Official College Football Week 4 thread
 

Week Four starts on Thursday night, with Clemson visiting North Carolina State.

Only one Top 25 matchup this week:

Arizona State at Stanford

Overall, not many interesting games on the schedule for this weekend. The bulk of the games involving Top 25 teams look like mismatches on paper.

Missouri is at Indiana this weekend! Go Hoosiers! FOFC is on your side this weekend!

Arkansas comes into NJ to play Rutgers. 3:30 ET on ESPN. Certainly doesn't have the same cache as when it was first announced, but should still be fun.

Both starting QBs are battling injuries. Allen on Arkansas has a shoulder injury I believe, and Nova suffered a slight concussion on a late hit this past weekend (still no idea how the guy wasn't ejected) but practiced in a limited capacity today.

Glad to finally make it to the FOFC Bowl of the non-conference schedule. Should be a very high-paced matchup and a lot of fun to watch.

Utah @ BYU Saturday night at 10:15 pm EST. The Holy War. It's going to be crazy as the rivalry goes on hiatus for 2 years. Basically, if BYU doesn't win this game it will mean that from Soph to Senior will not have beaten Utah in their time there.

I think it's going to be a hard fought game down to the wire, but I feel we will take it this year.

Yep. Should be a lot of scoring. This game will be a good indicator about whether our hopes for a bowl this season are realistic or not.

That likely goes for both teams. Mizzou is obviously the favorite, but there's going to be lots of questions until either team starts answering them.

Yes, I meant lots of scoring for both teams. Mizzou are 3 point favorites. Looks like there's gonna be an upset. :cool:

Iowa hosts Western Michigan.
Ruddock playing better. Run game has been all but unstoppable.
But we still have to deal with the ultra conservative Ferentz. Sometimes Iowa plays not to lose. Or should I say all the time.
Im not real sure what will happen Saturday. Hope its positive.

I'm excited/nervous about tonight's game. It's a chance for the Tigers to show that we deserve to be #3. But it's also a chance to choke.

Tough news this week for Washington fans, as it's been learned that legendary coach Don James is being treated for pancreatic cancer. Best wishes to the Dawgfather, and hopefully he can beat the odds.

When starting QB Brandon Mitchell comes back in a couple of weeks, NC State is going to be a pretty solid team. I'd love to see what he could have done against Clemson tonight. Backup Pete Thomas is not a good fit for this new offense. He's an old style drop back passer, and he's too slow.

Holy shit, the rivalry game between Utah and BYU just went up a notch.

BYU LB Spencer Hadley was suspended for 5 games earlier this week by the school due to honor code violations (He is still at the school but is off the team for 5 games minimum)

People have been digging and trying to find out what the hell he did...well, this popped into light today...

A University of Utah fan caught the player in Vegas on a bye week at a club took a picture and sends it to the Utah compliance office, not BYUs citing he knows of major NCAA violations that is going on and has more proof. They asked for the proof! (This is Utah's, not BYUs) and then forwarded the one picture of Hadley in Vegas at a club to BYUs compliance office...POW, starting ILB suspended just like that.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars...-utah.html.csp

Agreed. Thomas put in a gutty performance tonight, though. Just wish he had the courage to look downfield more. I understand that we were using a replacement at left tackle who had to take on Clemson's best rusher alone all night (why no help?), but he was definitely watching the rush more than his receivers at times.

Still, that whole last touchdown drive was a marvelously quixotic affair that felt like a football version of that scene in Tin Cup where he kept dunking the ball before holing out and getting everyone cheering. 23 plays with four fourth down conversions. Quite a moral victory, I guess.

I think this is a must win for IU if they want to go to a bowl game this year. I thought they needed to split the Navy/Missouri games. Go IU!

UCLA is going to slaughter NMSU I feel

Yes, that drive was odd. It was good for the Pack that they were able to score, but they basically ran out the entire 4th quarter in order to do it.

Yes. Absolutely crucial that we win this one if we want to go bowling.

More on the story is here...

Rivalry takes strange turn as U. receives emails, photo prior to Hadley's suspension | Deseret News

Now why is this big news, well at any university it would be a high five and a normal weekend, at BYU it's against the honor code. Hadley shouldn't have been there, shouldn't have been doing what he was doing and was suspended because of it.

This happened in the summer and the Utah fan held onto it until this week...such a punk...

FWIW, the link says that he sent the email to the Compliance Office with a subject of "BYU LB partying in Vegas with Booster" so the intent may not have been to get the kid in trouble for drinking.

You are right. It was to get the school in trouble for worse. This rivalry is heated, dubbed the holy war for a reason and this week has taken it to whole new levels on both sides of the fence. I am glad there is a 2 year break after this one...

Oh and BYU has verified no Booster was involved, never was involved and that is the confusing part of the story.

Pretty cool article in the NY Times today about Rutgers' RB Paul James, who has gone from being a walk-on to currently leading the country in rushing.

A Rutgers Walk-On Rushes to the Top - NYTimes.com

They should. The only thing that might prevent that is UCLA having a bit of emotional hangover after last week. On paper they should slaughter NMSU, and they might do so. But I wouldn't be shocked if they are a little sloppy and win by 20 instead of 40.

Really stupid play by the defender. The QB is out of bounds, why on earth are you lowering your shoulder into him?

Yeah this is happening tomorrow! Wish I could be there, I know it's going to be crazy. We should pick up the W against Delaware St, but you can never rest on that.

FCS North Dakota State to host ESPN's College GameDay - SBNation.com

Is Boise's QB rocking the Hitler stache?

Nope, just a porn stache.

I was thinking winning by 40 would be a letdown. Winning by 20 would be a diaster tbh

So excited for my first game in Bloomington in 19 years. Go Hoosiers!

Bandwagoner. :lol:

:D

I hope that there is an ending like ASU-Wisconsin in the Missouri-Indiana game so FOFC can have some epic posts from both sides :)

No thanks. :)

In North Dakota, this is the equivalent of Heidi Klum.

Also, this is the shittiest Saturday of the whole year for NCAA football.

Fully expect watching MSU and ND as the marquee game become similar in enjoyment to getting a root canal.

Best TV games today, in time of appearance order.

Utah St. - USC
AzSt - Stan
Mizz - Indy
Utah - BYU

I think UNC @ GT is pretty good quality for today.

Hoping LSU/Auburn is a decent game tonight

But hey...the small percentage of fans/students actually going to the games will have a good time? Helps me exactly 0 at home, of course.

(Neighbors are actually going to the WV/MD game. Not party types, but have kids going to MD, dad went there, mom went to WV. Wondering how wet they'll get.)

Arky-Rutgers could be good, but I agree the slate of games isn't great.

I'm interested to see how Ford Childress does against Maryland. He looked good last week for a freshman despite getting killed by drops. The defense is much improved this year, the running game is much improved this year, but the receivers need to start making some plays.

Interesting how undersold the MSU/ND game is today. I have seen a number of people listing games of interest, going pretty low on the totem pole, and skipping that game.

Iowa PR Kenyon Martin-Manley just took back to back punts to the end zone. One was 83 yards, the other about 55 yards.

This Western Michigan QB (VanTubbergen) might be the worst I've ever seen play.

Logan Thomas is putting on a clinic against Marshall.

In looking at GameTracker, why was it that nearly every time FAMU had the ball, they were penalized 5 yards?

Also, what happened on the play where FAMU had the ball on their 2, was penalized 1 yard and then it showed OSU throwing a 1 yard TD pass?

Is he still atop Mel Kiper's Big Board? ;)

There was a delay of game, maybe a couple of illegal motion penalties.

I think that is probably from the play that Guiton was intercepted throwing into the end zone. The defender should have take a knee but took it out of the end zone. He was tackled and fumbled at the 2 yard line and Ohio State recovered it. There was a pass interference on the next Ohio State play.

Iowa CB BJ Lowery Just had his 2nd pick 6. Crazy day for the Hawks.

Georgia seems to be pulling a Michigan like performance. 21-14 against North Texas.

21-21, North Texas recovers blocked punt in the end zone after sending UGA 3-and-out to start the 2nd half.

Wow. Iowa wins 59-3. Didnt think we would score that many points in 3 games.

Good stuff.

Huskies doing what good teams do against FCS opponents, up 21-0 in the first quarter against Idaho State

Original. :rolleyes:

Melvin Gordon is struggling so far, with an 11 yards per carry average today, his YPC on the season is dropping.

Hah, lungs.

I wanna win by about 50 after last week's "loss".

Florida and Tennessee is some of the worst college football I've seen in my life. Actually, I think it is safe to just call it the worst.

I am not feeling real good about that win over the Gators. Man is this a horrible game.

Go Rutgers!

Man, the Maryland WR are really getting laid out.

If ULM can get some offense rolling, Baylor could realistically hit 100. Insane.

How big of pussies do you have to be to schedule Florida A&M as a major program?

0

I think the thing that rubs people is the lack of OSU's willingness to play a Top 25 team before non-conference play. OSU's "tough" game was going to 1-2 Cal who's lone win is Portland St. OSU comes across as the Auburn of the Big Ten. :lol:

The next score in the ND/MSU game might win it. Neither QB is completing even 50% of their passes, and I know I wouldn't exactly call the Irish secondary good.

Wha? Wasn't Cal was a top 10 team in the country around the time the game would have been schedule? It's not OSUs fault they fell off so far. Going back to 2005 they've played home and home games with Miami, USC, Miami, Washington and Texas. In the next 5 years they have Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Cincinnati and TCU in non conference games (also have Oregon and Texas on the schedule beyond that). They hardly seem unwilling to schedule top 25 teams.

How could Cal be a Top 10 team since they got beat by Northwestern? OSU is also 2-4 in those tougher games. The list of future teams only OU is of real interest. Anything else seems like using the Saban playbook of taking on a team that is know enough to give credibility, but you know OSU is going to win anyway. I mean, UNC in football? That's the thing giving you cred?

I think you're confused. Up until last year, Michigan did not schedule difficult non-conference schedules at all other than playing an overrated Notre Dame every year. They have the same type of schedule this year. Granted, Michigan has had so many problems beating App State, Utah, Toledo, and Akron that their non-conference schedule may have seemed more difficult to you.

In contrast, Ohio State has played home and home games with USC, Miami, and Texas in recent years. Cal's program did tank since the series was scheduled but Vanderbilt also backed out of their contract to open the season in Columbus this year at the last minute.

Compare these future schedules and draw your own conclusion. FYI, App State is FCS:

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-foot...081809aab.html

http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/f...ate_future.htm

I really don't like when top programs play FCS schools but Oregon and Alabama have FCS schools on the schedule this year as well. I'm sure the payouts are smaller for FCS schools than FBS schools and that's the real motivation.

I don't think last weeks game was scheduled after Cal's loss to Northwestern. The game was already on the books before the 2009 season when Cal opened the season ranked 12th in the country. Can't blame Ohio State for failing to see that Cal would be terrible by the time they played. Same with Virginia Tech for next year, it's one that looked like it would be a much better matchup when scheduled than it does now.

I believe it was schedule after the 2001 season in which Cal went 1-10

Wisconsin's running back trio totals for another 300+ yards.

Big comeback win from RU. It never should have been 24-7, but it was great to see the team keep balance and come back.

I hope you didn't watch the MSU/ND game. A combined 30-70 passing with MSU in a 4th and 20 on the drive they need to score a TD to win.

I don't care about Cal or whatever. But if you are a big time program and scheduling terrible FCS schools, your school is cowardly. And besides that, it is dangerous.

Miami 14-0 over Savannah State. They've played 2:57 of the first quarter.

Driskell done for the season at Florida, ankle injury will require surgery (per ESPN).

Tough for a kid to get hurt but I believe they're better with Murphy at QB.

Eastern Illinois up 20-0 on Northern Illinois midway through quarter 1.

Well in fairness to UT and Florida, the second half of that game was better. But that first half... 7 turnovers in one half with the Tennessee QB throwing some passes that would embarrass a HS QB

I did see the one stat line with 4-11 passing for 5 yards and 2 INTs from the backup QB. It kind of reminds me of last year when Denard went out against Nebraska.

Wife out for dinner and a movie

Glass of scotch in hand

Baked stuff shells in the oven

Kids asleep in bed

Gonna enjoy the big Mizzou-Indiana FOFC grudge match!

WVU in a pretty clear state of decline.

37-0 loss to Maryland.

Holgerson is fine to survive to next season, but the seat will get pretty hot if the offense doesn't start to "click" real soon. Our fan base has been incredibly divided for the last 6-years and the current administration has done a pretty poor job of solidifying things.

Since Gardner has started for Michigan, no other QB has thrown for more INTs. When Michigan rushes 5+ on third down, teams are succeeding at a 55% clip. Compare that to 35% last year. Michigan has 34 rushing plays for no gain or negative yards. That's the second most of any BCS-AQ school. These are the kinds of trends I'm looking at in what should be an easy win for Michigan.

That was the guy (Peterman) who started for the Vols today.
Worley, benched for this one, came in to go 10/23, 149, 1 TD/2 INT

Speak of the devil, Gardner's pass tipped and intercepted.

I wondered if that was the starter after I wrote that.

Coastal Carolina up over Hampton 40-0 at the half...yeah I think they might win.

Stanford is still good

Michigan's OL is terrible. Michigan has had around 5 running plays for zero or negative yards so far. Most of them are for negative yards. This still being the first quarter against UConn. Michigan up 7-0 because Gardner can run.

No biggie of course, ain't neither one of them worth a shit at this point.

There's a true freshman that hasn't played which seems to be the QB of the future anyway (they hope), all today did was increase the chances that he'll see the field sooner rather than later (which was already starting to pick up some steam in the rumor mill anyway).

Kinda wishing he didn't run so fast, after that -20 yard scamper. Maybe if he was slower, he woulda got caught at the -10 yard mark, lol.

Shaw has to be an NFL candidate after this season.

Texas might be hiring. :lol:

7-7 Michigan/UConn. #Herewegoagain.

He needs to settle on a QB to develop. The defense is a lot better than last year and the offense is the result of the top 4 receivers being 3 Jucos and true freshman, the top 3 RBs being a transfer, a juco, and a true freshman, a new offensive line coach, and the quarterback situation being a mess.

The bright side is almost the entire team comes back next year. Holgerson needs to have a QB to take advantage of it though because I don't think he wants to head into next year putting everything in the William Crest basket.

The overall talent level is probably higher than it's ever been from top to bottom. Holgerson needs to find some success next season though or else the "bring back RichRod" crowd will be out in full force.

Virtual fist bump.

Michigan might be entering meltdown mode. A muffed punt return leads to a TD and a INT by Gardner in there as well. 14-7 UConn.

Some really bad football being played by the Maize and Blue. No one is blocking, Gardner can't throw, defense hasn't even taken the field the last 2 drives. Making the "stupid" mistakes (like letting a punted live ball roll around on your foot)

They look horrible out there right now.

Can't argue with anything you are saying, other than perhaps us being as talented as high as it ever has been or that it is a good thing that the entire team returns.

I think the depth is getting there and the drop off from 1/2 team is not as significant in the past, so I see what you are saying, but we really do not have an elite offensive playmaker for the first time in probably ten years (thinking back through the trio of Geno/Stedman/Tavon, Noel Devine, White/Slaton, Rasheed Marshall, etc.). Missing out on Tyler Boyd (to Pitt) and Stefon Diggs (to Maryland) were big losses -- either of those two, or both, would have put up huge numbers for us.

On the QBs, if none of the three have been able to differentiate themselves from one another, then I'm not too confident that anyone on the roster is going to be good enough next year either. I can see Childress developing into something by his Jr. or Sr. year, maybe. I'd like to see us sneak in another transfer or late Juco once Crest has signed his LOI.

If I'm not mistaken, no ranked teams have lost (or lost to lower ranked teams) today yet. A couple still going on, with the Michigan/UConn one looking like the only remaining threat.

I was thinking it had felt like a pretty boring game day and I guess this is why.

If, and I do mean if, Michigan comes back to win this, they might be the first team to win two games and go down in the rankings twice. I don't see how this is a Top 25 team all things considered. This team is highly flawed. The best for them will be getting the forthcoming bye week and two weeks of fundamentals.