Wow, what a crazy week of College Football! We had some great games, some dominating performances, and some unexpected upsets. Some lingering questions I have after this week – Is the ACC’s playoff chances dead? Will Oklahoma ever get their offense fixed? Is the Offensive Line going to get better for Notre Dame? Will Georgia ever stop scoring against Vanderbilt?
Here are my final words on College Football week four.
Clemson gets stunned by North Carolina State
Clemson’s ugly offense continued into the North Carolina State game, this time they didn’t hold on for a win, but fell in Double OT to a very game North Carolina State team.
Clemson is now 2-2 and they have their whole ACC schedule ahead of them. On top of that, the injury bug is hitting Clemson on both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball. The streak of owning the ACC may be over for the Tigers.
But let’s talk about the winner here, the Wolfpack took down the TIgers, survived a trio of missed field goals by Christopher Dunn, and scored on a game-winning 22 yard TD pass from Devin Leary to Devin Carter.
Three of the previous four NC State home contests against the Tigers had come down to the fourth quarter, and the Pack faced a Top-10 Clemson squad sixth straight time. It was the Pack’s first win over the Tigers since 2011 and the first of the Dave Doeren era, as NC State matched Clemson’s seven points in the first overtime before Devin Carter scored the game-winning touchdown and the defense got the game-winning stop in double overtime.
The Wolfpack’s defense played a fantastic game, forcing seven three-and-outs and an interception in the win. Offensively, Pack quarterback Devin Leary threw for four touchdowns, with Carter catching two, Emeka Emezie catching one and Thayer Thomas catching one.
Clemson had won the last eight games in the series and 15 of 16. The Tigers saw their streak of 36 straight victories over unranked opponents snapped.
The ACC is now wide open and we will have to keep an eye on the Wolfpack to see if this is their year.
21 Observations From College Football Week Four
Six Ranked Teams Lost On Saturday
- In a year full of ranked teams losing, we added six more to the list – No. 7. Texas A&M, No. 9 Clemson, No. 14 Iowa State, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 21 North Carolina and No. 25 Kansas State. This pushes the total to 25 ranked teams losing through four weeks. The year of chaos is upon us.
Texas A&M Needs To Lean On Their RBs
- A&M continues to try to pass the ball entirely too much, it finally came back to bite them this weekend. Going forward for them to win they need to lean on their good OLine and their trio of running backs – Isaiah Spiller, Devon Achane, and Ainias Smith.
Nix Is Nixed?
- Auburn finally benched Bo Nix on Saturday when they almost lost to Georgia State. They brought in TJ Finley who completed 9 of 16 passes for 97 yards and a wild touchdown to give the Tigers the lead in the final minute. Though he looked good this week, I’m not sure that TJ Finley is the answer but they had to do something as Bo Nix was continuing to regress.
LSU’s Defense Has Figured Out Mississippi State
- After the disaster of last year where LSU gave up over 600 yards passing, they finally seemed to figure out the Bulldogs offense. They played a 3-2-6 scheme, which limited the explosive plays and it worked, leading to a 28-25 win.
Alabama Won Again Against An Unranked Opponent
- Alabama has won 100 consecutive games against unranked teams, the longest streak ever, and hasn’t trailed in its past 53 quarters of play, the longest streak in the FBS since 1950.
Notre Dame Became The First Team Since At Least 2000 To Win By At Least 28 Points With Fewer Than 10 Rushing Yards
- So is this a good thing or bad thing? Notre Dame continues to struggle with it’s offensive line, you have to hope it will get better when a couple of its Olinemen come back this year, but can they hold on until that time? The good news for Irish fans, they are finding ways to win each week.
Minnesota Bowled Over
- Bowling Green beat Minnesota 14-10, its first time holding a power-conference team to 10 or fewer points since they beat Missouri in 1995. Minnesota is now 0-17 under P.J. Fleck when trailing at halftime.
UTSA Running Back Carried The Load
- Sincere McCormick ran 42 times for 184 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-28 win at Memphis. He deserves some practices off this week!
SMU Ran For 350 Yards Against TCU
- In a 42-34 win, SMU’s Ulysses Bentley IV had 153 yards (7.7 yards per carry) and a touchdown, Tre Siggers had 110 yards (6.1 per carry) and Tyler Lavine had 52 yards (6.5 per carry), while quarterback Tanner Mordecai averaged 9.3 yards per run.
Spartans Answered The Call
- The Spartans led the Huskers 13-10 at halftime, but Nebraska racked up 227 yards in the second half and took a 20-13 lead. MSU’s offense totaled just 14 yards in the second half, but a punt return touchdown with 3:47 to play tied the game. In overtime, the Spartans intercepted a pass and nearly returned it for a game-winning score.
Oklahoma Looks Shaky Again
- Oklahoma held on to beat West Virginia 16-13 in a defensive battle, a sentence you wouldn’t expect to have read for the last few years. But OU’s defense is keeping their season alive, eventually that offense will have to do something, maybe against Kansas State next week?
Tulsa Had Crazy Offensive Drives
- Tulsa had 1-play scores of 88, 34 and 75 yards in a 41-34 win. Arkansas State has allowed nine touchdown drives of one or two plays this season, including six one-play drives.
The Cowboys Could Be The Most Complete Team In The Big-12
- The Cowboys beat Kansas State 31-20 on Saturday, allowing one offensive touchdown. Their defense continues to be great each week, and the offensive is starting to come around. They could be the biggest threat to the Sooners and Longhorns this year.
North Carolina No Shows. Again…
- At the beginning of the year it was thought that North Carolina would be the number 2 team in the ACC or even compete for the title. But they continue to have uneven performances. In their loss to Georgia tech, they allowed eight sacks and were blown out 45-22.
Time To Fire Clay Helton Again…..
- Oregon State had lost 24 games in a row in the Coliseum before Saturday’s 45-27 win. It was their most points scored in any game against the Trojans, and they rushed for 322 yards, the most allowed by USC against an unranked team since 2014 at Boston College. If only you could fire Clay Helton again!
The Shining Light Of The ACC
- Could Wake Forest be the team to beat in the ACC? The Deacons have won 42-10 against Old Dominion, 41-16 against Norfolk State, 35-14 against Florida State and now 37-17 against Virginia, for a total of 155 points. It could just be the competition or it could just be the year of the Deacons.
Emory Jones is Quieting The QB Controversy in Florida
- All of the clamoring for Anthony Richardson to be the quarterback in Florida has been quieted after the last two weeks. First a gutty performance against Alabama in their almost upset. Then this week he had the third-highest rating this week of any quarterback at 135.9, according to Pro Football Focus.
Iowa State falls short
- The No. 14 Cyclones scored a touchdown with 31 seconds left, had it taken off the board due to a penalty and then scored again on the next play. But they needed a two-point conversion to tie it up. Brock Purdy mishandled the snap and had to throw up a terrible pass and Baylor pulled off the victory. This is a huge victory for Dave Aranda who seems to have the Baylor program trending in the right direction.
Michigan Held Off Rutgers
- Michigan missed a 47-yard field goal and gave Rutgers, down 20-13, one more chance to drive and try to force overtime. But Michigan’s David Ojabo stripped quarterback Noah Vedral and clinched the win for the Wolverines. The Michigan offensive still seems to be uneven outside of their running game. Will be something to watch this week.
Arkansas’ Year?
- Arkansas is owning the state of Texas with another big victory, this time over Texas A&M. This looks to be a special year for Arkansas, if they beat Georgia, I would say they may be playoff bound.
Craziest Finish Of The Day
- The Buffalo Monarchs were down 35-7 at halftime and came all the way back, scoring on a fourth-down TD with 19 seconds left to make it 35-34. But refs flagged them for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play when ODU players ran onto the field to celebrate. That turned the extra-point try into a 35-yard kick. And it was no good. Heartbreaking finish.
My Prediction Record After College Football Week Four
- Last week: 16-4
- Overall: 58-19
- Upset Picks Overall: 2-3
Not a bad week for my picks, as I got my upset pick of Arkansas right and 16 out of 20 overall. I wish I would have pulled the trigger on the NC Sate upset, but I just assumed Clemson would again find a way.
My Personal College Football Top 10 (And Playoff Predictions)
After the forth week, here is who I have in my College Football top 10:
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Penn State
- Oregon
- Iowa
- Notre Dame
- Oklahoma
- Cincinnati
- Michigan
Here are my predictions for the College Football playoffs:
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Alabama
- Notre Dame
My Heisman Predictions After Week Four
- Matt Corral
- Bryce Young
- Desmond Ridder
- CJ Verdell
- Blake Corum
Looking Ahead To College Football Week Five
Here are your biggest games for week Five.
- Oklahoma at Kansas State
- Arkansas at Georgia
- Michigan at Wisconsin
- Cincinnati at Notre Dame
- Ole Miss at Alabama
- Baylor at Oklahoma State
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