Week 4 of the college football season brought more fireworks as the last Saturday of September saw a pair of top-10 teams fall in what could lead to a shakeup in the rankings. Though the top five teams all got by unscathed, No. 6 Oklahoma lost to Kansas State for the third time in four years and No. 10 Arkansas lost to No. 23 Texas A&M in heartbreaking fashion.
With No. 4 Michigan tested in a win over Maryland, No. 5 Clemson needing double overtime to beat No. 21 Wake Forest and No. 7 USC narrowly surviving Oregon State, the upper crust of the sport looked vulnerable this week. Things were no different for No. 8 Kentucky, which needed to recover a late onside kick to ensure a 31-23 win over Northern Illinois. Even No. 1 Georgia appeared sloppy in a win over Kent State.
While No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Ohio State took care of business with resounding victories over Vanderbilt and Wisconsin, respectively, Week 4 may have left of us with more questions than answers about how things will play out as conference schedules to heat up and temperatures begin to drop around the country.
Here's the recap of everything that went down with college football's ranked teams in Week 4.
No. 1 Georgia 39, Kent State 22 -- Recap
No. 4 Michigan 34, Maryland 27 -- Wolverines survive feisty Terrapins
No. 5 Clemson 51, No. 21 Wake Forest 45 (2OT) -- Tigers outlast Demon Deacons in thriller
No. 17 Baylor 31, Iowa State 24 -- Recap
No. 11 Tennessee 38 No. 20 Florida 33 -- Vols look legit in first win over Gators since 2016
Texas Tech 37, No. 22 Texas 34 (OT) -- Recap
No. 15 Oregon 44, Washington State 41 -- Recap
No. 23 Texas A&M 23, No. 10 Arkansas 21 -- Recap
No. 2 Alabama 55, Vanderbilt 3 -- Recap
No. 3 Ohio State 52, Wisconsin 21 -- Buckeyes throttle Badgers as offense shines again
Kansas State 41, No. 6 Oklahoma 34 -- Wildcats get the best of Sooners again
No. 7 USC 17, Oregon State 14 -- Trojans use late TD to avoid upset
Check out the entire Week 4 scoreboard
All three of them are handling business. BYU leads Wyoming 28-10 entering the fourth. Utah leads Arizona State 31-6 late in the third and Washington leads Stanford 27-7 late in the third. Given how vulnerable USC looked tonight, the Huskies and Utes should be licking their chops a bit. Oregon needed a minor miracle to survive Wazzou. So it certainly seems like the Pac-12 is up for grabs.
Oregon State pushed No. 7 USC to the brink of an upset on Saturday night before the Trojans survived for a 17-14 victory thanks to a late touchdown from a frustrated offense. Quarterback Caleb Williams found Jordan Addison for a 21-yard score down the right sideline with 1:13 remaining. The Trojans' defense, which came up huge all night, then produced a game-clinching interception as Max Williams picked off Chance Nolan with 35 seconds remaining.
Jam Griffin goes 18 yards for a touchdown to put the Beavers ahead with 4:41 remaining. No. 7 USC couldn't get out of the shadow of its own goal post after a big INT from Mekhi Blackmon and had to punt, which resulted in a short field for Oregon State. They finally convert for their first score since early in the second quarter. Great finish coming in Corvallis.
Washington is following up last week's big win over Michigan State pretty well thus far. The Huskies forced two punts and two turnovers on the Cardinal's first two possessions. Wayne Taulapapa is already at 99 yards on the ground for UW on just 7 carries.
The No. 7 Trojans just took their first lead of the game on a 7-yard run from Travis Dye with 14:18 left. Oregon State quarterback Chance Nolan's second interception of the game set USC up with a short field. His first interception led to USC's field goal in the second quarter as well. The Beavers have been unbelievable defensively tonight but will need their offense to come up with something now.
The Utes are in command against Arizona State as the Sun Devils begin the post-Herm Edwards era. Bad news, though, as star Utah tight end Brant Kuithe has exited the game due to injury. He returned to the sideline on crutches. Though Dalton Kincaid is an excellent TE2, it would be a huge loss for the Utes if Kuithe has to miss significant time.
Adrian Martinez ran for four touchdowns as the Wildcats racked up 509 total yards in a stunning upset of the No. 6 Sooners. KSU beat OU in 2019 and 2020, so there is some precedent here. But after losing to Tulane at home last week, K-State entered as a 13.5 point underdog. Wildcats have to be considered a legitimate threat in the Big 12, which is shaping up to be wild, per usual. Baylor and Oklahoma State are the early favorites to make the title game after losses for OU and Texas today, but it stands to reason there will be more twists and turns before then.
Caleb Williams completed just 6 of 18 passes in the first half as the Trojans struggled to move the ball through the air. Their first possession ended in a turnover on downs. Then came a missed field goal, a punt, a made field goal and halftime. Not what we expected from a couple of big-time offenses. Atmosphere looks amazing in Corvallis, as the Beavers and Trojans start the second half with both teams trying to reach 4-0.
The Sooners are up against it here after Kansas State goes 80 yard on 8 plays and scores on Adrian Martinez's third rushing touchdown of the game. Just eight minutes left for the Sooners to kick things into gear. Defense has been the biggest issue, that and finishing drives. The Sooners have gone three-and-out only once.
This one will sting Arkansas for a long time. The Razorbacks led 14-0 and outgained Texas A&M 415-343. But two gut-wrenching plays brought defeat. Came Little's potential go-ahead 42-yarder with 1:30 left ricocheted off the top of the upright, shot up in the air and then dropped to the turf. This, of course, followed the bizarre 98-yard fumble return for USC that changed the momentum in the first half.
It took recovering an onside kick with 2:43 remaining, but Kentucky survives a nice effort from the visiting Huskies. Wildcats are the No. 8 team in the country, but they didn't necessarily look the part tonight against their MAC foe. Will Levis was sacked five times and the Wildcats mustered just 103 yards rushing.
Florida State is not ranked today, but it may be tomorrow after it finishes off Boston College and improves to 4-0. The Eagles just have nothing offensively behind a young and ineffective offensive line. The Seminoles racked up 327 yards in the first half while BC mustered just four first downs. Jordan Travis threw for 249 yards in the half.
Texas A&M receiver Ainias Smith needs attention from the Aggies' training staff and is helped off the field in obvious pain at the 1:15 mark of the third quarter. That will be a tough loss for A&M if he's unable to return. He hasn't been a huge factor tonight but he's a senior leader and dynamic playmaker on this team whose been through a lot of big games in his career.
The No. 6 Sooners are in a battle here as Kansas State put up 279 yards of offense in the first half, including 150 on the ground to the tune of five yards per rush. Oklahoma at just 3.2 yards per carry thus far, but the Sooners get the football to start the third quarter. Dillon Gabriel has been effective, throwing for 185 yards and two TDs on 9 of 14 passing so far.
Hard to believe Arkansas led this game 14-0 and was on the cusp of going ahead 21-7 in the second quarter. Since the disastrous scoop and score against the Razorbacks (and beginning on the drive before when A&M marched 93 yards), it's been all Aggies. Arkansas has gone three-and-out on consecutive possessions while A&M has been consistency moving the football.
The Wolfpack have amassed 357 yards, including 275 through the air for Devin Leary. Already more yardage than NC State gained last week against Texas Tech. The Huskies have mustered just two first downs. NC State may have needed an opponent like this just to get the offense going a little bit.
The Crimson Tide are in total control of their SEC East foe here, leading Vanderbilt in yards 313-64 with less than three minutes left in the first half. Bryce Young has already thrown for four touchdowns and 258 yards as Alabama has relied heavily on the pass in the first half. Should be plenty of time to run the ball in the second half. Will be interesting to see if this performance and Ohio State's strong showing vs. Wisconsin shift any of Georgia's No. 1 votes after the Bulldogs were sloppy today in a win vs. Kent State.
The Wildcats have come out hot early on the road against the No. 6 team in the country. Quarterback Adrian Martinez led lengthy touchdown drives of 80 and 75 yards early for Kansas State, while Martinez and Deuce Vaughn have combined for 58 yards rushing and a touchdown. Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw a 56-yard touchdown to Theo Wease, but the Sooners otherwise have just 32 total yards on 11 plays.
Arkansas absolutely dominated the first quarter and is outgaining Texas A&M 281-152. But the Aggies are down just 14-13 after a wild defensive touchdown. The Aggies get the football to start the second half and should have the momentum. Offensively, it's been ugly yet again, though. A&M punted on its first four possessions. There was a 93-yard TD drive mixed in there during the second quarter, though.
Heck of a start for the Wildcats, who go 75 yards on 12 plays in 5:03 to take an early lead on the road against No. 6 Oklahoma. Adrian Martinez finished it off with a 6-yard TD run. That didn't look like a team which just lost at home to Tulane. Sooners closed as 13.5 point favorites but have started slowly a few times this season.
The Razorbacks jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Aggies are showing signs of life in the second as Max Johnson finally got things going after four straight punts. He finds Evan Stewart for a 10-yard TD to make it 14-7 with 8:45 left in the first half. Arkansas looking for a bounce-bock now after consecutive punts.
The Ducks trailed 34-22 with only 6:41 remaining in the game, but Oregon quarterback Bo Nix put together one of the best quarters of his career to lead the Ducks to victory. Oregon scored 22 unanswered points in the final 3:50 of the game, including passes of 50 and 1 yard as part of a 428-yard passing effort, the best of his career. Troy Franklin had 137 yards and a touchdown on his own. Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward threw for 375 yards and two touchdowns, but had a pick-six with 61 seconds remaining to ice the game.
Middle Tennessee racked up 507 yards and held Miami to just 367 in a rather dominant victory marked in large part by a series of miscues from the Hurricanes. Three straight turnovers to begin the game. Worst of all may have been a turnover on downs later in the game following a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Tyler Van Dyke was pulled in favor of backup Jake Garcia. Provided a brief spark but not enough of one.
Texas drops to 2-2 in Year 2 under Steve Sarkisian while Texas Tech improves to 3-1 in Year 1 under Joey McGuire as Trey Wolff hits from 20 yards out to lift the Red Raiders to an overtime victory. A Texas fumble on the first possession of OT set Texas Tech up in excellent position to clinch it, and the fans stormed the field as it went final. That snaps a five-game losing streak for the Red Raiders in the series.
Take a deep breath, Notre Dame fans. That has to be an encouraging game to watch after offensive struggles of the first three games. Drew Pyne threw it well, Audric Estime and Chris Tyree ran it well, as did Logan Diggs. Michael Mayer was great and the defense was good enough against UNC's high-powered attack. Notre Dame totaled 576 yards and a whopping 35 first downs. 8 of 14 on third downs. What a showing.
Hello, Cam Ward! What a play by the Wazzou quarterback here. You won't see a coach teaching their quarterback to do this. Just a great, improvisational, instinctual play here by the Incarnate Word transfer. He's played his game yet today here against a solid Oregon defense and has the Cougars in position to improve to 4-0.
The teams trade field goals in the final 30 seconds with Hudson Card delivering a couple of incredibly clutch completions to get the Longhorns into range, and we're headed to OT. Texas Tech is a whopping 6 of 8 on fourth downs in this game, and the risks have paid off as the Red Raiders have a chance to snag an early signature victory for first-year coach Joey McGuire.
After going down 28-3 in the first half, James Madison scored 29 unanswered points to shock Sun Belt favorite Appalachian State and move to 3-0 as an FBS program. The game was the Dukes' first conference game as a member of the Sun Belt, and it couldn't have been more memorable. Quarterback Todd Centeio threw for 204 yards and rushed for 88 yards with three total touchdowns in another sensational performance. The only piece of bad news? The dynamic Dukes are ineligible to either play in a bowl game -- or win the Sun Belt.
The Ducks go 84 yards on 10 plays and punch it in from a yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter. Good finish brewing in Pullman, where Oregon is outgaining Washington State by over 200 yards but trailing because of a pick-six and other red-zone issues. Cam Ward is 27 of 31 through the air for the Cougars.Oregon scores
The Longhorns and Red Raiders are playing a good one in Lubbock. The Red Raiders have scored 14 unanswered and have the football after falling behind 31-17 late in the third quarter. Longhorns have punted on three straight possessions after scoring on five of their first seven. The Red Raiders are 5 of 7 on fourth downs so far in this game.
