CFB Week 4 Review/Week 5 Preview: UTAH!

Welcome back for another exciting week of college football. Last week saw a sophomore standout running back take over the Heisman race, wild Big 12 nail-biters, and ranked battles in the Pac-12 that turned into blowouts, including #18 Utah tearing apart #13 (and defending national runner-up) Oregon 62-20. For some reason, I've been infatuated with Utah for a couple of years (I think I randomly started saying "Utah!" at my high school lunch table), and now they're a real threat to make the College Football Playoff. Their most talented player is probably senior running back Devontae Booker, who has 443 yards and four touchdowns so far this season, but senior quarterback Travis Wilson, who threw for 227 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 100 yards and a touchdown in the big win over Oregon, is also a key contributor. Utah beat Michigan in Week 1, a win that looks better each week as Michigan looks better and better, shutting out #22 BYU last week 31-0. Then they put it on the Ducks Saturday, pulling out some crafty trick plays (including a Dovontae Booker touchdown pass and a fake punt return touchdown). Utah was having fun Saturday night, and they hope they have even more fun on their way to a possible spot in the playoff.

Week 4 Review

Observations
1. Blowouts Out West
The only ranked matchups last Saturday took place in the Pac-12, and surprisingly, neither was close. I already talked about Utah metaphorically tearing up Oregon's nice uniforms, but there were thrashings elsewhere on the west coast as well. In the only other battle of ranked teams (and the site of College Gameday last week), #9 UCLA trounced #16 Arizona (in Arizona) 56-30. Other highly-anticipated late games also didn't turn out to be competitive, as #19 USC thrashed Arizona State (also in Arizona) 42-14, and #21 Stanford took care of Oregon State on the road 42-24.
2. Nail-Biters Down South
There were some close games down in the SEC and Big 12 last weekend. #3 TCU squeaked by Texas Tech, which I'll talk about later, #24 Oklahoma State got by Texas 30-27 thanks to yet another special teams blunder by the Longhorns, #14 Texas A&M fought off Arkansas in overtime 28-21, Kentucky beat #25 Missouri 21-13, and Tennessee lost to Florida 28-27 when kicker Aaron Medley missed a 55-yard field goal (twice, since the first time a timeout was called just before the snap) as time expired.
3. Fournette 4 President
LSU sophomore running back Leonard Fournette pulled into the driver's seat of the Heisman race last Saturday with an exceptional performance, continuing his monster season and showing that he is arguably the best back in college football (and there are a lot of good running backs). Fournette had 26 carries for 244 yards and two touchdowns as #8 LSU beat Syracuse (who fought admirably considering they started fifth-string quarterback Zack Mahoney) 34-24.

Play of the Week

Fournette was also the recipient of this alert play by quarterback Brandon Harris (This is the only video I could find on Youtube of the play. If you would prefer a better quality video, go to http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:13743753).  Harris was about to be sacked for a big loss, but as he was going down, he tossed it to Fournette, who was running behind him, and Fournette ran it for 48 yards. Both quarterback and running back showed great awareness and presence of mind on this play to turn nothing into something.

Game of the Week
#3 TCU 55, Texas Tech 52
This was a wild and crazy shootout, as only a Big 12 showdown can be. This was all offense, all the time (again, a specialty of the Big 12). TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin threw for 485 yards and four touchdowns, while Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes had 392 yards and two touchdowns. The two quarterbacks combined to throw 99 passes. However, the running backs got theirs too. TCU's Aaron Green had 28 carries for 162 yards and two touchdowns and Texas Tech's DeAndre Washington had 22 carries for 188 yards and four touchdowns. The teams went back and forth until the very end. On fourth and goal down four with 20 seconds left, Boykin's pass was tipped, but receiver Aaron Green caught the tipped ball in the back of the endzone.

Texas Tech got the ball back with only about enough time to throw a Hail Mary or do a play filled with multiple laterals. They did the latter, and it almost worked.

Alas, they were stopped 10 yards short, and TCU escaped with a win.

Performances of the Week
Cincinnati QB Hayden Moore: 31-53, 557 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT (L 46-53 @ Memphis)
Moore took over for Bearcats starter Gunner Kiel when he suffered a scary injury early in the game Thursday night and was carted off the field. He performed exceptionally well, keeping Cincy in it until the final minute, when Memphis scored a go-ahead touchdown after a questionable call on what looked like a fumble. Then Moore drove the Bearcats down the field only to lose on an ill-advised interception off the hands of the running back. It was quite a battle.
LSU RB Leonard Fournette: 26 carries, 244 yards, 2 TD (W 34-24 @ Syracuse)
Of course Leonard Fournette is in here. I've already talked about how good this guy is.
Western Kentucky QB Brandon Doughty: 33-41, 457 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT (W 56-14 vs. Miami (OH))
I could probably put Doughty in here most weeks because of how prolific he and the Hilltoppers offense are. Last week, he threw for 457 yards (ho-hum) and six touchdowns to zero picks.

Playoff Picks After Week 4
1. Ohio State
The Buckeyes were still a little shaky at quarterback on Saturday against Western Michigan, but Cardale Jones (and the rest of the offense) played much better. Ezekiel Elliott had another 100+ yard game and the defense had another pick-six (this one by defensive lineman Adolphous Washington).
Next Game: @ Indiana, Saturday, 3:30 PM
2. Michigan State
Still two Big Ten teams at the top. The Spartans played Central Michigan and took care of them 30 to 10. They will once again play a team from the same state as Ohio State's opponent this weekend, continuing to build up to the impending Ohio State-Michigan State showdown in November. Next Game: Purdue, Saturday, Noon
3. TCU
TCU almost fell out of the playoff race Saturday night, but they were able to somehow hold off Texas Tech. The road doesn't get much easier from here, but the Horned Frogs have the ammunition to power through it. Next Game: Texas, Saturday, Noon
4. Notre Dame
I thought about putting a new number four here this week, but since Notre Dame won, I'll stick with them. UMass stayed with them early last week, but Notre Dame pulled away and ultimately cruised 62-27. This week the Irish face a big test on the road at Clemson in primetime. Next Game: @ #12 Clemson, Saturday, 8:00 PM
Next Four: Ole Miss, LSU, UCLA, Utah
Trending Up, Trending Down
A new segment to my weekly review/preview (we'll see how it works out), this is just a (somewhat random) list of players, teams, and other things I believe seem to be trending up or trending down.
Trending Up: The MAC...Leonard Fournette, 2015 Heisman Trophy winner...Running backs...Fifth-string quarterbacks...The state of California...UTAH...West Virginia...Michigan.
Trending Down: The SEC...Special Teams...Primetime nail-biters...The state of Arizona...BYU...Maryland...Arkansas
Week 5 Preview

Quick Picks (Home team listed last)
#1 Ohio State 28, Indiana 17 (Saturday, 3:30 PM, ABC/ESPN2
Purdue 14, #2 Michigan State 35 (Saturday, Noon, ESPN2)
#3 Ole Miss 28, #25 Florida 23 (Saturday, 7:00 PM, ESPN)
Texas 34, #4 TCU 48 (Saturday, Noon, ABC)
Texas Tech 35, #5 Baylor 42 (Saturday, 3:30 PM, ABC/ESPN2)
#6 Notre Dame 31, #12 Clemson 34 (Saturday, 8:00 PM, ABC/ESPN)
Arizona State 24, #7 UCLA 38 (Saturday, 7:30 PM, FOX)
#13 Alabama 35, #8 Georgia 31 (Saturday, 3:30 PM, CBS) 
Eastern Michigan 13, #9 LSU 31 (Saturday, 7:00 PM, ESPNU)
#11 Florida State 24, Wake Forest 17 (Saturday, 3:30 PM, ESPN)
#21 Mississippi State 34, #14 Texas A&M 38 (Saturday, 7:30 PM, SEC)
#23 West Virginia 42, #15 Oklahoma 35 (Saturday, Noon, FS1)
Minnesota 21, #16 Northwestern 24 (Saturday, Noon, BTN)
Arizona 34, #18 Stanford 31 (Saturday, 10:30 PM, PAC12)
Iowa 24, #19 Wisconsin 30 (Saturday, Noon, ESPN)
Kansas State 32, #20 Oklahoma State 42 (Saturday, 4:00 PM, FS1)
#22 Michigan 38, Maryland 21 (Saturday, Noon, BTN)

Game to Watch
Record: 0-1
#6 Notre Dame @ #12 Clemson 
There are tons of good games this week, and many more ranked matchups than last week. Want to see a good old SEC slugfest? How about Mississippi State-Texas A&M, Alabama-Georgia, or Ole Miss-Florida? More of a northern person? Minnesota-Northwestern, Iowa-Wisconsin, and even Ohio State-Indiana or Purdue-Michigan State could be interesting. Love those Big 12 shootouts? Texas-TCU, West Virginia-Oklahoma, Kansas State-Oklahoma State, or Texas Tech-Baylor may be for you. For those of you out west, you've got Washington State-California, Arizona State-UCLA, or Arizona-Stanford, among others. The start of widespread conference play is a beautiful thing. Notre Dame isn't in a conference (yet), but they may be playing in the biggest game of the week, against future conference foe Clemson. Both teams are led by athletic young quarterbacks who can be electric, but this could come down to the defenses. Notre Dame's average points allowed so far this season is 19.8, while Clemson's is 12.3.

Upset Special
Record: 2-1
Arizona @ #18 Stanford
This wouldn't really be a monumental upset, since a week ago Arizona was ranked higher, but this would still be an upset considering Arizona's on the road, coming off a big loss, and possibly without their starting quarterback, Anu Soloman. Despite all that, the Wildcats still have talent, including running back Nick Wilson, and could pull off the upset.