College Football: Week 4 Results

Every team listed in the Top 25 won meaning that there will be very little adjustment made in next week’s polls…except for Michigan. They won but not without some luck and not by the margin they should have had against a weak UConn team. They (the Wolverines) are going to slide down a few notches.

The numbers on the left are the rankings in the Associated Press Poll and the Coaches’ Poll. (CBSSports does a preseason poll but then waits a few weeks to weigh in on a regular basis—or at least they did last year.) NR means the team is “Not Ranked” in that particular poll. The team’s current record is in parentheses following their name.

1/1 Alabama (3-0) The Crimson Tide beat past the Colorado State Rams (1-3) 31-6, but it took a blocked punt returned for a TD in the second quarter and two fourth quarter TDs to salt it away as the Tide seemed to sputter despite AJ McCarron’s 20 of 26 for 258 yards and one TD.

2/2 Oregon (3-0) The Ducks had the weekend off before starting PAC12 play.

3/4 Clemson (3-0) The Tigers got off to a slow and shaky start on the road against the North Carolina State Wolfpack (2-1) on Thursday night but they righted the ship in the second half on both defense and offense and came away victorious 26-14.

4/3 Ohio State (4-0) The Buckeyes demolished the FCS Florida State Rattlers (1-3) 76-0. Braxton Miller didn’t play—though he probably wishes he could have. Kenny Guiton completed 24 of 34 for 215 yards and six TD passes—a school record. All six happened in the first half as OSU threw virtually no passes in the second half. Ezekiel Elliot rushed 14 times for 162 yards and two TDs—in the second half.

5/5 Stanford (3-0) The Cardinal host the #23 Arizona State Sun Devils (2-1). Arizona State’s Taylor Kelly threw for 367 yards, including three touchdown passes--in the fourth, but it was too late to overcome a 39-7 deficit as Stanford won 42-28.

6/7 LSU (4-0) The Tigers of LSU rolled over the Tigers of Auburn (3-1) 35-21. LSU led 21-0 at the half and coasted the rest of the way. Jeremy Hill rushed 25 times for 184 yards and three TDs for LSU.

7/6 Louisville (4-0) The Cardinals overwhelmed the FIU Golden Panthers (0-4) 72-0. Bridgewater threw four TD passes but the big story here was that the defense yielded just 30 yards(!) and two first downs as Louisville completely dominated the Golden Panthers.

8/8 Florida State (3-0) The Seminoles routed the FCS Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (3-1) 54-6. Jameis Winston tossed two TD passes and Karlos Williams scored twice on the ground and Telvin Smith returned an INT 68 yards for a score for the Seminoles.  

9/10 Georgia (2-1) The Bulldogs beat the Mean Green of North Texas (2-2) 45-21. Aaron Murray completed 22 of 30 passes for 408 yards including a Georgia record 98 yarder to Reggie Davis. Brelan Chancellor returned a kickoff 99 yards for a TD for North Texas in the second quarter to make it 21-14 Georgia and Zac Whitfield recovered a blocked punt in the third quarter to tie it at 21 all, but Murray ran for a TD and tossed his third TD pass to put the Bulldogs ahead for good at 35-21 after three quarters.

10/9 Texas A&M (3-1) The Aggies easily beat the SMU Mustangs (1-2) 42-13. Aggies defense showed up this week making Manziel and the rest of the offense’s job easier. In fact, Manziel sat down after leading the Aggies to a TD on their first possession of the second half. That score made it 39-6. He finished the day 14 of 21 for 244 yards and one TD pass, plus two TD runs on 12 carries for 102 yards. On defense, Deshazor Everett returned a fumble recovery 12 yards for a TD.

11/11 Oklahoma State (3-0) The Cowboys were idle this weekend.

12/13 South Carolina (2-1) The Gamecocks were off this weekend.

13/15 UCLA (3-0) The Bruins drubbed the New Mexico State Aggies (0-4) 59-13. UCLA’s Brett Hundley passed for 280 yards and three touchdowns and Jordan James rushed 19 times for 164 yards and two TDs.

14/12 Oklahoma (3-0) The Sooners had the weekend off.

15/14 Michigan (4-0) The Wolverines came t-h-i-s close to losing to the Huskies of UConn (0-30. It took a Desmond Morgan interception to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. UConn led 21-7 in the third quarter but two Fitzgerald Toussaint TD runs put the score at 21 all. The Huskies were marching in the fourth, however, when Morgan’s interception set up a Brandan Gibbons 21-yard field goal for the win.

16/17 Miami (Fla.) (3-0) The Hurricanes blew away the FCS Savannah State Tigers (1-3) 77-7. The Hurricanes scored TDs on their first 7 possessions and set a school record for points scored despite losing starting QB Stephen Morris in the first quarter to what is reported to be a sprained ankle. The Canes defense and special teams did their part too. The D had four interceptions and Stacy Cole returned a kickoff (after Savannah State’s only TD) 88 yards for a score. Cole also caught a TD pass. Morris’ replacement, Ryan Williams completed 11 of 13 passes for 176 yards and two TDs. Gus Edwards scored three rushing TDs and Dallas Crawford scored twice on the ground and once via the air for the Canes.

17/20 Washington (3-0) The Huskies routed the FCS Idaho State Bengals (2-1) 56-0. Keith Price completed 16 of 21 pass attempts for 213 yards and three TDs—he also ran for a TD—before coming out of the game before the half.

18/16 Northwestern (4-0) The Wildcats needed two TDs from their defense to defeat the FCS Maine Black Bears (3-1) 35-21. Damien Proby returned an interception 49 yards to make it 14-0 at the half and Dean Lowery returned an INT 19 yards to make it 21-0 early in the third quarter. Maine then came back to put a little fear into the Wildcats who held on for the win.

19/18 Florida (2-1) The Gators won but also lost against the Tennessee Volunteers (2-2). The Gators won  the game 31-17 but had to do so with their second string QB after starter Jeff Driskel broke his lower right leg in the first quarter. Driskel is done for the year. Tyler Murphy proved more than adequate in relief completing 8 of 14 passes for 134 yards and a TD and gaining 84 yards on 10 carries while scoring another TD for the Gators.

20/19 Baylor (3-0) The Bears routed the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (2-2) 70-7. Well, I was right about high scoring. Baylor 35 in the first quarter, 14 in the second and 21 in the third to hang 70 on the Warhawks. Sadly, 70 points was only the fourth highest total for the week! (See Louisville, Ohioi State, and Miami (Fla.).) Bryce petty tossed four TDs on an 18 of 27 for 351 yards performance. Joe Williams returned an INT 41 yards for a TD and Terrell Burt’s pick six went 63 yards as the defense also joined the scoring parade.  Lache Seastrunk had a 75 yard TD run and there were TD passes of 63, 47, 65 and 65 yards for the Bears.

21/22 Ole Miss (3-0) The Rebels were idle this week.

22/21 Notre Dame (3-1) The Irish edged the Michigan State Spartans (3-1) 17-13. The Fighting Irish needed what seemed to be some Devine intervention to win this one. Things just kept going wrong for the Spartans. Botched trick play, four (!) pass interference calls and holding penalties keeping ND drives alive…Some One was looking out for the Irish.

23/23 Arizona State (2-1) The Sun Devils got beat by #5 Stanford Cardinal (2-0). See above for details

24/NR Wisconsin (3-1) The Badgers had little trouble with the Purdue Boilermakers (1-3) 41-10. Melvin Gordon led the Badger attack with 16 carries for 147 yards and three TDs.

25/NR Texas Tech (4-0) The Red Raiders whupped the Texas State Bobcats (2-1) 33-7. Davis Webb threw for 310 yards and two TDs and Will Smith returned a fumble 9 yards for a TD as the Red Raiders proved to be too much for the Bobcats.

NR/24 Michigan State (3-1) The Spartans lost to the #22 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (3-1). See above..

NR/25 Fresno State (3-0) The Bulldogs edged Boise State (2-2) 41-40 Friday night. Derek Carr threw for 460 yards and four touchdowns for the Bulldogs but it was a Josh Quezada 1 yard run and a Colin McGuire extra point that finally put the Broncos to rest in a wild and wooly affair.  Boise attempted two-point conversions after three of their five TDs and succeeded only once. If they had kicked the extra point after each TD….