Conference play began in earnest this weekend, delivering some dominant results and some thrilling matchups. Let’s dive right in!
Top 10 Headlines
● The biggest ranked matchup of the weekend saw #6 Tennessee spoil #15 Oklahoma’s first-ever SEC matchup. The Vols’ stifling defense made Sooners QB Jackson Arnold look so bad that he got benched late in the second half for Michael Hawkins, a true freshman in his first real game action. The Sooner offensive attack was nonexistent most of the day, wasting an excellent defensive performance with multiple turnovers that killed any offensive momentum the team could muster. Vols QB Nico Iamaleava made several nice throws and overcame his own turnover problems. RB Dylan Sampson neared 100 rushing yards for the Volunteers, who have the makings of a real contender with a dominant road performance like this. Meanwhile, OU has a QB controversy to deal with and several injuries to key contributors. Welcome to the SEC!
● In his first career start, Arch Manning had a solid day for #1 Texas.
They rolled over Louisiana-Monroe 51-3 with Arch passing for two touchdowns but also two interceptions. This game was never really in doubt for the Horns, and they’ll have plenty more time to get good reps for Manning in next week’s game versus SEC bottom-feeder Mississippi State.
● Another week, another scare for #7 Mizzou. It took overtime for the Tigers to beat Vanderbilt in Columbia and on a missed Vandy FG at that. This comes a week after a one-score victory over Boston College at home.
Are we sure the Tigers are the seventh-best team in the country? Upcoming games at #25 Texas A&M (who just struggled to put away Bowling Green at home), at perennially terrible UMass, and at home against Auburn aren’t likely to show us much unless they continue to struggle.
● Blowouts galore: #3 Ohio State overcame an early deficit to clobber Marshall, #5 Ole Miss worked Georgia Southern, #8 Miami put a second-quarter deficit behind them to absolutely pummel South Florida, and #10 Penn State completed Kent State’s misery tour with a shutout.
● #2 Georgia and #4 Alabama were idle as they prepare for a huge clash next weekend in Tuscaloosa. #9 Oregon also had an open week.
● Feel however you may feel about Deion Sanders and Colorado, you cannot deny that they are absolute box office. Their leaky offensive line (8 sacks allowed) should’ve doomed them at home vs. Baylor, but Bears HC Dave Aranda got conservative and settled for FG attempts that his team missed. It allowed the Buffs to tie the game on an absolutely insane hail mary with no time left (after almost getting one the play before). Then, Travis Hunter did what he does and made a huge play, forcing a Bears fumble on the 1-yard line to seal a victory. This team is absolutely worth your attention every weekend, but was it worth a field storm? You be the judge.
● When the Big Ten added their wing of western schools, they envisioned big games like this one. #18 Michigan punched #11 USC in the mouth early and often, finding chunk plays on the ground and defensive stands to build a ten-point lead in the third quarter. But the Trojans answered back, taking a 24-20 lead late into this one. It took the Wolverines’ new star RB Kalel Mullings willing his team to victory, busting out a 63-yard rush to set up the go-ahead score with 37 seconds to go. One defensive stand later and Michigan came up with a huge bounceback conference victory in one of the best games of the season so far.
● The most improbable score of the weekend has to be the 70-50 whooping James Madison dropped on North Carolina. Not only did JMU move the ball at will for most of the day, they lived in UNC’s backfield, making life hell for UNC QB Jacolby Criswell. This game was 60-24 in favor of the Dukes with 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, and it could’ve been so much worse if they wanted it to be. And to top it all off, UNC paid JMU $500k to get their butts kicked. Add in James Madison to any CFP conversation about Group of 5 teams until further notice.
● The Beehive State schools had a day knocking off preseason Big 12 favorites. First, #12 Utah earned their first Big 12 conference win with a 22-19 road victory over #14 Oklahoma State. The Utes dominated a lot of this game without starting QB Cam Rising, gaining 456 total yards with RB Micah Bernard accounting for 182 rushing yards. The Pokes mounted a furious comeback attempt that fell just short. Then, BYU made Avery Johnson and #13 Kansas State look silly by crushing them 38-9. This game went from 6-0 Wildcats with 2 minutes left in the first half to 31-6 Cougs with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. I’m starting to think the Cougs just might be good this season after we all thought it’d be another down year.
● Both Florida and Florida State got off the schneid in Week 4. The Gators looked like a dominant force against a dreadful Mississippi State team, ensuring they won’t be winless in SEC play this season. The Seminoles meanwhile overcame the Calgorithm to knock off Cal to earn their first ACC win. It wasn’t pretty in Tallahassee but it was enough to get a win, something FSU fans might not get a lot of this year.
● Other notes: Stanford went cross country to get their first ACC win vs. Syracuse, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti became the first coach in school history to start 4-0 with a beatdown of Charlotte, Army is already 2-0 in their first year in the AAC, Cincinnati and Texas Tech picked up Big 12 home wins, and Pitt continued a surprising start to 2024 by scoring the most points of the weekend in a 73-17 blowout of FCS Youngstown State.
● On a night where they celebrated their 400th straight sellout with a chance to pick up a signature ranked win, #22 Nebraska reminded us that they’re still a work in progress. The Huskers struggled with closing out #24 Illinois, missing a wide-open TD on a 3rd down and missing a field goal that would’ve given them the lead late. The Illini just played harder and came out on top in OT, marking Nebraska’s 13th one-score loss in their last 18 one-score games. Plenty to build on here but plenty to fix.
● Yes, I picked NC State to win the ACC in the preseason and yes, I regret it. The Wolfpack looked more like a Sun Belt team than a Power 4 team while getting their asses kicked by Clemson. This game was 45-7 at halftime, and could’ve been much worse than the final score of 59-35 would indicate. Sure, the Wolfpack were missing starting QB Grayson McCall, but I don’t think it would’ve mattered. For whatever reason NC State always plays better with no expectations, so it’s my fault for expecting anything from them to begin with.
● There was no solace in Dallas for TCU as they got pummeled by rival SMU 66-42 in the Iron Skillet game. Horned Frogs head coach Sonny Dykes got ejected early in the second half arguing calls, perhaps trying to light a fire under his team to no avail. TCU allowed three non-offensive scores to SMU, who was trotting out QB Kevin Jennings in his first career start. And of course, you know SMU got in on trolling their rival with a .mp4 video of their own after TCU spent the week complaining about the game being broadcast on the CW.
● G5 stumbles: Memphis, Toledo and #23 Northern Illinois all picked up wins over Power 5 opponents in their last games, but all lost to fellow G5 teams this weekend. Meanwhile, FIU fumbled the ball on the 1-yard line with less than 20 seconds left in their game to give one away to FCS Monmouth.
Pitbull didn’t pay all that money for the stadium naming rights for this.
● Other negatives: What’s happened to Oklahoma State RB Ollie Gordon II? He’s had less than 50 yards rushing in three straight games. Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold had a 1.3 QBR, and the team averaged 1.1 yards per rush. Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, as will star LSU linebacker Harold Perkins.
● ESPN reporter Harry Lyles and his cameraman slid down some muddy slopes at The Rock in Boone Thursday night as South Alabama crushed App State 48-14.
● Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi is exactly what peak performance looks like.
● After that FSU fan refused to eat dog poop from a cup, will we actually see this Kansas State fan put a burrito where the sun don’t shine?
● Michigan had 32 total passing yards on the day while Iowa had just 62. And both won!
● Dave Aranda said the defensive call that allowed Colorado’s hail mary TD had a name: Victory Cigar. Note to self: Never say things like this out loud after an embarrassing loss.
● In the midst of Auburn’s listless home loss to Arkansas, former Hugh Freeze disciple Bo Wallace took to Twitter to eviscerate the Tigers head coach for the way he treats his players. Ouch!
● Incredible plays abound: How did Omarion Miller stay on his feet for this Colorado touchdown? Oregon State put the foot in football on this wild pick-6. BYU’s Parker Kingston had the most electric punt return touchdown of the season. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeyer had perhaps my favorite throw of the day with this TD vs. UCLA.
● This Rutgers safety in their win over Virginia Tech looked like a glitch from CFB 2025.
1. Cam Ward, Miami QB: Another ho-hum day at the office for Ward, who passed for 404 yards and 3 touchdowns in a blowout of a USF team that made Alabama sweat two weeks ago.
2. Travis Hunter, Colorado DB/WR: 130 receiving yards and forcing the game-winning fumble? Hunter is doing things at a level unseen in this sport in a long, long time.
3. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State RB: 127 rushing yards but no touchdowns constitutes a down week for the nation’s best running back. He’s still averaging over 10 yards per rush on the season.
4. John Mateer, Washington State QB: There’s a new Johnny Football, and he plays in the Palouse. His erratic but electric play at quarterback has Wazzu at 4-0 after a Friday night 2OT thriller against San Jose State. He led his team in passing and rushing, totaling over 500 yards of offense and 5 touchdowns.