College Football Week 4: Biggest Winners, Losers and Questions

Week four the college football season lived up to the hype and more. Top ranked teams lost big, and others went down as the game hit zero. Who ended up winning the weekend, and what questions remain as we close in on the halfway point of the college football season?

What to do with the Hoosiers?

Indiana snuck past an underrated Northwestern team this weekend, but things looked ugly for Cignetti and company during their first test of the season. Was this more in line with Aidan Chiles having one of the better games of his career, or is Indiana a lot weaker than the group that won it all last year? I think we won’t truly know until they travel to Lincoln to take on Nebraska in what could be a battle of two 5-0 teams.

Florida is the real deal.

I was dead wrong on this Florida squad. These dudes are mean, insanely physical, and can run the football right down your face. They completely took away Ole Miss’ ability to run the football while Jadan Baugh entered the conversation of the best running back in the country. The Rebels certainly missed Lacy in this one and should still be a top-10 team, but Florida might be in line for a playoff spot in year one under Jon Sumrall.

The Clock Struck Midnight in Ann Arbor

Michigan has to be sick over blowing this game against Iowa. For 59 minutes and 58 seconds, they were absolutely the better team, but Iowa was able to get a massive road win and are firmly in playoff conversations now. The schedule stays tough for the Hawkeyes with Ohio State and College Gameday heading into town this week. It’ll be interesting to see how that secondary fares against Ohio State and Jeremiah Smith after a rocky performance against Bryce Underwood

LSU needed to take their frustrations out on someone, and that just happened to be Texas A&M. The whole world knew they had no business being ranked, and it showed in colors on Saturday. I’m not shocked by a poor showing from Marcel Reed, but it was jarring to see just how poorly the Aggie defense looked against Sam Leavitt. It’s going to be a long season in College Station, while this was a great bounce-back for Lane Kiffin and his Tigers.

Texas will go as far as Arch Manning Takes Them

Texas might have the most complete roster in the country, but their weakest point might come at quarterback. If your defense can keep Manning in the pocket and force him to play on time, they aren’t incredibly frightening. Steve Sarkisian has continually needed to dumb down the offense to give Arch a chance to do much of anything. Texas has no business keeping that game as close as it was, and I fear that might continue to happen unless Arch takes a big leap forward.