Sean Renfree can levitate, but can he top the ‘Noles? (AP)

There are many ranked-on-ranked games this college football Saturday, including No. 3 Florida vs. No. 12 Georgia, No. 15 Texas Tech at No. 4 Kansas State, No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 13 Mississippi State at No. 1 Alabama. This is not a preview of those games. (For more big-picture football content, please visit Andy Staples’ Walkthrough.)

• Locavore football for the environmentally conscious consumer. Devotees of farm-to-fan football, please note these geographic rivalry games on the schedule for Week 9: Temple at Pitt (noon E.T.), NC State at North Carolina (12:30 p.m.), No. 23 Ohio at Miami (Ohio) (3:30 p.m.), and UTEP at Houston (4:30 p.m.).

• Game that should be played at night but isn’t. UTEP at Houston. UTEP being UTEP, and Houston being half responsible for that 72-42 SMU box score that so terrified the daintier set, this one ought to start and end under cover of darkness. It just seems a more fitting setting for whatever wackiness is about to ensue.

• Conference curiosity. We remind you at this time that a) Duke leads its division and is scheduled to play No. 11 Florida State in Tallahassee b) for the Seminoles’ homecoming game. Who is carrying the bigger jinx here? Impossible to discern. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.

• Nonconference curiosities. BYU at Georgia Tech (3:00 p.m.) and Kent State at No. 18 Rutgers (3:30 p.m.).

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Assorted bests and worsts from college football’s weekend that was:

• Best Gameday surprise. This is a category that rolls deep every year, but we have yet to see much on television or in real life that tops the South Carolina mascot (the live one) being offered a glass of Steve Spurrier-branded wine. I mean:

Did Sir Big Spur sample the Steve Spurrier wine? twitter.com/gogamecocks/st…

— GoGamecocks.com (@gogamecocks) October 6, 2012

We live in the greatest country on earth, and don’t you ever forget it.

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Bryan Underwood caught the game-tying touchdown in the closing seconds of NC State’s win over FSU. (ZUMAPRESS)

Snap Judgments from the Week 6 evening slate.

For more, check out our early Snaps, midday Snaps coverage of LSU-Florida, Georgia-South Carolina, West Virginia-Texas and complete Top 25 review.

• North Carolina State 17, No. 3 Florida State 16. Find your bliss, they say. Follow it, and don’t give one fig what anybody else thinks of you. Some folks quit their hedge fund jobs to teach middle school. Some hike the Appalachian Trail. The Florida State Seminoles have a secret passion, too, and you can probably guess what that is:

Who could have possibly predicted Florida State would drop a random ACC game on the road for no discernible reason?

— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) October 7, 2012

Two weeks removed from The Big One, a 49-37 win over Clemson, Florida State did the most Florida State-y of things: The Seminoles surrendered first a 16-0 third-quarter lead to North Carolina State, and then the game. Heisman hopeful E.J. Manuel and the ‘Noles were shut out in the second half, while quarterback counterpart Mike Glennon led his team to a short field goal followed by two touchdown drives — the second culminating with just 16 seconds left on the clock. It didn’t even look that hard, once the ‘Pack got to the touchdown part; getting that drive going in the first place required a blocked Florida State punt with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and a drive-sustaining defensive penalty against FSU with NC State nearing the end zone. Glennon finished the evening with 31 completed passes on 56 attempts, good for 266 yards and the aforementioned two touchdowns.

We are loath to use the flat-footed “a tale of two halves” here, but it couldn’t be more fitting for both squads. Observe: An impressive 141-yard rushing total for FSU’s Chris Thompson grows simultaneously more impressive upon learning that he put up 115 of those yards in the first half and more bitter as ‘Noles partisans wonder what might have been had Thompson scampered about for two additional quarters.

Florida State presumably surrendered something else along with those 17 second-half points: its national championship hopes. The ‘Noles could get back into the hunt if every remaining unbeaten squad loses a game, and with three top-five teams (FSU, LSU and Georgia) going down today alone, it’s becoming the kind of season where we can’t rule out such a turn. But the fact remains: The only ACC teams with unblemished conference records are now Maryland, Miami and Duke. We could be in for a Terps-Blue Devils ACC Championship Game. Or, the ‘Canes could still win the conference with this record against ranked teams. It’s a ludicrous thought, but it’s one that Florida State’s inability to take care of business in the seemingly easy games has left us with as we head off to dreamland. [BOX | RECAP]

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Tracking the zeitgeist of college football’s fourth weekend through social media (for entertainment purposes only):

On Twitter, every high-scoring game is bad defense, every low-scoring game bad offense. No one is good at anything in college football.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) September 29, 2012

My kingdom for an MSU fan to answer a marriage proposal with “Next question…” on GameDay

— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) September 29, 2012

I really want to ask John L. Smith for medical advice. I bet he uses the word “crystals” at least six times.

— sir broosk (@celebrityhottub) September 29, 2012

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You know, 96 passing yards is 96 too many, amirite, PJ? May we call you PJ? (AP)

• No. 16 Virginia Tech 20, Georgia Tech 17 (OT). Andy Staples took in the final game of opening weekend last night in Blacksburg, and we’re glad he was there, because without him we’re not sure we could picture Tevin Washington doing all this:

Washington, who averaged only 11.5 pass attempts a game in 2011 running Johnson’s triple option, suddenly turned into Joe Montana at the end of the Yellow Jackets’ final drive in regulation. Georgia Tech’s offense wasn’t even supposed to be on the field, but Johnson had an epiphany borne of frustration as the Yellow Jackets — down 14-10 — faced fourth-and-6 from the Virginia Tech 37 with 3:03 remaining in regulation. Johnson had planned to punt and try to pin the Hokies inside the 10. Given Virginia Tech’s limited offensive success to that point, it seemed a sound plan. Then Johnson scrapped it. [...] So Johnson called timeout, gathered his offense and called a play. Washington, who had completed seven of 11 pass attempts at that point, scrambled around and found B.J. Bostic for a 19-yard gain. Three plays later, Washington found a wide-open Deon Hill for a 10-yard touchdown.

Paul Johnson may have called those passes himself, but rest assured he does not approve, and probably blames putting the ball in the heathen air for the Jackets’ loss.

• Before and after. Favorite pre- and postgame reactions, from our own producer and GT’s assistant AD:

These Georgia Tech unis give new meaning to ‘Hivemind, activate!’

— Mallory Rubin (@MalloryRubin) September 3, 2012

A #GaTech fan e-mailed insisting we protest loss to VT . Why? VT kicker didn’t have mouthpiece in for winning kick. I’ll get right on that.

— Dean Buchan (@DeanBuchan) September 4, 2012

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Tyler Bray attempting a quarterback sneak went about how you’d imagine it would. (AP)

ATLANTA — One data point is almost worse than none, honestly. We’ve said all summer that we don’t know what to make of this Tennessee team, thanks to a 2011 season rendered almost entirely useless for data-collecting purposes by injuries. After seeing the Vols conquer North Carolina State 35-21, we still know practically nothing, and Derek Dooley will be the first to point that out. [RECAP | BOX SCORE]

“It’s one game,” Dooley said. “All that matters is we’re 1-0, and we have to clean up a ton of mistakes.”

That to-fix list surprisingly contains no interceptions from junior quarterback Tyler Bray, who displayed some wonky mechanics at times but played a fairly clean game with big results, completing 27-of-41 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns. What could have been a third touchdown, depending on where you were sitting in the stadium when Bray attempted a poorly considered quarterback sneak, was ruled a fumble in the waning seconds of the first half.

Tennessee did put one looming question to rest Friday night, in the matter of Da’Rick Rogers’ recently vacated Z receiver position. Juco import Cordarrelle Patterson blew past All-America corner David Amerson for the game’s first score three-and-a-half minutes into the game and added another touchdown on a 67-yard end-around in the first quarter’s final minute. Patterson had six catches for 93 yards and 72 yards on the ground. Dooley, sticking to this one data point, assessed Patterson thusly: “He’s big and fast and can catch the ball.” We cannot argue with his logic. Justin Hunter, in his first game since tearing his ACL in Week 3 last season, had nine catches for 73 yards.

Amerson would be outmatched again in the first quarter, losing out to Zach Rogers on a 72-yard touchdown catch that set off a 16-point Tennessee scoring burst (touchdown, safety, Patterson’s scoring run) to end the period. Asked after the game if he felt he’d been targeted, the 2011 national interceptions leader agreed, “I guess you could say so.”

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Just try and tell us there’s not a hand turkey drawn on there somewhere, Tyler Bray. (AP)

Tonight in your living rooms and on your laptops: Two storkish quarterbacks, two stone-faced coaches and a reason to watch San Jose State besides geography, for once.

The opening act

7:30 p.m.: Tennessee vs. NC State (ESPNU). All summer long, we have pointed to the likely length of this game as its greatest attraction factor. Between Tyler Bray, Mike Glennon and the recent history of both teams’ ground attacks, this first game in the Georgia Dome could easily stretch until Auburn and Clemson faithful begin setting up their Saturday tailgates.

The natural matchup to watch tonight is the Vols’ aerial offense against State’s secondary. Of the two combatants, Tennessee’s passing game gets more attention on account of Justin Hunter, the highly publicized departure of Da’Rick Rogers and Tyler Bray being Tyler Bray. But SEC types remain unfamiliar with Wolfpack cornerback David Amerson at their own peril: The junior in the No. 1 jersey led the nation in interceptions last season, and will presumably be dogging Hunter all night long. For added flaky layers of uncertainty, Hunter’s game tonight will be his first since tearing his ACL in Week 3 against Florida last year; Rogers replacement Cordarrelle Patterson is a brand-new juco transfer, and tight end Mychal Rivera is recovering from an ankle sprain. Oh, and State dings its own depth by holding senior cornerback C.J. Wilson out of tonight’s action with an unspecified “eligibility issue.”

Look at us, building this up to be a shootout. After last season, which was almost entirely useless for data-mining purposes, we’re uncomfortable betting on Tennessee either way. For all we know, Rajion Neal could have a breakout game at running back for the Vols behind a solidified offensive line, Mustafa Greene could blow up for the ‘Pack after missing all of 2011 due to injury and this thing could finish 21-20 on a special teams facepalm.

We suspect not. But we’ve been wrong before, and will be again. We’ll also be in the Georgia Dome tonight to find out in person.

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62% of the country is dead wrong on the most important question facing the nation this week. twitter.com/11W/status/240…

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 29, 2012

• PEOPLE. WE ARE A DAY AWAY. GET IT TOGETHER. In other wrongity-wrong map news, please enjoy playing “how many mistakes are in this picture” with this map of college football rooting interests (via @RedditCFB).

• And now, the weather. To yesterday’s list of teams affected by Hurricane Isaac, you may now add Louisiana Tech, which has moved its Thursday opener with Texas A&M to Oct. 13, and South Alabama, whose all-n00b debut versus UTSA will shift from Thursday to Saturday.

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Ohio State football coach Francis Schmidt leads practice in 1938: twitter.com/si_vault/statu…

— Andy Gray (@si_vault) August 21, 2012

Tell us these guys don’t look like they’re about three seconds away from all breaking into song.

• Everything about college football recruiting remains anywhere from vaguely to outright creepy. From the pros to the rest of us.

• What does Collin Klein look for in a date? “Someone just like my mom,” he said “–but younger.”

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Get well soon, Idaho football. The world is more interesting with you in it. (AP)

• In our dreams, this means they won’t be able to afford to fire Robb Akey, ever, and he and his magnificent moustache can coach in windswept Moscow forever. It probably won’t work out like that, but we had to look for some upside to Idaho going independent in football, didn’t we?

• Monteé Ball was still not in that fight. Bret Bielema is sorry to disappoint any Monteé Ball haters out there, but says that two other non-Monteé Ball players were involved in the scuffle that reportedly led to Ball being assaulted earlier this month, but that Monteé Ball himself was not. Monteé Ball. (We’re just doing some reps here to remember to type his name the new way.)

• From the “Things we never really expected to read” department: A Securities and Exchange Commission press release announcing fraud charges against Jim Donnan. Anybody else mistakenly think Barry Switzer would’ve been wilier than this?

• Florida State is back! No, for real this time! NO. FOR REAL. MAYBE?

• Sunrise, sunset. Another Rose Bowl. Yawn. Oregon ticket sales slumping is way sadder to us than Minnesota ticket sales flailing, for some reason. We have only been to Autzen twice, but feel very strongly that whatever happens there should be watched by as many people as possible for as long as it exists. (Also, DUCK ON A MOTORCYCLE.)

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