College Football 2021: 4 teams that will be on upset alert in Week 4
Dishonorable mentions
- LSU (at Mississippi State)
To be entirely honest, I’m not sure why LSU is favored here. Mississippi State should be 3-0 after a two-point loss because of a punt return touchdown that should have been negated last week.
LSU’s defensive numbers against the pass look better than they should because they’ve faced a run-heavy team in UCLA and had two clear talent mismatch games with McNeese State and Central Michigan. The Mississippi State passing attack should be able to feast on the LSU secondary. The question comes down to whether or not LSU can keep up.
- Western Michigan (vs. San Jose State)
The Spartans’ lone loss came against USC in a game where the defense did a pretty good job against the Trojans. Western Michigan is riding high after an upset win at Pitt, which I honestly think that combined with a cross-country trip for San Jose State is the reason the Broncos are favored here.
We’ve seen that this Broncos team can and will give up points, and that might be just what San Jose needs to finally get things clicking. The Spartans are due for an offensive explosion and this is a prime week for it.
And don’t forget, Western Michigan’s head coach Tim Lester is out for this game due to COVID-19.
- Oklahoma State (vs. Kansas State)
This would make the main list, but I feel like it’s cheating to call a ranked team beating an unranked team an upset. Oklahoma State has had three nail-biters, all victories, but have been far from impressive. Kansas State, on the other hand, has handled their business and has looked great on defense including shutting down an explosive Nevada offense.
I said on Twitter last week that every time I watch Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders, I’m always left wanting just a little bit more. He’ll need that little bit extra for the Cowboys to defeat Kansas State.
- Oklahoma (-16 vs. West Virginia)
I feel like Oklahoma is coming up on a game where they at least get scared by an inferior conference opponent, why not here? West Virginia’s season-opening loss to Maryland kind go knocked the Mountaineers down a peg, but they’ve come alive since including a tough win against 15th ranked Virginia Tech.
Oklahoma has had two extremely close calls so far, defeating Tulane and Nebraska by a combined 12 points. If Oklahoma keeps letting weaker opponents hang in games, it’s only a matter of time before it comes back to bite the Sooners.