Week four of the college football season was arguably the best one yet. Despite having just two games between top 25 opponents, the schedule produced a number of exciting contests and highly significant developments. Here are some things to take away from this weekend’s action on the gridiron.
- The Pac-12 is very much alive in the national championship race. After some key non-conference losses — most notably Arizona State to Texas A&M and Oregon to Michigan State — many people predicted that the Pac-12 champion would get left out of the College Football Playoff. However, USC and Utah throttled those same teams by even bigger margins on the road on Saturday, suggesting that the league is every bit as strong as it was last year — if not stronger.
- Utah deserves to be in the top 5. Make no mistake about it: the Utes turned in arguably the best performance in the school’s storied history — which includes a 31-17 thrashing of Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl — by demolishing Oregon, 62-20. Given that Michigan State moved into the top 5 — and even received first-place votes — by virtue of its victory over the Ducks, there should be no question that Utah belongs there as well.
- The Utes’ case is strengthened by the fact that Michigan is playing like Michigan again. The Wolverine defense absolutely dominated BYU on Saturday, limiting the Cougars to just 105 yards of total offense and only eight first downs.
- UCLA is right there with Utah. Sure, the Bruins gave up some yards on the ground, but that’s to be expected with a 42-14 halftime lead. However, the Bruin secondary was rock solid all night long, limiting Arizona quarterbacks to just 10 of 28 passing for a paltry 115 yards. On the other side of the ball, UCLA turned in another solid performance, racking up 497 yards of total offense, converting 11 of 15 attempts on third down. If Josh Rosen (19 for 28, 284 yards) continues to play like he did against the Wildcats, the Bruins will be a very tough team to beat.
- California is the most underrated team in the country. Jared Goff and the Bear passing game continued to click on all cylinders against Washington, completing 24 of 41 passes for 342 yards and 2 TDs. That’s a solid — if not spectacular — effort versus a Washington secondary that came into the game with four picks and zero touchdowns allowed. With that type of firepower, it’s not a stretch to think that Cal can finish near the top of the Pac-12 North.
- Florida is a close second, as the culture shift in Gainesville is well ahead of schedule. While critics will scoff at the Gators’ 4-0 mark by saying, “Yeah, but they didn’t play anybody,” it’s worth noting that Kentucky beat two-time defending division champion Missouri, and East Carolina defeated Virginia Tech. When viewed in that context, UF’s resume is as impressive as anyone else’s in the SEC.
- Will Grier has to be unquestioned starter at quarterback for Florida. Although Jim McElwain will probably make his decision after the team completes practices for the week (as most coaches do), Grier has earned the right to start after leading the Gators to two touchdowns in the final four minutes.
- Stanford looks like the team to beat in the Pac-12 North. The Cardinal offense has looked like a completely different unit since a season-opening loss at Northwestern, racking up 488 yards on Friday against Oregon State — the third straight week the Cardinal offense has eclipsed the 400-yard barrier.
- Of course, that begs the question, “Why isn’t Northwestern getting any credit for its impressive 4-0 start?” Rather than reward the Wildcats for playing stout, physical defense in that contest, the media chose to take the “what’s wrong with Stanford?” angle. However, the Northwestern D continues to be one of the most consistent units in the country, ranking 11th nationally in total defense, 10th in passing defense, and 3rd in scoring defense. Considering that the Wildcats have wins over both Stanford and Duke, it’s time to acknowledge that they are — as Bobby Bowden would say — a doggone good football team.
- So is USC for that matter. The Trojans shook off a devastating loss to Stanford last week by throttling Arizona State, 42-14, in a contest that was much more lopsided than the final score would indicate. The Sun Devil defense had absolutely no answers for Cody Kessler, who threw for 375 yards and 5 TDs.
- On the other hand, I’m still not sold on TCU as a national championship contender. Yes, the Horned Frogs deserve all of the credit in the world for rallying to beat Texas Tech on Saturday. However, the TCU defense has allowed 557.5 yards per game and 6.84 yards per play in the last two games against SMU and Texas Tech. That’s not going to get the job done against the likes of Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Baylor.
- Duke is the team to beat in the ACC Coastal Division. The Blue Devil defense — running a completely different look to stop the Georgia Tech option game — turned in another brilliant performance, limiting the Jackets to a paltry 2.9 yards per carry. While that number alone sounds impressive, consider this: that effort was actually worse (statistically) than what the Devils were averaging coming into the contest. That doesn’t bode well for many of the run-first attacks in the ACC.
- Although there were several “worthy” candidates for this week’s Clunker of the Week award, the “honor” goes to Virginia. Sure, Boise State is a great team, but losing 56-14 at home is absolutely embarrassing, as are the struggles the Cavaliers have at quarterback every season. While the ‘Hoos still have time to turn things around, it’s quite possible that Friday night’s performance means Mike London is toast at the end of the season.
