practically a whole day.”– James Franklin, on Penn State having to drive to Harrisburg to be able to fly across the country to Los Angeles and deal with brand-new Huge Ten member USC.