CBS led all college football games this weekend with a 5.1 overnight rating for Alabama's 42-21 win over Florida in the 3:30pm ET window despite No. 1-ranked Florida State going to overtime with Clemson on Saturday night. ABC drew a 4.9 overnight for FSU's 23-17 primetime win. ABC's rating was likely impact by the suspension of FSU QB Jameis Winston earlier in the week, which was moved from a half to a full game late Friday night. Meanwhile, Oregon-Washington State in the late Saturday night window (10:45pm-2:00am) led all of ESPN's cable TV college football broadcasts over the weekend with a 2.1 overnight, topping Mississippi State's upset win over LSU in the early primetime window (7:15-10:45pm). Fox also drew a 1.9 overnight rating for Oklahoma-West Virginia from 7:30-11:30pm (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
FAMOUS JAMEIS: In Tampa, Tom Jones writes while the Winston suspension was the "major story line" of the game, ABC "paid a little too much attention to it." Deadspin.com noted Winston appeared on screen a "remarkable 48 times." That panned out to 5% "of the broadcast, an average of one out of every 20 seconds." His name "was mentioned 60 times" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 9/22).
