College football Saturday, Week 4: Schedule, updates, fun stuff and more

You can see the different stages of program-building all across the college football landscape. In Year 4 of Brady Hoke rebranding Wolverine football around classical ideals, Michigan has only managed to infuriate its fanbase and reach historic lows as a program. In Year 4 with Will Muschamp, Florida has fizzled in the face of a brutal schedule and mediocre quarterback play while players who transferred from the program are excelling elsewhere.

Mullen grew up as a QB coach and eventually coordinator with Urban Meyer at Bowling Green, Utah, and Florida before taking over at Mississippi State in 2009. Since that time, MSU’s been a middling team in the SEC West, struggling to get a footing with an annual schedule that includes the likes of Alabama and LSU.

“Groupthink” is a term that gets thrown around very casually these days, usually by the minority side of an argument as a sort of ad hominem cluster bomb. That being said, the following transpired over at The Key Play during Virginia Tech’s home loss to Georgia Tech:

Stop it. Stop it right now or we’re gonna turn the hose on you.

***

Update: Smith’s apologized, despite Driskel finishing with nine completions for 93 yards in the 42-21 loss.

College football is underway, so each week we’ll begin looking ahead to the 2015 NFL Draft to find out who’s helping and hurting their NFL status.

From a pass rushing perspective, you have to be impressed by Beasley. He has one of the best first steps in college football, gets low around the edge, has violent hand work and can close on the ball carrier in a hurry. Statistically, Beasley had a good game with two sacks. But otherwise, it was easy to be left wanting more. Beasley, as he often is, was lined up at right end. He’s successful when he can line up wide and hope the left tackle gets out of his stance slowly. That’s what happened on one of his sacks against FSU. Here’s the full cut-up from Draft Breakdown:

A wild fourth week in college football saw more than a few upsets, but mostly saw a number of top teams survive tests. Oklahoma, Oregon, and Florida State each won conference games by a closer margin than they may have hoped, while LSU was the most notable casualty, falling to Mississippi State.

The polls are both here, as well as Sagarin’s and Football Outsiders’ rankings. The Bulldogs are the big risers, making their first appearance in the polls, while East Carolina enters as well. Explanations of the different rankings and what they mean follow below.

“He is the best athlete I have ever played against ... college or high school.”

Hill had just wrapped up a day in which he went 13-23 passing with 187 yards, two touchdowns, and zero picks while adding another 72 yards and a score on the ground in 17 carries. Hill was either running or throwing the football for 40 of BYU’s 60 offensive plays, and the team averaged 6.5 yards on those plays.

Just call him “Optimus” Perine.

In a close game against the Mountaineers, the Sooners came out passing the ball early, but once Perine went right up the gut of the West Virginia defense to score on a two-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, the game essentially belonged to him.

It’s really difficult for a running back to put together a Heisman case these days. Quarterbacks have won the award 12 of the last 14 years, and the two running backs who won in that span (including Reggie Bush, whose award has since been stripped) were on teams that went a combined 23-0 in the regular season. Nebraska’s not a national title threat, so Abdullah probably isn’t a serious Heisman contender (you know, because you can’t be the best player in America if your teammates aren’t that great), but that’s a shame.

He’s perhaps been the single most valuable player in the country ... at least outside of Tallahassee.

Junior kicker Ian Frye had a scary moment during Virginia’s 41-33 loss to BYU, receiving word that his father suffered a heart attack shortly before halftime. What followed was two teams rallying around a player, even though they were opponents earlier that day.

Thankfully Frye’s father was okay, and sent him a message from the hospital that let him know he was still thinking of his son’s football.

Nebraska’s biggest home game of the year was likely this past Saturday, when the Cornhuskers beat Miami 41-31 in their final non-conference outing of the season. The student section delivered with this incredible display, bringing some good old soccer tradition to Memorial Stadium.

Update, 9/27: The banner returned for the Huskers’ next game, against Illinois.

At one point or another on Saturday evening, you had reason to wonder if Oklahoma, Oregon, and/or Florida State were about to lose, damaging their title hopes. Oklahoma trailed West Virginia by seven late in the first half in Morgantown, Oregon was tied with Washington State deep into the fourth quarter in Pullman, and not only was Florida State tied with Clemson in Tallahassee late in the fourth quarter, Clemson had the ball in the FSU red zone to boot.

It had already been a strange Saturday in college football by this point, one that makes you question what you do and do not know moving forward.

Week 4 has come and gone, and college football now shifts to the conference play portion of its schedule. With the lion’s share of non-conference games in the books, it’s time to take a look at the most serious* contenders and pretenders for the 2014 College Football Playoff. Or, wait, do we call it 2015? Because technically ... you know what I mean?

* [citation needed]

Bill “OPERATION GET TOTALLY RAD” is approved. Next item of business.

(h/t NOLA.com)

An instantaneous survey of five teams in the best position for the College Football Playoff’s four spots at this very moment, plus the biggest threats looming for each. Be advised: these have nothing to do with the Top 25 polls. If you get mad about this, you will be pointed to the previous sentence.

Everyone is bad and no one can play football. Just look at Oregon, going to play 1-2 Wazzu in Pullman in what should have been a walk-through against a hapless defense. Oregon had no clue how to defend Wazzu, let the Cougars do some damage against the Ducks’ still wobbly offensive line, and took a 38-31 loss in coming away with the win. No, that last sentence is right. Shut up.

Last week’s picks, for comparison.

A little bit of a rearranging here after Week 4’s results. Oregon slips to No. 4, with injury issues having the Ducks looking likelier to drop a game along the way. Healthy Ducks might be the best group in the country, but let’s see if they can heal before returning them higher than No. 4. The others are solid; I don’t know who in the ACC can possibly beat FSU, if Clemson couldn’t with Jameis Winston out, and both Bama and OU are starting to look frightening.

The California Golden Bears appeared on their way to a win in Arizona. Then, the Wildcats capped off a 36-point fourth quarter with a game-winning hail mary as time expired. Apparently CalBearsShop.com, the “official athletic store of the University of California” expected an incomplete pass.

Too bad too, Cal fans will now miss out on some really good deals on hats.

It didn’t matter. The Ducks, and their championship aspirations remain intact, thanks to one final Mariota touchdown pass. The Heisman candidate (frontrunner?) was nearly flawless on the evening, tossing five scores and rescuing a largely anemic rushing attack by accounting 387 yards of offense.

1. Hanging close means only a little with Oregon. We learned it against Michigan State, and we learned it again Saturday against the Cougars. Tying the Ducks -- or even leading them -- at the half means very little, because it is in the third quarter that the fatigue really begins to set in. The Cougars managed to keep it close the entire way, which is a rarity against Oregon, but even then, it wasn’t enough to pull the win.

Never, ever, ever go to sleep, college football fans. If you did, you missed a game-winning Hail Mary in a thrilling Pac-12 shootout, with Arizona scoring 36 points in the fourth quarter in a preposterous comeback.

After going 1-11 last year, Cal looked primed to remain undefeated and earn their first Pac-12 win with Sonny Dykes as head coach after taking a 31-13 lead into the fourth quarter. Then all hell broke loose, as Arizona scored five touchdowns in the final period, three in the final 3:30, and four off of Anu Solomon touchdowns.

GIF credit: ABC

Silence, odious curs! Our dear varsity Wolverines are footballing, and our footballers need silence for optimal footballing. Such intolerable noise! At what point did we begin allowing the filthy, be-sooted masses to purchase tickets to our leisures! A true Michigan Man always keeps himself abreast of the situation, and the team demands silence in this time of great need!

GIF credit: ESPN

Truly one of the most accommodating turnovers of this young college football season. Will the Panthers and Hawkeyes continue their commitment to gentlemanly play? You’ll need to watch to find out!

LSU and Mississippi State begin their respective SEC seasons when the Bulldogs visit Tiger Stadium Saturday night.

Both teams have had a mix of close calls and easy wins. LSU had to rally from a 24-7 deficit midway through the third quarter to get past Wisconsin in the season opener, but the Tigers rolled over Same Houston State and Louisiana-Monroe in their last two games to the tune of 87-0. With significant contributions from a number of talented freshmen, some inconsistency is to be expected.

Is this the biggest rivalry in the ACC? Florida State fans seem to think so, and it’s given us some exciting matchups in recent history. Last year ... not so much, as the Seminoles trounced the third-ranked Tigers 51-14 in Death Valley. The big story this yeah, though, is of course FSU starting quarterback Jameis Winston’s suspension.

Will this year be different, perhaps in part because of Winston? Clemson struggled in its opener, giving up 24 unanswered points in the second half in a 45-21 loss to Georgia. The Tigers rebounded the next week, beating FCS South Carolina State 73-7. That rout answered some questions on offense, but facing the Seminoles is an entirely different matter.

Two of the Big 12’s most impressive teams in the early season will square off Saturday when West Virginia hosts No. 4 Oklahoma in Morgantown.

The Sooners have been one of the favorites for the playoff ever since their Sugar Bowl dismantling of Alabama. They’ve done nothing to make people think otherwise so far this season, recording blowout victories over Louisiana Tech, Tulsa and Tennessee. Quarterback Trevor Knight has emerged as a strong Heisman candidate, and the Sooners boast one of the top defenses in the country.