College football Week 5: No. 8 Florida, No. 14 Iowa, No. 16 Miss. St. wary of letdown after big wins

The ability of No. 8 Florida, No. 14 Iowa and No. 16 Mississippi State to avoid letdowns after emotional victories will be put to the test in their Week 5 matchups against opponents also ranked in The Associated Press Top 25.

Florida, perhaps the biggest surprise of the season under first-year coach Jon Sumrall, will go to No. 25 Missouri off a surprisingly lopsided win over then-No. 4 Mississippi. The Gators find themselves in the same position as Ole Miss a week ago, when the Rebels were coming off a win in their uber-hyped game against LSU and former coach Lane Kiffin.

Iowa won a thriller in Ann Arbor last week, beating Michigan on Hank Brown's touchdown pass to Reece Vander Zee on the last play, and now hosts No. 5 Ohio State. The Hawkeyes are going for their first 5-0 start since 2021 as a two-touchdown home underdog.

Mississippi State will go for its first 3-0 start in Southeastern Conference play since 2014 when it hosts No. 7 Alabama. The Bulldogs were picked 15th in the 16-team SEC and last week trailed Missouri in the fourth quarter before scoring twice in the last eight minutes to win.

No. 5 Ohio State (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) at No. 14 Iowa (4-0, 1-0), 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

The Buckeyes enter the teeth of their schedule with three of their next four games on the road — at Iowa, Indiana and Southern California. The Hawkeyes will be a legitimate College Football Playoff contender if they can pull the upset at Kinnick Stadium, where they've won five of their last eight against top-five opponents.

Ohio State’s offense has found a nice rhythm with Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith leading the way, but a work-in-progress defense that lost eight starters to the NFL draft needs to tighten up after allowing too many big plays and long possessions against Illinois.

Iowa will be playing with confidence after knocking off Michigan in dramatic fashion. The Hawkeyes gave up six pass plays of 20-plus yards in that game and will have their hands full, like every other defense, trying to cover Smith.

Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor entered the season with 150-to-1 odds to win the Heisman. He now sits at at 7-to-1 and the third choice among the wagering public following his 360-yard, three-touchdown performance against Missouri.

Taylor's stage gets bigger Saturday when No. 7 Alabama goes to Starkville to face the No. 16 Bulldogs, who have lost 11 straight against top-10 opponents. Taylor shares the national lead with 14 TD passes and has the sixth-highest passer rating. Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said he could be the best quarterback he's had to scheme against in his two-plus years in the job.

1 — Notre Dame opponent rushes of 15 yards or longer on 123 attempts.

4 — Wyoming kickoffs that have gone out of bounds, most in the nation, on 16 attempts. None of the Cowboys' 93 kickoffs in 2024-25 did so.

26 — Boise State's consecutive wins in conference openers as it enters its first Pac-12 game, against Utah State.

217 — North Dakota State's point differential in the “middle eight.” The Bison have outscored opponents 276-59 over the last four minutes of the first half and first four minutes of the second.

2003 — The last season an unranked Clemson team defeated a top-10 opponent at home. The Tigers host No. 4 Miami.

Pittsburgh (4-0, 1-0 ACC) at Virginia Tech (4-0, 1-0), Friday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Assuming Miami runs the table, the race for second place is wide open in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the winner of this game stays right at the front of the pack and a candidate to crack the Top 25.

Don't read much into the Hokies' 21-14 tussle at Boston College last week. That game was played in heavy rain and strong winds. Look for QB Ethan Grunkemeyer and a strong complementary ground game to be at its best at night in a raucous Lane Stadium.

Pitt's Mason Heintschel is throwing for just under 300 yards per game with 13 touchdowns against one interception. Virginia Tech coach James Franklin won three of four games against Pat Narduzzi when he was at Penn State.

Maryland's Mike Locksley is 16-44 in Big Ten games since he took over in 2019, and 15 of the losses have been by 30-plus points. He raised hopes by signing promising recruiting classes and posting winning overall records and going to three straight bowls from 2021-23.

But the Terrapins are 2-17 in conference games since and they're coming off a 54-3 home loss to UCLA in which Malik Washington threw four interceptions and the offense averaged 2.6 yards per play, the lowest mark by a power-conference team this season.

Next up is a trip to Nebraska, which is 4-0 for the first time since 2016, and its quarterback, the dual-threat Anthony Colandrea, is the type who has caused all kinds of problems for Maryland's defense.

Locksley's contract runs through 2028. He would be owed $9.2 million if he got fired before Dec. 31.

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