Week 4 is officially in the books and it certainly did not disappoint, with more surprises and developing storylines to keep track of as the season rolls on.
A shaky-looking Michigan team got back to its roots, Texas remained at the No. 1 spot in the rankings with Georgia off the field ahead of a Week 5 matchup against Alabama, James Madison stunned USC in a historic manner and Billy Napier got to catch his breath against Mississippi State, just to name a handful of things.
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Here’s a look at the top five games of Week 4 that caught our attention the most:
1. No. 12 Michigan 27, No. 13 USC 24
Michigan, even though it headed into the season as college football’s reigning national champion, has looked nothing short of suspect this year. Known for its defense and run game, the Wolverines had failed to find consistent dominance in either of those, looking completely lost without quarterback JJ McCarthy and head coach Jim Harbaugh.
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That was, until Saturday’s 27-24 victory over the USC Trojans.
USC quarterback Miller Moss couldn’t seem to catch a break without the proper protection from his offensive line, which was constantly stormed by an aggressive Wolverines defensive line that had finally returned to the Michigan standard level of play. Even with this, Moss put on a better performance than he was given credit for, finishing the game 28-for-51 passing for 283 yards with three touchdowns and one interception that drew him a lot of criticism for how ill-advised it was.
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Michigan leaned into its ground game so much that it recorded one of its lowest passing totals in history at 32 yards, which wasn’t reflective of how positive of an effect switching from Davis Warren to Alex Orji at quarterback truly was.
2. James Madison 70, UNC 50
There are few times you’ll hear of a head coach saying right after a game that he is willing to resign if fixes aren’t made, but that’s exactly what Hall of Fame head coach Mack Brown did after this one. Things like that will happen when your team gives up its most points ever to an opponent it was expected to defeat by a decent margin, though.
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There was hell to pay in Chapel Hill on Saturday as UNC crumbled, allowing JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III to have the game of his life. Barnett put up video-game numbers with 500 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns. He was 22-for-34 through the air with 388 passing yards and five passing touchdowns. He also made a difference in the ground game with 13 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
UNC has a lot to go back to the drawing board with after something as bad as this.
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3. No. 11 Missouri 30, Vanderbilt 27 (OT).
Missouri went into this game a a top-10 team in the nation and hardly anyone would have predicted Vanderbilt would give the Tigers a run for their money. Granted, Clark Lea’s team has looked much more competitive than it has in past years. But this one would come down to the wire as Mizzou narrowly escaped what would have been one of the biggest upsets of the week.
A lot of that came down to coaching errors, which Eli Drinkwitz did place the blame on himself.
“Totally my fault,” Drinkwitz said of some of the decisions he made at the back end of the second quarter. “That was a really haphazard decision by me and the team bailed me out. I’ve got to be much better. Should have never done that.”
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Even with that, quarterback Brady Cook had a solid game as he completed 23 of his 37 passing attempts for 226 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Luther Burden also had a solid day, reeling in six receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
4. No. 10 Utah 22, No. 20 Oklahoma State 19.
Isaac Wilson made just the second start of his career for Utah in place of veteran quarterback Cam Rising, who suffered a wrist injury. There was some concern as to how that would affect the Utah offense, but despite some rough patches, Wilson managed to pick himself back up and make some key plays when the Utes needed it the most. He finished out the game 17-for-29 passing with 207 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
There’s been some buzz about a potential change at quarterback for Utah after Wilson’s performance and with Rising injured, but it doesn’t appear head coach Kyle Whittingham is entertaining that right now.
“I don’t think so. Cam Rising’s won two championships for us,” Whittingham said. “He’s one of the top quarterbacks in the country, and when he’s ready to go, that most likely is the direction we will go. Can’t see that being any different. I guess you never say never, but can’t see that changing.”
One of the biggest factors in Utah getting the victory was stopping a stout Utah run game powered by standout rusher Ollie Gordon II, who defenses have had a major issue stopping this season. Utah outgained Oklahoma State on the ground, 250-48 on Saturday.
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5. Florida 45, Mississippi State 28
This was one of the most interesting games on the slate because of simply how terribly both teams have played this season. And, while it may have served as some type of relief for Billy Napier, who many are surprised is still the head coach of Florida at this point, it also exposed just how lowly Mississippi State has fallen as a program.
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“Man, it feels good to win a game,” Napier said in his postgame press conference. “I think we did enough to win today. I was really impressed, thought offensively we had some tempo about us, thought we played well around the quarterback.”
The Bulldogs looked poor in every phase of the game, including defense, which they’ve been respected for even in their most lowly seasons as a program. Florida quarterback Graham Mertz, who has been under so much scrutiny lately, had his best game of the season as he completed 19-of-21 passes for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Bulldogs also surrendered 226 yards on the ground in the same game in which they also lost starting quarterback Blake Shapen for the remainder of the season due to injury.
