Week 4 College Football: What To Watch For This Weekend

Last week was absolutely painful for me as a Notre Dame Fighting Irish and UConn Husky fan, but there were many thrilling games that made up for it, including the Irish loss in East Lansing on a gutsy call by coach Mark Dantonio.

Ryan Mallett proved himself as arguably the best QB in the nation in a thrilling win against a good Georgia team, while Jake Locker got absolutely humiliated by a stifling Nebraska defense, as Taylor Martinez ran over the Huskies for a blowout victory.

Auburn was able to pull out a stunning win on a missed field goal from Clemson, after a time-out canceled the previous kick that was good.

Denard Robinson and Michael Shaw were able to bail out the miserable Michigan defense in a win over FCS UMass, and Arizona proved their legitimacy by defending their home turf against a top 10 ranked Iowa team.

Despite all of that happening during Week 3, Week 4 in college football looks to possibly be even more exciting.

Here are the games I will be tuning in for:

Thursday Night: #19 Miami (FL) at Pittsburgh (7:30, ESPN/ESPN3)

After losing somewhat respectably to Ohio State two weeks ago, Miami will not be rewarded with an easy game as they head to Pittsburgh to take on one of the favorites in the Big East, the Pitt Panthers.

Both teams were idle last week and have had a week in a half to prepare from their opponents.

This game could be a big battle between the Big East and the ACC—two conferences that have both looked very mediocre so far this season, and the winner of this game will give some much needed pride for their conference.

Jacory Harris will need to limit the turnovers that deeply cost his team against Ohio State in order to give the Hurricanes a chance to win on the road.

Predictions: Miami (FL)- 24, Pittsburgh- 21

Friday Night: #4 TCU at SMU (8:00 ESPN/ESPN3)

Friday night football this week doesn't have quite the flair it did last week, when Colin Kaepernick shined in a Nevada win against California.

Honestly, I don't expect to watch very much of this as TCU should roll over their in-state rivals as they did to Baylor last weekend.

But SMU has been decently impressive the last two weeks, and carries some momentum into this home game with convincing wins over Washington State and UAB.

That being said, the Andy Dalton led TCU team should keep its undefeated season and national championships alive in this one, and it shouldn't be close.

Predictions: TCU- 40, SMU- 7

Saturday: Virginia Tech at Boston College (12:00 ESPN3)

Yuck. That's a pretty nasty display of early afternoon games this week, especially considering how strong the games later that day are.

This is mainly because the ACC and the Big East are taking up many of the 12:00 spots, and let's just say neither of those two conferences have been all too impressive so far.

North Carolina State takes on Georgia Tech in a somewhat intriguing ACC battle on ESPN, while Michigan hosts Bowling Green (who has to be better than UMass), on ESPN2.

Nothing that exactly makes me jump out of my chair.

The games on ESPN3 aren't much better, but it's pretty safe to say that if I'll be watching football at noontime this weekend, it will be on my computer.

My UConn Huskies take on Buffalo at home, trying to recover from an embarrassing loss at Temple last Saturday, while a very intriguing ACC game will be broadcast from Chestnut Hill.

A Boston College team that is one of the few ACC teams to not mess anything up yet will be hosting the biggest disappointment story in college football, Virginia Tech.

The Hokies looked like a completely different team in the 2nd half of their win against ECU Saturday, but Tyrod Taylor will have to step up his game even another level to score against a good Boston College defense led by cancer survivor Mark Herzlich.

Prediction: Virginia Tech- 17, Boston College- 21

#16 Stanford at Notre Dame (3:30 NBC)

Okay, we all know there's a better game at 3:30, that I'll talk about later, but as a Notre Dame fan, I am obligated to invest most of my time in watching the Irish as they look to prove themselves against a powerful Stanford offense.

The Irish are coming off their second heartbreaking loss in a row against a team from Michigan, as the Michigan State Spartans were able to shock them in overtime on a fake field goal pass play.

Danye Crist showed glimpses of being an elite quarterback, but I was a bit disappointed with his toughness, especially as he seemed afraid of getting hit in order to pick up a few more much needed yards.

To me, Stanford QB Andrew Luck, is in a tight race with Ryan Mallett for the best QB in the country, and the Cardinal offense led by him has been extremely dynamic so far this season. This was shown greatly last week as the team was able to beat Wake Forest (I know they're in the bottom of the ACC, but still...) in a 68-24 rout.

Notre Dame's defense has a big task ahead of them in order to prevent going 1-3 to start Brian Kelly's career.

Prediction: Stanford- 42, Notre Dame- 31

#1 Alabama at #10 Arkansas (3:30 ABC)

If Andrew Luck isn't the best quarterback in the country, than it surely is Ryan Mallett of Arkansas, who just about single-handedly led his team to victory against a very strong Georgia team last week.

The Razorbacks are third in the country in passing offense, as Mallett has already eclipsed 1,000 yards this year and made himself a strong candidate for the Heisman trophy. If anybody is going to beat Alabama this year, Arkansas looks to be one of the favorites to do so.

That being said, they are still not the favorite to win this game. Alabama is just that good and it showed last week in a 62-13 rout against Duke (what's up with all these cellar dweller ACC teams in this article).

There's no two headed monster at running back anywhere near as dynamic as Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, and the passing game is in the top 20 in the country as well with 291.3 YPG.

Both of these teams have top five defenses in the country, but they also have dynamic play-makers on offense as well.

There could be a very strong argument that this is THE best game in college football so far this season.

My opinion: Arkansas' momentum coming off of a win against a quality opponent will lead the Razorbacks to a thrilling victory, leading to an intense debate at the end of the year when Alabama (with one loss), and TCU, Boise State, or even Nevada or Utah (with no losses), argue that they should be in the title game. Boy, do I love college football.

Prediction: Arkansas- 24, Alabama-21

#24 Oregon State at #3 Boise State (8:00 ABC)

The South Carolina/Auburn game at the same time Saturday night might actually be a better game, but no game this week means more to college football than the one in Boise.

If Boise State can beat a top 25 opponent on their home blue turf Saturday night, just Nevada and Fresno State remain as quality opponents on their schedule. And let's be honest, if Boise can beat Virginia Tech and Oregon State, they should be able to handle the Wolf Pack and the Bulldogs (unless Colin Kaepernick is really THAT good).

So one could say that if Boise wins this game Saturday night, there is a very good chance they will finish yet another regular season undefeated.

This will leave a very intriguing argument between who to place in the National Championship: an undefeated Boise State team, or a one loss team from a power conference (say Alabama or Ohio State). That being said, Oregon State may just have enough firepower to knock the Broncos completely out of championship contention.

The team's only loss was on the road against a very tough TCU team, and have Jacquizz Rodgers, who is one of the most dynamic players in the country. This will be a thriller, but Kellen Moore is just too good to let his National Championship hopes slip away this early in the season.

Prediction: Oregon State- 20, Boise State- 21

All in all, it has all of the makings to be an incredible week in the world of college football. Two of the top three teams in the country will be challenged, which could create a major shakeup in the rankings and postseason picture.

In addition to that, take a look at some of the games I won't have the pleasure to tune into very much on Saturday:

Temple at #23 Penn State (3:30, Big Ten Network)

#8 Oklahoma at Cincinnati (6:00, ESPN2)

Nevada at Brigham Young (6:00, TheMtn)

Fresno State at Ole Miss (7:30, ESPN3)

#12 South Carolina at #17 Auburn (7:45, ESPN/ESPN3)

#22 West Virginia at #15 LSU (9:00 ESPN2/ESPN3)

California at #14 Arizona (10:00, CSN plus)