Why not name this weekly article after the worst rule change in all of sports? A under bettors’ best friend and a college football fans worst nightmare this past off-season, the NCAA approved a rule change to keep the clock running on first downs and out of bounds plays besides the last 2 minutes of the 1st and 2nd halves.
This has resulted in less plays, which leaves us fans with less entertainment! Being that there is nothing us average Joe’s can do, the show must go on and has it ever! Week 4 of the season served us with the best slate of the year, and where else to start than with the surprise team everyone wants to talk about.
Coach Prime and Colorado
Colorado arrived in Eugene, Oregon as a huge underdog off a less than impressive win at home verse rival Colorado State. The hype train has built early in the season as Deion Sanders arrived in Boulder to take over a 1-win Buffaloes team. The hype grew after a “surprising” upset 21-point underdog win in Fort Worth vs National Champion runner up TCU.
That’s where this whole “surprise” team is a little mis-leading. Due to poor college football coverage and odds makers not doing their homework, they actually thought a TCU team that had 1 returning starter was 21 points better than Deion Sanders and his son Shadeur Sanders.
A father son duo that has been together on the same team, running the same offense schematics for years. Additionally, Colorado brought in players through the transfer portal and by scholarship, that Deion has seen play for over a decade.
Deion isn’t no scrub coach; he’s coached at the highest level of Texas High School football and then won at the collegiate level. Yes, Colorado has barely anyone on their team from the previous season, but who you seriously taking? A Coach-Quarterback combo (lets add that the quarterback was a 4-star recruit with scholarship offers from the last 3 national champions) or a TCU team who lost 21 of 22 starters off a team waxed in the national championship?
Colorado followed that up with wins at home over Nebraska and Colorado State, once again no surprise there. Which leads us back to Eugene, Oregon where Colorado was once again a three-touchdown underdog. The Ducks are an actual national championship contender led by Heisman hopeful Bo Nix.
Colorado with the talent to beat teams like Nebraska and Colorado State, does not have the big guys to beat a team like the Oregon Ducks. Coach Deion Sanders made that aware last week in Boulder, Colorado on ESPN’s Pat McAFee show when he said they were “85% there” and that they needed help on the offensive and defensive lines.
That was evident throughout the game on Saturday as Oregon moved the ball on Colorado at ease scoring touchdowns on 6 of their first 7 drives. Colorado on the offensive side only had 3 first downs the whole first half and by the end of that half found themselves down 35-0.
The Buffaloes head back home to square up against Caleb William’s USC Trojans this week and baring a massive upset will be eliminated from the College Football playoff race. A very cool story thus far on the season but that story should take a back seat to the playoff race which heated up this week in South Bend, Indiana.
Notre Dame Vs. Ohio State
Number 6 Ohio State entered Notre Dame Stadium verse the number 9 Fighting Irish where ESPN’s College Gameday resided. A game with great defensive play, which saw Heisman contender Marvin Harrison Jr completely shut down, ended with very poor defensive schematics.
Ohio State trailing by 4 with 3 seconds remaining and facing a 3rd and goal at the 1-yard line handed the ball off to running back Chip Trayanum who crossed the endzone for the victory. Unfortunately for Notre Dame they only had 10 players on the field and left the right side of their defense completely exposed. A horrible way to lose the game that squarely falls on coach Marcus Freeman.
It doesn’t get much easier for the Fighting Irish this week as they head to Durham, North Carolina where ESPN’s College Gameday will reside for week 5 football to take on the number 17 nationally ranked Duke Blue Devils. A loss to Duke should open more questions pertaining Marcus Freeman and his ability to coach the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Florida State Vs. Clemson
It had been almost 8 years since Florida State beat Clemson and coming up on a decade without a conference championship. To think about Florida State, the ACC and that long of a drought 10 years ago would be ludicrous, but that’s how far the mighty have fallen.
Preseason hype and a huge opening season win verse LSU for the second straight year had the Seminoles and their fans believing this is the season to end both those droughts. That belief looked very bleak as the 3rd quarter was winding down and the Seminoles found themselves trailing by 7 at Death Valley with Clemson about to score again. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik dropped back and did not see FSU linebacker Kalen DeLoach who leveled the quarterback with a devastating hit that spurred the ball lose.
DeLoach scooped the ball up and with his convoy of Florida State defenders headed into the endzone completely changing the momentum of the game. Florida State scored a touchdown in overtime to take the lead and Clemson folded with a disastrous possession clinching the Seminoles 1st win verse Clemson in 7 years and the 2nd big win of the season.
The Seminoles now find themselves at the top of a surprisingly competitive ACC conference with 2 big early season wins for their college football playoff resume.
Marco’s College Football Rankings
- 1. Georgia Bulldogs (4-0)
- Georgia pulled away from UAB in the 3rd quarter for 49-21 victory. Their schedule early on has been embarrassing and they likely won’t face many tough tests the rest of the way, but they are the defending back-to-back champions, so they deserve to be number 1 until beaten.
- Week 5 -At Auburn
- 2. Florida State Seminoles (4-0)
- The most disrespected team in America, the Nole’s have the best resume of any National Championship contender thus far into the season with wins at a neutral site over LSU and a road win at Clemson. Somehow the AP voters keep moving them back and rewarding teams that have not played anyone, make it make sense! I get they haven’t looked dominating the past 2 games, but Heisman hopeful Jordan Travis has been banged up, the offensive line has missed starters the past 3 games, starting safety Akeem Dent has been out, weather played a factor in Boston, and it is tough to win at Death Valley. The Nole’s have a bye this week and come back with 4 of their next 6 games verse undefeated teams.
- Week 5- BYE
- 3. Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0)
- What a win it was for Ohio State at a raucous South Bend. Any questions surrounding Quarterback Kyle McCord were answered with a clutch 4th quarter drive to take the lead with 1 second remaining. Social media sensation and star receiver Marvin Harrison Jr was shut down by Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison who made a name for himself Saturday night. But that’s what was so impressive about Ohio State’s win, they did it virtually without their best player. The defense was also very impressive shutting down Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman and answering the critics who called their team “not tough.” They should have a breather the next 3 weeks before they host Penn State in Columbus in late October.
- Week 5- BYE
- 4. Texas Longhorns (4-0)
- The Longhorns have followed their impressive win at Alabama with back to back 21 point plus victories verse Wyoming and Baylor. Their struggle verse Wyoming was indeed worrying but they pulled away in the 4th quarter and took care of business verse Baylor. They play a tough Kansas team this week in Austin with the opportunity to show the country how serious they are about making the College Football Playoffs.
- Week 5- Kansas
Clawing At The Door
- Utah Utes (4-0)
- Utah took care of business once again without Quarterback Cam Rising and now own wins verse the Florida Gators and UCLA. 4 of their next 6 games will tell us if they are serious national championship contenders as they face Oregon State, USC, Oregon and Washington.
- Week 5- at Oregon State
- Washington Huskies (4-0)
- The Huskies and Heisman contender Michael Penix Jr. steamed past California to get to 4 and 0 with all victories by 4 plus touchdowns. They might be the best team in the country, but we will have to wait and see if that bolds true. Oregon on October 14th will be the first test they face before entering November with a daunting schedule.
- Week 5- at Arizona
- Oregon Ducks (4-0)
- The Ducks dismantled Deion Sander’s Buffaloes putting a pause on their Cinderella story while in the meantime putting the country on notice that they are National Championship contenders. A daunting schedule await them after a game at Stanford this weekend and a Bye the following week.
- Week 5- at Stanford
- USC Trojans (4-0)
- Caleb Williams that is all. The Trojans are 4 and 0 after another 5-touchdown game by the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. As long as he is on the Trojans they are contenders, and unless they lose multiple games he’s going to walk away with his 2nd Heisman Trophy. This week, he gets to light up a porous Colorado defense.
- Week 5- at Colorado
Peaking Off In The Distance
- Penn State (4-0)
- Michigan (4-0)
- LSU (3-1)
- Washington State (4-0)
