We’re a month into the college football season and boy what a week it was in the Top 25 ranks. Did any upsets shake up the College Football Playoff projections.
Week 4 of the college football season wasn’t a quiet one as a few upsets shook up the landscape of the college football rankings.
The sixth-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys were the highest-ranked team to fall in Week 4. They fell at home to the 16th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs, 44-31. The Cowboys fall from grace after turning the ball over four times. Wide receiver James Washington still had six catches for 153 receiving yards and a touchdown, but the Cowboys were held at bay for much of the contest.
The 12th-ranked Florida State Seminoles also took their second loss of the season. They remain winless after two weeks off due to the damage caused by Hurricane Irma. The Seminoles showed their rust as they fell 27-21 at home to the NC State Wolfpack.
However, last week’s top four teams remain undefeated in the aftermath. The fourth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions played a tough game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. They won on the final play of the game, 21-19. It took a seven-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trace McSorley to wide receiver Juwan Johnson.
The effort put McSorley and company on the College Football Playoff radar and for good reason. After a not-so-spectacular game on offense, McSorley drove Penn State 65 yards down the field and won the game with a passing touchdown.
That’s where this week’s College Football Playoff projections as we take a look at the top four projections.
The fourth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions catapult themselves into the College Football Playoff after their gutsy 21-19 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
It looked like the Hawkeyes would pull off the upset, leading 19-15 with 1:42 remaining in the game. Running back Akrum Wadley ran the ball 35 yards for the lead. The team’s two-point conversion failed.
The only problem was Iowa left too much time on the clock as quarterback Trace McSorley marched down the field to find wide receiver Juwan Johnson in the back of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
Running back Saquon Barkley was spectacular as he ran for 211 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, caught 12 receptions for 94 receiving yards and 53 kick return yards. Barkley made plays all over the field for the Nittany Lions, fueling the offense despite its shortcomings.
Penn State came in averaging 47.0 points per game but faced a tough Iowa Hawkeyes defense. Iowa held Penn State to just five points in the first half, two of them coming on special teams. The Nittany Lions still had 579 total yards of offense and 29 first downs in the game, but points came at a premium.
They overcame the odds to remain undefeated on the season and are now 1-0 in Big Ten play. They’re easily the favorite to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes after this win.
Penn State faces Indiana in Week 5 as they return home.
The Washington Huskies got off to a bit of a slow start on offense, but it’s easy to blame it on the kicker here. Kicker Tristan Vizcaino missed a 32-yard with Washington down 7-0 in the first quarter. Then he missed a 42-yard field goal to keep the Huskies lead at 17-10 in the third quarter.
He may have left a few scores off the board for the Huskies, but they bounced back after leading 17-10 in the third quarter.
It took a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown by Myles Bryant to break open the game. Washington would go on to score 20 straight points after that to get a 37-10 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes in their Pac-12 opener.
Wide receiver Dante Pettis didn’t score on a punt return this week but running back Myles Gaskin had a big game. He had 27 carries for a career-high 202 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Have a night, Myles Gaskin.
— ESPN (@espn) September 24, 2017
As in a career-high 202 rushing yards in Washington's rout of Colorado. pic.twitter.com/j0pFJhP7OR
Next to Gaskin and Barkley, one of them is bound to find themselves in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy soon. Quarterback Jake Browning had 160 passing yards, a passing touchdown and an interception. It was the Myles Gaskin show as he went on to average 7.5 yards per carry.
The Washington defense continues to excel as well. They held Colorado to 10 points and forced three interceptions and blocked a punt in the game. They gave Buffaloes quarterback Steven Montez issues all game as he was sacked five times in the game.
The Huskies looked solid for the second-straight week after another easy victory. They’ll face Oregon State on the road next week.
The second-ranked Clemson Tigers made things interesting between themselves and the Boston College Golden Eagles, at least for three quarters anyway.
Clemson entered the fourth quarter with Boston College the game all tied up at 7-7 before they opened things up. The Tigers would go on to score 27 points in the final frame, upending the Golden Eagles’ shot at an upset.
Quarterback Kelly Bryant didn’t have the greatest day passing (17-of-26, 140 passing yards, 2 interceptions) but made up for it with his running ability. He had 106 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 22 carries.
True freshman running back Travis Etienne continues to emerge as another intriguing prospect. He ran for 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns on nine carries in the game. Etienne has 23 carries this season for 292 rushing yards (12.7 yards per carry).
The Tigers finished with 345 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns in the game, taking a page out of Notre Dame’s playbook from a week ago. The defense still played at a high level, forcing two turnovers of their own and holding the Golden Eagles to 97 rushing yards and seven points.
Bryant threw his second and third interception of the season against Boston College. It’ll be something to watch as they travel to Blacksburg in Week 5 to face 13th-ranked Virginia Tech.
If you aim for the Alabama Crimson Tide, you better not miss. The Vanderbilt Commodores got that message loud and clear after calling out the first-ranked Crimson Tide. The Crimson Tide rolled over Vanderbilt 59-0 in their SEC opener and it was on the road. Running backs Bo Scarbrough and Damien Harris led the way with five rushing touchdowns combined.
Harris had 12 carries for 151 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Scarbrough ran for 79 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Fans got a glimpse of true freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa against Vanderbilt as well. He went 8-of-10 passing for 103 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.
Tagovailoa’s two touchdown passes were to true freshman wide receivers DeVonta Smith and Jerry Jeudy. Smith and Jeudy caught their first receiving touchdowns of their college careers. Smith’s touchdown came on just his second career reception.
The Alabama defense was dominant in their conference opener. They allowed three first downs, 78 total yards of offense and forced two turnovers in the shutout. Despite the Commodores 3-0 record, Alabama looked like a playoff team in another realm. They put up 496 rushing yards and over 600 yards of offense to make a statement.
Next: Projected Week 5 College Football AP Poll
The Crimson Tide are a force to be reckoned with this season. Their next opponent is Ole Miss in Week 5. Let’s see how they do against the top-ranked team in the nation.