College Football Week 4 Predictions: 5 Season-Changing Upsets Waiting to Happen
Week 4 of the college football season will continue the earth-shattering trend dictated by the previous three weeks.
We’ve already seen shocking upsets, and Week 4 pits several big-time programs in precarious matchups. We are guaranteed to see a face lift in the polls after this week as No. 2 LSU battles No. 16 West Virginia, No. 3 Alabama squares off against No. 14 Arkansas and No. 7 Oklahoma State duels No. 8 Texas A&M.
While those three matchups highlight the weekend, the following five matchups could have obscene implications on the remainder of the season.
North Carolina at No. 25 Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets shocked the world by cracking the top 25 out of nowhere. Many could argue Notre Dame or even Michigan State should be ahead of them. UNC doesn’t have a great offense, but they have the defensive studs such as Quinton Coples to counter GT.
No. 23 USC at Arizona State
Sun Devils’ linebacker Vontaze Burfict and quarterback Brock Osweiler helped Arizona State beat Missouri at home two weeks ago. This is setting up to be a repeat performance. Lane Kiffin’s Trojans do not have the defense to keep up with ASU’s offense. More importantly, Burfict has the speed and intensity to rattle quarterback Matt Barkley.
San Diego State at No. 22 Michigan
Michigan has the dynamic Denard Robinson at quarterback, but San Diego State has two exciting players of their own in quarterback Ryan Lindley and running back Ronnie Hillman. These two have the abilities to keep Robinson on the sidelines. By the time Robinson is ready to put together another heroic performance, there may not be enough time left in the game.
No. 11 Florida State at No. 21 Clemson
Florida State poured everything they had into trying to beat No. 1 Oklahoma at home last weekend. Unfortunately, they fell short of dethroning the Sooners and may be void of the emotional intensity it takes to win on the road. Clemson is coming off a huge win at home against Auburn and will look to take down another ranked team to move up the rankings.
No. 10 Oregon at Arizona
The Ducks have one of the most explosive offenses in the country with quarterback Darron Thomas and running back LaMichael James, but neither are living up to their immense expectations. The Wildcats have one of the top quarterback-wide receiver tandems in the nation in Nick Foles and Juron Criner. Criner performed well against Stanford in his first game back from an appendectomy. These two can keep up with Oregon, which means this game may come down to the team that has the ball last.
