While the fourth week of the college football season may not have been filled with marquee matchups, the week was still filled with several exciting games. Some top teams struggled against unranked opponents, while others asserted their dominance. The theme of this week seemed to be upsets almost happening. Even with only two ranked matchups, this week was anything but boring. The monotony of “easy” games was broken up by several underdogs coming out much stronger then anticipated. While most of the games had expected endings, many of the final scores were shockingly close.

Coming off of a huge 37-7 upset of LSU, the Mississippi State Bulldogs struggled mightily against the other Bulldogs of the SEC. Georgia trounced Nick Fitzgerald’s Bulldogs 31-3. Georgia affirmed their number 11 ranking with the dominant win over the 17th ranked team in the nation. The College Gameday matchup between number 16 TCU and 6th ranked Oklahoma State ended in a 44-31 win for the Horned Frogs of TCU. Oklahoma State and Mississippi State will surely fall in the rankings while Georgia and TCU should rise up to higher spots. Another team that will fall in the rankings are the Florida State Seminoles, who are now 0-2. They had not played a game since the opener against Alabama because of Hurricane Irma and were looking to show that they still had a chance to win the ACC and appear in the College Football Playoffs. Those hopes are now all but gone after being upset by unranked NC State. The 24th ranked team fell this week as well as the Oregon Ducks lost to Arizona State 37-35.

As stated before, the theme of this week seemed to be upset scares for several top ranked teams. Number 2 Clemson was tied with Boston College going into the fourth quarter, but a great fourth quarter by true freshman running back Travis Etiene powered the Tigers to a 34-7 win. Number 3 Oklahoma struggled against an unranked Baylor team that lost to Liberty University, which was just promoted from the FCS this season. The Sooners came away with the win 49-41. Number 4 Penn State also had problems with an unranked opponent, despite a 211 yard effort by Saquon Barkley. They beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 21-19. Number 20 Florida Gators had to rely on a last second touchdown to narrowly avoid being upset by the Kentucky Wildcats. The final score of that game was 28-27. USC, Utah, LSU, and San Diego State were all ranked teams that also struggled in their games.

With so many ranked teams struggling, a few teams proved that they deserved their rankings. Top ranked Alabama completely dominated their SEC opener against Vanderbilt and came away with a 59-0 victory. Number 8 Miami took care of business against Toledo despite their rough start that left them losing at halftime. Number 8 Michigan and Number 10 Ohio State also won their respective games handily and 13th ranked Virginia Tech shut out Old Dominion, winning 38-0. The Hokies will be confident going into this weeks huge matchup against 2nd ranked Clemson Tigers. The winner of that game will be in a prime position to win the ACC.  Other ranked teams that won their games without a hitch include Auburn, Washington State, and Louisville.

This week of college football showed some vulnerabilities in very highly ranked teams. With number 1 Alabama showing virtually no weaknesses, this is not an encouraging sign for fans of any team other then the Crimson Tide and makes them the clear favorites to not only win the SEC, but to win the College Football Championship. This week leaves fans wondering if anyone can prevent Nick Satan from winning his sixth championship, but right now it looks inevitable. However, the beauty of college football is that anything can happen, we will just have to see what the following weeks will bring.