Brian’s College Football Top 5: Week 4
This was a very hard list this week.
There were lots and lots of teams who impressed me.
But I have to keep it to 5. These are my own arbitrary rules and I will stick to them.
That means, I couldn’t include James Madison putting up a 70 burger on UNC. I can’t include Tennessee with a coaching masterclass over Oklahoma. I couldn’t include West Virginia’s comeback over Kansas.
But I can include one thing.
Honorable Mention: Nebraska Cornhuskers
If you can, find a way to watch Nebraska’s performance in overtime against Illinois Friday night.
It was literally as bad as it could possibly be.
I was in awe of how bad it was.
It was art, and extremely typical Nebraska.
5. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Rutgers wants to go bowling.
Their conference schedule is very, very tough.
So if they want to get to 6 wins, they have to win these toss up games like they did on Saturday against Virginia Tech.
It’s a 3-0 start, in a game they really needed to win going forward.
4. Michigan Wolverines
Sherrone Moore was left a pretty bare cupboard by Michigan’s standards from Jim Harbaugh.
A slide back was sort of expected, and it looked like it would be.
But then Saturday against USC, Sherrone remembered a key factor of this era of Michigan football.
Michigan’s front can maul the front of a team who is not prepared to handle it, much like USC’s.
Michigan ran for almost 300 yards, and the Wolverines got a big upset win over USC to kickstart their Big 10 title defense.
3. BYU Cougars
Turnovers happen in football.
But that’s just one factor of the game.
You have to make them count.
Kansas State had three turnovers Saturday night, and BYU scored a touchdown on every single one of them.
Add in one of the greatest punt returns you’ll ever see, and you’ve got a huge upset on a night where everything seems to be going your way.
2. Colorado Buffaloes
It looked like typical Colorado.
Shedeur Sanders took a bad sack on third down which led to a Baylor touchdown drive in the 4th quarter to take the lead.
It was the same old story. It was the worst of Colorado.
And then, we saw the best of Colorado.
Shedeur launched an excellent Hail Mary pass with under 10 seconds left that would’ve been the game tying touchdown had it been caught.
But it was dropped.
Oh well.
Guess he’ll just have to do it again.
There is a lot I don’t like about Shedeur Sanders, but his talent isn’t one of those things.
That’s a ridiculous throw (even if it’s aided by some questionable Hail Mary defense).
Then in overtime, Travis Hunter showed why he is the best player in college football, forcing a fumble on the goal line to secure a Colorado win.
That would’ve been a brutal loss for Colorado.
Instead, it may have been the win of the weekend.
1. Navy Midshipmen
This sport is just better when Army and Navy are good.
Army is 3-0 and Navy was heading into a big game against G5 playoff favorite Memphis to become 3-0 themselves.
And if you know college football, you know that there are years where Navy just has a “dude” at quarterback. Someone who is simply must see TV.
Keenan Reynolds. Malcolm Perry. Ricky Dobbs.
Folks…Navy has a “dude” again.
Blake Horvath threw for 192 and 2 touchdowns while also running for 201 yards and 4 touchdowns, including a 90 yard burner run where he left everyone in the dust.
This years Army-Navy game should be a fun one.
