College football week 4 is in the books. After every week fans can take away things from what happened on the field. Here are 5 things learned from college football week 4.
Related: 5 Things to watch in college football week 4
After losing to Georgia in week 1, Clemson was written off. They lost big and didn’t look good, but it is important to note that a lot of teams have struggled to look like a functioning football team against the Bulldogs. There were problems with the offense that seemed like they couldn’t be fixed. Clemson is back on the right track now.
Since the loss to Georgia, Clemson dominated Appalachian State and now NC State. These teams haven’t played the best this season, but it was important for the Tigers to play well regardless of the competition level. Cade Klubnik and the offense seem like they can score on defenses that aren’t at the elite level. Now, it looks like maybe they can make a run to the CFP in an ACC without much competition.
Illinois wasn’t projected to be a ranked team this season. They set themselves up well early in the season by defeating a ranked Kansas team, who has now shown some more struggles. The impressive thing for the Illini is that they have continued to win. In week 4, they defeated Nebraska on the road in overtime.
Nebraska can’t seemingly win one-score games over the last several years, but a lot of credit needs to go to Illinois. They have some NFL talent at the wide receiver position in Zakhari Franklin and Pat Bryant, but their defense has been particularly impressive, allowing just 12.5 points per game. The Illini may not keep this up and get to the CFP, but they can be a thorn in the side of some Big Ten teams.
Before the season, not many expected big things out of USC. They were not projected to compete in the Big Ten. After a week 1 win over LSU, they shot up rankings. That looks like it may have been too premature, as LSU has continued to struggle despite winning and USC now lost in week 4.
On the road against Michigan, USC went down early and did a good job coming back. With Michigan not being able to throw the ball, their offense was one-dimensional. USC slowed them down in the third quarter, but let Michigan break free in the fourth quarter to win the game. Michigan starting quarterback Alex Orji had 32 passing yards for the game. The Trojans have maybe improved, but they were ranked 11th prematurely.
The Big 12 is a conference that was thought to be wide open. There were a few contenders for the championship, but some of them have had struggles early and need to get back on track. Arizona lost on the road to Kansas State. Kansas State then followed that up with a loss at BYU, who could be a darkhorse. The other team from the state, Kansas, is now 1-3.
Utah set themselves up pretty well by beating Oklahoma State on the road, which resulted in a loss to another Big 12 contender. They did not have starting quarterback Cam Rising and were still able to win on the road. There are other contenders who they will have to deal with, like Iowa State, but the Utes are in a good spot to make a run to the Big 12 Championship.
With the expanded playoff, a group of five team will be in. The race to be the one automatic bid from those conferences is heating up. A few things happened in week 4, which could impact things down the road when the rankings get more serious.
USF lost to Miami, giving them their second loss of the season. With them being to Miami and Alabama, it shouldn’t hurt them too bad in the end if they take care of business. Memphis lost to Navy, which could really hurt them down the road. Northern Illinois followed up their win over Notre Dame with a loss to Buffalo. James Madison entered their name into the ring by beating North Carolina 70-50. Liberty stayed undefeated, even though their schedule has been easy. The race for that group of five spot could get even wilder down the stretch.
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