College Football Teams Under Most Pressure to Win in Week 4
With conference schedules already underway and letdown losses lurking around every corner, the pressure on high-profile programs is starting to build heading into Week 4 of the college football season.
Every team faces pressure to win each week, but the following programs are facing some tough situations if they suffer defeat this weekend.
Some are needing to rebound from tough losses in Week 3 with a conference victory against a quality opponent. Others are trying to keep their strong chances at a berth in the College Football Playoff or in one of the major New Year's Six bowl games intact.
And then there are the few that just need to stop the bleeding.
Here are nine teams that should be under the most pressure to get a victory this weekend. As always, sound off on which team you think has the biggest weight on its shoulders heading into Week 4 in the comments below.
Arkansas
1 of 9
vs. No. 14 Texas A&M (in Arlington, Texas)
Arkansas is just a mess right now. The Razorbacks have fallen from a team that was No. 18 in the preseason with a head coach ragging on Ohio State's schedule to one that has lost back-to-back games at home to nonconference underdogs.
On offense, Arkansas continues to suffer big injury after big injury while failing to produce in the second half. On defense, Arkansas is basically at full strength but still was ripped to shreds by Texas Tech, whose head coach had some choice words for Bret Bielema and his near future.
"At the Texas High School coaches convention this summer [Bielema] stood up and said if you don't play with a fullback we'll kick your ass, if you throw it 70 times a game we'll kick your ass," TTU head coach Kliff Kingsbury said, per Ken Bradley of Sporting News. "And he just got his ass kicked twice in a row and probably next week by A&M as well."
According to OddsShark, Arkansas opened as the 3.5-point underdog for this weekend's neutral-site SEC opener against Texas A&M, which is still quite potent on offense and has one of the most improved defenses of the season so far.
The Razorbacks might not be expected to win this game, but there will still be quite a bit of pressure on Bielema heading into this matchup. If Arkansas takes another loss, it could easily be staring down a hideous 1-5 start, as its next two matchups are road games at Tennessee and Alabama.
Auburn
2 of 9
vs. Mississippi State
The biggest disappointment of the 2015 season so far has been Auburn, which has gone from No. 6 in the country to a team that looks much worse than its 2-1 record suggests.
It held onto a big early lead for a slim win over winless Louisville, nearly lost to FCS team Jacksonville State and got run over by Leonard Fournette and LSU last weekend.
Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson has thrown six interceptions in three starts, causing Gus Malzahn's usually potent offense to fall all the way down to No. 114 nationally in yards per game. Defensively, new coordinator Will Muschamp hasn't been able to fix the problems of a defense that ranks last in stopping the run among all Power Five teams.
"Obviously that isn't a position any of us wanted to be in, talking about a loss and not playing well," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said, per James Crepea of AL.com. "That's where we're at. We still believe in our guys. We still believe we have good players on this team and we still believe that we're going to play well, starting with this Saturday."
This Saturday, Auburn hosts a Mississippi State team that rallied to lose by two points to the same LSU team that just crushed the Tigers. If Auburn can't turn things around this weekend with a victory, those high preseason hopes of competing for a championship will vanish.
Boise State
3 of 9
at Virginia
Things have gotten off to a rocky start for Boise State this season. After a close win against Washington in its 2015 opener, Boise State fell to the "Mangum Magic" of a late BYU rally in Provo.
Then, this past weekend, starting quarterback Ryan Finley was ruled out for eight weeks after breaking his ankle in a rout of FCS opponent Idaho State, putting Boise's chances at another New Year's Six bowl berth in jeopardy.
"Finley could return to play Air Force in Boise on November 20 if he only has to be out for eight weeks and can return after that, but that stretch of eight games is a tough one," Kevin McGuire of CollegeFootballTalk wrote. "Boise State has already lost once and now may have little margin for error in the race to the New Years Six, if not just the Mountain West Conference."
Now Boise State has to start its slate of games without Finley against a Virginia team that gave Notre Dame a serious scare in Week 2. (The Cavaliers followed that up, however, with only a six-point victory against FCS team William & Mary last week.)
Two losses won't completely eliminate Boise State from New Year's Six contention, but dropping this matchup would mean the Broncos would have to go through the MWC schedule undefeated just to have a shot at another big-time bowl. If the Broncos want to stay in the spotlight, they must overcome their early woes and get this win at Virginia.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
BYU
4 of 9
at Michigan
Like Boise State, BYU is looking to stay in the race for a New Year's Six bowl berth this weekend with a road win against a Power Five opponent.
The Cougars were a popular story in college football for the first few weeks of the season due to backup quarterback Tanner Mangum's last-minute touchdown heaves against Nebraska and Boise State. But in Week 3, BYU couldn't hold onto a late lead against top-10 opponent UCLA away from home.
BYU's tougher schedule as an independent—the Cougars will also face Missouri later this season—should give it a larger margin for error than, say, Boise State. However, BYU isn't in the running for the Group of Five conferences' spot in the big bowls, so it needs to snatch an at-large bid as a team with a high ranking from the playoff committee.
If BYU can knock off Jim Harbaugh's Michigan team in the Big House this weekend and pick up some more momentum, the Cougars could finish the regular season with a great ranking and just one loss to a Pac-12 title contender. Right now, BYU sits at No. 22 in the AP poll thanks to its two impressive wins.
BYU might not face the same amount of pressure as some of the power programs on this list, but the Cougars know how much a win at Michigan could affect their postseason fortunes.
Georgia Tech
5 of 9
at Duke
Georgia Tech made things interesting late against Notre Dame on Saturday, but the fact of the matter is the Yellow Jackets were handled for the majority of their trip to South Bend.
Now, after a loss to the Fighting Irish, Georgia Tech must travel to face Duke in its ACC opener in a game that could be a real challenge.
The loss to Notre Dame obviously didn't affect Georgia Tech's ACC title hopes, but a loss to Duke would cause Paul Johnson's team to have to play catch-up in a Coastal Division that has a reputation for extremely tight races in recent seasons.
Duke is currently ranked eighth nationally in total defense and is coming off a close loss to Northwestern in which it faced 54 carries from the visiting Wildcats. Last year, Duke snapped a 10-year losing streak against Georgia Tech and sent the Yellow Jackets sliding toward back-to-back ACC defeats.
Georgia Tech can't afford to let that happen again, especially considering it still has to play Clemson and Florida State in cross-divisional play. The Jackets need to reclaim their momentum against another team looking to rebound with a conference win.
Oregon
6 of 9
vs. No. 18 Utah
The defending national runner-up isn't in the best of shape heading into its Pac-12 opener against Utah on Saturday night.
Oregon dropped a close road loss to now-No. 2 Michigan State in Week 2, between a pair of home blowout wins against nonconference opponents. As Andrew Greif of the Oregonian notes, Oregon still struggled in those games with third-down conversions (88th nationally) and pass efficiency defense (108th).
Quarterback Vernon Adams sat out last weekend against Georgia State after playing through a finger injury against Michigan State, but Ryan Thornburn of the Register-Guard reported Monday "the Ducks plan to fly with Adams again" against Utah.
The Ducks will look to improve from their nonconference performances against an undefeated Utah team that they beat 51-27 on the road last season. Utah has relied on defense and the strong running of Devontae Booker so far this year, which will provide an interesting matchup of styles at Autzen Stadium.
A letdown loss here would be a huge blow to Oregon's chances at making the College Football Playoff again, and it would be a rough way to start what looks like a Pac-12 race with plenty of challengers. Oregon needs to nail down a victory in one of the only ranked matchups of Week 4.
TCU
7 of 9
at Texas Tech
Despite its undefeated record and No. 3 ranking, TCU is literally hurting right now.
The Horned Frogs lost starting cornerback Ranthony Texada for the season in a nonconference win over SMU. According to Jake Trotter of ESPN.com, TCU was already heading into that game without safety Kenny Iloka, linebacker Sammy Douglas, linebacker Mike Freeze, defensive end James McFarland and defensive tackle Davion Pierson.
Now TCU heads to Lubbock with an extremely banged-up defense to face Texas Tech, which is averaging 590 yards per game on offense and is coming off a road win at Arkansas. The Red Raiders will definitely have momentum, confidence and home-field advantage for this one, so don't expect another 82-27 victory for the Horned Frogs.
A loss here for TCU won't crush its playoff dreams, but it'll make things even tougher in a Big 12 slate that includes road games against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma and home matchups against West Virginia and Baylor.
This Big 12 opener has all the makings of a trap game for head coach Gary Patterson and the Horned Frogs. The pressure is on them to go on the road and keep their place toward the top of the polls.
Tennessee
8 of 9
at Florida
After getting to rebound from a tough loss to Oklahoma with a blowout over FCS opponent Western Carolina, Tennessee now faces some real pressure in Week 4 when it faces Florida, which has won 10 straight games over the Volunteers.
Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee even called Week 4 "the most important of Butch Jones' Tennessee career."
"Florida provides a chance for Tennessee to make a statement to the SEC and take advantage of a team that, while talented, is still building," Sallee wrote Monday. "...Jones better have his Vols prepared, because an 11th straight loss to Florida would be devastating to a team that has all of the tools to do some damage in the SEC East in 2015."
A second loss in three weeks would put Tennessee in a tough spot after all its preseason hype. SEC East favorite Georgia already has two divisional wins, and the Volunteers also have to face Alabama on the road later this season.
Tennessee also has the added pressure from a fanbase that can't wait to see the Vols end their long losing streak against Florida. Week 4 is definitely a turning point in the 2015 season for a Tennessee team that was predicted by some to do big things.
USC
9 of 9
at Arizona State
USC's early momentum as a national title contender stopped seemingly on a dime last Saturday at the Coliseum where Stanford upset the Trojans by a score of 41-31.
The Trojans struggled with converting third downs and providing enough pressure on Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan. Both were issues in early-season blowouts against Sun Belt opponents Arkansas State and Idaho.
"I've talked about this [quarterback] containment issue now for three consecutive weeks," USC head coach Steve Sarkisian said, per Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. "We need to be better at it because we're going to face more and more athletic quarterbacks as the season goes on... We're not doing that consistently enough for my liking, quite honestly."
USC doesn't have much time to fix those problems, though, as it heads to Arizona State this Saturday for its first road game of the season. The Sun Devils, who have won their last two games against USC, lost in Week 1 to Texas A&M but have been able to rebound with back-to-back nonconference wins.
Two consecutive losses to unranked opponents would be disastrous for USC, which entered 2015 with some major championship hype. If the Trojans fall to the Sun Devils again, this could very well be another tough season for USC and its fans.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
