College Football 2023: B/R's Top 25 Rankings After Week 4
Week 4's slate of games was absolutely glorious, and it did not disappoint. The day got started with No. 4 Florida State beating Clemson for the first time in seven seasons, winning 31-24 in overtime.
In the afternoon slate, No. 13 Alabama got things back on track with a 24-10 win over No. 15 Ole Miss on Saturday. No. 10 Oregon absolutely demolished Deion Sanders' No. 19 Colorado team, winning 42-6. The Ducks led 35-0 at halftime. And in the night slate of games, No. 6 Ohio State beat No. 9 Notre Dame 17-14 in a last-second thriller. Penn State handled Iowa 31-0 and No. 12 LSU survived a fight against Arkansas, winning 34-31.
Bleacher Report College Football experts David Kenyon, Adam Kramer, Morgan Moriarty, Joel Reuter and Brad Shepard tried to make sense of it all and handed out rankings this way:
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Texas
4. Ohio State
5. USC
6. Washington
7. Penn State
8. Florida State
9. Oregon
10. Utah
11.Oklahoma
12. Notre Dame
13. LSU
14. Washington State
15. Alabama
16. Duke
17. Miami
18. North Carolina
19. Kansas
20. Oregon State
21. Missouri
22. Ole Miss
23. Tennessee
24. Maryland
25. Kansas State
Who's Hot: Oregon with a Statement Win Against Cinderella Colorado
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Sure, Oregon entered this game as a 21-point favorite at home. But, man, was this win impressive for the Ducks.
Oregon's offense got off to a flying start in the first half, scoring on each of its first three drives to go up 21-0 early. Although Ducks quarterback Bo Nix did have a second-quarter interception, he finished with 276 yards and three touchdowns. He added an 11-yard rushing touchdown, too.
But the most impressive part of this win for Oregon wasn't how productive the Ducks were on offense, but what they did defensively. Oregon held Colorado to just 199 total yards of offense and 5-for-14 on third down. In fact, the Buffs didn't have a drive that lasted longer than six plays until late in the third quarter.
Colorado finally got on the board with a touchdown with 2:51 left in the game. Buffs quarterback Shedeur Sanders also came down to earth a bit in this one. He finished with just 159 yards passing and one touchdown. Oregon's defense managed to sack him a whopping seven times on the day, too.
Oregon's defense will have to play like it did against Colorado if it wants to make it to the Pac-12 title game. The Ducks have remaining games at Washington and Washington State on Oct. 14 and Oct. 21, respectively, before facing Utah in Salt Lake on Oct. 28. Oregon also gets USC and Oregon State at home in November.
It was a bit surprising just how big Oregon ran away with this one so early. But Colorado isn't going away with just one loss, and still can make a lot of noise in the Pac-12 this year.
Who's Not: Iowa's Offense
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Welp, so much for that new and improved Iowa offense we thought we had early in the season. Through the first three weeks of the season, the Hawkeyes' offense averaged 28 points per game, and looked much more efficient overall. It was a massive improvement from last season, during which Iowa put up just 17.7 points per game.
But Penn State's defense made the Hawkeyes' unit look like the same old non-explosive one we've been used to on Saturday night. The Nittany Lions' defense didn't let Iowa's offense reach the end zone once, and the Hawkeyes finished with—wait for it—76 total yards of offense on the night. 76!
Iowa had just two first downs all evening and went 1-of-9 on third down. Need another hilarious fun fact about how bad this offense was? Iowa had more punting yardage than total offensive yards. Hawkeye punter Tory Taylor finished with seven punts for 366 yards. Taylor is this game's MVP for Iowa, in my opinion.
Hawkeye quarterback Cade McNamara finished with just five completions for 42 yards on the night, and running back Kamari Moulton had just 18 yards on six carries. Penn State, meanwhile, was a bit slow on offense in the first half, leading just 10-0 at halftime. But in the second half, Iowa's defense had no answer for Drew Allar and the Penn State offense. Allar finished with 166 yards and four touchdowns.
Fun Fact: Notre Dame Has Never Beaten Ohio State in an AP Top-10 Matchup
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What an absolute heartbreak for Notre Dame, which had a real shot at upsetting No. 6 Ohio State on Saturday night. The Irish trailed 3-0 at halftime, and went down 10-0 in the third quarter. But Notre Dame's offense rallied late, putting together two scoring drives at the end of the third and midway through the fourth quarter to take a 14-10 lead.
Irish quarterback Sam Hartman played incredibly well in the second half, throwing for 175 yards and a touchdown on the night. The game's entire momentum swung Notre Dame's way late.
The Irish defense forced a turnover on downs for Ohio State and got the ball back with fewer than five minutes left. Notre Dame only made it to their own 27 on the drive and punted with 1:26 left.
Miraculously, Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord put together a brilliant drive, finding Emeka Egbuka for 21 yards on third down to get into ND territory. He drove down to Notre Dame's 22 and found Emeka Egbuka for a first down on the Irish's 1-yard line. OSU running back Chip Trayanum got the one-yard rushing touchdown on third down to put the game away in front of a stunned Notre Dame crowd. To make matters worse, the Irish had just 10 men on the field during Ohio State's game-winning touchdown score:
The loss marks the fifth straight time ND has lost to the Buckeyes as an AP Top-10 team. Losing on a last-second touchdown is obviously heartbreaking, especially playing at home. But the good news is a College Football Playoff bid is still on the table for the Irish. They have a big test coming up next week, going on the road to face No. 18 Duke on Saturday night. We'll see how the Irish can respond.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Looking Ahead: Pac-12 Tests, and Duke Takes Center Stage
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Although Week 5's slate doesn't have quite as many huge marquee matchups as we had this week, there are some intriguing games on the schedule.
On Friday night, we have ourselves a fun one inside the Pac-12 between No. 11 Utah and No. 14 Oregon State in Corvallis. The last time the Utes played Oregon State at home in 2021, the Beavers won 42-34. Staying in the Pac-12, we'll see how No. 19 Colorado can rebound after its first loss, playing No. 5 USC at home Saturday at Noon ET.
In the Big 12, No. 3 Texas will look to improve to 5-0 on the season, traveling on the road against Kansas at Noon ET. The Jayhawks are also undefeated, and quarterback Jalon Daniels has been playing well the last few weeks. In wins over Illinois, Nevada and BYU, he's thrown for five touchdowns with one interception while totaling 705 yards. The last time Kansas played in Austin, the Jayhawks pulled off a stunning 57-56 upset in overtime.
In the SEC, No. 1 Georgia has to go on the road for the first time, playing Auburn at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Dawgs have the last six straight against the Tigers. The night slate in the SEC includes some fun matchups, too—No. 12 LSU faces No. 15 Ole Miss in Oxford at 6 p.m., and South Carolina plays at No. 23 Tennessee at 7:30 p.m. ET, respectively.
The best game of the day looks like it'll be No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 18 Duke at 7:30 p.m. ET ESPN's 'College GameDay' will be in Durham for this one. The Blue Devils are 4-0, having started the season by upsetting Clemson in Week 1. If Duke beats Notre Dame, it just might prove to all the non-believers that the Blue Devils are a legitimate threat to win the ACC. These two teams have played each other just seven total times, and the Irish have a 5-2 series lead.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
