Week Four College Football Recap

Another great week of college football is in the books! Looking back on the games and some quick thoughts:

Week night games:

Surprisingly, App State was blown out at home by South Alabama 48-14 in Boone on Thursday evening.

The Friday games were very entertaining this week as Illinois outlasted Nebraska 31-24 in OT on the road in Lincoln. Both teams continue to impress so far this season as the Illini sit at 4-0.

Stanford went across the country and upset Syracuse 26-24 on a last second 39 yard field goal by Emmet Kenney to secure the win.

Washington State who was left behind by the dissolving of the Pac 12 held on for a 54-52 2 OT win over visiting San Jose State.

Saturday Games

We did not have many marquee matchups on Saturday although this should change as teams head into conference play this season in the upcoming weeks.

11 USC at 18 Michigan - this was the best overall game of the day as the Wolverines held off the Trojans 27-24 in Ann Arbor. Michigan has now switched to a run oriented offense which featured 3 touchdowns on the ground including TD runs of 53 and 41 yards with Kalel Mullings breaking free for a 63 yard run to set up the game winning score. Will Johnson also had a 42 yard interception return for TD for the Wolverines. For USC, the offense managed only 3 points in the first half before 3 second half passing TD's by Miller Moss gave the Trojans a late lead. Great to see this matchup more often now that both teams are in the #BigTen Conference.

6 Tennessee at 15 Oklahoma - Josh Heupel's return to Norman was not as close as the final score indicated. The former OU QB led the Vols to a 25-15 victory in this new #SEC conference matchup. Tennessee looks just as good on defense as offense and led 22-3 in the 3rd quarter. For the Sooners, the defense held Oklahoma in the game but turnovers and the benching of starting QB Jackson Arnold is something to watch as Michael Hawkins Jr seems poised for more playing time moving forward.

12 Utah at 14 Oklahoma State - The Utes led comfortably in this matchup prior to the last 5 minute stretch of the game where the Cowboys made things interesting before finishing off a 22-19 win in Stillwater. Isaac Wilson continues to start at QB for Utah in place of the injured Cam Rising while OSU QB Alan Bowman was briefly benched prior to throwing for two late TD's to bring the Cowboys within 3 points late.

Too Close for Comfort

Vanderbilt at 7 Missouri - The Tigers struggled to put away the unranked Commodores at home on Saturday hanging on for a 30-27 win at home in Columbia. Vandy led 13-10 at halftime and scored first in OT to lead 27-20 before a Luther Burden TD tied things at 27. Missouri kicker Blake Craig hit a 37 yarder for the final score after missing three kicks during the game. Vanderbilt kicker Brock Taylor hooked a 31 yard field goal wide left to secure the win for Missouri.

Bowling Green at 25 Texas A&M - the Aggies led this game throughout but never fully pulled away from the visiting Falcons as they survived 26-20. This game got interesting late as BGSU led a 14 play drive with around 5 minutes left in the game before the Aggies defense secured an interception in the end zone to limit the damage. However, RB Le'Veon Moss broke away for a 15 yard gain and fumbled on the first play of what seemed to be the game ending drive for the Aggies. This setup the Falcons at the TAMU 35 yard line. After 4 plays at the Aggie 5 yard line BGSU settled for a field goal and A&M recovered the onside kick to kneel out the clock for the win. Definitely too close for comfort in College Station.

Yikes

13 Kansas State at BYU- the Wildcats were blown out 38-9 in their trip to Provo on Saturday. Cougar QB Jake Retzlaff threw for 2 TD's, the defense forced 3 turnovers and Parker Kingston returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown to lead the BYU upset effort. Chris Tennant added 3 field goals for KSU who will look to regroup next week.

James Madison at North Carolina - the Dukes rolled into Chapel Hill and spanked the home team Tar Heels for a 70-50 victory. The 70 points given up by the UNC defense matched a program record first given up against East Carolina in a 70-41 loss in 2014.

Hitting Snooze

1 Texas, 3 Ohio State, 5 Ole Miss, 8 Miami all rolled in easy wins.

21 Clemson jumped out to a 28-0 first quarter lead over NC State en route to a 59-35 final. QB Cade Klubnik added 3 passing TD's and looks much more comfortable on downfield throws the last two games. The Tigers schedule is very favorable leading up to a November 2nd matchup with the current 15th ranked Louisville Cardinals. The #ACC conference race looks to be firmly in hand for Clemson at this point.