Week 4 - The Best Games and My Top 5 Heisman Candidates

(Rankings based off of the AP Poll)

  1. (6) Ohio State @ (9) Notre Dame - GameDay is coming back to Notre Dame for the first time since 2020 when Notre Dame beat Clemson. This matchup was also in GameDay last year when Ohio State beat Notre Dame 21-10. Both teams have different quarterbacks, so this game will be wildly different. Both of these teams are undefeated and have blown out their opponents. OSU’s closest game came against Indiana in week one, where they won 23-3. Notre Dame’s closest was 2 weeks ago against North Carolina State, winning 45-24. Led by new quarterbacks on the team, these teams are really similar. Kyle McCord has thrown for 815 yards, 6 touchdowns, and an interception. He struggled against Indiana, but has worked it out since, as he went 19/23 for 318 yards and 3 touchdowns last week. Marvin Harrison Jr. has 14 catches for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns. The offensive line has also been pretty good, as TreVeyon Henderson has 30 carries for 191 yards and 4 touchdowns. Chip Trayanum has 19 carries for 133 yards and one touchdown. Miyan Williams has 18 carries for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns. McCord has only been sacked once, while backup Devin Brown has been sacked twice. Both teams are pretty good when it comes to holding onto the football. Ohio State has thrown 2 picks and lost one fumble, while Notre Dame has lost 2 fumbles. Ohio State’s defense have monsters. They’ve nabbed 3 picks, one of them being a pick six, and forced 4 fumbles. Even in their toughest game, they only allowed Indiana to 3 points and 153 total yards. They allowed 7 points in week 2 and 10 last week, while Notre Dame has allowed 24 and 17 points the past 2 weeks. It doesn’t matter though, because through 4 games they offense averages 508.8 yards per game. 304.3 of those are passing yards, as Sam Hartman has been of fire. He’s thrown for 1,061 yards, 13 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. The passing yards are the 5th most in the country. The 0 picks should been noted as Hartman threw 12 interceptions last year and 14 in 2021.  If he can keep the turnovers the rest of the season, he will be a Heisman finalist. He also has 2 rushing touchdowns. Aside from Hartman, Audric Estime has 63 carries for 521 yards and 5 touchdowns. He has played one more game than the rest of the country, but he does have the most rushing yards in the country. 3 of Notre Dame’s receivers have 2 or more touchdown catches, including 4 from Tight End Holden Staes. The defense have 5 interceptions and 7 forced fumbles, but no fumble recoveries. The defense does have some holes, and Ohio State attacks  those holes, winning 45-31. Odds: OSU -3, O/U 55.5
  2. (19) Colorado @ (10) Oregon - Colorado once again proved the doubters wrong and won. They did need two overtime’s to do it, but they still did win. Shedeur Sanders went 38/47 for 348 yards, 4 touchdowns, and a pick. On the year, he’s thrown for 1,251 yards, 10 touchdowns and one pick. Tack on his running touchdown, and Sanders looks even better. Something of note is that Sanders has only 29 incompletions, which leads to a 78.7 completion percentage. The biggest news from last week was that Travis Hunter went out and will miss this game and probably a few more, including USC next week. Hunter has 16 catches for 213 yards, and a pick. That’s a big hit to both the offense and defense, but Shilo Sanders looked phenomenal last week. He picked off Colorado State Quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown. He also forced a fumble. Linebacker Juwan Mitchell had 13 solo tackles and 2 assists, one of those tackles being a tackle for loss. Colorado’s defense have let up a lot of yards, so Oregon has to be able to move the ball and score. Because Colorado doesn’t really run the ball, Dan Lanning needs to key in and stop Sanders. The Ducks’ defense has been solid. They let up 7 points week one and 10 last week. They did allow 30 points and 456 yards against Texas Tech, but forced 4 turnovers, 3 of them being interceptions. Dan Lanning was the mastermind behind Georgia’s 2021 defense, so he can definitely draw up a plan to slow down Colorado. Georgia crossed paths with Auburn that season, and played Bo Nix. Nix went 21/38 for 217 yards and 1 interception. Nix transferred to Oregon after that season, and the rest is history. So far he’s thrown for 893 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Bucky Irving has 27 carries for 216 yards and 3 touchdowns, 2 of them coming in week one against Portland State. Jordan James has 22 rushes for 155 yards and 5 touchdowns, 2 coming against Hawaii last week and 3 against Portland State. Troy Franklin has 17 catches for 292 yards and 3 touchdowns. He is definitely one of the best Pac-12 receivers, and we’ll see it tested this week as they open conference play. Oregon keys in on Shedeur Sanders and slows down Colorado, winning 34-24. Odds: Oregon -21, O/U 70
  3. (22) UCLA @ (11) Utah - This game just continues the fact that this week is going to be epic. UCLA has been explosive, while Utah has been a little bit more calm while Cameron Rising has been out. The Bruins are averaging 527 yards per game, and Dante Moore has played so good you wouldn’t think he’s a true freshman. He thrown for 615 yards, 7 touchdowns and 1 pick. He didn’t start the Coastal Carolina game, but he played so well that game Chip Kelly named him the starter after. He threw his only interception that game, but he did throw for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns. As good as this passing game is for UCLA, the running game is even better. Carson Steele has 30 carries for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns, while TJ Harden has 25 carries for 233 yards and he also has 2 touchdowns. Steele has been pretty active in the passing game as well, with 7 catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. UCLA’s top receiver, J. Michael Sturdivant, has 9 catches for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns. The defense is also really good, with 10 sacks so far this season. Defensive Lineman Laiatu Lati has been a beast, with 4 of those 10 sacks being his. He also has a forced fumble and a pick. UCLA as a team has 6 interceptions. The defense needs to slow down Utah, especially Cam Rising as he might be back this week. Nate Johnson started last week in a 31-7 win over Weber State, but how well will he play against one of the better Pac-12 defenses. Johnson’s 22/32 for 281 yards and 1 touchdown, while also rushing for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns on 33 carries. The defense has 7 total sacks, with 3 different players having 2 sacks. They do have wins over Florida and Baylor, but even though they weren’t pretty, they still beat 2 power 5 teams. This Utah team is not to be stepped on, but with Rising out, UCLA gets the 37-28 dub. Odds: Utah -6, O/U 52.5
  4. (15) Ole Miss @ (13) Alabama - Alabama has won the last 7 matchups, and Ole Miss won last back in 2015. Alabama hasn’t played in this game and been ranked outside of the top 10 since 2007, but even then they had to vacate the win. Last year, this was played at Ole Miss, but now Jaxson Dart has to weather the storm as Quinshon Judkins has been banged up. Judkins hasn’t really been able to run that well this year, as he only has 144 yards in the season. Dart is the leading rusher for Ole Miss so far, with 213 yards and 2 touchdowns. Wide Receiver Jordan Watkins has been unstoppable so far, with 15 catches for 290 yards and a touchdown. Dayton Wade has 11 catches for 215 yards and 0 touchdowns. Tre Harris has 8 catches for 188 yards and 5 touchdowns, but did not play last week and probably won’t play this week either. The defense has 10 sacks so far, and that should only increase this week, as Alabama allowed 5 sacks last week. Two quarterbacks played last week, Tyler Buchner, who went 5/14 for 34 yards, and Ty Simpson, who went 5/9 for 73 yards, but did get a rushing touchdown. Alabama’s only other touchdown in the 17-3 win was Roydell Williams, who had 17 carries for 129 yards. Nick Saban is going back to Jalen Milroe this game, who’s thrown for 449 yards, 5 touchdowns, but has thrown 2 interceptions. Milroe struggled in the loss against Texas, but has had 2 weeks to practice and prepare for this game. Even though this game is at home for Alabama, they still have some problems, and we saw Texas go into Bryant-Denny Stadium and win. Ole Miss gets the upset, 24-21. Bama’s defense stays strong, but lets Jaxson Dart and Ole Miss march down the field for Ole Miss to kick a last second field goal. Odds: Alabama -6.5, O/U 55.5
  5. (24) Iowa @ (7) Penn State - The annual White Out is a site to behold. Over 100,000 Penn State fans, decked in all white, jumping and screaming their hearts out. We’ve seen some memorable games, like the 2016 win over Ohio State and the 2013 4 overtime win against Michigan. Iowa is the 15th ranked team to come into Happy Valley for this game, and Penn State hasn’t lost this one since 2018, when they lost by one point. The last time Penn State lost this game by more than one score was in 2015 to Michigan. Iowa has only played in this game once, which was back in 2009. Iowa was unranked at the time, but was undefeated. GameDay was there, and the game didn’t disappoint, as Iowa went on to win 21-10. After that game, Iowa was ranked 13. Iowa won 5 more games before their first two losses of the season, and they finished 11-2, and ranked 7th. As for Penn State, it just slowed them down, as they also finished 11-2. These two schools last played in 2021, when Iowa won by 3. Penn State’s going to try to get revenge, and that all starts with Drew Allar at quarterback. He’s thrown for 737 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. He also has 15 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown. This is Allar’s first Big Ten game that he’s starting, so he should lean in his two amazing running backs, but if James Franklin draws up a deep shot, Allar should definitely deliver. His two running backs, Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, were some of the top backs in the Big Ten last year. Allen has 42 rushes for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Singleton has 36 rushes for 154 yards and 5 touchdown. Other than the big rushing yards, Allar has only been sacked twice, and the backups haven’t been sacked, so this offense line is very good. The O-line has to go up against this defense every day in practice, and the defense has 10 sacks, 5 interceptions, and 2 forced fumbles. One of those interceptions was a pick six. The defense has allowed 11.7 points per game and 96.7 rushing yards per game. Manny Diaz really should be a head coach somewhere, but for right now he’s making this Penn State defense even better, and it shows as they picked off Luke Altmyer 4 times last week and forced a fumble. Just like Penn State, Iowa has an incredible defense. They’ve allowed 12.3 points per game, and actually have a decent offense so far. The offense averages 302 points per game, and they even put up 39 points last week. The defense got a safety, which added to their 41-10 win over Western Michigan. The Michigan transfer, Cade McNamara, has thrown for 417 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 3 picks. Last week, McNamara went 9/19 for 103 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 picks. He has been wildly inconsistent this year, as he hasn’t had a completion percentage of 60 percent in a game where he started since the 2021 Big Ten championship game, which was against Iowa. The running and passing game have been pretty similar when it comes to yards, with Leshon Williams having 19 carries for 164 yards, Jaziun Patterson having 21 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown, and Kaleb Johnson with 34 carries for 91 yards and and a touchdown. Iowa’s leading receiver is Tight End Luke Lachey, who has 10 catches for 131 yards, but got injured last week. Patterson and Johnson are also injured. Penn State rolls over this incredible defense, 38-23. Odds: Penn State -14.5, O/U 40
  6. (14) Oregon State @ (21) Wazzu - The battle of the Pac 2 is on! Washington State has an upset over Wisconsin, while Oregon State struggled a little bit last week. DJ Uiagalelei especially struggled last week, as he went 14/30 for 284 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 picks. His only touchdown pass came on a 75 yarder in the 4th quarter. Uiagalelei also had a rushing touchdown. Oregon State won 26-9 over SDSU, as the defense had one interception. On the year, DJ Uiagalelei has 630 yards, 6 touchdowns, but the 2 picks from last week. He also has 4 rushing touchdowns. Damien Martinez is one of the best running backs in the Pac-12, with 40 carries for 351 yards and 1 touchdown. The defense has been superb, notching 12 sacks through 3 games and 5 forced fumbles. They only allow 260 yards per game, and 57.7 rushing yards per game. They’re secondary hasn’t been bad, but if you look at just the San Jose State and San Diego State games, you’ll see that they allow around 240 passing yards, but the average is at 202.3 because of the 55-7 win over UC Davis. Cameron Ward has thrown for nearly 1000 yards so far this season, so it will be interesting how Oregon Stat tries to stop Ward and Washington State. Ward has 986 yards, 9 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and even leads Wazzu is rushing yards. He does only have 95 yards and 2 touchdowns, as Nakia Watson hasn’t been able to get anything going in the rushing game. Against an easier opponent, like Northern Colorado, Wazzu can run the ball and  do well, as they had 36 rushing attempts for 239 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. They also had 718 total yards last week. Against a harder opponent, like Wisconsin, they can’t run the ball as well. Oregon State is going to shut down this rushing game that’s not working, and they are going to let Ward fire strikes all night. Most of his passes are going to Lincoln Victor, who has 24 catches for 342 yards and 3 touchdowns so far. Their defense hasn’t been as good, allowing 363.7 yards per game, 268.3 of them being passing yards. Even though Wazzu’s defense is going to have a hard time stopping Oregon State, Pullman is going to be rocking and the home field advantage will be a big help in their 34-28 win. Odds: Oregon State -3, O/U 58.5
  7. BYU @ Kansas - BYU plays their first ever Big 12 game, and they are riding high after a win over Arkansas as underdogs on the road last week. Kansas is also coming off of a win, but it was only a one score win over Nevada, who are really bad. Jalon Daniels went 21/27 for 300 yards, while Devin Neal had 3 rushing touchdowns. On the year, Neal has 40 rushes for 303 yards and 5 touchdowns, while Daniels has 574 yards, 2 touchdowns, and one pick, but he didn’t play week one. This KU offense is electric, averaging 500 yards per game, with 283.7 passing yards per game. Along with Neal at running back, Daniel Hishaw Jr. has 25 carries for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns. Neal also has 8 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown, but Kansas’ leading receiver is Lawrence Arnold, who has 14 catches for 212 yards, but has yet to get into the end zone. Kansas’ defense has 5 forced fumbles, but no recoveries, which Kansas needs to do if they want to contend in the Big 12 this year. They picked off Luke Altmyer twice in week two, but did let him get a 72 yard rushing touchdown. They allowed 260 total yards last week and 341 to Illinois, which looks like a lot less when you look at how much yards Kansas has put up. The defense is going to have trouble stopping BYU, as they average 310.7 yards per game. Kedon Slovis looked like a game manager last week, throwing for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Wide Receiver Parker Kingston threw a touchdown. Kingston also caught a touchdown last week. Slovis isn’t a game manager, BYU only averages 78.3 rush yards, but Slovis definitely needs to play better than last week. Slovis has thrown for 660 yards, 6 touchdowns, and one pick. He also does have 3 rushing touchdowns, two of them coming as BYU’s only points in week one. The defense has only 5 sacks so far, half of them coming from Tyler Batty. He also has a forced fumble. This team is really average, plus the jitters of their first conference game should add an extra level of difficulty. Kansas wins 28-17. Odds: Kansas -9.5, O/U 55
  8. Auburn @ Texas A&M - Auburn plays their first SEC game under Hugh Freeze, and it should disappoint. They face Jimbo Fisher’s Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies are 2-1 with a loss to Miami on the road. Last year, A&M’s offense was pretty bad. They scored 22.8 points per game, which was the 101st offense in FBS. So far this year, they’ve scored 44 points per game, which is 12th. They’ve blown out New Mexico and UL Monroe, while putting up 33 in the Miami loss. After the Miami game, they fell out of the polls. Conner Weigman has been the engineer of this electric offense, as he’s thrown for 909 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. He also has 11 rushes for 69 yards and 2 touchdowns. Weigman is tied with Amari Daniels for rushing touchdowns. Daniels also has 34 carries for 149 yards. The defense has been great other than the Miami game, but they played cupcakes in their other two games. A&M have a long and tough conference schedule ahead of them, and it starts with the new and revamped Auburn Tigers. For the first time since 2019, Auburn is 3-0. Auburn also started their SEC play with Texas A&M that year. Auburn went on the finish the season 9-4, and they are trying to do the Sam with Hugh Freeze. They blew out UMass and Samford, but had an ugly win against Cal, where there was a combined 7 turnovers. Payton Thorne has thrown for 517 yards, but threw two picks last week. He’s also thrown for 4 touchdowns. Thorne is also Auburn’s leading rusher with 140 yards. Backup Quarterback Robby Ashford has 4 rushing touchdowns, but 3 of them came in week one. Even though they’ve blown out opponents, it’s the same as Texas A&M. Playing 2 cupcakes and even though Cal is not on the same level as Miami, they are harder than Auburn’s other opponents. The defense has been suffocating, allowing 12.3 points per game, and have forced 7 turnovers so far. For as many turnovers they’ve forced, Auburn’s turned the ball over 7 times in the past two weeks. Because of the turnover prone offense, A&M gets the win, 28-20. Odds: Texas A&M -8, O/U 51.5
  9. (4) Florida State @ Clemson - Florida State and Clemson was looking like two top 10 teams were going to matchup in Death Valley in the preseason. Now, Clemson has fallen out of the rankings while Florida State has boomed even farther than we thought. Clemson fell out after a week one loss to Duke and a bad 1st half in week two, while FSU beat LSU in week one. Clemson did destroy FAU last week, in a game where Cade Klubnik had 4 total touchdowns. Other than the first 6 quarters, Clemson has been pretty good. The rushing backs of Will Shipley and Phil Mafah have a combined 391 rushing yards and Mafah has 3 touchdowns. Shipley does has one receiving touchdown, but he needs to get into the end zone more as he had 15 rushing touchdowns last year. Linebacker Wade Woodaz has 2 picks, being returned for a combined 94 yards, and one of them going for a touchdown. Clemson also has another pick six from Nate Wiggins, who returned it 46 yards. They do only have 4 sacks, and have had some trouble getting after dual threat quarterbacks, which we saw in week one against Riley Leonard. Jordan Travis is particularly a dual threat, but he ran for 417 yards and 7 touchdowns last year. Travis is in the Heisman race, with 9 total touchdowns and 729 passing yards. If it wasn’t for Boston College committing 18 penalties, including a face mask that if not committed, would give BC the ball back after a 3rd down stop, Florida State wouldn’t have won. Travis didn’t play bad, but a 31-29 win over one of the worst power 5 teams is not good. FSU fell down a spot in the rankings, but are still strong and can still make the playoffs. Running Back Trey Benson has 4 rushing touchdowns, while Keon Coleman has 4 receiving touchdowns, 3 of them coming against LSU. He had 3 targets last week and no catches, which he definitely needs to improve on this week. The defense wasn’t as bad as Coleman was last week, albeit they allowed 457 total yards and 19 unanswered points. They did get a pick, but Boston College held the ball for nearly 34 minutes. BC went 8-19 on 3rd downs and 4-5 on 4th downs, while FSU went 1-9 on 3rd downs and 1-1 on 4th. Florida State needs to get Clemson off the field and capitalize when they are in 3rd down scenarios on offense. Florida State does get the win, 31-24. Don’t forget that just because Clemson is unranked and has one loss does not mean that they are bad. Odds: Florida State -2, O/U 55
  10. Arkansas @ (12) LSU - The Battle for the Golden Boot is on when KJ Jefferson and the Hogs take on Jayden Daniels and LSU’s high flying offense. LSU torched Mississippi State last week, with Daniels going 30/34 for 361 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 2 rushing touchdowns. His main target was Malik Nabers, who caught 13 passes for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns. Nabers now has 24 catches for 400 yards and 3 touchdowns. LSU shouldn’t be counted out of the playoff because of their loss to Florida State, and we saw that last week. On the season, Daniels has 976 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 2 more rushing touchdowns. He also leads LSU in rushing yards with 157. His second top receiver is Brian Thomas Jr. He has 20 receptions for 280 yards and 3 touchdowns. They only let up 201 yards and 10 first downs against Mississippi State, and 10 points against Grambling State. They need to curb KJ Jefferson, who leads Arkansas’ explosive offense. They score 38.3 points per game, and Jefferson has thrown for 630 yards, 6 touchdowns, and has rushed for 89 more yards and another rushing touchdown. They are coming off of a 38-31 loss to BYU, where they beat themselves, losing a fumble on their second to last drive and two penalties  on their last two plays. They are once again without Rocket Sanders, who got hurt in the opener. The defense only allows 55.7 rushing yards per game, but that won’t probably matter as LSU averages 344.3 passing yards per game. LSU gets their first SEC win, 42-24. Odds: LSU -17.5, O/U 55
  11. Mississippi State @ South Carolina - Both South Carolina and Mississippi State are coming off of losses to SEC powerhouses, and while South Carolina led at halftime, the Bulldogs were down 24-7. They went onto lose 41-14, while SC lost 24-14. The Gamecocks are the only below .500 team, with a loss to North Carolina in week one. Spencer Rattler has looked pretty good, throwing for 954 yards and 4 touchdowns, while also throwing 2 interceptions. Even though the yards have been there for Rattler, he’s been sacked 12 times, 9 of them coming against North Carolina. South Carolina cannot run the ball to save their life, averaging 53 rushing yards per game. Dakereon Joyner has 28 rushes for 3 touchdowns and 75 yards, but he’s SC’s leading rusher. Last week against, Georgia, South Carolina was up 14-3. Rattler was 16/18 for 152 yards and a touchdown, while Defensive Tackle T.J. Sanders had a sack and 2 tackle for losses. He also had 6 total tackles. Sanders ended the game with 9 total tackles, 1 sack, and 2 tackles for losses. Rattler finished 22/42 for 256 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Their leading receiver, Xavier Legette had 7 catches for 71 yards, and now has 367 yards and a touchdown. South Carolina has a lot to figure out if they even want to make a bowl game, and it starts Saturday against Mississippi State. Under Mike Leach, State was throwing the ball everywhere, as Will Rodgers threw for 4,740 yards in 2021 and 4,000 last year. In 2021, the team only had 821 combined rushing yards.  But so far this year, Jo’Quavious Marks has 51 carries for 325 yards and 3 touchdowns. State averages 179 rushing yards per game, while only throwing for 165.3 per game. Will Rodgers only has 500 yards and 5 touchdowns, but he does have 0 interceptions, which is an improvement as he threw 8 last year and 9 in 2021. There is still time in the season for this to change, but for right now it’s looking good. Obviously the offense is going to be tweaked a little bit once you get a new coach and offensive coordinator, but I didn’t expect it to change by this much. The defense has a lot to figure out after the LSU loss, where they allowed 530 total yards, and let Jayden Daniels throw for 361 yards and rush for 64 yards. The SEC play only gets harder for South Carolina, but Mississippi State figures things out and win 27-14. Odds: South Carolina -6, O/U 47
  12. (16) Oklahoma @ Cincinnati - Both of these teams started the year out hot, and whole Cincy has fizzled a little bit, Oklahoma has only gotten better. OU won opening weekend, 73-0 against Arkansas State. They did have a little bit of a down game against SMU, but went back to their week one ways to destroy Tulsa. Dillon Gabriel has thrown for 11 touchdowns already, and it would’ve been more if he played the whole Arkansas State game. Gabriel has also thrown for just over 900 yards, while also running for a touchdown. His main target is Drake Stoops, who has 14 catches for 3 touchdowns. He got hurt in the Arkansas State game, and only caught 2 passes against SMU. OU’s leading receiver is Amstel Anthony, who has 254 yards. Linebacker Danny Stutsman has been a tackling machine, racking up 30 total tackles, 17 of them coming against SMU. This defense has been pretty good all around, with 6 picks and 5 sacks. One of the interceptions is also a pick six. Brent Venables had solid defenses at Clemson, and he brings it over, even though their defense wasn’t good last year. Just like Dillon Gabriel, Emory Jones had an incredible week one. Jones had 7 total touchdowns, 5 off them being passing yards. He led Cincinnati to a 66-13 win, but has followed that up with two mediocre games. Last week, I thought Cincy would destroy Miami of Ohio, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Jones didn’t throw for a touchdown, as he instead threw two picks. He did run for 101 yards and a touchdown, but Jones is a quarterback, not a running back. I really want Emory Jones to succeed at Cincinnati, but these past two games did not help me believe he would get better. Running Back Corey Kiner has been really good this year, with just under 300 yards and 2 touchdowns. Emory Jones has more rushing touchdowns, with 3, making his total touchdowns 10. Obviously this is Cincinnati’s first year without Luke Fickell as their head coach, but they lose their first Big 12 game, 48-21. Odds: Oklahoma -14, O/U 57.5
  13. Memphis @ Missouri - Missouri should definitely be ranked, but are only receiving 72 votes. They upset 15th ranked Kansas State off the longest made field goal in SEC history. That was off the foot of Harrison Mevis, who has been a solid kicker for Missouri. Mizzou won 30-27, and as K-State fell out, Missouri did not come in. Quarterback Brady Cook has thrown for 732 yards and 5 touchdowns. He’s also ran for 3 touchdowns. Cook is day to day with a knee injury, but if he does play, it’ll be a fun game. His top target is Luther Burden III, who has 22 catches for 327 yards and 3 touchdowns. Memphis needs to stop him if they want a chance of winning. Running Back Cody Schrader has 51 carries for 280 yards and a touchdown. Their defense only allows 83.3 rush yards per game, and Memphis rushes for 182.7 rush yards per game. Running Back Blake Watson for Memphis has 40 carries, 300 yards and 4 touchdowns. He’s going to have a tough day against Mizzou’s defense, and it’s going to go from 60 to 0 real fast. He had 169 yards last week, but Quarterback Seth Henigan took 2 of his touchdowns running them in from 1 yard and 3 yards out. Memphis went onto win 28-24. They played cupcakes in week one and two, as Navy made them sweat a little bit. They now play Mizzou, who’s one of the 5 undefeated teams in the SEC. Missouri wins, 31-21. Odds: Missouri -6.5, O/U 51.5
  14. Maryland @ Michigan State - Michigan State has some things going on off the field that resulted in Michigan State basically saying that they’re firing Mel Tucker. Anyways, MSU was humiliated last week against Washington, losing 41-7. They Washington to score the first 41 points of the game, and 4 passing touchdowns from Michael Penix Jr. Michigan State played two cupcakes in weeks one and two, so of course they looked good. They struggled mightily last week, and I believe that will continue here against Maryland. Quarterback Noah Kim has thrown for 707 yards and 5 touchdowns. Last week, he went 12/31 for 136 yards and a pick. Running Back Nathan Carter is pretty much their only running back, rushing for 272 yards and 4 touchdowns on 54 carries. Kim’s top target is Tre Mosley, who has 11 catches for 144 yards and a touchdown. The defense has 10 total sacks, but only 2 picks and no forced fumbles. They also allowed 713 total yards of offense last week, which they definitely need to improve on. Even though Maryland doesn’t have the same caliber of offense as Washington, they do have a pretty good one. They average 480 yards per game, 304 of those being passing yards. They put up 38 points in week one and two, while they put up 42 last week. Taulia Tagovailoa has thrown for 890 yards, 5 touchdowns, and two picks. Leading Running Back Roman Hemby has 40 rushes for 243 yards and 4 touchdowns. Maryland’s top 2 receivers, Jeshaun Jones and Tight End Corey Dyches both have 200 yards, Jones has 2 touchdowns and Dyches has one. The defense has been pretty good, but the hardest team the faced was Virginia, and they might be the worst power 5 team. I think Tagovailoa balls out, and Maryland wins 28-13. Odds: Maryland -7.5, O/U 52.5
  15. SMU @ TCU - The battle for the Iron Skillet is on! TCU started the year ranked, but lost to Colorado and fell out. They’ve bounced back nicely, beating Nicholls and blowing out Houston. SMU is also 2-1, with a loss to Oklahoma. They’ve beaten Louisiana Tech and Prairie View, and Quarterback Preston Stone has looked pretty good. Both of these teams have a high flying offense, and that’s a surprise because TCU lost both Max Duggan, Kendre Miller and Quentin Johnston to the draft. In Duggan’s spot came Chandler Morris, who actually started the season last year. So far, he’s thrown for 860 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 picks. He also has 146 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Even though the quarterback has 23 carries, it doesn’t take away from Emani Bailey, who has 56 carries for 357 yards. TCU does a really good job of going back and forth between the running and passing game, averaging 302 passing yards per game and 212.7 rushing yards per game. Unlike TCU, SMU’s leading rusher isn’t near Bailey’s yards. Their leading rusher is LJ Johnson Jr., who has 27 rushes for 153 yards and a touchdown. He doesn’t have the most carries, as that title goes to Jaylan Knighton, who has 32. Quarterback Payton Stone has 10 total touchdowns, 828 total yards, and 2 interceptions. He has a few targets that are just over 100 yards, but his main target is Jake Bailey, who has 13 catches for 136 yards, but no touchdowns. Defensively, SMU has 11 sacks and hold opponents to 103.7 rush yards per game. TCU has 8 of the last 10, including last years, and I think that continues as they win 31-24. Odds: TCU -6.5, O/U 63
  16. Kentucky @ Vanderbilt - Vandy has been looking pretty good this year, while Kentucky, even though they are 3-0, still have a lot to improve on. For example, they turned the ball over 3 times last week to Akron, but Devin Leary did throw for 3 touchdowns. Running Back Ray Davis transferred in from Vanderbilt to Kentucky this offseason, after rushing for 1,042 yards last year. So far he has 236 yards and 3 touchdowns, only 2 less than he had last year. Leary hasn’t looked too bad in his first year at Kentucky, throwing for 855 yards, 8 touchdowns and 3 picks. He hasn’t looked spectacular, but not bad. His main target has been Tayvion Robinson, who has 260 yards and 3 touchdowns. Defensively, Kentucky is led by Linebacker Trevin Wallace, who has 24 total tackles, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Kentucky has 10 sacks as a team. They also only allow 71 rushing yards per game, but they won’t need to stop Vanderbilt’s rushing game, they need to stop Vanderbilt’s passing game. They rush for 111.5 yards per game, and pass for  288.8 yards per game. Vanderbilt has played 4 games to most of the FBS’s 3, but Quarterback AJ Swann has thrown for 1,101 yards, which is 4th in FBS. He’s also thrown for 11 touchdowns, and 6 of those have gone to Will Sheppard, who has 314 yards as well. Vanderbilt’s defense hasn’t been too good, and Kentucky should attack that pretty well. Vandy is 2-2 and are coming off of 2 straight losses, and that continues as Devin Leary and AJ Swann have a shootout, but Kentucky wins 45-34. Odds: Kentucky -13.5, O/U 51
  17. UCF @ Kansas State - Kansas State was looking to repeat winning the Big 12, but it got a whole lot tougher after last week’s loss to Missouri. UCF are taking on K-State in their first ever Big 12 game. Since the Gus Bis has tapped down in Orlando, UCF has been pretty good, but not like they were with Scott Frost and Josh Heupel. In 2021 UCF went 9-4 and 9-5 in 2022. They start the year 3-0, with wins over Kent State, Boise State, and Villanova. Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee is a dual threat, but hasn’t looked the same as last year. He’s thrown 3 touchdowns to 4 interceptions, ran for 163 yards and a touchdown. He will miss this game and a few others, but once he comes back he needs to get on track. Because of Plumlee’s injury, Timmy McClain played last week. He threw for 321 yards, 2 touchdowns, and ran for 44 yards as well. That game was against Villanova, a FCS team, so we’ll see how well he plays this week. Henry will definitely have to play well if UCF wants to upset K-State, who has one of the better Big 12 quarterbacks, in Will Howard. Howard has thrown for 817 yards, 8 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He has thrown a pick in each of his games, so UCF will definitely be trying to get one this week. He’s also ran for 3 touchdowns. Howard didn’t play bad last week in the loss, but his early pick led to a field goal for Missouri, which has the deciding factor in the 30-27 loss. Kansas State has done a good job at getting into the backfield, with 10 total sacks and allowing 50 rush yards per game. UCF’s defense is pretty good, so Will Howard might struggle, but DJ Giddens and Treshaun Ward should help him out at running back. K-State wins, 24-17. Odds: K-State -3.5, O/U 52
  18. Wisconsin @ Purdue - Purdue lost 3 fumbles last week and Hudson Card threw a pick. Purdue couldn’t get the running game going either, rushing for 80 yards off 32 attempts. Purdue also let up 271 rushing yards, and that’s going to continue as Wisconsin loves to run the ball. Chez Mellusi and Braelon Allen have combined for 76 carries, 523 yards and 8 touchdowns. Tanner Mordecai has also rushed for 2 touchdowns. Mordecai has thrown for 702 yards, but only 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The defense has 10 sacks and 5 picks. They are physical and are going to get after Hudson Card, who struggled mightily last week. Henry threw his first pick of the season, and even though he had 2 touchdowns, he fumbled the ball 4 times and lost 3. Purdue also fumbled the ball 7 times but Syracuse only recovered 3. Devin Mockobee couldn’t get anything done, while the defense let Garrett Shrader pass for 184 yards and rush for 195 and 4 touchdowns, all on 25 carries while he only completed 14 passes. Purdue’s defense is going to struggle against Wisconsin, and the Badgers win 35-14. Odds: Wisconsin -5.5, O/U 54
  19. Texas Tech @ West Virginia - This is the battle off the mid-off, with Texas Tech being 1-2 and West Virginia Quarterback Garrett Greene being questionable with an injury. Let’s start with Tech, who lost opening weekend against Wyoming and then lost a close one against Oregon. Props to Texas Tech getting into a close game with Oregon, but when you turn the ball over 4 times, there’s going to be a very low chance you win, against any opponent. Tyler Shough has thrown for 743 yards and 7 touchdowns, but has thrown 4 touchdowns. Shough also has 2 rushing touchdowns. He needs to play well if Texas Tech wants to win this game and be a threat in the Big 12. The defense is suffocating, and we see that with Malik Dunlap, who has 2 picks, one of them being a pick six. As for West Virginia, they have two great defensive players, Tomiwa Durojaiye, who has 2.5 sacks, while Beanie Bishop Jr. has 2 picks. If Garrett Greene can’t go on offense, it’s going to be a huge blow to WVU, as he has 5 total touchdowns, 402 passing yards and 105 rushing yards. If he can’t go, it’ll be Nicco Marchiol, who came in and threw a touchdown in West Virginia’s win last week. Regardless of Garrett Greene’s injury come Saturday, West Virginia wins a slug fest, 17-14. Odds: Texas Tech -6, O/U 55
  20. (20) Miami @ Temple - It’s no secret that Miami will blow out Temple in this game, but Temple should make this game interesting at the start. For Miami, they are led by Tyler Van Dyke, who’s thrown for 822 yards, 8 touchdowns and has rushed for a touchdown. Their whole offense is electric, with 511 total yards of offense, while their defense has been pretty good. They only allow 271 yards per game, 60.3 off those being rushing yards. This should affect Temple, as they ran the ball 41 times last week. Quarterback E.J. Warner has thrown for 760 yards, but has been wildly inconsistent, going 62 for 118, which is a 52.5 completion percentage. Henry really needs to complete his passes if Temple wants a shot at winning this game, but Miami wins 52-14. Odds: Miami -23.5 O/U 47
  21. (3) Texas @ Baylor - Texas have their highest ranking since 2009. They are ranked 3 after a win over Alabama in week 2 and Florida State dropping back in the rankings after struggling against Boston College. There was some questions about Quinn Ewers in the offseason, especially because Arch Manning was getting a lot of hype. But he has silenced those doubters, throwing for 740 yards, 8 touchdowns and has rushed for 2 touchdowns. His main target is Xavier Worthy, who’s caught 16 passes for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns. Along with Worthy, Ewers has Ja’Tavion Sanders, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington as reliable targets. Baylor has been unraveling since 2021, but pretty much since Matt Rhule left. They are 1-2, but their only win is over a FCS school. Blake Shapen is probably not going to play this week, so that just puts their odds at winning even lower. Backing him up and starting this game is Sawyer Robertson, who has been very inconsistent so far, and has only thrown 1 touchdown compared to his 3 picks. The defense is horrific, letting up 333.7 yards per game. Texas runs and throws all over Baylor, winning 42-3. Odds: Texas -14.5, O/U 49
  22. Minnesota @ Northwestern - Northwestern and Nebraska are tied for the worst Big Ten team, but every week it changes for me. Northwestern is 1-2 with losses to Rutgers and Duke. As for Minnesota, they also have a loss to an ACC team, that being North Carolina. Both of these teams quarterbacks haven’t been that good. Athen Kaliakmanis has thrown 446 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 picks. He also has a completion percentage of 51.1, which is only slightly worse than Ben Bryant, who has a completion percentage of 55.2, while also throwing for 408 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 picks. This game will be a slug fest, and it all depends on which quarterback plays better. Minnesota are big favorites, and Running Back Darius Taylor, who has 334 yards, takes them to a 17-11 win. Odds: Minnesota -11, O/U 39.5
  23. California @ (8) Washington - Washington has been electric under Michael Penix Jr., who is in my Heisman race, and has thrown for 1,332 yards, 12 touchdowns, and only 1 pick. The trio of wide receivers are the best in college football, and it shows as Rome Odunze has 419 yards, which is second in all of college football. Cal is led by Running Back Jaydn Ott, who has ran for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns. He leads the Cal rushing game, something that Washington lacks. Just like how Washington doesn’t have a good rushing game, Cal doesn’t have a good passing game. Cal’s quarterback is Ben Finley, who’s thrown for 326 yards, but only one touchdown and one pick. Washington’s offense averages 614.7 yards per game, and should destroy Cal, 42-13. This could possibly be the last game both of these teams play against each other as Pac-12 teams, which will be sad to see as these two teams have been in the same conference for over 100 years. Odds: Washington -20.5, O/U 59
  24. Oklahoma State @ Iowa State - This is the real battle of mid teams, as both offenses are sluggish. Oklahoma  State is 2-1, but are running a 3 quarterback system, and it didn’t work as they lost last week, 33-7 to South Alabama. Mike Gundy needs to pick a quarterback and stick with him.   In the loss last week, Oklahoma State went for 208 total yards, had 2 turnovers and only 14 first downs, while letting up 400 yards and 33 points. They also held the ball for 2( minutes and 20 seconds, which they need to do a better job of this week, especially because Iowa State had the ball for 24 minutes last week, which means that if Oklahoma State can just hold the ball for longer, they can dominate. Iowa State has lost 2 straight, dropping a game to Iowa and losing to Ohio, 10-7. That is not good, and Iowa State needs to step it up. At the end of the day, Oklahoma State is 2-1 while Iowa State is 1-2, so Oklahoma State wins 13-7. Odds: Iowa State -3.5, O/U 35.5
  25. FAU @ Illinois - Both of these teams looked horrible 2 weeks ago, and it continued as Luke Altmyer threw 4 picks in a loss to Penn State. 2 weeks ago Casey Thompson threw 2 picks in a loss to Ohio. He played against Clemson, but threw 2 more picks and is now out for the year with an ACL tear. Starting for him is Daniel Richardson, the Central Michigan transfer. He also threw a pick in the loss to Clemson. FAU needs to control the ball, and they can start by running the ball. They had 36 attempts for 83 yards last week, and only average just over 100 rushing yards per game. The defense allows 218.7 passing yards per game, and only 3 picks. They should get more interceptions and will try their hardest to stop Luke Altmyer. Altmyer has thrown only 3 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, 4 of his interceptions coming last week. He does 2 rushing touchdowns, but both came against Kansas. The defense lost a lot of talent, including Ryan Walters, who has their defensive coordinator last year. Illinois allows 446 yards per game and 30.7 points per game. Illinois has a lot to figure out, but they get it done, 24-13. Odds: Illinois -15.5, O/U 45.5


My top 5 Heisman candidates


  1. Caleb Williams - No surprised here, as Williams won the heisman last year and has thrown for 878 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. He also has a rushing touchdown. USC hasn’t really played anybody, and their first test is next week against Colorado. That game is in the road, just like their game this week against Arizona State. If the opposing crowd shakes Williams up, he might drop, but for right now USC is 3-0 and Caleb Williams is number one. 
  2. Michael Penix Jr. - We have our second Pac-12 quarterback on this list, but he’s not the last one. Penix has thrown for 1,332 yards, 12 touchdowns, and a pick. He has the most passing yards and has the second most passing touchdowns, one less than Sam Hartman. Penix has his incredible trio of wide receivers, and Washington will certainly be giving USC a run for their money in the Pac-12. For right now, Penix is second, but he can always sprout up, especially after last week’s affair, where he threw for 473 yards and 4 touchdowns in a win.
  3. Jordan Travis - Travis has looked strong, but he should’ve destroyed Boston College. It’s not his fault that the game was close, as he threw for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns. He looked phenomenal in week one, but he didn’t play all of the second game, so he has 739 yards, 8 touchdowns and only one pick. He also has 100 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. FSU plays Clemson this week and Duke in a few weeks, but we’ve seen how well Travis handles the pressure in his game against FSU. Travis is ready to go after an injury to his non-throwing arm.
  4. Blake Corum - Corum is the only running back in this list, and for good reason. He has 37 carries for 254 yards and 6 touchdowns. He had his first 100 yard rushing game last week, but Michigan hasn’t played a tough threat and won’t play one until Penn State and Ohio State near the end of the year. Obviously other teams might slip them up, but Corum is here and leading this team. Corum had 247 carries for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns, so he will try to replicate that again this season.
  5. Shedeur Sanders - The reason Sanders is this low is because of Travis Hunter’s injury. Hunter was a big boost to Sanders game, but with him being out for a few weeks, Sanders numbers might start to drop a little. Of course he has Xavier Weaver, who is second in receiving yards, and Jimmy Horn Jr., so his numbers shouldn’t take a big hit. Speaking of his numbers, he has 1,251 yards, 10 touchdowns and one pick. He also has a rushing touchdown. Colorado has two tough teams to face in the upcoming weeks, so we’ll see how well Sanders plays against them.
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