Saturday in Review: Week 4

Another Saturday, another day of great football games and many unexpected thrillers. There were a few upsets during Week 4 and a bit of revenge for the usually downtrodden Big Ten. It appears that no team will emerge from the state of Florida so impressive or dominant as previous champions. But perhaps the Noles can stumble their way to greatness?

The Seminoles came into their conference opener against Clemson without their Heisman-winning quarterback and team-leader, Jameis Winston. Well, #5 did appear on the sidelines, but he wasn't wearing pads. Instead, the Noles started the very inconsistent Sean Maguire and came away victorious in a spectacular game.

Rashad Green was the savior for Florida State. His 74-yard
touchdown reception tied the game in the fourth quarter.
Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Now Clemson's admittedly not the best team in the country. Let's face it, they are an above-average ACC team. And Florida State did not win this game nearly as much as Clemson lost it (a sad historical trend for Clemson). For most of the night, Clemson out-played Florida State handily in Doak-Campbell Stadium. But a few crucial missed opportunities by the Tigers, probably some that Clemson's players will never get over, allowed Florida State to survive and fight another day.

The fact is, coming away with a win of any kind after going through the sort of locker-room chaos FSU did before Saturday is fairly remarkable. A notable measure of adversity was overcome in Tallahassee by these Noles, which should not be discounted by anyone.

A sans-Winston Florida State likely would have been defeated rather easily last Saturday by the handful of teams better than Clemson. But of course, they didn't need to beat a team better than Clemson. We may still question whether Florida State is a championship-worthy team. But with Winston back on the squad, Florida State will have their opportunity to prove themselves this fall, though they may not face a tougher challenge until the post-season.

One thing is clear by this point. If the 2014 Seminoles are to repeat and become national champions, their season will not be like their predecessors'. The 2013 Seminoles were an anomaly. Though a great and talented team, their schedule lacked any opponent of comparable worth until the final game. Their schedule was far-and-away the weakest of the BCS era. This resulted in a season of repetitive blowouts and noncompetitive contests. Until Auburn, only one game was decided by less than three scores. After just three games, this 2014 team has already seen more tribulations. The 2014 Noles season may turn out more like the 2006 Gators, who scratched and clawed their way to a 13-1 record and national championship. Those Gators won five games decided by less than one score and even lost a close game on the road.

Saturday night's game against Clemson was the first overtime game in Doak since 2003 (which was also the Noles' last overtime victory). FSU's last overtime game was the 2006 Orange Bowl.

The Tide proved a tier-above the Gators on Saturday. The
teams have not played a truly competitive game since the
Gators' last win in 2008. The Tide have won four-straight.
Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Like the Tigers, the Crimson Tide made many mistakes, played sloppily at times, and missed opportunities last Saturday against the Gators. Still, this was not enough to prevent them from rolling over the over-matched Florida team. The game was surprisingly close and at-least theoretically competitive through the first two-and-a-half quarters. The Gators managed to capitalize on three of the Tide's four turnovers and score 21 points (the game was tied 21-21 near the beginning of the third). However, the Florida offense was otherwise hapless throughout the contest. Additionally, the defense allowed a school-record 645 yards last Saturday. This adds to a list of dubious distinctions made by Muschamp-coached teams. Despite this, it was the offense that is primarily to blame for this defeat. While the defense created all the scoring opportunities, the offense could never sustain a drive and particularly struggled converting on third downs. Failing to keep the defense off the field, the defensive players wore down in the third quarter and were rendered helpless to the Tide's onslaught. The score ended 42-21, but one easily imagines a more embarrassing score had been avoided.

Losing to Nick Saban's Alabama in Tuscaloosa (and as big underdogs, no-less) is nothing to be ashamed of. However, seeing the way the Gators played, there are legitimate concerns among Gator fans that the program will regress into total mediocrity this season. The Gators now get a week of rest before heading to Knoxville and attempting to get their season back on track. The Gators will look to improve their offensive and secondary play against the Volunteers.

In other parts of the state, the South Florida Bulls picked up a conference win by a score similar to the one I predicted. The Florida Atlantic Owls lost a heart-breaker, failing to stop a fourth-quarter rally by Wyoming and falling 20-19.

In an absolute shocker, the #18 Missouri Tigers fell to the unranked Indiana Hoosiers, 31-17. This may be the most embarrassing non-conference loss by an SEC team this season. Besides Indiana, other Big Ten schools like Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Nebraska impressed. Surprisingly, South Carolina struggled against a very weak-looking Vanderbilt. Considering the results posted by Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina last Saturday, the power-imbalance between East and West in the SEC appears as large as ever. A surprising result within the West was Mississippi State's 34-29 stunner over LSU in Tiger Stadium. The Bulldogs withstood a furious fourth-quarter comeback by LSU to win their first game in the annual series since 1999 (snapping a 14-game LSU win-streak) and their first in Baton Rouge since 1991.

Across the nation, the BYU Cougars topped the Virginia Cavaliers. It now appears that relatively little stands between BYU and a perfect (regular) season. Still, the Cougars must face UCF in Orlando, Nevada at home, Boise State in Boise, and Cal in Berkeley, so the odds of 12-0 are still not in their favor. Oregon thwarted Wazzou's upset bid, 38-31, in the Palouse. An egregious no-call pass interference aided the Ducks during WSU's last drive.

State of Florida:

• South Florida (2-2) over Connecticut (1-3), 17-16 17-14
• Louisville (3-1) over FIU (1-3), 45-17 34-3
• Florida (2-1) over #3 Alabama (4-0), 34-31 42-21
• Florida Atlantic (1-3) over Wyoming (3-1), 30-27 20-19
• UCF (1-2) over Bethune-Cookman (2-1), 42-10 41-7
• #1 Florida State (3-0) over #22 Clemson (1-2), 41-30 23-17 (OT)
• #24 Nebraska (4-0) over Miami (2-2), 27-16 41-31

Southeastern Conference:

• #5 Auburn (3-0) over #20 Kansas State (2-1), 44-14 20-14
• #13 Georgia (2-1) over Troy (0-4), 56-7 66-0
• #6 Texas A&M (4-0) over SMU (0-3), 52-3 58-6
• #18 Missouri (3-1) over Indiana (2-1), 48-17 31-27
• Arkansas (3-1) over Northern Illinois (3-1), 38-24 52-14
• #8 LSU (3-1) over Mississippi State (4-0), 31-14 34-29
• #14 South Carolina (3-1) over Vanderbilt (1-3), 45-6 48-34
• Kentucky (2-1), BYE
• #10 Mississippi (3-0), BYE
• Tennessee (2-1), BYE

Top 25:

• #2 Oregon (4-0) over Washington State (1-3), 45-13 38-31
• #4 Oklahoma (4-0) over West Virginia (2-2), 35-26 45-33
• #11 Michigan State (2-1) over Eastern Michigan (1-3), 52-3 73-14
• #19 Wisconsin (2-1) over Bowling Green (2-2), 38-14 68-17
• Virginia (2-2) over #21 BYU (4-0), 27-24 41-33
• #7 Baylor, BYE
• #9 Notre Dame, BYE
• #12 UCLA, BYE
• #15 Arizona State, BYE
• #16 Stanford, BYE
• #17 USC, BYE
• #23 Ohio State, BYE
• #25 Oklahoma State, BYE

Week 4 Record: 14-5 (74%)
Season Record: 33-12 (73%)