Last Week
Whether it was Louisville and UCF in a Friday night thriller, the Florida Gators almost pulling off a miraculous comeback vs Bama in The Swamp, Penn State holding off Auburn with support from the rabid whiteout crowd, Jake Heaner leading Fresno State in a stunning upset of UCLA, there was no shortage of action in Week 3 and Week 4 looks to be even better.
Top 25 Matchups
After the 2020 edition of this matchup was cancelled when COVID destroyed the College Football schedule last year, the intrigue has only mounted surrounding this game between #12 Notre Dame and #18 Wisconsin, especially after the rocky start both programs have gotten off to in 2021. Wisconsin made the decision to stick with the young and highly rated Graham Mertz over the veteran Jack Coan who decided to take his talents to…South Bend. That in of itself made this game a lot more interesting outside of the general consensus that this would be a showdown of two ranked teams. This storyline has only gotten spicier as Coan has played extremely well through three games at ND while Mertz has struggled. Outside of Coan the Irish have had an interesting time on offense with impressive receiving performances from Avery Davis, Kevin Austin Jr, and All-World Tight End Michael Mayer, as well as the always reliable out of the backfield pass catchers of Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree. But the usual bread and butter of the Irish Offense, the OL and Run Game, has largely been a disaster. The OL has been ravaged by injuries at Tackle (last week ND started their third player in three games at LT). The normal ability to reload upfront has not been present as Notre Dame ranks 122nd in the country in Sacks Allowed per game with 4.7, 101st in Rushing Yards per Carry with 2.9, and 102nd in Rushing Yards per Game with 105.7 which are all ghastly in general but especially so with the standard the Fighting Irish have set for themselves as of late. The always good Wisconsin Defense will be chomping at the bit to get their shot at the Irish Offense and their former QB but are not without their issues. Wisconsin’s DBs struggled heavily vs Penn State. Wisconsin’s Offense was stifled by Penn State in Week 1 but gained some momentum against EMU the following week before having a early BYE week (it is something of a trend for teams to have BYE weeks before Notre Dame it seems with half of their schedule having it). The Notre Dame Defense while performing well vs Purdue has had extreme volatility issues. They can play fantastic football for a few drives and then give up a 65 yard TD run like it is the days of Brian Van Gorder. This should be a fantastic showdown with College Gameday in town and the Big Noon Kickoff on FOX start time and it will ultimately come down to if Notre Dame’s OL can give Coan enough time to take advantage of the problems in Wisconsin’s secondary and if Notre Dame’s Defense can prevent huge plays.
I was a big fan of the Sam Pittman hire after the disastrous Chad Morris era in Arkansas but I never could have imagined just how well it would turn out so fast. After demolishing Texas in Week 2 the Razorbacks will try and upend another rival from the Lone Star State as #16 Arkansas takes on #7 Texas A&M in Jerry World at 3:30 on CBS. QB KJ Jefferson leads the Arkansas Offense and is an electric player to watch whether he is throwing or running. Catching passes from Jefferson is a very talented WR room headlined by Treylon Burks and Tyson Morris who have shone brightly this year. The real meat of this Offense is the outstanding run game led by Trelon Smith which currently has five players with over 100 yards rushing (including KJ Jefferson who is second on the team with 184 Rushing Yards). With a rotation that deep in the backfield and a punishing Offensive Line it will be a very tall task for the Texas A&M Defense to try and corral these Hogs but not an impossible one. The Aggies have looked quite stout on the defensive side of things and it is the cornerstone of their squad that looks to compete for a CFP spot and the SEC Crown. Offensively A&M has had some unprecedented issues with original starting QB Haynes King being lost for the season early into their second game of the year vs Colorado in Denver. All hope was not lost however as Zach Calzada entered the game and engineered a late game winning TD drive to avoid an early start to the Aggie roller coaster this year. Supporting Calzada is one of the best Tight Ends in all of College Football in Jalen Wydermyer and a deep and talented WR room that can take the top off of a defense at any moment. Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane are an elite RB duo and are the strength of this A&M offense and will try and hammer the ball against the Arkansas Defense that has a nasty front seven who made life quite unpleasant for Texas and hope to replicate that performance against the Aggies. This rivalry has been one of my favorites in the sport as of late and now that Arkansas returns to national limelight it only enhances this typically great contest. If the Razorbacks want to beat Texas A&M for the first time since 2011 they will need Jefferson to have a great day passing to open things up for their ground game vs the A&M defense while on the other side hoping the Defense (led by my favorite name in CFB right now Bumper Pool) can contain the Aggie Offense especially on the ground.
More Interesting Matchups
Every week there are a few games that aren’t Top 25 vs Top 25 that are still great! Here’s a few to keep an eye out for this week (all times Eastern):
Marshall @ App State 7:30PM ESPN (Thursday): Two great G5 programs start our week in Boone with what should be a great C-USA vs Sun Belt matchup. Marshall’s electric offense vs App State’s stout Defense will be a great way to set the tone for this week of football. Can Marshall put last week’s loss behind them and win in Boone or will App State add another win to their impressive resumé?
#9 Clemson @ NCSU 3:30PM ESPN: NCSU has the Defense to expose the glaring issues the Tigers have and Carter-Finley Stadium will be rocking as the Wolfpack look to hand Clemson their second loss of the year and win The Textile Bowl for the first time since 2011 which is easier said than done when you have to face Clemson’s Defense. Can NCSU turn the ACC on its head or will Clemson right the ship in Raleigh?
#24 UCLA @ Stanford 6PM Pac-12N: The Bruins are fresh off a last second home loss to Fresno State and look to rebound vs a Stanford team that has been playing much better since being shut down by Kansas State in Arlington Week 1. Can the Bruins get back on track or will Stanford continue their march through the Pac-12?
Nebraska @ #20 Michigan State 7PM FS1: The newly ranked Spartans fresh off their big win in South Beach return to East Lansing to face off against a Nebraska team who played very well in Norman vs Oklahoma last weekend. Can Adrian Martinez and the Cornhuskers make plays vs the strong Spartan Defense and attempt to spring the upset?
#25 Kansas State @ Oklahoma State 7PM ESPN+/Big 12N: The Wildcats were also welcomed to the Top 25 this week after impressively pulling away from Nevada last week. They’ll travel to Stillwater to face the Cowboys who are fresh off of a win on the blue turf in Boise. Will K-State continue their winning ways or can Mike Gundy and the Cowboys prove they haven’t missed a beat since losing Chuba Hubbard?
West Virginia @ #4 Oklahoma 7:30PM ABC: The Sooners have not been nearly as dominant as people thought they would this season and welcome a Mountaineer squad to town who were very impressive last week with the win over Virginia Tech. Is this where Oklahoma begins firing on all cylinders or can WVU kick the chaos into a extra gear this year with an upset victory in Norman?
Upset Alert?
There aren’t many games this week that could constitute an Upset Alert section but there are two FCS vs FBS games that could potentially be intriguing
Villanova @ #6 Penn State 12PM BTN: Allow me to preface this by saying I think Penn State is a great football team and could very conceivably win the Big Ten this season. But after the emotional high of a closely contested whiteout game vs Auburn there is the opportunity for a bit of a sleep walk the following week which the Nittany Lions could ill afford to do vs a very quality team in Villanova. I am not saying Villanova has the slightest chance of winning but what I am saying is don’t be surprised if this game is within 7 or 10 points at halftime.
Richmond @ Virginia Tech 12PM ACCN: Similarly to Penn State, Virginia Tech is coming off of a very emotional game vs rival WVU but with the added weight of a loss. With a noon kickoff against a solid FCS team (who funnily enough played Villanova last weekend) the Hokies could be caught sleeping by the Spiders.
There are a lot of great games on the docket for this weekend and I cannot wait to watch!