Massive Week 4 in College Football
Week Four brought to you by our good friends at Pythoge! East Alabama’s custom home builder and go-to for all renovations.
There have been several premiere matchups and dramatic stories so far through the first three weeks in the 2023 College Football Season. A former Seminole, Falcon, Cowboy, 49er, and Yankee has taken his brash, in-your-face style to Boulder, Colorado, making the entire world ask themselves, “Do you believe now?” The undefeated Father Time seems to be creeping into Tuscaloosa like the Grim Reaper ready to collapse a proud, entitled program in The Crimson Tide. Former proud programs from years past such as FSU, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Texas are experiencing a resurgence to national prominence highlighting their tarnished brands with long awaited big victories plus the exposure that comes along with them. A soon-to-be dissolved PAC-12 Conference has quietly wrestled away the claim to top league away from the mighty SEC. There have already been big upsets, last second game winning field goals, fans questioning their coaches, and we have only finished the first quarter of the 12-game regular season! What a time to be alive, be a fan, and be part of covering such a happening!
Despite all the excitement so far this season, we turn our focus and attention strictly to the games in Week 4 and beyond. This is by far the biggest and most meaningful week in the season yet. There are at least 7 games this week with potential playoff ramifications and a few more that will allow teams the possibility of launching themselves into at least conference championship contention. The link above clearly shows what is at stake and the importance still of the regular season in college football. What is happening during this point in the season is a DeFacto double elimination tourney to show the field of teams who has any right to claim entry into the final four at the end of the season. For current one-loss teams and early season contender picks such as Alabama, Clemson, and LSU, any loss in Week Four will almost 100% end National Championship aspirations before September is even over. Now is the time in the season for teams to begin their migration up the food chain in the polls towards the Top Ten by continuing to take care of business on the field. A loss for teams without a loss will not end a playoff berth and a national title, but it will handicap that possibility.
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In this week’s Uncle TBONE Top 20, there are 18 undefeated teams out of the 20 ranked, plus several Others Receiving Votes showing many teams with no losses and a few more with one loss. Legitimately, there are still 30-40 max teams in football right now who could make it to the Final Four. If that number feels too high for you, just wait and it will all sort itself out quickly by the end of October. At that point in the season there will be approximately 8-12 teams with any hope of making the playoffs. Also at that point, the regular season will also quickly change into a Defacto single elimination tourney with only a very few two-loss teams hoping for complete chaos allowing them to slide into that fourth spot in January.
Not to look too far ahead, out of all the games this week, Notre Dame hosting Ohio State is by far the icing on the cake. What is at stake? Both teams play a tough schedule and both teams have three critical games for them to position themselves nicely for championship contention. The Irish host Ohio State Week 4, host highly ranked Southern California on Week 7 and then travel to Clemson on Week 9. Outside of a scary let down game next week at Duke, if the Irish take care of business with their remaining schedule, take 2/3 in those Big 3 games mentioned, they will find themselves where history has had them several time: competing for a National Championship.
Ohio State, however, travels to South Bend Week 4, will play at home Week 7 against dangerous Penn State, then finish the season Week 12 in Ann Arbor against their hated rival Michigan. The classic let down game looming for The Buckeyes is Week 8 at Wisconsin. Outside of The Big 3 OSU plays, their schedule is manageable and winning 2/3 of those games would position them in a good place for the playoffs despite possibly playing in a conference title game. Which at that point would also be like being in a playoff most likely.
No. 4 Florida State at Clemson
12 p.m.
ABC
No. 15 Ole Miss at No. 13 Alabama
3:30 p.m.
CBS
No. 22 UCLA at No. 11 Utah
3:30 p.m.
Fox
No. 19 Colorado at No. 10 Oregon
3:30 p.m.
ABC
No. 14 Oregon State at No. 21 Washington State
7 p.m.
Fox
No. 6 Ohio State at No. 9 Notre Dame
7:30 p.m.
NBC
No. 24 Iowa at No. 7 Penn State
7:30 p.m.
CBS
Thoughts on key games above
FSU –3 at Clemson- Beware a wounded Tiger at home. Dabo Swinney of Clemson will be coaching for any possibility of a playoff berth Saturday against The Seminoles. With a week one loss at Duke, Swinney put his program behind the eight-ball early. The successful Tiger coach does not have to worry about his job security, but another loss could cause a concern for his sanity. Late to embrace NIL and the transfer portal, Swinney lacks the talent required to win a championship in 2023. Dynamic playmakers reign supreme at WR for FSU, QB Jordan Travis could be a Heisman contender and The Noles parlay an underrated run game with a physical defense pushing them even closer to being the Number One team in the country. Noles 30 Clemson 21.
Ole Miss +7.5 at Alabama- Despite one loss in Week 2 to Texas, The Tide still has all goals in front of them. QB Jalen Milroe was benched in Week 3, then reinstated as starting QB heading into this key matchup. The coaching staff at Alabama has spent all week trying to convince their squad that the first three weeks of the season are in the past and the game against Ole Miss should be looked at as the start of the new season. There just are no more mulligans now in Week 4 moving forward. No coach exists on Earth now (or maybe ever) relishes this opportunity more to send Nick Saban’s dynasty at Alabama into disarray than Lane Kiffin. Well, except maybe his Defensive Coordinator, Pete Golding, who was ostracized constantly while holding that same position at Alabama. It is “DO OR DIE” for both programs. If Ole Miss under Kiffin cannot get it done this Saturday against Saban, then they never will. Rebels 41 Alabama 39.
UCLA +5 at Utah- Utah QB Cam Rising has yet to play this season and will may finally be available this Saturday. The Utes may be the most boring team in the Top 20 but at least they are consistent. Bruins head coach Chip Kelley, once thought to be an offensive mastermind in football, has UCLA at 3-0 to start the season. This has been primarily due to a defense in Los Angeles that has surrendered only 10 points per game on average this season. Do not let that stat fool you; UCLA has played a weak schedule. In the last three trips to Salt Lake City, UCLA has yet to cover against Utah. Make it four in a row in a lower than usual scoring PAC 12 Game. Utes 23 UCLA 17.
Colorado +21.5 at Oregon- The 3-0 Colorado Buffalos will wagon The Oregon Trail and take on the Ducks this Saturday hoping to continue the momentum on the hottest story so far in this young college football season. Oregon 12th year Senior QB, Bo Nix, has quietly been putting together finally a dark-horse Heisman quality season in his career through three weeks. Colorado has a Heisman worthy QB right now also in Shedeur Sanders. If all world talent Travis Hunter were not hurt missing this game, the Buffalos would be a sexy upset pick to win outright. Three games in The Buffalos are beginning to see the effects of a thin roster across the board with injuries. Although Coach Prime will be up for the moment in his first Pac-12 game, his team will slowly begin to let him down. Colorado will need a wild shootout to win this game, so expect a lot of fireworks from both QBs. Ducks 49 Colorado 40.
Oregon State –2 at Washington State- The two sole castaways of the Pac-12 with no conference to call home square of this Saturday in Eastern Washington. It is a shame that these two schools have been left behind just when they begin to establish themselves as Top 25 caliber schools. Full transparency here, Radio Free Auburn knows extraordinarily little about these two teams. Former Clemson QB and now transfer to OSU, DJ Uiagalelei has resurrected his career in Corvallis having some people mentioning him as an NFL prospect. Looking over the schedules, Washington State has the toughest wins at Wisconsin 31-22 and at Colorado State 50-24. Not the greatest metric to go off picking games, but it is all we have. Cougars 29 Oregon State 24.
Ohio State –3.5 at Notre Dame- This is it for Notre Dame. The one they and all their fans have been waiting for, The Big One. Bring in Rudy. Bring in the Gipper. Bring in that leprechaun from Lucky Charms commercials. Calling all Irish, come to South Bend Saturday Night, bring your whiskey and go wild. Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman has been Radio Free Auburn’s Heisman leader since Week 0 when The Irish sunk Navy over in their Motherland of Dublin 42-3. Since shipping former OC Tommy Reas to Alabama, The Irish have averaged 46 points per game in 2023. The competition has been slight so far this season against The Irish with their toughest game being at NC State. There Notre Dame gave up 24 points to The Wolfpack. OSU on the other hand has already played once inside The State of Indiana opening the season against The Hoosiers in conference with a 23-3 win. Not the most impressive win but since Ohio State scored 35 and 63. Replacing CJ Stroud at QB has definitely been a chore for The Buckeyes but they are deliberately getting better each week. Last year Ohio State won on opening week in this matchup at home 21-10. Look for more points this year as The Luck of the Irish kicks in Saturday Night at South Bend. Irish 31 Ohio State 30.
Iowa +14 at Penn State- Can Iowa score 14 points here in Happy Valley Saturday Night? If this game were being played in Iowa, The Nittany Lions could be on upset alert. It will be a “White Out” at Beaver Stadium in State College this weekend and Penn State fans will be going crazy cakes. The Nittany Lions are so close to standing up to both Michigan and Ohio State for Big 10 supremacy. The key here is not looking over an always solid Iowa Hawkeye team. PSU has too many athletes, too much speed, too much home field advantage to slip up here. Nittany Lions 34 Iowa 12.
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SEC Conference play heats up in Week 4 with Auburn kicking it off at Texas A&M at 11:00 am CST in College Station, TX. The Tigers are 4-1 at Kyle Field since their first game there in 2013. Aggie head coach Jimbo Fisher will be coaching for his life Saturday morning. First year Auburn Head Coach, Hugh Freeze, has nothing to lose. With all the momentum in the world over the last 10 months at Auburn since being hired, Freeze would love to keep that good will going in Texas this Saturday. Known for his offenses in the past, Auburn’s defense is really what have The Tigers undefeated at 3-0. Auburn is catching a touchdown here against the hometown Wrecking Crew which looks a little high to me. A weird and rare trip to the West Coast in Week 2 against Cal should have a young Tiger team acclimated to going on the road. Defensively thus far this year, Texas A&M has been good against bad teams and looked putrid against Miami, FL Week 2. It will be up to Auburn’s old friend Bobby Petrino, The Aggies OC, to get the job done against The Plainsmen in this game. The heart says pick Auburn, the head says pick Texas A&M. So, stay tuned for this pick and others around The SEC this Friday when Uncle TBONE makes his weekly appearance at ON THE LINE with Jacob Goins on 106.7 ESPN Radio Auburn/Opelika from 3-4 brought to you by Sensigreen.
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