NO. 24 NORTHWESTERN AT PENN STATE, NOON

While most of the Big Ten has been a laugh track this year, the Wildcats keep winning; they can go to 6-0 for the first time since 1962, when they were ranked No. 1. Penn State has won three in a row, and this is the last in the series until at least 2017. Northwestern ran up 704 yards last week against Indiana, which might say as much about the Hoosiers as it does about Northwestern.

ARIZONA AT NO. 18 STANFORD, 3 P.M.

Arizona averages a nation-leading 31 first downs per game and has run 102 plays that have gone for 10 yards or more, but it hasn’t met anything like the Stanford defense. The Cardinal has some history playing on Oct. 6: In 1990, it upset top-ranked Notre Dame at South Bend on that date, and in 2007, recorded the biggest point-spread upset (41) in college history against Southern Cal.

NO. 8 WEST VIRGINIA AT NO. 11 TEXAS, 7 P.M.

Geno Smith is all the rage, having thrown for 656 yards last week and packing his 20-0 touchdown-interception ratio into Austin. No doubt Texas’ David Ash (78 percent, 184 pass-efficiency rating) will have something to say about the outcome.

NO. 21 NEBRASKA AT NO. 12 OHIO STATE, 8 P.M.

Last week, the Huskers (4-1) outrushed Wisconsin, 259-56; when was the last time the Badgers were shown up on the ground by 200 yards? OSU, ineligible for a bowl game, is getting mention as an eventual unbeaten in the watered-down Big Ten.

NO. 23 WASHINGTON AT NO. 2 OREGON, 10:30 P.M.

Did the emergence of the UW defense against Stanford have more to do with the Cardinal’s struggling passing game, or the Huskies’ improvement? We’ll get a better idea in this one, as Washington faces a Ducks offense rushing for 303 yards per game.

From Wire Reports