Week 4 Recap

Week 4 saw some interesting games. There were some almost upsets and of course Utah’s not even close upset of Oregon in Eugene. Arkansas lost to Texas A&M in OT for the second year in a row. Texas Tech almost pulled off a huge upset over TCU, but a miracle catch saved the game for the Horned Frogs. Texas almost beat Oklahoma State, but a Cowboy FG ended the Longhorn hopes. Let’s look back at how each conference fared in week 4.

How I Fared: (2-4 this week, 13-11 overall)

Conference Overviews
SEC: There were a couple close games in the SEC this week. Tennessee gave up another 4th quarter double-digit lead in their 27-28 loss to Florida (despite Vol’s QB Josh Dobbs being the passing, rushing, and receiving leader). Will Grier hit Antonio Callaway for a 63-yard TD on 4th and 14 to take the lead with 1:26 remaining in the game. Tennessee had the chance to win with a 55-yard FG, but kicker Aaron Medley missed twice (was iced on the first attempt). Arkansas and Texas A&M played a great game but the Hogs lost in OT after having a 4th quarter lead for the second year in a row. The Aggies led an 85-yard scoring drive to tie the game with a two-point conversion and seemed to be poised to win after a fumble by Brandon Allen. The game winning kick was wide right sending the game into OT. Texas A&M scored quickly and Arkansas was unable to convert on 4th down. Arkansas once again killed themselves with penalties, racking up 93 negative yards on 11 penalties. Auburn was beat once again, this week losing to Mississippi State and Dak Prescott. Kentucky gave Missouri their first loss of the season (which is surprising because of how bad the Tigers have looked). Ole Miss didn’t put up an obscene amount of points on Vanderbilt, giving credit to the Commodore’s defense. Syracuse gave LSU a good fight even though they started their 5th string walk on QB. RB Leonard Fournette once again was a beast, running for 244 yards and 2TDs and he also had one called back due to a penalty (LSU had 14 penalties for 120 yards). South Carolina started off slow but was able to come back and beat UCF 31-14. Alabama cruised to a 34-0 win over ULM and Georgia had no problems with Southern, winning 48-6. Next week: 13BAMA at 8UGA, 3MISS at 25UF, 21MSST at 14TAMU, SCAR at MIZZ, ARK at TENN, SJSU at AUB, EMU at 9LSU, VAN at MTSU, EKY at UK

Big 10: This week saw a lot of close calls for Big 10 teams against other conferences. Nebraska only beat Southern Miss by 8 points and allowed 21 in 4th quarter. Purdue was upset by Bowling Green 28-35 at home thanks to a BG TD with 9 seconds remaining. Indiana held off Wake Forest’s comeback. The Demon Deacons scored twice in the final 7 minutes and recovered an onside kick with about 2:30 left, but they were unable to score. Minnesota needed a late TD to top Ohio and gave up a 56-yard return on the ensuing kickoff, but the Bobcats were unable to move the ball into field goal range. Illinois almost lost at home to Middle Tennessee, but the Blue Raiders missed a FG with 8 seconds left, giving Illinois the 2-point victory. Illini kicker Taylor Zalewski made a 51-yard FG with 2:09 left to give his team the advantage. Northwestern also had a close call with Ball State. The Wildcats led a nearly 4 and a half minute drive to kill the clock, giving Ball State only 11 seconds to attempt their lateral play, but it didn’t work. Rutgers was able to beat Kansas even without their coach and some top players. Michigan throttled BYU, winning 31-0. Maryland took a beating on the road, losing 6-45 to West Virginia. Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin didn’t struggle much in their games. Next Week: PUR at 2MSU, MINN at 16NW, Iowa at 19WIS, 1OSU at IND, 22MICH at MD, NEB at ILL, Army at PSU

Pac 12: The games in the Pac 12 went about as expected, except for one. Utah went into Autzen Stadium and gave Oregon a taste of their own medicine. The Utes blew out the Ducks 62-20. Utah QB Travis Wilson threw for 4TDs and rushed for 100 yards and a TD. Oregon started QB Vernon Adams Jr., but his injury and play led to Jeff Lockie coming in to take over. Utah scored 21 points in the second quarter and 28 in the third. This huge win vaulted Utah to 10 in the AP poll and the Ducks dropped out for the first time in a long time. Stanford to care of business at Oregon State on Friday, Colorado shut out FCS Nicholls State, and UCLA and USC took care of business on their trips to Arizona and Arizona State respectively. The only close game was Cal’s 6-point win over Washington in Seattle. A late interception sealed the game for the Golden Bears who are now 4-0 and ranked. Next Week: WSU at 24CAL, ASU at 7UCLA, ARI at 18STAN, ORE at COLO

Big 12: There were two great games in the Big 12 this weekend. Luckily I got to see the endings of both while I was at the Arkansas Texas A&M game (everyone in the JerryWorld cheered when Oklahoma State won.) Oklahoma State kicker Ben Grogan made two FGs in the last 1:33 to beat Texas in Austin. The game-winner was a 40-yarder with 6 seconds remaining. Texas only scored 1 offensive TD in this game, the other two came off a fumble return and a pick 6. Texas was penalized 16 times for 128 yards, making it hard to win. The other amazing game was TCU’s 55-52 win over Texas Tech. This game was a shootout that ended with a miracle and came close to ending with two miracles. The first was the TCU TD with 23 seconds left. It is one of those plays you have to see, I can’t do it justice. That catch is why you always finish the play and keep your eyes on the ball. The almost miracle was the lateral play Texas Tech used. The Red Raiders made it all the way to the TCU 10 yard line before the play ended. As far as the rest of the Big 12 goes, Kansas lost to a battered Rutgers team and Rice and Baylor had no issues with their opponents. Next Week: 23WVU at 15OU, TEX at 4TCU, TTU at 5BAY, KSU at 20OKST, KAN at ISU

ACC: Louisville, NC State, and North Carolina all made it through week 4 without too much trouble. The Cardinals picked up their first win of the season over Samford. Boston College barely got by Northern Illinois. The Huskies ran a kick back for a TD with less than 5 minutes to play but they were unable to move the ball past the BC40 in their last drive. Duke knocked off Georgia Tech 34-20. Duke RB Shaquille Powell ran for 3TDs in the game. Georgia Tech fell out of the top 25 and has had some trouble with their offense in the last couple weeks. Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech all lost to non-conference opponents. The ‘Cuse fought hard against LSU but couldn’t stop Fournette. Virginia was blown out by Boise State at home and Virginia Tech lost on the road at East Carolina. Wake Forest came close to beating Indiana, but couldn’t finish. They recovered an onside kick, but could not score. Next Week: 11FSU at WF, PITT at VT, LOU at NCST, BC at Duke, UNC at GT, 6ND at 12CLEM, MIA at CIN

Independent: BYU laid an egg in the Big House, losing 0-31 to Michigan. The Cougars couldn’t move the ball against the Wolverines, only getting 8 first downs and 105 yards in the game. Notre Dame had no trouble with Massachusetts. The Irish won 62-27. Army also won big, beating Eastern Michigan 58-36. The Black Knights ran for 556 yards and 7TDs in the game. Next Week: UConn at BYU, Army at PSU, 6ND at 12CLEM

American: The biggest game in this conference was on Thursday. Memphis beat Cincinnati 53-46 in a game that featured approximately 100 lead changes. Bearcat QB left after a scary hit early in the game. He was taken to the hospital but was released to go back to Cincinnati with his team. His backup, freshman Hayden Moore, did a great job, throwing for 557 yards and 4TDs. He also threw an extremely costly INT to end the game. That was one of the most exciting games I’ve seen that didn’t involve Arkansas. UCF came out strong against South Carolina, but the lead only lasted one half. The Gamecocks scored 20 points in the 3rd quarter to seal their win. SMU fell to James Madison 45-48. The deciding score came in the first quarter. After that the two matched each other in every quarter. SMU got to the JMU side of the field at the end of the game but just didn’t have enough time. Navy got a conference win over Connecticut and is undefeated. Houston and East Carolina each got wins outside of the conference. ECU’s came over Virginia Tech and Houston’s was over Texas State. Next Week: MEM at USF, UCF at TULA, HOU at TULS, ECU at SMU, MIA at CIN, TEM at CHAR, UConn at BYU, AF at Navy

Mountain West: Boise State and UNLV got big out of conference wins this week. Boise State went to Virginia and left with a 56-14 win. UNLV hosted Idaho State of the FCS and won 80-8 for their first win of the season (go Rebels!!). San Jose State got a big conference win over Fresno State, beating the Bulldogs 49-23. New Mexico was on the road at Wyoming and got a win in the two teams’ conference opener. Nevada and Colorado State both escaped with road wins this week. Nevada had a key INT at the end of the game to secure a 24-21 win at Buffalo. Colorado State got the ball back with a 2-point lead and 5 and a half minutes to play and they strung together a 10-play drive to end the game to beat UTSA 33-31. San Diego State and Hawaii both suffered losses to Big 10 teams. SDSU lost 21-37 to Penn State and Hawaii was shut out by Wisconsin 0-28. Next Week: UNLV at UNR, CSU at USU, NMSU at UNM, HAW at BSU, FRES at SDSU, AF at Navy, WYO at APP

MAC: Bowling Green, Akron, and Toledo were the only MAC teams to win this week. Bowling Green beat Purdue, Akron beat Louisiana Lafayette, and Toledo crushed Arkansas State. Four MAC teams lost to ranked teams: Central Michigan to 2Michigan State, Massachusetts to 6Notre Dame, Western Michigan to 1Ohio State, and Ball State to 17Northwestern. Three MAC teams lost by only a FG: Northern Illinois to Boston College, Buffalo to Nevada, and Ohio to Minnesota. Miami of Ohio and Eastern Michigan both had big losses. Kent State took Marshall to 2OT but fell short, losing 29-36. Next Week: Ohio at AKR, TOL at BALL, NIU at CMU, BG at BUFF, MOH at KENT, FIU at UMass, EMU at 9LSU

C-USA: Rice, Old Dominion, and North Texas all got blown out this week by non-conference opponents. Southern Miss gave Nebraska a scare, scoring 21 points in the 4th quarter, but they ended up losing by 8. Middle Tennessee came close to upsetting Illinois, but the Blue Raiders missed the game winning FG with 4 seconds remaining to lose 25-27. UTSA also lost by two. The Road Runners punted the ball away to Colorado State with 5 and a half minutes left and never got the ball back and ended up losing 31-33. UTEP had a scare with Incarnate Word, but scored the final 10 points to win 27-17. Western Kentucky blew out Miami of Ohio 56-14. Marshall got a win over Kent State, but it took 2OTs. Kent State was only able to move the ball 3 yards in the second OT. Louisiana Tech got a 10-point conference victory over FIU and FAU got a 10-point road conference victory over Charlotte. Next Week: ODU at MRSH, WKU at Rice, UNT at USM, UTSA at UTEP, TEM at CHAR, FIU at UMass, VAN at MTSU, ULL at LT

Sun Belt: There was only one game that featured two Sun Belt teams this week and that was Georgia Southern at Idaho. The Eagles beat the Vandals 44-20. ULM, ULL, Arkansas State, South Alabama, and Texas State all got beat pretty good this week by their non-conference opponents. Appalachian State shut out Old Dominion 49-0. Next Week: USA at Troy, Idaho at ARST, GASO at ULM, WYO at APP, LIB at GAST, ULL at LT, NMSU at UNM

Top 25
1Ohio State 38 Western Michigan 12
2Michigan State 30 Central Michigan 10
3Ole Miss 27 Vanderbilt 16
3TCU 55 Texas Tech 52
5Baylor 70 Rice 17
6Notre Dame 62 Massachusetts 27
7Georgia 48 Southern 6
8LSU 34 Syracuse 24
9UCLA 56 16Arizona 30
12Alabama 34 ULM 0
18Utah 62 13Oregon 20
14Texas A&M 28 Arkansas 21 OT
17Northwestern 24 Ball State 19
19USC 42 Arizona State 14
Duke 34 20Georgia Tech 20
21Stanford 42 Oregon State 24
22Wisconsin 28 Hawaii 0
Michigan 31 22BYU 0
24Oklahoma State 30 Texas 27
Kentucky 21 25Missouri 13

Stats and Scores from ESPN.com