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Dominick dives into the best games from Week 4 of the college football season. What were the six best games from the fourth week of the 2023 CFB season?
Oregon plays to win. I write to get clicks. So here is the Week 4 review for your reading pleasure.
After all the trash-talking of recent weeks, Week 4 took it to a whole new level. Ryan Day called out Lou Holtz, yes, that Lou Holtz. Meanwhile, another 80-something-year-old was getting under the skin of Washington State coach Jake Dickert, who lashed out at Lee Corso for something he did not even say. I mean, if you are going to get mad at someone, do it for the right reasons, please.
Either way, it was a fun weekend of games for everyone except Colorado fans. And here we are again to review the Top Games of Week 4 College Football.
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No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions: 31, No. 22 Iowa Hawkeyes: 0
This game will not have much analysis. Instead, like the Oregon over Colorado game, it will instead just have some stats to consider.
Penn State ran 97 offensive plays. Iowa had 76 total yards. Iowa also had just four first downs and held the ball for just 14 minutes and 32 seconds. Despite the hardships on offense, Iowa never went for a fourth down. Instead, it punted every time it had the ball. Except for the four drives that ended in Iowa turnovers.
The Penn State offense is still finding its way. But the defense is truly elite and will give Penn State a real chance in two weeks against Ohio State in Columbus and Michigan in State College in November. This might be James Franklin’s most talented team and if it wants to make the playoffs, this could be the best chance it has.
No. 11 Utah Utes: 14, No. 25 UCLA Bruins: 7
In an ugly, defensive game, the Utah Utes prevailed at home against an overmatched QB in Dante Moore and UCLA.
The first play of the game for UCLA was a pick-six to the Utah defense. And that was it. Nothing much happened the rest of the game as neither offense could get much going. Moore showed he is still a first-year student in his first true road test.
UTES RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE FOR THE PICK SIX ‼️ TOUCHDOWN @Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/KeS2oq3Z4J
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 23, 2023
Without Cam rising for another game, Utah was also unable to get going and had to rely on its physical defense to save the day. Lucky for coach Whittingham, the defensive unit was up to the test.
With games left against the top teams in the Pac-12, Rising will need to get back and the Utah offense will need to get better. It will not be able to stop the likes of Washington, Oregon or USC. Therefore, the offense must be up to the task in the coming weeks.
No. 18 Washington State Cougars: 38, No. 15 Oregon State Beavers: 35
After getting out to a 35-14 lead, Washington State was able to hold on for the 38-35 victory behind 404 yards and four touchdowns from quarterback Cam Ward.
While the final score was closer than the game, this game was a wonderful preview of what will be the only game and the conference championship game in the PAC-2 in 2025.
After the game, coach Dickert of Washington State took exception with Lee Corso calling this the "nobody is watching bowl." -- something which was incorrect as the lauded Corso called it the "nobody wants us bowl." Either way, this was a great victory for the Cougars who are looking like the fifth-best team in a suddenly powerful PAC-12.
No. 3 Florida State Seminoles: 31, No. 23 Clemson Tigers: 24 (Overtime)
The only time Florida State led in this entire game was when it got the go-ahead touchdown in overtime. This was enough to gain the victory and keep the Seminoles alive in the playoff picture.
For Clemson, this game means another season of relative disappointment and no playoff berth for coach Swinney or the Tigers.
Even the new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley cannot fix what is ailing Clemson --the stubbornness of coach Sweeny to take any players from the transfer portal. This has left the Tigers vulnerable at many positions including the wideout spot. Quarterback Cade Klubnik, although a five-star talent, cannot do it alone.
The offensive line also did not do him any favors in this game, allowing the FSU pass rush to get to him, including on a strip sack touchdown which allowed the Seminoles to gain momentum -- Momentum it took into overtime and eventually to gain the needed victory. This was the first victory for Florida State over Clemson in seven seasons.
Keon Coleman wins it in OT for Florida State! pic.twitter.com/8ZJPPUrkmS
— Daily MSU (@daily_msu) September 23, 2023
This loss, the second of the season and the second of the ACC season, for Clemson, will knock the Tigers out of contention for the conference. Hopefully for Tigers fans, it will also provide a wake-up call for Swinney to change his ways and have a good relationship with the times. If not, this will be the first of many disappointments from now until Swinney either leaves or gets fired.
No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes: 17, No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 14
What a game. Unfortunately, a game that had to come down to a dumb decision by a second-year head coach in Marcus Freeman.
After leading the game 14-10 with less than two minutes left, quarterback Kyle McCord cemented his legend in Columbus by leading the Buckeyes on a 65-yard game-winning drive. But this drive was set up and enabled by some bad coaching mistakes on the part of Notre Dame.
Firstly, on the final Irish drive of the game, the coaching staff inexplicably decided to pass the ball instead of running down the clock. An incomplete screen pass from Sam Hartman led to the clock stopping and meant Ohio State did not have to spend its final timeout before a Notre Dame punt.
This timeout became important on the final drive as Ohio State used it to avoid a 10-second runoff at the end of the game after a penalty by the offense. With the remaining time, Ohio State was able to get to the one-yard line and run a play which got them the game-winning touchdown.
OHIO STATE (-160) WINS IT IN THE FINAL SECONDS 🫨
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) September 24, 2023
After the game, it was confirmed that for this play, as well as the play previous, Notre Dame only had ten men on defense. Coach Freeman decided it was not worth an 18-inch penalty to make sure he got the 11th man on the field. This completely stupid decision may have cost Notre Dame a playoff shot and the first win over Ohio State since 1936.
If Ohio State goes on to win the national championship in 2023-24, this game could be the lynchpin in determining where everything changed for the Buckeyes. And if Marcus Freeman is on the hot seat in a season or two, this will also be the game of bad decisions where the downturn started for his tenure.
No. 10 Oregon Ducks: 42, No. 19 Colorado Buffaloes: 6
Coach Prime said it best in his postgame news conference when he said this was a good old-fashioned but whooping. But in case you need a bit more context, here are some stats to ponder.
Colorado had less than 100 yards of total offense. Shedeur Sanders finished with less than 80 yards passing. Oh, and with five minutes left in the third quarter, Oregon had outgained Colorado 439 to 39.
Bo Nix in the first half vs Colorado:
🦆 22/24
🦆 217 Yards
🦆 4 Total TDs
🦆 1 INT pic.twitter.com/GLrESePD7V— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 23, 2023
This game was 35-0 at halftime and it never even seemed that close. Oregon did anything and everything it wanted in the game and the only reason it did not score more is because the Ducks showed mercy and let their foot off the necks of the Buffaloes. Colorado was never a top-25 team. This game proved it, and Colorado will find another difficult loss this week against USC.
