Well, that was an exhilarating weekend of college football. We saw some of the most incredible team and individual plays so far this season, from Washington State's narrow victory over Oregon State / Josh Kelly’s two insane one-handed catches (while his other hand was being held by the defender) to Wyoming’s epic comeback to snag the Saturday night win in Laramie against Appalachian State. Without further ado, let’s get into some of the highlights.
Now #11-ranked Notre Dame will be kicking themselves for not taking that field goal (and missing a field goal attempt) in the first half against now #4 Ohio State. However, this matchup in South Bend, Indiana was a great example of a low scoring game that is still very entertaining to watch.
Both teams had opportunities to win. Later in the 4th quarter, Notre Dame trailed 10-7. After an excellent Buckeyes punt, the Fighting Irish drove the length of the field to convert a touchdown pass on 2nd and goal. On the following drive, Ohio State skill players torched the ND defense with a gashing run and several long passes, in addition to a costly pass interference call on Notre Dame captain JD Bertrand, who had just returned from a concussion injury. After an unsuccessful third and short thanks to a tackle by former Buckeye Javan Jean Baptiste, ND valiantly denied a motion sweep to the right on 4th and inches. The Irish accumulated a few first downs, but the offensive line allowed several crucial sacks thereafter, forcing a punt at their own 27-yard line. After the moving into ND territory, the Buckeyes narrowly converted a 4th down with an eight yard completion, with under a minute remaining. Fast forward to 2nd and 10 at the opposite 13, and Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord is called for intentional grounding, forcing 3rd and 19. McCord then completes a laser to standout wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, positioning the offense at the 1. The team smartly and quickly lines up to spike, leaving just seven seconds remaining on the clock. McCord’s attempt on a corner fadeaway route is incomplete, leaving room for one final play. ND makes a grave error on defense here, setting up only three players on the line and leaving the right side exposed. Ohio State exploits this gap by running slightly to the left and thus ending the game. Or so we thought. After the Buckeyes rush the field in jubilation, the referees reviewed the play, trying to determine whether RB Chip Trayanum’s elbow or knee was down prior to crossing the goal line. The replay was close, but the referees decided that Trayanum had successfully crossed the line into the end zone. However, the refs also determined that the game was not yet over. One second was added back to the clock, giving the Irish a hint of one last chance. The Buckeyes illegally kicked the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff, positioning the Irish at their own 34-yard line. The last ditch hook and ladder play was poorly executed, resulting in two tosses and two Ohio State defenders bringing down Notre Dame’s quarterback Sam Hartman, a Wake Forest transfer. The loss was frustrating, but Hartman and the Irish are still very much in contention for the playoffs, assuming that they take care of difficult opponents like #8 USC and next week’s road matchup against #17 Duke.
Both Charles and I were impressed with skill player performance in Week 4, especially at wide receiver. After watching countless Week 4 highlights and games, we have compiled a list of best wide receivers so far, in no particular order:
· Xavier Legette (South Carolina)
· Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State)
· Johnny Wilson (Florida State)
· Josh Kelly (Washington State)
· Emeka Egbuka (Ohio State)
· Keon Coleman (Florida State)
· Malik Nabers (LSU)
· Rome Odunze (Washington)
· Luther Burden III (Mizzou)
Mizzou, Kansas, and Fresno State notably appear in the AP Top 25 at #23, #24, and #25, respectively.
While Fresno State barely edged Purdue and FCS Eastern Washington in the first two games, they have displayed some progression with more convincing victories over Arizona State and Kent State since. As a reminder, the Arizona State Sundevils are an improved squad that gave #5 USC a run for their money last night during a 42-28 loss in Tempe.
Kansas bested BYU on Saturday in a game which they controlled. Kansas so far is mirroring last season, in which they astounded critics by winning their first five. After that, they lost to future CFB championship contender TCU, and the season went downhill from there. I’m afraid that this season might end the same way—in classic Big 12 fashion, the Jayhawks face the #3 team in the country, the Texas Longhorns. Daniel Hishaw Jr. is a powerful sophomore running back who leads the Jayhawk offense. He averaged 71.4 yards per game last season and is on track to exceed that figure this season.
Missouri has been boosted by talented skill players on offense, winning games against Middle Tennessee State, then-ranked Kansas State, and Memphis. Conference play in (arguably) the country’s most competitive conference begins next week against SEC bottom feeder Vanderbilt, whose only wins come against Hawaii and FCS Alabama A&M. Still, the Tigers will be tested against fellow SEC opponents like LSU, Tennessee, and #1 Georgia throughout the fall.
The Pac-12 has played lights out in spite of its impending demise. Overall conference performance is the best it’s been in decades, with a FBS high eight teams in the Top 25 in Week 4: Oregon, Washington, Oregon State, Washington State, USC, Colorado, Utah, and UCLA. The conference has gone 24-5 against non-conference opponents, which blows the other conferences, including the SEC, out of the water. Needless to say, the Pac-12 is living it up before the funeral. The fate of Oregon State and Washington State remains murky after both programs refused invitations to join the Mountain West, a conference perhaps best known for its aversion to proper defending. Other programs have left for other conferences. California and Stanford (along with the AAC’s SMU) raised eyebrows when the ACC accepted them into the conference a few weeks ago. The remaining teams have opted to join the Big 12 and Big Ten. It is a shame to many college football fans that a conference really coming into its own will no longer exist next season.
Washington State squared off against former Clemson Tiger DJ Uiagalelei’s new team, the Oregon State Beavers, in an exciting night game. In front of a packed home crowd, the Cougars narrowly edged their opponent 38-35. And again, Josh Kelly’s unbelievable grabs must be commended, as well as Oregon State’s running game. RB Deshaun Fenwick rushed for 101 yards and three touchdowns in the game.
In Eugene, the #10 Oregon Ducks creamed the overhyped #19 Colorado Buffaloes 42-6. Colorado’s prior best win was against a floundering TCU squad that lost lots of talent to the NFL Draft and graduation. TCU had a bit of energy left over from last year’s dark horse national championship run, which culminated in an embarrassing loss to Georgia. I was excited to watch this ranked Pac-12 matchup, but further into the second half I correctly determined that this was a blowout and switched to another game.
My alma mater, Clemson, exceeded expectations, playing a close game with #4 Florida State that ended in a narrow loss. RB Will Shipley made a lot of physical runs, but the offensive line was sometimes porous, allowing pass rushers to too often pressure Cade Klubnik. This loss officially removes the Tigers, almost surely, from playoff contention, but Clemson fans should be hopeful that their team showed improvement on Saturday. ACC title hopes are certainly not off the table. But head coach Dabo Swinney surely must be reconsidering his refusal to utilize the transfer portal, which has proved costly this season in terms of personnel.
I second what Charles said: “Shoutout to Iowa for having less than 100 yards of offense against Penn State yesterday.” Unsurprisingly, the Iowa offense was barren like a desert as they fell 31-0 to #7 Penn State in State College. Former Michigan Wolverine transfer quarterback Cade McNamara has not been impactful enough to improve the notoriously stuttering Hawkeyes offense. Being an Iowa fan must mean constant mental torture. They have among the best defenses in college football, but one of the worst offenses in the Power Five. [see memes]. They play in the Big Ten West, one of worst Power Five divisions, and sometimes criminally appears in the Big Ten title game over far superior Big Ten East teams.
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