Hard to believe we’re already a quarter of the way through the season. The fourth week provided plenty of storylines and despite there not being an avalanche of games between ranked opponents, there were plenty of heroes on the gridiron this week.
Here’s my pick of the bunch.
Colorado: Don’t look now, folks, but the Buffs are back – and back in a big way. Mike MacIntyre has really got CU football headed in the right direction. A week after running Michigan really close in Ann Arbor, the Buffs went into Eugene, Oregon and stunned the Ducks with a 41-38 win, their first victory in Autzen Stadium since 1998.
Jeremy McNichols: The Boise State running back basically carried the Broncos to an important 38-24 win on the road in Corvallis against Oregon State with a career-high 208 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
Dalvin Cook: Another running back to go nuts on Saturday was the Florida State star who rebounded from a quiet week in FSU’s loss to Louisville last weekend – he wasn’t alone there – with a whopping 267 yards (a career high) and two touchdowns as the ‘Noles beat South Florida 55-35.
Wisconsin: The offense might not be at it’s greatest, but it’s improving, and that Badger defence is playing lights-out at the moment. A huge test next week against Michigan in Ann Arbor, but they’re tuned up nicely after a somewhat-surprising – at least in terms of the ease of their victory – 30-6 over a Michigan State squad coming off a big win.
James Conner: The Pitt back had a touchdown Saturday to mark the twelfth consecutive game that he’s crossed the stripe. His comeback after a cancer fight is one of the really great feel-good stories of the season.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils were in all sorts of strife early at home against Cal, but came home with the wettest of wet sails, scoring thirty-one points in the fourth quarter for a memorable, if somewhat shaky, 51-41 win.
Duke: On the road in South Bend, Duke were twenty-one point underdogs and not expected to give the Irish much trouble. Only, someone forgot to tell the Blue Devils that. They played hard for 60-minutes in what turned out to be a wild shootout leaving Notre Dame Stadium with a memorable 38-35 win, and kick-starting what’ll be a rough week in South Bend for the team they beat.
AJ Reed was the hero, booting an 18-yard field goal to break a 35-all tie and secure one of Duke’s most famous wins.
Stanford: Somehow, year after year, the Cardinal find a way to beat UCLA. After being stymied offensively all game, Stanford, with a quarterback, Ryan Burns, playing his first road start in a hostile Rose Bowl environment, marched seventy yards in less than two minutes for what proved to be a game-winning touchdown.
Unheralded receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside made a wonderful catch in the corner of the end zone to give Stanford a narrow 3-point lead before Solomon Thomas recovered a Josh Rosen fumble for a big-man touchdown and an eventual 22-13 win.
Ole Miss: The Rebels finally found a way to play a full four-quarter game, and look at the results! They were up 45-0 before Georgia troubled the scorers and the Rebels won their first game against the Bulldogs in ten attempts.
Quarterback Chad Kelly was the chief destroyer for Ole Miss, throwing for two touchdowns and adding a third on the ground in a fairly ruthless example of what can happen if they play all 60.
Auburn: After inconsistent performances brought the coaching staff under Gus Malzahn into sharp focus on the Alabama plains in recent weeks, Auburn’s big win over Louisiana State in the battle of the SEC Tigers – apologies to Missouri! – will take a lot of pressure of the shoulders of the coaching staff.
The 18-13 victory wasn’t pretty, and almost wasn’t a victory at all, after a late LSU touchdown was waved off under review in controversial circumstances, but, as they say, a win’s a win, and this one is worth it’s weight in gold for Auburn fans.
Amba Etta-Tawo: The Syracuse receiver had a career day on Saturday, setting a school record with 270 receiving yards. Yep – you read that correctly! And, in case you were wondering, it’s no fluke, either. This is his second 200-yard receiving game of the season.
Virginia: Finally, Bronco Mendenhall has a win as a Cavalier, and it came courtesy of a five-touchdown performance from quarterback Kurt Benkert. The 49-35 win over Central Michigan will take at least some of the pressure off of Mendenhall’s shoulders. A much-needed victory.
Tennessee: Down 21-3 with the natives restless inside Neyland Stadium, the Volunteers finally got a win against Florida, pouring on 28 unanswered second half points for a 38-28 win over the nineteenth-ranked Gators. All told, quarterback Josh Dobbs totalled 399 yards of offense and accounted for three touchdowns in a memorable win.
Michigan’s Ground Game: The Wolverines scored six touchdowns on the ground en-route to a 49-10 smashing of Penn State in the Big House. Devon Smith had 107 yards and a touchdown, while second-stringer Karan Higdon added 81 and two scores. And don’t forget the big fullback, Khalid Hill, who scored in the first quarter, too. That ground game is humming along nicely, and will face a big test next week against a stout Wisconsin defence.
D’Eriq King: The Houston receiver had himself a day, becoming the first FBS player since 2010 to score a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown and a kick-off return touchdown in the one game. King’s superhuman effort is a large part of why the Cougars had an easy 64-3 win over Texas State. Insane numbers!
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