College Football Week 4: Five Games Worth Tailgating For
Week 4 of the college football season has not received as much hype as Week 2 did when Miami went to Ohio State and Michigan visited South Bend, but this weekend’s slate is still fantastic.
There are top-10 matchups, potential upsets, superb SEC showdowns, and teams playing for their national championship lives.
We feel like it’s our duty to point these things out.
This list easily could have been extended to ten games.
For instance, (SPOILER ALERT) Kentucky at Florida didn’t make the cut, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a great game to watch.
There’s been quite a bit of Wild Cat talk this week even though Kentucky is going into The Swamp to face the ninth-ranked Gators.
West Virginia at LSU didn’t make the cut either, but that’s a game that could vault the winner into early-season BCS bowl conversations.
We handpicked five of the best games from this weekend, all of which give you plenty of reason to throw a big tailgate.
So get your grills, get your snacks, get your beverages, and let’s roll.
No. 5 Oregon at Arizona State, 10:30 p.m. EST
1 of 5
Oregon should smoke them. The Sun Devils have no chance, let’s just move on, right?
Wrong.
At least initially.
Yes, Oregon should go to Tempe and manhandle Arizona State if they are who we think they are, which is a top-ranked team and a legitimate national title contender.
Oregon looks like a well-oiled team with an experienced defense and offensive line.
It’s up-tempo style allows Oregon to take advantage of opposing offenses that stall, which is partly the reason why running back LaMichael James and Co. have put up such gaudy numbers in Oregon’s first three games.
The problem is Oregon has romped two-and-a-half cupcakes in three weeks.
The Ducks beat New Mexico 72-0, beat Tennessee 48-13, and then shut out Portland State 69-0.
I said two-and-a-half cupcakes instead of three because I’m willing to give Oregon a few bonus points for going across the country and winning in Knoxville, a tough place to play.
But outside of that, I’d like to see something from Oregon this week because I don’t think we know all that much about this team yet.
This is a potential trap game for Oregon.
Arizona State isn’t ranked, but they play well at home and will get up for a top Pac-10 rival like the Ducks.
And if this is about numbers alone, can’t we make an argument that Arizona State has been almost as impressive as Oregon in its first three games?
The Sun Devils smoked that same Portland State team 54-9, beat Northern Arizona 41-20, and then went on the road to No. 11 Wisconsin and lost by one point.
I still think Oregon will win this game, but it’s not going to be another 30-plus point route. It’s going to be a ball game and the Ducks had better not overlook this weekend for Week 5’s game against Stanford.
No. 16 Stanford at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m. EST
2 of 5
I love this game because it has the potential to tell us a heck of a lot about both teams involved here.
Take Stanford.
The Cardinal are 3-0 on the year and 1-0 in Pac-10 play.
Quarterback Andrew Luck has thrown for 674 yards and 10 touchdowns in three games, and has firmly planted himself in both Heisman and Best QB conversations across the country.
Stanford looks like a real Pac-10 threat this year and possible BCS team.
This week in South Bend kicks off Stanford’s toughest three-game stretch of the season.
After Notre Dame, Stanford goes to Oregon and then is home against USC.
Although Notre Dame is off to a 1-2 start, the Fighting Irish look like a tough team under new coach Brian Kelly, and they will play well at home. It’s never easy for a team to go into South Bend and walk away completely unscathed.
Wins this week it and next week at Oregon will make Stanford 5-0 going into Week 6 against the Trojans, and a surefire National Title contender.
For Notre Dame this game is a must win, as the computers don’t care about tough-luck losses.
The computers see Notre Dame’s 1-2 record, they don’t see a tough loss at home to undefeated Michigan and an overtime loss at Michigan State.
Kelly has Notre Dame playing pretty good ball, but it’s about the wins.
If Notre Dame can improve to 2-2 this weekend, it has a chance to get back on its feet with games against Boston College, Pitt, Western Michigan, Navy, and Tulsa following the Stanford contest.
Brian Kelly’s first challenge has arrived in South Bend.
No. 12 South Carolina at No. 17 Auburn, 7:45 p.m. EST
3 of 5
The Old Ball Coach has his Gamecocks 3-0, 1-0 in SEC, heading down to Auburn, Ala., this Saturday evening.
Quarterback Stephen Garcia has brought some stability to the position while freshman running back sensation Marcus Lattimore has rushed for 333 yards and five TDs in South Carolina’s first three games.
This is the test that the nation wants to see South Carolina ace before it officially labels the Gamecocks as a team that could knock Alabama off the SEC throne.
And Steve Spurrier won’t have to wait long for that opportunity.
South Carolina gets Alabama at home the following week.
As for Auburn, second-year coach Gen Chizik has his boys playing with confidence behind quarterback Cam Newton.
Auburn beat Arkansas State, Mississippi State, and squeaked out a win last week in overtime against Clemson to reach this game 3-0.
With a win at home this weekend, Auburn can vault into top-12 consideration and supplant itself as one of the premier teams in the SEC.
At the very least, this game is going to be your classic, hard-hitting, SEC thriller.
Not only does the SEC produce the best football teams, pound for pound, but there’s also no stadium like a SEC stadium.
If you’re heading down to Auburn Saturday, I envy you.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 24 Oregon State at No. 3 Boise State, 8:00 p.m. EST
4 of 5
Boise State needs to win this game, and it needs to win this game by a lot.
The critics are already devaluing Boise’s win on the road against Virginia Tech (that was NOT a neutral site) after VT lost to James Madison, and now doesn’t look like a scout team of its original self.
Kellen Moore will have to throw the ball a ton and Boise is going to have to put up a ton of points in order to help them later in the year when the voters cast their ballots.
But I don’t think this game is going to be a blowout, which is a problem for the Broncos.
Oregon State is a tough team that plays with confidence, and it all starts with running back Jacquizz Rodgers.
If Boise can stop the 5-7 speedster, then they will probably blowout the Beavers.
But what’s the likelihood of that?
I’d say not very likely.
Rodgers is elusive and is going to get his on the blue turf.
For Oregon State to win, quarterback Ryan Katz will have to throw the ball with success. Any game against Boise State is going to be a high-scoring battle.
One thing the Beavers have going for them?
In preparation of playing in Boise, Oregon State painted its practice field blue this week to prepare for the different look.
OK, I actually don’t know if that means anything in terms of this game, but it was a fun idea.
No. 1 Alabama at No. 10 Arkansas, 3:30 p.m. EST
5 of 5
Ryan Mallet, meet your coming out party.
Coming out party, Ryan Mallet.
Arkansas’s quarterback made his case last week as to why he should be considered the best QB in the country and in the draft.
At Georgia, Mallet led a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter to beat the Bulldogs.
Three plays.
Two Mallet throws to D.J. Williams, and one Mallet touchdown throw to Greg Childs.
That’s all it took for Mallet to cap his 380-yard, three-touchdown day.
Mallet now has 1,081 yards and nine TD’s on the season.
What’s at stake is obvious here.
This is Arkansas’ best chance to compete for a national title. It gets the defending champs at home and if the Razorbacks win, they will be a top-5 team.
But it’s Bama.
It’s Greg McElroy, Marc Ingram, Trent Richardson, Julio Jones, and a defense that currently ranks second in the nation in points against with 6.3 per game.
The dethroning of a champion doesn’t happen by luck.
Nick Saban will have the Crimson Tide prepared when they head to Fayetteville this weekend, like always, and Arkansas will have to take it from them.
If I’m Bobby Petrino, I’m not over thinking this one. Petrino doesn’t need any heroic pregame speech to get his guys ready to go.
Petrino needs to walk into the locker room before kick off and tell his players this:
“Guys, you deserve to be in this position. You have a good team and the best quarterback in the country behind you. You are the 10th-ranked team in the country. Prove today that you deserve to be the No. 1 team in the country. You want to be SEC and National Champions? Well, both of those are in your house today. If it means that much to you, play with heart, play with pride, and let your ability take over when the adrenaline heats up. There’s an opportunity to play in Glendale, Ariz., out on that field today. Go get it.”
It’s that simple.
Petrino needs to get his guys to the stadium and then get out of the way.
Follow Teddy Mitrosilis on Twitter. You can reach him at tm4000@yahoo.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
