By Matt Fischer
Week 4 is done and didn’t provide too many interesting storylines as the weekend lacked a lot of big time match-ups. The biggest game of the weekend was in the Pac-12 as Stanford hosted Arizona State. This was a tale of two halves as the Cardinal dominated the first half leading 29-0. ASU came charging back in the second half to close the gap some but penalties kept them from being able to narrow it any further. Stanford looked good winning 42-28.
In the SEC, the old rivals Florida and Tennessee tangled in the Swamp. Florida’s QB Jeff Driskel went down to injury and is out for the year. The Gators offense looked the best it has this season but still has a ways to go. Tennessee fought until the end and Butch Jones has to be proud of his team’s effort on Saturday. The Vols should be competitive in the SEC but probably won’t win many games in conference.
Dabo Sweeney has to be pleased that his team didn’t pull a Clemson and get upset on Thursday night at NC State. The Wolf Pack has pulled upsets like this before and Clemson has lost games like this in the past as well. Clemson did what it had to get out of town with a W.
I guess style points matter again to the coaches. There used to be outrage when a when a game would end with a 70+ point spread. Didn’t hear much of that this weekend as Ohio State dominated their way to a 76-0 win and Louisville posted a 72-0 victory. I don’t think there is such a thing as “running up the score”. Both teams are still playing. If a team wants to call the game at 56-0 they should just forfeit at that point. At least Miami let their opponent score as they won 77-7.
Michigan fans have to be worried with the way the Wolverines have been winning lately. Michigan has let Akron and Connecticut hang around until the end the past two weeks. Maybe at the end of the season we’ll find those teams are better than we think now but Michigan can’t keep playing like this or it’s gonna put at least 1 L on their record in 2013. Brady Hoke is a great coach and should figure it out.
Baylor again put up 70. UL-Monroe is not a BCS Contender but whooping them by 63 is impressive. This Baylor offense is giving D-coordinators in the Big XII nightmares.
My weekly awards:
Player of the Week: Tom Savage (QB – Pittsburgh) – 23 of 33 for 424 and 6 touchdowns. Gaudy numbers for a Pitt team that looks to make a name for itself in the ACC this season.
Team of the Week: Maryland Terrapins – moved to 4-0 with a 37-0 win against West Virginia. People are starting to believe in the Terps. Injuries hampered their success last year but they’re playing well and a shutout of Dana Holgersen’s team looks mighty impressive.
Game of the Week: Rutgers vs. Arkansas – The Hogs looked great early racing out to a lead but Rutgers battled back and got a late TD to win 28-24. Big win for Rutgers and the AAC.
Big games coming up in college football week 5 this weekend as LSU travels to Georgia, Ole Miss goes to Alabama, Ohio State hosts Wisconsin and Oklahoma is at Notre Dame. Check back tomorrow for our projected win percentages for each college football game on the board this week and then on Wednesday we’ll have predicted scores. Join us for as little as $5 to get winning info! Sign up at www.sportsformulator.com/sign-up/.