Week 4 CFB Review
A week of big-time games and matchups only kind of disappointed…
We saw a lot of Top 25 matchups go down in week 4 of the college football season, but unfortunately, not as much drama unfolded as we would have liked to see. I wouldn’t say any crazy upsets went down, but certainly some results to take a look at.
Did the Trojans find their QB? It all started on Friday night when we had 10th ranked Utah take on USC in the Coliseum. This game put Utah to the test, and see if they really have what it takes to be a top-10 caliber team, and win a legitimate conference game on the road. After USC’s QB Kedan Slovis was hit hard by a defender in the backfield and came out of the game, I thought all hell would break loose and Utah would run away with the game. Especially since Slovis was already the backup QB, after starting quarterback JT Daniels had a season-ending injury. But boy was I wrong, as THIRD-STRING Matt Fink, who apparently came very close to transferring, came on and put on a decent show. Right off the bat, he made some beautiful throws to march down the field and put a couple of touchdowns on the board. All in all, Fink ended up having a huge game, throwing for 351 yards and 3 TD’s, while only throwing 1 interception. Maybe this is the elite QB that will bring USC back to glory? We will find out as we go forward.
‘Pac-12 After Dark’ did not disappoint whatsoever. We might have had one of the greatest games of all time, between 19 Washington State and UCLA. To sum it all up, there was little to no defense involved. The Bruins ended up coming away with their first win of the season, defeating the Cougars 67–63. Yes, you read that right. And yes, that is a football score, not a basketball score. This game was an absolute shootout that you only dream to watch, but you probably didn’t because it was on late at night, and of course, it’s also the Pac-12. The even crazier thing is, Washington State blew a 49–17 lead late in the 3rd quarter at home! Both teams combined for 43 points in the 4th quarter alone. This game was certainly blackout drunk. Washington State QB Anthony Gordon threw for 570 yards and 9 touchdowns, while UCLA QB threw for 507 yards and accounted for 7 total touchdowns. Absolutely insane. All we can say is thank you for the offensive display, but I think it may be time to work out some things on the defensive side of the ball for both of these Pac-12 foes.
Rest in pieces to UCF’s streak. In a pretty crazy game itself, Pittsburgh ended up defeating UCF at home 35–34. Although the Knights were down by a few touchdowns in the second half, they fought all the way back to take the lead late in the game. But Pitt ran its own version of the infamous ‘Philly-Special’ to take the lead back for good in the final minute of the game. It was a stunning loss for G5 juggernaut UCF, who had a 27 game regular-season win streak coming into this week. I would say this may be a wake up call for the Knights, who are looking like they may not have the same firepower that they have had in the past couple of seasons, and that they are going to need some work going into conference play, especially if they want that New Years 6 bowl bid once again.
Notre Dame is confusing. In the second edition of the home-and-home series between Notre Dame and Georgia, this time in Athens, the Bulldogs defeated the Fighting Irish 23–17. More than obviously, this game was much closer than most thought it would be. Both teams were not able to score much, as the offensive play was sloppy. Although, the defensive effort was certainly there on both sides. Now the big question is, do we need to show Notre Dame more respect? After all, Georgia is certainly a powerhouse team that can compete against any team in the country. Or is Georgia overrated this year? Are they not as good as they have been in past years? To be honest, this does not really matter at all for either team. We will see what Georgia can do when they get into conference play. While Notre Dame will have to go undefeated once again to even get a look from the playoff committee. After last year’s debacle against Clemson in the playoff semifinal, Notre Dame will still have to convince us that they belong in the conversation of national title contenders.
-Brandon Zapotoski
Sports Throne Founder
