Table for 12 Week 4: Texas Tech bought itself a College Football Playoff contender

Every week, there are College Football Playoff implications all over the country. The best example of that was in Bloomington, where there was a primetime football game between Illinois and Indiana worth caring about. It was the first-ranked on-ranked matchup between the two programs in 75 years, and with the big three Ohio State, Penn State, and Oregon looming in the Big Ten, it was a College Football Playoff elimination game. In Week 4. And the game in Lincoln might have been another. How great is that? 

If the flavors of Big Ten country don’t tickle your taste buds, then maybe I could interest you in some Big 12 breakfast with a (ridiculous) 10 a.m. local time kickoff in Salt Lake City for a potential confernece title game preview between Texas Tech and Utah. Or some SEC cooking in Norman with a hot dish of revenge. The table is set. Let’s dig in. 

First Course

1. A winner is always worth it (No. 17 Texas Tech 34 No. 16 Utah 10)

Utah’s final offensive play of the game was a Devon Dampier interception, thrown falling away with pressure in his face as Utah’s star right tackle Spencer Fano, a potential top 10 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, was flagged for holding. The entire story of the game, distilled into one snap.  

Last season, Ohio State’s “$20 million roster” became emblematic of the NIL era, but the reality is that the Buckeyes were a perennial contender in every prior era of college football, and that $20 million for a national championship is an absolute steal. Now, with the advent of revenue-sharing with NIL payments piled on top, rosters are nearing the $40 million mark, and whichever program sets a new spending spree benchmark, you better believe that Texas Tech and billionaire oil baron Cody Campbell will match it. 

Campbell and other deep-pocketed West Texas boosters poured money into the Texas Tech football program, and so far, it looks like money well spent.

Under Kyle Whittingham, Utah spent years cultivating an identity of toughness and physicality in the trenches and developed a largely home-grown offensive line, with Fano, Caleb Lomu, and Tanoa Togiai. That distinct identity had many thinking that with a move from the Pac-12 to a Texas and Oklahoma-less Big 12, the Utes could become a perennial powerhouse. Then, in one offseason, Texas Tech, a program known for Mike Leach’s air raid and Patrick Mahomes’s legendary shootouts with Baker Mayfield, built a monster that even Utah couldn’t handle. 

With Behren Morton already in place at quarterback, the infusion of cash was wisely spent along the defensive line. They added David Bailey, Romello Height, Lee Hunter, and Skyler Gill-Howard, and that foursome had Dampier on the run all game, held the Utes to a 30 percent rushing success rate, and forced an offense that had punted just 5 times all season to punt seven times and turn the ball over three times. 

Texas Tech only pressured Dampier on 25.6 percent of his dropbacks, which is not a staggering amount, and sacked him one time, but they did that while blitzing just three times all game and forced Dampier to play with a 2.48-second average time to throw. He ended the game at 3.6 yards per attempt on clean dropbacks because he was getting the ball out so quickly, and Texas Tech had bodies in the secondary to make tackles, and both of his picks came when pressured. 

The Utah offense is so predicated on establishing the quarterback run game with Dampier because it allows offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who came with Dampier from New Mexico, to get into his passing game of half rolls and sprint outs. Texas Tech’s defensive line was so perfectly suited to handle that attack. Hunter and Gil-Howard plugged the middle, forcing Utah into third and long where they couldn’t protect Dampier long enough to push the ball downfield. The one time the Utes did attack vertically in the first half, a Fano penalty wiped a touchdown off the board. 

Texas Tech’s four-man rush may only be rivaled by Miami and Oklahoma, and that alone makes the Red Raiders a real threat to win the Big 12, make the CFP, and make some noise once they’re there, regardless of who is at quarterback. 

Second course

2. The Ghost of Harbaugh past (No. 21 Michigan 30 Nebraska 27)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Michigan, without its head coach on the sidelines because of a suspension, took the ball out of its quarterback’s hands and physically imposed its will on the road in the second half to escape with a win. 

Remember the second half against Penn State in 2023, when Sherrone Moore, as acting head coach, didn’t throw the ball once in the second half? Penn State fans still do, and Nebraska fans won’t soon forget Michigan’s 16-play, 8-minute, 46-second, 77-yard field goal drive in the fourth quarter to put the game and potentially Nebraska’s CFP aspirations out of reach. 

Acting head coach Biff Poggi, who is one of college football’s great characters if you aren’t yet familiar with the country’s most shocking former hedge fund manager, and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, took a conservative approach in the fourth quarter. They wisely protected their true freshman QB after he completed just one pass of over 10 yards downfield. Underwood played with just a 6.4-yard average depth of target.

Yet, the Wolverines, as was almost always the case in the final years of the Harbaugh era, were too physical for the opponent to handle. That’s not just in the trenches, it’s with players like 5-foot-10, 174-pound Semaj Morgan, who broke a tackle to move the chains on the drive’s first third down. 

Nebraska even answered with a touchdown drive, but failed to recover the ensuing onside kick, and guess what? Michigan ran the ball for a first down, with Jordan Marshall breaking a tackle, of course, and salted the clock away. The Wolverines finished the game averaging 8.9 yards per carry and 5.59 yards after contact per carry, 123 of those total yards after contact, courtesy of Justice Haynes (per PFF).

Frankly, if it wasn’t for a Biff Poggi halftime game management blunder and a Dylan Raiola Hail Mary, the game wouldn’t have even been that close. Michigan survived Moore’s suspension, and without Penn State, Oregon, Illinois, or Indiana on its schedule, could be heading back to the CFP. Split meetings with USC and Ohio State, and you’re probably there. 

Third course

3. Who is this year’s Indiana? It’s still Indiana (No. 19 Indiana 63 No. 9 Illinois 10)

It doesn’t feel like it because they lost their quarterback, and upstart teams often don’t have extended success, but the Indiana Hoosiers returned a ton from last year’s College Football Playoff team. They brought back four starters on each side of the ball, including All-Big Ten performers Elijah Sarratt, Mikail Kamara, Aiden Fisher, and D’Angelo Ponds. As for the quarterback they brought in to replace Curtis Rourke, he looked pretty good on Saturday night in Bloomington. 

Last season, Fernando Mendoza was the quintessential draftnik darling, showing flashes of brilliance with his mobility and arm talent, but ultimately being limited by his sloppiness, bouts of inaccuracy, and a staggering 25.6 percent pressure-to-sack ratio. Curt Cignetti’s staff, with Mike Shanahan and first-year quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer, has proven to be the best, not just putting quarterbacks into positions to succeed, but developing their skillset. Mendoza’s Week 4 performance is a perfect example of both. 

Mendoza is a rhythm thrower, so Shanahan got him comfortable with screens and short throws early, getting his playmakers, Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr., involved. The difference from his days at Cal is that he’s not just burying fallaway threes, he’s hitting all his layups, and not just completions, but with crisp ball placement to maximize yards after the catch. Mendoza toggled between an RPO-dart thrower, carving over Illinois over the middle of the field, and a big-time playmaker, burning the Illini defense when it brought pressure with quick pocket movements and off-platform throws downfield. 

As IU stormed to a 35-10 lead in the first half, Mendoza went 15-for-17 for 220 yards and four touchdowns, including this beauty that he feathered overtop of the safety. 

This isn’t the 11-win playoff team from last season. With Mendoza, it might be better. That team went 0-2 against ranked opponents, and while I don’t see the Hoosiers taking down Oregon or Penn State, this is already a more impressive win than anything they notched a year ago. 

Check Please!: When it’s clear there won’t be a seat for you at the CFP table, it’s time to pay your check and go

4. Venables Vindication (No. 11 Oklahoma 24 No. 22 Auburn 17)

After posting a 6-7 record for the second time in three years as the head coach of Oklahoma, Brent Venables had to give back a million dollars of his salary to cool the temperature on the hot seat in Norman, and presumably to overhaul his roster and his staff. He that with OC Ben Arbuckle and his QB from Washington State, John Mateer, but only after waving goodbye to former five-star Jackson Arnold. 

There were plenty of issues with Oklahoma’s offense last season. The Sooners lost their top five targets in the passing game to injury, struggled to protect, and fired Seth Littrell, who stayed behind to call plays after Jeff Lebby went to Mississippi State midseason. But Arnold was far from blameless, and on Saturday, with his former QB back in Norman, Venables got a measure of vindication. 

Oklahoma set a program record with 10 sacks, putting the icing on the cake with a safety to end Auburn’s final offensive possession of the game. Venables' defense is as nasty as ever, manufacturing pressure with constant stunts and twists beyond what his vaunted front can create on its own, but everyone knew that. The real vindication wasn’t how Oklahoma’s defense fared; it was how badly Arnold struggled to overcome it. 

Jackson Arnold just doesn’t see it. If any group of pass catchers rivals Ohio State's conglomeration, it’s Auburn’s, and the Sooners could not cover sophomore stud Cam Coleman. The 6-foot-3 former five-star caught three passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, and forced a huge pass interference in the fourth quarter to set up the go-ahead score. Yet, Arnold wouldn’t get the ball out of his hands, and it’s another year for Hugh Freeze, where he got almost everything right, except for the most important position on the field. 

The college football open market, with NIL and revenue-sharing money, isn’t too dissimilar from the NFL, where, behind quarterbacks, pass catchers and pass rushers are the two most important and expensive positions. And Freeze has them in spades. 

Aside from Coleman, Malcolm Simmons and Eric Singleton Jr. are two of the country’s most dynamic playmakers on the outside, and Keldric Faulk and the Auburn defensive line gave Oklahoma’s offensive line fits, but none of it mattered because the quarterback, and his shaky O-line, couldn’t cash in. It already cost Auburn its CFP hopes, but after two years of Payton Thorne, it could cost Hugh Freeze his job. 

5. Illinois exposed (No. 19 Indiana 63 No. 9 Illinois 10)

Bret Bielema ended the 2024 season with a 21-17 Cheez-It Bowl win over South Carolina, and with quarterbacks returning, both of those programs found their way into the top 10 early this season based on those pre-conceived notions and how heavily we weigh quarterback familiarity in offseason evaluations. Both, as I expected, have been promptly exposed. 

South Carolina, because of the huge losses it suffered defensively, and Illinois, because of the offensive line it brought back. The Fighting Illini returned all five starters on the up front, and with almost every Bret Bielema team in history, that’d be great news; with this one, it’s a huge issue. 

Illinois struggles to create lanes for its running backs. Entering the week, well over half of the team’s rushing yards had come after contact, not a good number for a three-game stretch with wins over Western Illinois and Western Michigan. In the first half, when the game was decided, the Illini posted a 22 percent rushing success rate, a handoff to a running back was worth -0.44 EPA/rush, and it was worse through the air. Altmyer was sacked five times and just never had a chance against Indiana’s defensive front. 

The trench play on the other side of the ball wasn’t much better either. Luke Altmyer is a good quarterback, but Illinois never belonged in the top 10, so we all owe Curt Cignetti a thank-you note for exposing that. From Josh Dubow on Bluesky: “No. 19 Indiana’s 63-10 win over No. 9 Illinois is the most lopsided win ever by a team outside the top 10 against a team inside the top 10. The previous high was No. 22 Kansas State’s 48-0 win over No. 9 Oklahoma State 10/29/20222.”

Head of the table: The best individual performance earns the seat at the head of the table

6. TCU WR, Eric McAlister (TCU 35 SMU 24)

TCU quarterback Josh Hoover is supremely accurate, and with a big arm and a quick release, there isn’t a throw he doesn’t think he can make. That fearless mindset can make a TCU game a bit anxiety-inducing, unless you see that Hoover’s daring downfield decisions are intended for No. 1, then it’s pretty obvious how it’ll turn out. 

Eric McAlister, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound ball winner, did more than just come down with contested catches in what could be the final “Battle for the Iron Skillet” between SMU and TCU on Saturday. McAlister hauled in eight passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns while showing off his run-after-the-catch ability. He was easily the best player on the field, and should’ve had a fourth score if not for a blown call that the official refused to review. 

TCU is now 3-0 with two non-conference wins against Power 4 opponents, though, can we really consider Bill Belichick’s UNC team a Power conference foe? Anywho, Hoover has proven he can go toe-to-toe with just about anyone, so in the wide-open Big 12, why can’t TCU make some noise?

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7. Malik Washington is worth watching

No, I’m not saying Maryland is going to make the College Football Playoff. I am saying that at 4-0 after effectively putting the nail in Luke Fickell’s coffin on Saturday, and with one of the most electric young quarterbacks in the country, Mike Locksley’s Terps are worth keeping an eye on. 

6-foot-5 true freshman four-star Malik Washington has been dealing. He loves to push the ball downfield and has the arm to cash those checks. With 265 yards and two more scores on Saturday, he’s completing 62 percent of his throws and averaging 7.7 yards per attempt with just one interception. 

The problem, though, is that Maryland just can’t run the ball. Even in a convincing win over the Badgers, they averaged 2.7 yards per carry and rank 129th in EPA/carry for the season. Without a reliable ground game, Locksley and his staff will have to put everything on the shoulders of their true freshman, so we’ll see what he’s made of pretty quickly.

8. It’s Beau-time in Co-Mo (No. 23 Missouri 29 South Carolina 20)

Beau Pribula made waves when he transferred away from Penn State before the Nittany Lions’ CFP opener. He did it to land a starting job, but even that wasn’t a certainty at Missouri until Sam Horn suffered an injury in Week 1. Now, Pribula is leading a dynamic rushing attack for Eli Drinkwitz. He’s an accurate RPO-dart thrower to a reloaded and freakish athletic wide receiver room, the perfect complement to a strong defensive line, and could find his way to the CFP after all. 

Missouri probably fancied itself as a CFP contender from the jump, but I wrote off last year’s 10-3 record as the product of a soft SEC schedule. The reality, after a 4-0 start and a win over South Carolina, is that the conference slate isn’t any tougher, with no Georgia and no Texas. 

Pribula has to get better under pressure and more comfortable operating as a straight dropback passer for Missouri to reach its ultimate ceiling. Still, he’s the type of player who has given Alabama fits since Kalen DeBoer and Kane Wommack arrived, and one high-profile upset could be all it takes. 

Appetizers: A little something to chew on from the week that was in college football

9. Chicken Pelau (No. 13 Ole Miss 45 Tulane 10)

Chicken Pelau is an authentic Trinidadian favorite. A classic one-pot dish with meat browned in burnt sugar, served with rice, fresh herbs, peas, beans, and veggies. I’ve never tried it, but I imagine they’ll be serving it in Oxford, Mississippi, if Trinidad Chambliss, who, to be clear, hails from Grand Rapids, Michigan, continues to dominate for Lane Kiffin’s Rebels. 

The senior transfer from Division II Ferris State is a seamless fit in Kiffin’s offense. After releasing Week 1 starter Austin Simmons against Kentucky in Week 2 and starting in Weeks 3 and 4, Chambliss looks like the guy going forward for Mississippi. Saturday, he threw for 307 yards and two scores on 17-for-27 passing with 112 yards on the ground. 

Preseason, I predicted that Simmons would lead the SEC in passing after Jaxson Dart did it last year, and that was based simply on my belief in Kiffin as a play-caller. I was right about Kiffin, wrong about which quarterback he would elevate. But weren’t we all? 

10. Reuben sliders (No. 4 Miami 26 Florida 7)

If I had to submit my Bronko Nagurski Trophy vote today, it would go to Rueben Bain Jr., and I’m not sure I’d have to give it much thought. He finished Week 4 with one tackle for loss and a half sack, but it felt like he was winning off the edge on every down and forcing DJ Lagway to bail from the pocket. 

Lagway finished the game with 61 passing yards on 12-for-23, and at one point in the second half, ESPN flashed the graphic that Lagway’s average air yards per completion was 1.1. For a quarterback like Lagway, oozing with arm talent, that doesn’t happen without a combination of things coalescing. One, a terrible play-caller (check), two, a limited wide receiver group (check), and three, an utterly dominant pass-rusher on the other side (check). 

Florida’s offense hardly had a pulse when it arrived at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday night, and Bain made the entire unit flatline. 

Dessert: Whether it’s a rich play design or a decadent athletic display, here’s a sweet football treat

11. A Fighting Irish Coffee (No. 24 Notre Dame 56 Purdue 30)

How fitting is it that Notre Dame became the first team in 37 years to remain ranked with an 0-2 record? It’s just so perfectly Notre Dame. As is pounding Purdue into submission to make the voters who stubbornly kept the Irish inside the top 25 feel justified for doing so. 

Notre Dame was always going to play its way back into the top 25, but that’s not a reasonable justification to put the Fighting Irish there after losing its first two games of the season. Yes, they were close games, yes, they were good opponents, no, they should not have been ranked, but alas. 

Now, was that AP Poll discussion, something I care very little about, just an excuse to clumsily shoehorn this Purdue trick play into the column? Yes, yes, it was. But how sick is this? And why not save it for a game you have a shot to win? 

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12. Home cooking in Memphis (Memphis 32 Arkansas 31)

Memphis may not be eating off the kid’s menu for much longer, but before their push for the Pac-12 or ACC is successful, the Tigers probably need to prove that they can spend FedEx’s money right. Could this be the year that Ryan Silverfield finally does that and wins the American? 

Well, after a Sutton Smith 64-yard touchdown run and a late forced fumble, Ryan Silverfield’s team has the Power Conference win every Group of Six CFP contender needs on its resume to sway the committee. 

Between Smith and quarterback Brendon Lewis, Memphis generated a staggering 0.49 EPA/rush. Silverfield’s offense has a top-five rushing efficiency in the country and a 99th percentile explosive play rate. With a running game like that, and Tulane’s loss to Ole Miss in Week 4, it’s a three-horse race in the American with Memphis, USF, and the Green Wave all vying for the title. The Tigers get both at home this season.