College Football Week 4: Winners and Losers

Another Saturday afternoon has brought us another round of great college football!

Brady Hoke pitted his new team in Michigan against his old team at San Diego State. Georgia Tech tried to hang on to their spot in the Top 25 by beating North Carolina. TCU tried to keep on their winning ways against Portland State.

None of those even touch the multitude of Top 25 games going on this evening.

There are story lines, Heisman chases and conference showdowns happening all across the country.

Let's run down the winners and losers from Week 4 action.

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Winner: Brady Hoke and Michigan

It's not that often that a coach has the opportunity to face the monster he created. For Brady Hoke, Saturday's matchup against San Diego State represented exactly that.

In fact, according to Jason Whitlock, Hoke had this game in mind for quite a while.

"'We built that team to win this game,' Hoke uncomfortably joked Thursday evening when I reached him by phone," Whitlock writes.

Hoke had prepared his San Diego State team specifically to take them into the Big House and take on the Wolverines. Sure, he wanted to make some noise in the the conference as well. But playing well against Michigan would have been the highlight of the year.

He obviously couldn't have known then that he would be on the opposite side of the field for this game.

The Aztecs had started the season 3-0. They weren't intimidated by the Wolverines.

Perhaps they should have been, though.

Michigan jumped out to a 21-0 lead and cruised to a 28-7 victory.

Hoke stared down the machine he had built and still came away with a comfortable victory. His Wolverines put together another win to start their year 4-0 and have another good win under their belts.

Winner: Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets came into the week ranked No. 25. It's a precarious position, to be sure. An unimpressive performance could knock them right back out of the Top 25. A loss is unforgivable.

North Carolina wasn't a ranked opponent, but they had started the season 3-0 and had victories over Virginia and Rutgers. They were respectable, at least.

Georgia Tech stormed out to a 20-7 lead and held off a late-game comeback attempt from UNC to get the 35-28 victory.

It's not a super impressive score, but should be more than enough to keep them in the rankings and help them build confidence going forward.

A loss by another team ranked somewhere in the teens or 20's would help, but it's not necessary. The Yellow Jackets got it done this week and can look forward to their trip to NC State with a head of steam behind them.

Loser: Mark Richt

Richt has found himself on the hot seat once again, after Georgia fell unceremoniously out of the Top 25 a couple of weeks ago. It's not that surprising, really. You can't lose two straight to start the season and not have some talk about replacements.

Richt's Bulldogs got the win today over Ole Miss 27-13, but is that enough to reduce the burning sensation under his bum?

I hardly think so.

The Rebels are now 1-3 on the season and were handily defeated by Vanderbilt 7-30 last week. They're not exactly a top-tier SEC team.

In effect, this victory says "we're better than Ole Miss, but not as good as Vanderbilt." And that friends, is not good enough to quiet the grumbling about Richt's continued disappointment with the Georgia team.

He needed a strongly convincing win. He needed his offense to do more than score only a field goal in the entire second half. He needed his defense to take a bite out of the 13-point second quarter the Rebels put together.

He needed more than he got, and because of that, he'll continue to be on the hot seat in Georgia.

Loser: Arkansas

There can be moral victories in football. For instance, going on the road and losing to a team that's in the national title discussion by only a touchdown can be a moral victory. It can say, "we're good enough to put up a fight with the best in the nation, in their house."

Losing by a score of 38-14 is no moral victory.

Arkansas will take a hit in the polls, to be sure. Again, it's one thing to lose to a highly ranked opponent. It's something else to lose by 24 to a highly ranked opponent.

The Razorbacks needed a good showing. They didn't necessarily have to win. They just needed to show they could hang on the road with a team like 'Bama.

They couldn't.

They were out-rushed 197 yards to just 17. They gave up two interceptions, and they gave up nearly five minutes to the Tide in time of possession.

Arkansas is still a good team, don't get me wrong. However, this week was a chance to make a very bold statement.

They didn't quite make the statement they wanted to. It'll cost them in the polls and it'll put them behind in the conference race.

Winner: Iowa's Offense

The Hawkeyes have been off the national radar, and will continue to be there for a while longer. After dropping in triple-overtime to Iowa State two weeks ago, any thought of Iowa sneaking into the Top 25 was dashed.

The defense was an issue in that particular game, but the offense was a problem last week against Pitt. It took a 21-point fourth quarter comeback to knock off the Panthers.

Iowa got more than just a victory this week against Louisiana-Monroe, though. They got a new offense.

In that late-game comeback last week, Iowa went no-huddle and threw the ball almost exclusively. They learned their lesson and carried it over to this week.

Iowa threw early and often against the Warhawks.

QB James Vandenberg completed 21 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. Marvin McNutt hauled in seven of those passes for 100 yards and two of those touchdowns while Marcus Coker carried the ball 18 times for 113 yards and two scores.

Sure, this was just ULM. Still, this is a big victory for Iowa. They found their offensive identity and showed via a 45-17 victory that they can still be a tough opponent in the Big Ten.

Loser: The ACC

This has not been a stellar week for the ACC as a conference.

Miami (FL), fresh off a big win over Ohio State last week, dropped to the Big 12's Kansas 24-28. N.C. State was humiliated by the Big East's Cincinnati 14-44. Virginia dropped to C-USA's Southern Miss 24-30.

Oh yeah, and Maryland was manhandled by the MAC's Temple 7-38.

Even the fantastic showdown between Florida State and Clemson hurts a little. There's little doubt the Seminoles will take a hit in the polls, but will Clemson climb as far as Florida State will fall?

Those at the very top of the conference (Florida State, particularly) aren't making great waves for the conference, and those in the lower echelons are dropping like flies to conferences that don't typically garner near the respect the ACC generally does.

To call this a "down week" for the conference might be an understatement (and "might" is itself an understatement). This was a tragic showing for the conference.

The good news is, in a few years Pitt and Syracuse can come in and maybe help the cause...

Winner: Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Badgers continue to impress. Russell Wilson put up extraordinary numbers once again, completing 19 of 25 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns. James White and Montee Ball combined for 183 yards on 24 carries with three more touchdowns.

And Wisconsin rolled yet again to an easy 59-10 victory over South Dakota.

I know...South Dakota...whoopee.

Wisconsin has yet to face anyone that will truly get the blood pumping. This was the final of their out-of-conference warm-ups before hosting Nebraska next week.

The Badgers are sitting just outside the Top 5 at No. 6 and a lopsided victory like this could help propel them into the next bracket. Wilson continues to make a case for his Heisman chase, Ball and White continue to leave awesome trails of would-be tacklers behind them and the Badgers keep looking like one of the strongest teams in the country.

They aren't just winning games, they're winning votes from pollsters.

We'll see how next week shakes out, but this performance is "win", any way you want to look at it.

Winner: Alabama

If you want to make a strong statement for being one of the two selections to play for the BCS Title, you need to beat up on ranked opponents.

Alabama is no stranger to this and that's just what they did this weekend.

No. 14 Arkansas was no match for Alabama's thundering offense and crushing defense. The Tide defense held Arkansas' run game to just 19 net yards and, while they allowed 209 yards through the air, they only gave up one passing touchdown while taking away two interceptions.

With just under ten minutes to go in the third quarter, Alabama held a comfortable 31-7 lead. This, against a Top 15 team in the nation.

For most teams, winning a game against a ranked opponent is a big deal. For a lot of teams, beating a ranked team is cause enough for celebration.

Not for a team in the hunt for the crystal football. You can't just win those games, you've got to beat those teams to make the statement you need to make.

Alabama once again made that statement.

Loser: Big 12

Battles between two teams ranked in the Top 10 are always great, regardless of the outcome. They typically help clarify the bigger picture, at least a little.

However, when both teams are from the same conference?

That's not a good thing, especially for a conference that has been surrounded by so much controversy lately, as the Big 12 has been.

Why is it such a bad thing?

Well, it's great that both teams were ranked in the Top 10 to begin with. The problem is, one of them had to drop out after this game. What, you think Texas A&M will drop no more than two positions on the heels of this loss?

You think that they'll stay that high in the rankings with so many undefeated teams chomping at their heels?

If they do, there will be a bunch of teams that "lost" this week.

That's why the Big 12 loses on this one. The showdown between Oklahoma State and Texas A&M was a thriller. They both put up a great fight and made their case for being amongst the elite in the nation.

But there could be only one.

Now, the Big 12 will have to watch one of their three Top 10 teams drop out of the top bracket of the rankings.

Winner: Big 12

The Big 12 entered this week with three teams ranked in the Top 10 and five teams in the Top 25. That, in itself makes them winners for the week.

However, in every opportunity where the Big 12 could come out ahead this week, they did.

Texas Tech escaped Nevada 35-34.

Kansas State knocked off Miami (FL) 28-24.

Baylor handled Rice 56-31.

Then there were the two games where the Big 12 had no choice but to hand one of their own a loss.

Oklahoma State escaped Texas A&M 30-29 and, (as I write there is still 6:30 to go in the game) Oklahoma is defeating Missouri 31-21.

If everything stays as it is, the conference will still have a team in the top three, another in the top five and everyone else won or was idle for the week.

That's a great week for the Big 12. If you don't think so, just look at how the ACC fared this week.