AP College Football Poll 2014: Complete Week 4 Rankings Released
Most probably looked at the Week 3 college football schedule and expected a mundane, breezy slate of games in which the elite of the elite went on one last cupcake-mashing spree before conference play begins.
Most would have been wrong.
While the majority of the Top 25 was able to sneak through unscathed, Saturday's games were defined by a couple of notable upsets and closer-than-expected outcomes. The five teams atop the standings were able to avoid the wreckage, with idle Florida State retaining its No. 1 spot.
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Oregon, Alabama and Oklahoma—all big winners on Saturday against unranked opponents—stay in the same order. Auburn, which was off this week, rounds out the Top Five. Here's a full look at the latest AP rankings along with Bleacher Report's Top 25.
| 1 | Florida State (37) | 2-0 | 1,466 | 1 | Florida State |
| 2 | Oregon (17) | 3-0 | 1,424 | 2 | Oregon |
| 3 | Alabama (1) | 3-0 | 1,346 | 3 | Oklahoma |
| 4 | Oklahoma (2) | 3-0 | 1,325 | 4 | Alabama |
| 5 | Auburn | 2-0 | 1,252 | 5 | Auburn |
| 6 | Texas A&M (3) | 3-0 | 1,195 | 7 | Texas A&M |
| 7 | Baylor | 3-0 | 1,134 | 8 | Baylor |
| 8 | LSU | 3-0 | 1,114 | 10 | LSU |
| 9 | Notre Dame | 3-0 | 917 | 11 | Notre Dame |
| 10 | Mississippi | 3-0 | 840 | 14 | Michigan State |
| 11 | Michigan State | 1-1 | 832 | 13 | Ole Miss |
| 12 | UCLA | 3-0 | 807 | 12 | UCLA |
| 13 | Georgia | 1-1 | 729 | 6 | Georgia |
| 14 | South Carolina | 2-1 | 718 | 24 | Arizona State |
| 15 | Arizona State | 3-0 | 680 | 16 | South Carolina |
| 16 | Stanford | 2-1 | 560 | 15 | Stanford |
| 17 | USC | 2-1 | 459 | 9 | Missouri |
| 18 | Missouri | 3-0 | 446 | 20 | USC |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 1-1 | 414 | 18 | Kansas State |
| 20 | Kansas State | 2-0 | 326 | 19 | Wisconsin |
| 21 | BYU | 3-0 | 246 | 25 | BYU |
| 22 | Clemson | 1-1 | 209 | 23 | Ohio State |
| 23 | Ohio State | 2-1 | 204 | 22 | Clemson |
| 24 | Nebraska | 3-0 | 172 | NR | Oklahoma State |
| 25 | Oklahoma State | 2-1 | 126 | NR | Nebraska |
The notable changes begin at No. 6, with Texas A&M ascending after Georgia's slight upset loss to South Carolina in Columbia. Spurred by Dylan Thompson's 271-yard, three-touchdown performance, the Gamecocks held a consistent lead throughout, staving off multiple Georgia comeback bids.
Their last game-saving play was one of the most memorable quarterback sneaks of 2014. Facing a 4th-and-inches and attempting to ice the game, Thompson barreled forward on a designed run—only to seemingly be stopped right at the first-down marker. A measurement gave South Carolina the first down by the tip of the football, and Thompson sealed the 38-35 victory.
“Some wins are better than others,” Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier, whose team moved up from No. 24 to No. 14, told reporters after the game, via Edward Aschoff of ESPN.com. “This one was better than most others.”
The win keeps South Carolina's hopes of an SEC East championship alive. A Top 10 outfit coming into 2014, the Gamecocks' national title chances were probably dashed with a 52-28 shellacking at the hands of Texas A&M in Week 1.
A couple of weeks later, Spurrier handed a similar fate to Georgia coach Mark Richt, whose play-calling was questioned during the fourth quarter. Richt gave star running back Todd Gurley 20 carries, which he promptly took for 131 yards. But Richt didn't give Gurley the ball on a 1st-and-goal at South Carolina's 4-yard line, quarterback Hutson Mason was called for an intentional-grounding penalty and three plays later, Marshall Morgan missed a 28-yard field goal that would have tied the game.
"If I had to do it again, I'd have hammered it," Richt told The Associated Press, via ESPN.com.
Richt's decision not to "hammer it" results in the Bulldogs dropping to No. 13.
Also on the losing end of an upset was USC, which saw its run defense implode in a 37-31 defeat against Boston College. Tyler Murphy rushed for 191 of the Eagles' 452 yards on the ground, leading a comeback from an early 17-6 deficit. Boston College averaged 8.4 yards per carry, as Myles Willis, Jon Hilliman and Sherman Alston each rushed for more than 50 yards.
USC, meanwhile, couldn't muster 50 rushing yards total. Javorius Allen had 31 yards on 15 carries and Justin Davis gained only 10 on his six rushes, leaving quarterback Cody Kessler essentially on an island by himself. Kessler threw for 317 yards, four touchdowns and didn't turn the ball over, but it wasn't enough against an Eagles team that frankly just looked better.
"We had a great game plan to run the ball, but Boston College did a great job of loading the box," Kessler told the Associated Press, via ESPN.com. "They did a good job of getting to me. We missed some assignments up front, and we should have made some better calls both offensively and by me."
The Trojans, who came into Week 3 ranked ninth, moved back to No. 17. Boston College, which a week ago lost to a shaky Pitt team, remains unranked.
The other notable upset of the week struck a team that was celebrating its own triumph just seven days prior. Virginia Tech's toppling of Ohio State last Saturday vaulted the Hokies to No. 17, sparked talks of a Beamer Ball revival and made Columbus again bemoan the loss of Braxton Miller. This Saturday, they were on the other end, as East Carolina scored a touchdown with 16 seconds remaining to give the Pirates a 28-21 win in Blacksburg.
Shane Carden accounted for all four East Carolina touchdowns, highlighted by a 21-0 run in the first quarter. The Hokies slowly chipped their way back into the game and scored a touchdown with 1:20 remaining that seemingly signaled overtime. But Carden came through once more in the clutch, completing two downfield strikes and then sneaking the ball in from one yard out.
"Just believing," Carden told the Associated Press, via ESPN.com, of how his team fought back after the Virginia Tech score. "Just continuing to believe. We just made some routine plays. They were playing some good defense there in the second half and we couldn't get a lot going. But we just kept believing, believing in our coaches."
East Carolina has become a popular foil. It nearly knocked off South Carolina on the road last week, and will have an opportunity to take down North Carolina at home next Saturday. The American Athletic Conference outfit is establishing itself as an early conference championship favorite.
The Tar Heels will have to be on upset alert next week after watching their conference foes fall on Saturday.
Louisville was the only other Top 25 team to lose in Week 3, as Virginia's defense sent a strong reminder that Teddy Bridgewater is irreplaceable in a 23-21 win. Will Gardner completed only 14-of-34 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions. Cavaliers quarterback Greyson Lambert also struggled, but he accounted for two critical touchdowns during Virginia's 20-7 run through three quarters.
The Cardinals and Hokies are the two teams to drop outside the Top 25 this week.
Replacing them at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively, are Nebraska and Oklahoma State. The Cornhuskers atoned for their near upset loss to McNeese State last week with a 55-19 domination of Fresno State on Saturday. Oklahoma State has beaten up on cupcakes the past two weeks in Missouri State and UTSA, but its only loss of the season was a nail-biter to Florida State.
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