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What We Learned in NCAA Football Week 4: Open Season on Ranked Teams
Oklahoma Is Among 6 Ranked Squads To Fall
Week 4 did not disappoint. Six teams lost while two others had to rally to avoid the same fate. It should make for some interesting poll votes this week, especially since the teams ranked 20th, 21st, 22nd and 25th in the Associated Press poll all ended up on the wrong end of the scoreboard.
There were 12 teams who lost for the first time while Buffalo, Navy and New Mexico State all won their first games of the season.
There were 12 games featuring at least one Football Bowl Subdivision team with at least 75 combined points being scored and that list is led by the wild affair between Ohio and FCS Fordham. The teams combined for 1,040 passing yards and 1,332 total yards in Ohio’s 59-52 win with Nathan Rourke throwing for 537 yards for the victorious Bobcats.
Georgia (+175), Alabama (+200) and Ohio State (+225) won their games by a combined total of 100 points as the college football odds still has them well ahead of the other teams in the odds to win the national title.
A few numbers to digest before heading into the weekly breakdown. First, 17 of the 19 remaining undefeated teams come from the Power-5 conference with four squads from the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Atlantic Division (Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina State and Syracuse) among the 4-0 teams. On the other side of things, every team in the Mid-American Conference’s West Division lost in Week 4.
Wildcats Tame Sooners Once Again
Is there a way that Kansas State and Oklahoma could play a best of five game series each season?
Few annual matchups have had the offensive fireworks of recent games between the Wildcats and Sooners.
Saturday’s showdown in Norman was no exception with Kansas State going on the road a week after a stunning loss to Tulane and taking down a Top-10 ranked Oklahoma team 41-34. It was the third win by Kansas State over Oklahoma in the last three seasons.
👀😤 @KStateFB has won 3 of the last 4 matchups against Oklahoma pic.twitter.com/BJcb0srRSy
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 25, 2022
When Adrian Martinez was at Nebraska, the book on him was that he couldn’t perform on the big stage as he had an 0-13 record as a starting quarterback against ranked opponents in his four years at Nebraska.
Martinez had no such issues on Saturday as he passed for 234 yards and a touchdown. It was just the fourth time in 14 games against ranked teams that he didn’t throw an interception. Martinez ran for 148 yards and four TDs as the Wildcats gashed the Oklahoma defense for 275 rushing yards.
Fellow Big 12 title contender Texas also took a tumble, falling 37-34 in overtime to Texas Tech as Donovan Smith threw for two scores and ran for another while the Red Raiders recovered a fumble by Heisman Trophy candidate Bijan Robinson on the first play of overtime.
DJ’s Huge Effort Is Music to the Ears of Clemson Faithful
There were debates when Bryce Young or DJ Uiagalelei was the more promising quarterback prospect coming out of California a couple years ago.
Young led Alabama to the SEC title game victory and a spot in the national championship contest a season ago while winning the Heisman Trophy. In Uiagalelei’s first season as Clemson’s starting quarterback, the Tigers’ six-year run as ACC champions came to an end.
For those Clemson fans anxious to see Uiagalelei live up to the hype, the wait is over.
The junior threw for 371 yards with five touchdown passes in a 51-45 overtime victory at Wake Forest. He also ran for 52 yards in the instant classic as the teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of total offense.
Corum Puts On A Show
Michigan hadn’t had a running back finish with more than 200 yards in a game in five years. Blake Corum picked a good time to change that.
Corum ran 30 times for 243 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
He scored on a 33-yard run with 22 seconds left in the first half and broke free for a 47-yard touchdown with 3:31 left as the Wolverines withstood a spirited challenge from visiting Maryland.
Three Minnesota turnovers proved to be too much to overcome as Michigan held on for the 34-27 win.
Buckeyes Pass First Conference Test With Ease
So much for the thought that Wisconsin might be able to hang with third-ranked Ohio State.
The Buckeyes had four touchdowns and a field goal on its first five drives and cruised to the 52-21 win in a showdown of the teams listed by the college football odds as the favorites to win the Big Ten division titles coming into the season.
C.J. Stroud threw for five scores while Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson each ran for more than 100 yards.
If not for 165 yards from Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen, things really could have gotten out of hand.
A Late Splash By The Ducks
The Pac-12 landscape nearly had a major shakeup with two of the favorites needing late scores to avoid upset losses.
Washington State seemed to be in total control when Cameron Ward’s second touchdown pass gave the Cougars a 12-point lead with 6:42 left to play.
Bo Nix had a pair of touchdown passes and Mase Funa returned an interception for a score as the Ducks came from behind for the 44-41 victory.
Nix threw for 428 yards and three touchdowns with Troy Franklin leading the way with 137 yards on five catches.
In another matchup of undefeated teams, Heisman Trophy candidate Caleb Williams had a pretty forgettable performance. However, he was 5 of 7 for 57 yards in the most important drive of the game as he connected with Jordan Addison on a 21-yard touchdown pass with 1:13 left to lift the Trojans to the 17-14 victory.
Williams was just 16 of 36 for 180 yards in the game.
Those who bet online who believe in Williams might want to make a wager on his Heisman Trophy odds sooner rather than later because they are sure to be impacted by this performance.
Ranked Showdowns Don’t Disappoint
The game between Clemson and Wake Forest was one of three matchups between ranked teams. Much like what went down in Winston-Salem, those contests weren’t decided until the bitter end.
Quarterbacks Hendon Hooker of Tennessee and Anthony Richardson of Florida combined for 801 passing yards and touchdown touchdowns while running for 174 yards and three more scores in Tennessee’s 38-33 win.
Tennessee had touchdowns on its three possessions in the second half while the other two times the Gators failed to score in the second half came when they turned the ball over.
It was a much different style of play when Texas A&M held off Arkansas 23-21 when a 42-yard field goal by Cam Little with 1:42 left was no good.
Both teams ran the ball early and often but the 322 combined passing yards was less than the total put up by the Tennessee and Florida QBs.
Mile High Misery
There are three winless teams at the FBS level and two of them hail from the state of Colorado.
The Colorado Buffaloes had the ball for more than 34 minutes against visiting UCLA but allowed the Bruins to score touchdowns on the first three offensive possessions as Colorado fell 45-17 to remain the only winless FBS team.
It wasn’t much better for Colorado State which allowed the final 20 points in a 41-10 loss to Sacramento State.
The Buffaloes and Rams have been outscored 337-90 this season.
Georgia State is the other 0-4 team. After one-score losses to North Carolina and Charlotte, Georgia State gave up touchdown passes of 50 and 53 yards from Grayson McCall to Jared Brown in the first quarter in a 41-24 loss to Coastal Carolina.
Irish Show Some Fight in Trip to Chapel Hill
Even with a 1-2 record, the idea that Notre Dame was listed by the college football betting lines as the underdog at North Carolina was rather interesting.
North Carolina’s offense was the one getting hyped up leading into this matchup. However, Notre Dame approached the 300-yard mark both on the ground and through the air in a 45-32 win that wasn’t as close as that score might indicate.
The Fighting Irish led by 25 points early in the fourth quarter before the Tar Heels added a pair of scores to cut into the lead.
Drew Pyne threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns while Audric Estime had 134 yards and two touchdowns as Notre Dame withstood five touchdown passes from North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
Michigan State and Miami Disappoint Once Again
When the season began, Michigan State and Miami were ranked 15th and 16th in the Associated Press poll.
It might be a while before the Spartans and Hurricanes break back into the Top 25.
Michigan State overcame its defensive struggles a season ago thanks to dynamic running back Kenneth Walker. There is no saving the Spartans so far in 2022.
Minnesota went to East Lansing and completely dominated the host Spartans. Minnesota outgained Michigan State 240-38 on the ground and allowed the Spartans to convert on his two of eight third down plays.
While losing at home to 27 points isn’t fun, at least it came against an undefeated conference rival.
Miami has been touted as the top competitor to Clemson in the ACC. Try telling that to anybody checking out the Hurricanes’ 45-31 loss at home to Middle Tennessee State.
The turning point came when Miami failed to score on four plays inside the 5. On the next play by Middle Tennessee, Chase Cunningham connected with DJ England-Chisholm for the 98-yard score to turn what could have been a seven-point game into a 38-17 lead for the visiting Blue Raiders.
Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke was the quarterback being mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate according to the college football predictions. Middle Tennessee’s Cunningham was the one who passed for 408 yards with three touchdown passes to go with another score on the ground.
Bears Still Have Plenty of Bite
The undefeated start by Kansas is dominating the headlines. However, Baylor proved this weekend that until somebody proves otherwise, the road to the Big 12 title still goes through Waco.
The defending conference champions were listed as underdogs going to face Iowa State. The Bears were leading by 17 points midway through the fourth quarter and held off a late charge by the Cyclones for the 31-24 win.
Bryson Jackson had two sacks, Baylor had a pair of interceptions while Blake Shapen threw for three scores for Baylor.
