CFB Power 16 – Week Four in Review

Week four of the college football season saw some enticing matchups, most notably Notre Dame’s visit to Georgia. The Irish played an exceptional ballgame in the first half, especially on defense, but the superior talent and depth of Georgia was on full display by the fourth quarter. There might be a temptation to remove the Irish entirely from the playoff conversation, but I wouldn’t go that far just yet.

Long shot playoff odds definitely ended for UCF with a heartbreaking loss to Pittsburgh, while the Pac-12 took a dagger with Utah falling to USC on Friday night. Once again, the game beloved by so many only has a hand few of legitimate title contenders, and isn’t that how we like it anyway?

#1 – LSU (This Week: Defeated Vanderbilt, 66-38; Up Next: Utah State on October 5)

The Tigers lowest scoring output thus far this season was the 45 point explosion on the road against Texas. QB Joe Burrow continues a Heisman-like campaign with six touchdown tosses against Vandy. The Tigers still have the most impressive victory of the season, and will have ample opportunity to prove they are the best team in the country. LSU are idle next week before a visit from Florida, and they’ve got another month to iron out some of those defensive concerns before Auburn comes to town on October 26.

#2 – Georgia (This Week: Defeated Note Dame; Up Next: at Tennessee on October 5)

LSU has the best victory of the season so far, but the Dawgs win over Notre Dame ranks third (behind Auburn’s victory over Oregon the opening weekend.) The Irish have too many future pros on their roster to get dismissed by 28 or more, but just could not get over the hump. The best offensive line in the country lives in Athens, and they eventually wore down the Irish front seven. Georgia doesn’t play a real opponent again until the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party that definitely is no longer a cocktail party.

#3 – Alabama (This Week: Defeated Southern Miss 49-7; Up Next: Ole Miss)

Another Saturday means another Alabama romp, cruising to a 49-7 win over Southern Miss. Nick Saban doesn’t like the 11 am CT kickoffs, especially at home, but that’s the way it works when you’re playing a team who you’re definitely going to blowout. On a brighter note, the future #1 pick, Tua Tagovailoa, gets to beat up on Ole Miss next Saturday at 2:30 pm CT. The Rebels dropped a controversial one at home against Cal, and if they can’t get over the emotion from that loss in a hurry, things could ugly in Tuscaloosa.

#4 – Clemson (This Week: Defeated Charlotte 52-10; Up Next: at UNC)

Clemson is really good. They have the best QB prospect in nearly decade. They keep rolling. All that said, we just will not know how good they really are until the College Football Playoff Semi-Final, which they are guaranteed to get to. All things considered, however, I am not going to be bullied into putting them number one simply because they won it all last year. If they played each of the three teams ranked ahead of them in my power 16 next week on a neutral field, I think they would lose. Time will tell.

#5 – Oklahoma (This Week: Idle; Up Next: Texas Tech)

The Jalen Hurts show had a well deserved week off after scoring 49 against Houston, 70 against South Dakota, and 48 at UCLA. Who’s on the horizon? A visit from Texas Tech and a trip to Les Miles’ Jayhawks. Hurts has already thrown for 880 yards this season. I think he’ll double that in the next two weeks. The Sooners are a title contender.

#6 – Auburn (This Week: Defeated Texas A&M 28-20; Up Next: Mississippi State)

If I heard one more Patrick Nix reference during the CBS broadcast of Auburn’s win over Texas A&M, I would have thrown up. Baby Nix seems to be settling in well as the starter at Auburn, and the Tigers defense seems to have found a groove that we all expected them to, anchored by a terror in the middle in Derrick Brown. There’s no rest in the SEC West, and Auburn gets a visit from a respectable Mississippi State next week before three straight road games at Florida, Arkansas, and LSU.

#7 – Ohio State (This Week: Defeated Miami(OH) 76-5; Up Next: at Nebraska)

Justin Fields is really good, throwing four touchdowns at home in an absolute route of Miami (OH). Michigan imploded, Fields is who we thought he was, and Nebraska maybe isn’t quite who we thought they would be. The Buckeyes own the Big Ten.

#8 – Oregon (This Week: Defeated Stanford 21-6; Up Next: California on October 5)

Oregon never had any business dropping out of the top ten after losing on the last play opening weekend against Auburn, and they’ve proven such in the last few weeks. After pounching on Nevada to the tune of 77 points, they scored 35 on Montana before grinding out a respectable 21-6 win on the road against Stanford. Suddenly, there’s an intriguing matchup coming for the Ducks earlier than expected, as undefeated Cal visits Eugene to start an October that includes Colorado and Washington State at home, with a visit to Washington sandwiched in-between.

#9 – Texas (This Week: Defeated Oklahoma State 36-30; Up Next: at West Virginia on October 5)

I don’t know if Texas is back. They could have answered that question for good with a win over LSU earlier this month. Fortunately for them, they can beat up on West Virginia in two weeks for a final tune up in advance of the Red River Shootout.

#10 – Penn State (This Week: Idle; Up Next: at Maryland)

The Nittany Lions were off this week after stumbling to a seven point win over Pittsburgh last week. The jury is still out on Sean Clifford being an adequate replacement for Trace McSorley. The defense looks good, and the humbling Maryland took against Temple last week paves the way for James Franklin and company to do a little a more tinkering before facing Rondale Moore and Purdue at home.

#11 – Wisconsin (This Week: Defeated Michigan 35-14; Up Next: Northwestern)

Jonathon Taylor’s 203 rushing yards and two touchdowns paved the way for a dominating performance over Michigan. Three games into the season, the Badgers have given up fourteen points, all of which came today in a garbage time second half.

#12 – Notre Dame (This Week: Loss to Georgia 23-17; Up Next: Virginia)

The Irish put up a valiant effort between the hedges, falling just short of an upset in an absolutely raging environment. Ian Book was composed, and the defense did an exceptional job making tackles in space. A close road loss to the nation’s number two team definitely does not eliminate them from playoff contention, and with Virginia, Michigan and Stanford struggling, the schedule doesn’t look as difficult as it did a few weeks ago. Don’t sleep on the Irish.

Who’s Next?

Boise State, Iowa, Kansas State, California

sportsFrederick CurtisCFBComment