Saturday's Week 10 card has two stages, and both are enormous. In the afternoon, No. 3 Georgia and Florida renew their rivalry in Atlanta with a quarterback question hanging over the Gators. In prime time, Ohio State walks into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 2008 — without its starting quarterback, but with the Heisman Trophy favorite catching passes.
Georgia-Florida, with a genuine QB controversy
Florida (5-2, 3-2 SEC) faces Georgia on Saturday, Oct. 31 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC, according to the Gainesville Sun. The Gators have lost eight of their last nine against the Bulldogs, the Sun reported, and both teams arrive off bye weeks carrying opposite scars: Georgia off a 27-24 upset loss to Auburn on Oct. 17, Florida off a 27-24 upset win at Texas.
The headline inside the game is Florida's quarterback call. First-year head coach Jon Sumrall has not decided whether to start redshirt sophomore Aaron Philo or redshirt freshman Tramell Jones Jr., the Gainesville Sun reported. Jones made his first career start against Texas and delivered — 155 passing yards and two touchdowns in the upset. Philo missed that game with a shoulder injury and returned to practice during the bye. Both were listed as questionable on the SEC's initial availability report on Oct. 28, and Sumrall said he intends to make the final call the day before the game.
Whoever starts will lean on the run game, because both teams will. Georgia (197.7 rushing yards per game) and Florida (194.3) rank third and fourth in the SEC on the ground, per the Gainesville Sun, and Florida running back Jadan Baugh — 135 carries, 763 yards, 13 touchdowns — plays this one in his hometown of Atlanta. Georgia's own backfield has a question: Chauncey Bowens, who scored the go-ahead touchdown against Florida last season, was also listed as questionable on the Oct. 28 availability report.
One more wrinkle worth knowing: this rivalry is on tour. The game is in Atlanta this year and at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in 2027 because of the $1.4 billion renovation at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, the Gainesville Sun reported, and it does not return to Jacksonville until 2028. Roll Tide Wire's SEC schedule rundown frames what is at stake plainly: with one conference loss, Georgia sits in the driver's seat for the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 5, and Florida's playoff hopes live or die in Atlanta.
Ohio State at USC: the favorite, minus his quarterback
The nightcap sends Ohio State to USC at the Coliseum, kicking off at 4:30 p.m. PT on NBC, according to Trojans Wire. It is Ohio State's first trip to the Coliseum since 2008, and remarkably, the fifth straight game USC has played in NBC's prime-time window, Trojans Wire noted.
The Buckeyes arrive diminished at the most important position. Starting quarterback Julian Sayin will miss several weeks with an arm injury, with no specific timetable for his return, the Columbus Dispatch reported — which means the Heisman frontrunner, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, will be catching passes from a backup. Smith still leads the Heisman race in Bleacher Report's latest odds at +120, ahead of Miami quarterback Darian Mensah (+290) and Miami receiver Malachi Toney (+370), and he kept the top spot through Ohio State's bye week.
USC, meanwhile, has its own repair job. The Trojans were beaten 24-7 at Wisconsin last weekend, a game in which Badgers outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks collected five tackles and 2.5 sacks and was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, according to Badgers Wire. Wisconsin's defense ranks inside the top 10 nationally in yards allowed — so the loss says something about the Badgers, but USC's offense scoring seven points says something about USC, too. A home date with a wounded Ohio State team is the fastest possible way to change the conversation.
Tuesday raises the stakes for everyone
Whatever happens Saturday gets graded on Tuesday. The College Football Playoff committee releases its first rankings on Nov. 3, and Gators Wire reported CBS Sports' simulated BCS standings as a preview of the argument to come: Miami at No. 1, Georgia at No. 4, Florida at No. 17 — one of eight SEC programs in the simulated top 17. Florida cannot climb that list from the couch. It climbs it by beating Georgia in Atlanta, or it spends November hoping other people's Saturdays go wrong.
Thursday's openers — North Texas's 48-41 shootout win over Florida Atlantic and Troy's overtime stunner at James Madison — are recapped by the desk here. All of the desk's college football coverage runs through the sports front.
The Sports Desk's read: Rivalry games reward the team with fewer questions. Georgia has the clearer path — run the ball, protect a one-loss SEC campaign — but Florida's quarterback mystery cuts both ways, and a Gators team that already beat Texas should not be treated as a formality. In Los Angeles, the question is simpler: can Ohio State's season survive its quarterback's absence in the one road building it has avoided for 18 years? Saturday answers both. — Previously Staff
Sources · 6 sources
- Gainesville Sun — Florida football vs Georgia, scouting report and prediction for Atlanta matchup
- Roll Tide Wire — SEC football schedule for Week 10, games, start times, TV channels
- Trojans Wire — Kickoff time announced for USC's October 31 matchup with Ohio State
- Columbus Dispatch — Jeremiah Smith didn't play last week. Is he still the Heisman frontrunner?
- Badgers Wire — Wisconsin OLB finally named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
- Gators Wire — Here's where Florida lands in simulated BCS rankings ahead of CFP reveal
