2011 College Football: Grading Top 25 Performances from Week 4

The Top 25 in college football had their toughest collective week to date. No. 2 LSU traveled into West Virginia and took down the No. 16 Mountaineers. No. 3 Alabama hosted No. 14 Arkansas and weren't very hospitable.

No. 7 Oklahoma State went into College Station and warred with No. 8 Texas A&M in a classic showdown. No. 1 Oklahoma took on a feisty Missouri team in a tough Big 12 matchup.

The weekend was full of big plays, big hits and even bigger showdowns.

At times, it was hard to keep up with all of the action. While the early afternoon provided some decent games, Saturday evening positively sizzled with top opponents doing battle.

Thanks to the top matches, the rankings should see significant movement this week.

But what about the games themselves? How did you see the action?

It's time once again to grade the Top 25 from Week 4.

No. 25 Georgia Tech

Opponent: North Carolina

Outcome: Won 35-28

The Yellow Jackets needed a good win over UNC. The Tarheels were undefeated and already had an ACC victory under their belts when they rolled into town. Georgia Tech meanwhile, was sitting in the most dangerous seat in the Top 25.

Tevin Washington accounted for three total touchdowns, picking up one through the air and two more on the ground. He also gave up an interception, but completed 10 of 14 passes.

The passing numbers aren't terrible for a team that operates a triple-option offense.

GT's offense racked up 496 net yards to UNC's 332. They committed just three penalties for 23 yards, though they did give up a couple of turnovers.

A strong second quarter gave the Yellow Jackets the lead and another strong quarter in the third gave them a cushion. Their defense did enough in the fourth to thwart a comeback attempt and they took away a couple of interceptions during the contest.

It wasn't perfect, but it was a solid performance over a good Tarheel team and helped solidify their spot in the rankings.

Grade: A-

No. 24 Illinois

Opponent: Western Michigan

Outcome: Won 23-20

Congratulations are in order for the Illini, who start the season 4-0 for the first time since 1951. I'll gladly admit that I underestimated this team coming into the season.

Having said that, how impressive is it to beat Western Michigan by just three points? Yes, the Broncos may be one of the better teams in the MAC. How many heads will that turn, though?

This win was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Broncos more or less manhandled the Illini. QB Alex Carder and WR Jordan White kept putting together long, sustained drives that kept the Illini offense off the field and wore their defense down.

It looked like WMU might end the Illini streak and pull Illinois right back out of the Top 25.

Then the Illini turned to their ground game in the second half and turned the tables on Western Michigan. Troy Pollard and Donovan Young took control and both crossed the century mark rushing. Pollard ended the day with a 9.5 average while Young put together a 8.3 yard-per-carry effort with a touchdown.

The win is big. Some of the stats are big. The opponent however, is not, and it wasn't necessarily a pretty performance—at least for the first half.

Grade: C+

No. 23 USC

Opponent: Arizona State

Outcome: Lost 22-43

And the questions continue at Southern California.

Up to this point, they've just kept winning. It hasn't always been pretty—like the 19-17 win over Minnesota to start the season—but they've continued to find ways to get it done.

Not this week.

USC actually put up more yards offensively than Arizona State. The teams were a dead heat in passing, with the Trojans gaining 227 and the Sun Devils grabbing 223. They weren't far off on the ground game either with USC chewing up 175 yards and ASU picking up 169.

USC had a big gainer in Marc Tyler, who grabbed 149 yards on 22 carries (6.8 average) and a touchdown. ASU had a big gainer in Cameron Marshall, who picked up 141 yards on 25 carries (5.6 average) and scored three touchdowns.

The differences however, were as noticeable as the scoreboard.

USC had four turnovers, including a Shelly Lions 41-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter. The Trojans also tossed another interception and coughed up two fumbles. The Sun Devils meanwhile, were turnover free.

USC only managed to convert one of nine third down opportunities. Arizona State converted six of 12.

And there's the story of the game. Miscues and mistakes cost USC dearly and their defense couldn't slow down Marshall.

Parts of the offensive performance were good, but the failure to convert on third down hurt the Trojans and the turnovers really killed them.

Grade: C-

No. 22 Michigan

Opponent: San Diego State

Outcome: Won 28-7

Brady Hoke built the San Diego State Aztecs with Michigan in mind. Then he moved to Michigan and had to take on the team he built.

No problem.

Michigan's pass game didn't bother showing up, but it didn't need to. When you put 320 yards on the ground, who cares what your pass stats look like?

The defense allowed Ronnie Hillman to rip off 109 yards and allowed Ryan Lindley to sail it for 253 yards and a score. Those stats mean little though, as the Wolverine defense held the Aztecs out of the end zone until the very end of the third quarter.

It wasn't all sunshine and roses though. The Wolverines turned the ball over four times. Robinson threw two picks and the team coughed up two more fumbles. They grabbed back three fumbles from the Aztecs, but that's still not a great situation for this team

Good win, comfortable win, but not a great win.

Grade: B

No. 21 Clemson

Opponent: No. 11 Florida State

Outcome: Won 35-30

Clemson made a big statement with this win. Beating Auburn a week ago was great, but those Tigers have been floating in and out of the Top 25. Beating the Seminoles meant beating a team that was recently in the Top 5 and was just outside of the Top 10 when the two teams met.

That's a quality win.

Perhaps more importantly, Clemson has grabbed their own conference destiny by the horns. Florida State was a lot of people's pick to win the Atlantic Division and potentially grab the ACC title. With this win, the Tigers have the edge over the Sooners in both the division and conference races.

Clemson dominated the stat categories and took control of the scoreboard fairly early, never letting it go. Debate the true strength of Florida State all you want, this was a good game by a good team, beating another good team.

Grade: A

No. 20 TCU

Opponent: Portland State

Outcome: Won 55-13

The Horned Frogs got off to a slow start. They trailed Portland State 3-0 through the latter half of the first quarter. Then they opened the flood gates.

TCU put up 41 unanswered points through the second and third quarters, squashing any hope their Big Sky opponents might have had in regards to a major upset.

There was no real contest here for the Horned Frogs. It was a nice, easy week against a far inferior opponent and they cam away with a hugely lopsided win. They dominated the stats, dominated the scoreboard and easily extended their record to 3-1.

Grade: A

19. Texas

Opponent: Idle

Outcome: N/A

The Longhorns haven't necessarily had the sexiest start to their 2011 campaign, but they've kept winning and found themselves entering Week 4 ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll.

This week, they took a break from the field and instead dealt with the drama surrounding the conference realignment circus.

Coming up on October 1 is a trip to Ames, Iowa for showdown with the Iowa State Cyclones. Don't write that one off as an automatic "W" as Cyclone QB Steele Jantz has ignited the Cyclone offense and did help lead that team to a 3-0 start.

That's nothing compared to what follows, however.

In the two consecutive weeks following the game against Iowa State, the Longhorns return home for showdowns with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in what arguably represents the toughest stretch of their 2011 season.

Before Halloween rolls around, the Longhorns will have an opportunity to either skyrocket up the charts, or potentially fall out of the rankings altogether.

Grade: N/A

No. 18 South Florida

Opponent: UTEP

Outcome: Won 52-24

The Bulls have had a strong start to their 2011 season and this win keeps them a perfect 4-0.

The Miners made it interesting for a little over a quarter. The two teams locked it up at seven apiece early in the game. Then the Bulls jumped out to a 21-7 margin. The Miners added another score early in the second to keep it close at 21-14.

That's as close as the Bulls let them get the rest of the game.

The Bulls out-paced the Miners 757 yards to 339, picked up 373 yards on the ground and forced three turnovers while giving up none of their own.

Solid, comfortable victory over a team they should have beaten solidly and comfortably.

Grade: A

No. 17 Baylor

Opponent: Rice

Outcome: Won 56-31

If there's a negative side to this victory, perhaps it's the 31 points scored by Rice—the most in a single game for that program in 2011.  Taylor McHargue tapped three scores through the air against the Bears' defense.

It can't be argued that all of those points came in "junk time" either, as 17 of them happened in the second quarter alone.

Another negative might be the two fumbles handed over to the Owls.

Are those really big deals though? Given the outcome of the game, no they're not. Those are the kinds of things that will hurt you against teams like Texas, but don't really make a difference against teams like Rice.

Robert Griffin III tossed for 338 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for 51 yards and another score. It was another Heisman-esque performance for the dual-threat quarterback.

Baylor won the ground game and won the pass game, moving the ball proficiently across the field. It was a decisive win, even if it wasn't that clean.

Grade: B

No. 16 West Virginia

Opponent: No. 2 LSU

Outcome: Lost 21-47

The majority of this game wasn't really as lopsided as that score might indicate. While they did fall behind 27-7 in the first half, the Mountaineers battled back and closed the gap within 27-21 late in the third.

Then, everything that plagued them in the first half came back to bite them again in the fourth quarter. LSU ripped-off 20 unanswered points and turned a great game into a walkaway blowout.

As good as LSU played in that game, West Virginia beat themselves nearly as much as they got beat.

Despite putting up 463 yards of passing offense, the Mountaineers also had some ill-timed drops and tips—at least one of which resulted in an interception.

Speaking of interceptions, Geno Smith tossed two of them—albeit, not entirely of his own doing—and the team also coughed up two fumbles. Again, shooting themselves in the feet.

LSU's defense is too tough to give scoring opportunities away, and their offense is too opportunistic to hand them too many chances at it. Credit the Tiger D for shutting down the Mountaineer run game (holding them to just 70 yards), but the pass game was working.

The turnovers just put them in too much of a hole and the Mountaineer defense couldn't do enough to hold the Tigers down.

Special teams didn't help matters when they allowed Morris Claiborne to return a kickoff 99 yards for another score.

There were flashes of greatness, but they were trumped by the inability to take care of the football.

Grade: C

No. 15 Florida

Opponent: Kentucky

Outcome: Won 48-10

The Gators never allowed the Wildcats to ever make this game that interesting. Florida jumped out immediately to a 21-0 lead, extended it to 31-10 at the half and just kept going from there.

Jeff Demps had a tremendous day, picking up 157 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries. John Brantley had a nice day, putting up 115 yards and a touchdown on just 14 attempts.

The Gators gave up 134 yards on the ground, but didn't allow a score. They gave up a score through the air, but only allowed 165 passing yards and took away two interceptions.

The only dark side to the whole affair were three turnovers the Gators gave up—one pick and two fumbles. It hasn't been a particularly mistake-free year for anyone, but three in a game has to hurt the grade a little.

Otherwise, it was a pretty flawless day.

Grade: B+

No. 14 Arkansas

Opponent: No. 3 Alabama

Outcome: Lost 14-38

The Razorbacks made a game of this thing for the first half. They kept it all tied up at seven through the first quarter and only trailed by 10 at the half.

The third quarter killed them, though.

Alabama ripped off a 21-7 third quarter and took command of the contest. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter and the Razorbacks walked out of Tuscaloosa with a nasty loss on their hands.

Arkansas narrowly out-passed Alabama 209 yards to 200, but the Razorbacks could not get any semblance of a ground game going at all.

Ronnie Wingo Jr. could only manage 35 yards on 11 carries while his counterpart Trent Richardson rolled out 126 yards on 17 attempts. The one-dimensional attack did Arkansas no favors as the Tide was able to start keying in on that pass attack and ultimately shut Arkansas down.

A pair of turnovers didn't help anything. Alabama is too strong to turn over the ball without getting something in return.

It was a valiant effort for Arkansas, but their lack of a solid ground attack hurt them tremendously, and the turnovers just added nails in the coffin. Allowing Marquis Maze to return a punt 83 yards for a score was just salt in the wound.

Grade: C+

No. 13 Virginia Tech

Opponent: Marshall

Outcome: Won 30-10

The Tech defense held the Thundering Herd to just six rushing yards. Yup...six. Meanwhile, the Hokies racked up 215 yards on the ground and added 229 more through the air.

Virginia Tech pretty well cruised through this one. David Wilson clocked 132 yards on 26 carries with a touchdown. Logan Thomas completed 22 of 33 passes for 215 yards and an interception, but also picked up a score on the ground.

Their defense allowed 245 yards through the air, but only gave up a 45-yard field goal and a 29-yard pass for a TD that came at the end of the second quarter. They held the Herd silent the rest of the way.

It wasn't necessarily the sexiest victory, but it was a solid win for the Hokies and carries them comfortably to 4-0

Grade: A-

No. 12 South Carolina

Opponent: Vanderbilt

Outcome: Won 21-3

A win over the Commodores usually doesn't cause anyone to sit up and take notice. However, Vanderbilt was 3-0 coming into this game and had wins over UConn and Ole Miss—the latter a dominant 30-7 victory.

For once, they represented a team with a pulse.

This game also represents the second-largest margin of victory for the Gamecocks this year. The only margin larger than this one was a 56-37 victory over East Carolina to start the season.

South Carolina trailed the Commodores 3-0 after the first quarter, but a pair of second quarter touchdowns gave them a comfortable 14-3 lead going into the break. Another touchdown midway through the third was the last score either team would put on the board the rest of the day.

However...

While South Carolina's defense was staunch—allowing just 73 yards passing and only four yards rushing—their offense was less than impressive.

QB Stephen Garcia completed 16 of 30 and had 228 yards, but tossed four interceptions to just one touchdown. He did nothing to improve on his already mediocre stats this year.

RB Marcus Lattimore has remained firmly in the Heisman Trophy hunt, and has been the only running back to  insert himself amongst a class of strong quarterbacks. This week, he managed just 77 yards on 20 carries and scored one touchdown.

Those aren't terrible numbers, but they're certainly not Heisman numbers.

Once again, South Carolina has found a way to win, but once again, they didn't look that impressive doing it.

Grade: C-

No. 11 Florida State

Opponent: No. 21 Clemson

Outcome: Lost 30-35

Ouch, this loss really hurts. The Seminoles were most people's favorites to win the Atlantic Division and possibly win the ACC title. Clemson just put them on the back-burner for both argument.

This is also going to hurt the perception of Florida State in the pollster's voting. While they came into the season highly ranked and found themselves inside the Top 5 just a couple of weeks ago. With two-straight losses to ranked opponents, the Seminoles are going to have to field some strong criticism.

Still, Clint Trickett threw for 336 yards and three scores with one pick.

The problems however, were multiple.

Chris Thompson couldn't get much of a ground attack going, picking up just 36 yards on 11 carries. The defense couldn't contain Tajh Boyd, who threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns. And while they slowed down the Tiger ground attack, they were still out-paced 111 yards to just 29.

With those issues, it's a testament to Florida State's strength that they kept this game close throughout and brought it back within five points with enough time to potentially win it.

It was a hard-fought football game and was the second road test for this Seminole team. Good effort, but the one-dimensional aspect of their attack hurt them and their defense couldn't do enough against a tough Tiger attack.

Grade: B

No. 10 Oregon

Opponent: Arizona

Outcome: Won 56-31

LaMichael James just re-inserted himself in the Heisman discussion. On 23 carries, James averaged a whopping 12.5 yards per carry, picked up 288 yards and scored two touchdowns. Yowzer.

Darron Thomas had a somewhat quiet day passing, picking up just 101 yards, but scored a couple of touchdowns and didn't throw a pick. He also picked up 52 yards rushing with a couple more scores to boost his total to four on the day.

Arizona had absolutely no answer for that offense. The Ducks picked up 415 yards on the ground alone and 516 total on the day.

The pass defense eventually gave up 398 yards and three scores through the air, but when your opponent is Nick Foles and he throws the darn thing 57 times, that's bound to happen. Foles wasn't able to do much with that until the second half, leading Arizona to a 15-point third quarter and adding a score in the fourth.

The Duck defense wasn't exactly fantastic, but it didn't need to be. The offense was more than taking care of business.

This was a solid Pac-12 victory for Oregon. I'd be a little concerned about the defense if they don't pick things up by bowl time (use the LSU game as an example of what a good defense can do), but in this contest, it really didn't matter.

Offense gets an A+, defense gets a B.

Grade: A-

No. 9 Nebraska

Opponent: Wyoming

Outcome: Won 38-14

The Cowboys may have looked like an intriguing opponent coming into this game. They were 3-0 at any rate. Of course, they hadn't played anybody and their victories weren't necessarily that impressive.

On the field, the differential eventually became obvious. The Huskers allowed the Cowboys to hang around through the first half, but eventually built up a 31-7 lead.

Taylor Martinez protected the ball well, tossing for 157 yards and a touchdown without an interception. Rex Burkhead rumbled for 170 yards on just 15 carries, averaging a jaw-dropping 11.3 yards per carry and picking up two touchdowns.

Interestingly enough, the defense is again a little less impressive than I thought they'd be. They held the Cowboys to just 168 yards passing, but allowed a couple of touchdowns and allowed two carriers to approach four yards per carry.

They gave up 305 total yards of offense, but it really didn't matter that much. The offense—particularly the ground game—controlled the tempo and the outcome.

Grade: B

No. 8 Texas A&M

Opponent: No. 7 Oklahoma State

Outcome: Lost 29-30

This is what Top 10 football is all about. It was a classic showdown between two teams ranked near the top of the pile, who also happened to be in the same conference. So much rode on the outcome.

The Aggies took it to the Cowboys early, jumping out to a 20-3 going into halftime. They couldn't do much though, to stop the Cowboys from putting together a 27-point run that lasted through the third quarter and well into the fourth.

By the time the Aggies got back on the board, there was only a shade over two minutes to go in the game and they were down by ten points.

Ryan Tannehill was almost "Mr. Everything" for Texas A&M. He threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns, while also running for 69 yards and another score. Incidentally, those 69 yards rushing led the team.

Unfortunately, Tannehill also threw three picks and the team helped cough up another fumble.

The Aggie defense had no answer for Brandon Weeden, who threw for 438 yards and a pair of scores. They did well at holding the Cowboy run game to just 46 yards and a score, but Weeden burned them.

A lot of things happen in conference showdowns and this was a great game. Those four turnovers killed Texas A&M though.

Grade: B

No. 7 Oklahoma State

Opponent: No. 8 Texas A&M

Outcome: Won 30-29

The Cowboys looked shell-shocked coming out of the gates. They just couldn't find a good rhythm.

When the second half kicked off though, it was all Oklahoma State. Brandon Weeden took control and tossed up 438 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

Joseph Randle gained 83 yards on 21 carries—not astronomical numbers, but a solid performance that helped keep the defense honest.

The defense shut the Aggies out of the majority of the second half, only allowing them to get back on the board in the last two minutes. The Cowboys gave up a fumble, but picked up four turnovers from the Aggies.

Great road win against a tough opponent.

Grade: A-

No. 6 Wisconsin

Opponent: South Dakota

Outcome: Won 59-10

Welcome to another lopsided victory for the Badgers. Russell Wilson passed for 345 yards and three scores. Montee Ball and James White combined for 183 yards and three scores on 24 combined carries.

Nick Toon had a seven catch, 155 yards and two score day as well.

I don't think anyone really expected this to be much of a contest and it wasn't. The score never got closer than 10-3.

Wisconsin more than doubled South Dakota's run totals and out-passed them 345 yards to 49. It was dominant and easy. Too bad, they haven't played a solid opponent yet, to truly gauge the quality of the team...

Grade: A

No 5. Stanford

Opponent: Idle

Outcome: N/A

The Cardinal have started their season with three comfortable wins and catch a breather this week to prepare for the rest of their 2011 season.

Stanford's schedule lays out nicely for them, but it's arguable whether or not this is the best possible place for a down week.  In the end, it probably doesn't matter a whole lot, except to Cardinal fans who have to spend a Saturday without their team on the field.

When they return to action October 1st, Stanford will play host to UCLA and then Colorado a week later. the rest of October will see them going on the road to face Washington State, coming back home against Washington and ending on the road at USC.

Grade: N/A

No. 4 Boise State

Opponent: Tulsa

Outcome: 41-21

Tulsa has had the toughest opening schedule of anyone in the country and it's not even debatable. In four games, they've taken on three Top 5 teams—Boise State only the latest of the group.

No wonder they're 1-3 on the year.

Boise State buried the Golden Hurricane early and just poured it on until late in the game. The Broncos burst out to a 34-0 lead before finally allowing them to save a little face.

Kellen Moore padded his Heisman stats by completing 79 percent of his passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns.

The Broncos put up 458 yards of offense while the defense pulled in four turnovers which bought more than enough time for Moore to work his magic and secure a big win.

Easy win. Good performance. Nuff said.

Grade: A

No. 3 Alabama

Opponent: No. 14 Arkansas

Outcome: Won 38-14

When you're one of the top teams in the country, there are certain expectations. Chief among them are victories over other ranked opponents, and comfortable victories are even better.

Alabama didn't disappoint this week.

A.J. McCarron put in a 200-yard, two touchdown performance without an interception. Trent Richardson rumbled for 126 yards on 17 carries, averaging 7.4 per carry.  He also caught three passes for 85 yards and a score.

The defense held the Razorback run game to just 17 yards and limited their pass attack to fewer than 200 yards.

The Crimson Tide committed just five penalties and had no turnovers against them. It was a clean, smart football game and Arkansas was clearly out-matched.

Grade: A

No. 2 LSU

Opponent: No. 16 West Virginia

Outcome: Won 47-21

The Tigers made a strong case for being the new No. 1 team in the nation. They've beaten some very good competition early on this season, and this was no exception.

West Virginia hasn't necessarily gotten the most respect out of their ranking, thanks to the trouble the Big East had against ranked opponents and in bowl games last year. They're a pretty solid team though, especially offensively.

LSU's defense ultimately gave up a ton of yards to Geno Smith, and sacrificed two throwing touchdowns. They picked up a couple of interceptions along the way, though. They also recovered a couple of fumbles, winning the turnover battle 4-0.

The Tigers also squashed the Mountaineer run game, holding them to just 70 yards and a score.

Jarrett Lee tossed three touchdown passes without an interception and the ground game was strong with Spencer Ware and Michael Ford combining for 174 yards and two scores.

LSU showed why they're one of the top teams in the country. They were tough, physical and mistake-free on their way to a decisive victory over a Top 25 opponent.

Grade: A

No. 1 Oklahoma

Opponent: Missouri

Outcome: Won 38-28

The Sooners stay perfect at 3-0 and get a good Big 12 victory. It wasn't necessarily easy, though.

The Tigers made it difficult on the Sooners through the first half. They led 14-3 at one point and were ahead 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.

The Sooners put together 28-straight points though, to grab the lead. Mizzou tried to come back, but Oklahoma had too much for the Tigers.

It wasn't the greatest Sooner performance though. They surrendered 532 yards to the Tigers and spit up two turnovers, while the Tigers protected the football. They grabbed a comfortable lead and took their foot off the gas while others in the Top 10 were battling highly ranked opponents.

It wasn't the best statement from the Sooners and there may be a smidge of question about their ranking in the aftermath.

Grade: B-