Ahead of a massive Week 5 and long list of intriguing matchups we had a pretty sleepy Week 4 free from a lot of drama. A few teams like Oklahoma, Iowa, BYU, Michigan, and Michigan State struggled to put their competition away only to survive and advance anyway. As evidence, only 2 teams in the current rankings won on the road and one is a new entry in your Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Let’s take a look at the latest Top 20 poll from 18 Stripes.
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 4-0 | 63-14 W vs. Southern Miss |
| 2 | Georgia | 4-0 | 62-0 W at Vanderbilt |
| 3 | Oregon | 4-0 | 41-19 W vs. Arizona |
| 4 | Penn State | 4-0 | 38-17 W vs. Villanova |
| 5 | Arkansas (+12) | 4-0 | 20-10 W vs. Texas A&M |
| 6 | Iowa (-1) | 4-0 | 24-14 W vs. Colorado St. |
| 7 | Cincinnati | 3-0 | BYE |
| 8 | Notre Dame (+4) | 4-0 | 41-13 W vs. Wisconsin |
| 9 | Oklahoma (-3) | 4-0 | 16-13 W vs. West Virginia |
| 10 | Ohio State (-1) | 3-1 | 59-7 W vs. Akron |
| 11 | Ole Miss (+2) | 3-0 | BYE |
| 12 | BYU (-1) | 4-0 | 35-27 W vs. USF |
| 13 | Michigan (+1) | 4-0 | 20-13 W vs. Rutgers |
| 14 | Florida (+2) | 3-1 | 38-14 W vs. Tennessee |
| 15 | Coastal Carolina | 4-0 | 53-3 W vs. UMass |
| 16 | Baylor (NR) | 4-0 | 31-29 W vs. Iowa St. |
| 17 | Michigan State (+1) | 4-0 | 23-20 W vs. Nebraska |
| 18 | Oklahoma State (NR) | 4-0 | 31-20 W vs. Kansas St. |
| 19 | Texas A&M (-9) | 3-1 | 20-10 L vs. Arkansas |
| 20 | Wake Forest (NR) | 4-0 | 37-17 W at Virginia |
Our top 4 all cruised and remain entrenched in their rankings. Our poor old friend Clark Lea did not have a good day welcoming the Dawgs to Nashville. Georgia led 35-0 after the 1st quarter which was the largest lead between Power 5 teams since 2013 and the largest lead in the SEC since 2000. It was the worst shutout loss for Vanderbilt since 1964 and they gained just 77 total yards.
The Hogs jump way up in our rankings following a convincing win over the Aggies inside AT&T Stadium. Arkansas spent a lot of this game without their starting quarterback which is even more impressive. They’ll face Georgia this weekend…can the Cinderella season continue??
We welcome a pair of Big 12 teams to the rankings as Oklahoma State beats previously AP ranked Kansas State and Baylor takes out Iowa State who were in our Top 20 last week. With the Sooners looking awfully wobbly this season the Big 12 is pretty wide open at the moment.
Watch out for those Demon Deacons, now. They’re 2-0 in the ACC and have won all of their games with some comfort this season. Through 4 games, Wake Forest is +98 in point differential and are actually looking like one of the teams who are benefitting from so many veterans coming back after the Covid year.
OUT: Clemson, Wisconsin, Iowa State
So that bounce back game for Clemson didn’t happen. I’m sorry but things are looking downright bleak for the Tigers right now. They had 10 first downs! In an overtime game! DJU has thrown for just 586 yards on 112 attempts! He had like 80% of those yards against Notre Dame last year! Now, Clemson has some big injuries and you wonder if they can even win their division.
Wisconsin’s tough run won’t get easier this weekend and they also have to contend with Iowa later next month, too. You’d think they’ll pack in some wins outside of those games but not if they can’t figure things out on offense.
This wasn’t the year for Iowa State, so it seems. Although, things are far from over in the Big 12 as we mentioned above.
Week 5 Games to Watch
Last Week: 1-4
Overall: 14-12
Huge week for football as I look to bounce back from a rough Week 4 of picks.
Virginia (+5) at Miami
Prior to the season this looked like it could be a sneaky big ACC game on Thursday night. Virginia also started out promising but has since lost its first 2 league games. Miami has been a dumpster fire but haven’t played an ACC matchup yet so hope is still alive. I think the home teams gets their offense going finally. Hurricanes win 37-28.
Iowa (-3.5) at Maryland
A battle of unbeatens on Friday night–is this the most relevant home game for Maryland of the post-Friedgen era? There are plenty of statistics, advanced or otherwise, to show this Iowa team is far from being as good as their current ranking suggests. Maryland has the ability to win this with offense and we’ll call for the outright upset. Terrapins win 29-27.
Arkansas (+18.5) at Georgia
Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson was injured against A&M but indications are that he’ll be ready to go against this fearsome Georgia defense. I thought the Hogs luck would run out last week although they proved me wrong. I have a hard time believing they’ll be able to bounce back after such an emotional win at Jerry World to hang with a National Championship contender. Bulldogs win 32-17.
Michigan (+1.5) at Wisconsin
I’ll boil it down to this thought, basically Michigan looks a lot like Wisconsin except with a better offense. Michigan is barely throwing the ball this year (Cade McNamara is dead last in passing yards per game among Big Ten starters) and hasn’t needed to yet. If they do, I still like their chances better than Graham Mertz facing a Michigan defense that should take away the run game. Wolverines win 24-12.
Texas (-5) at TCU
Texas has bounced back nicely since their week 2 loss but questions still linger about their defense which has given up 75 points to their 2 opponents from the Power 5. I like them a little bit on the road but I’m guessing an overtime thriller. Longhorns win 44-41.
Louisville (+7) at Wake Forest
Oh hello, just the two leaders of the ACC Atlantic division right here over still ranked (by the AP at least) NC State and Clemson. I think Wake is going to make a compelling case to win the entire league into November when their schedule stiffens up considerably. To do so, they’ll win this home game. Demon Deacons win 31-23.
UConn (+14.5) at Vanderbilt
This is a game between the 126th and 129th offenses in yards per play. Our boy Clark Lea is coming off a rough week and must have really low morale. However, there’s nothing quite like playing UConn to get things back on track. Clark, you can’t lose this game my guy. Commodores win 37-19.
Ole Miss (+14.5) at Alabama
Is this the Matt Corral Heisman Game? The Ole Miss quarterback comes into the weekend leading an offense averaging 52.7 points per game (1st nationally) and on an individual basis he’s 6th nationally in passer rating. That defense from Lane Kiffin seems much better too. Last year’s game was insanely wild and it feels like we’re headed in that direction again. Although, I’m not sleeping on Alabama’s offense (Bryce Young is 5th nationally in passer rating, FWIW) and I can’t pick against Saban versus an ex-assistant. Crimson Tide win 49-39.
Oregon (-8) at Stanford
I feel like I’ve said this many times in recent years but this looks like a game in which the Pac-12 North can be essentially won for Oregon before the bulk of the schedule gets played. Put this to bed and don’t let good things happen to Stanford. Ducks win 33-17.
Oklahoma (-10.5) at Kansas State
Last week, after teetering on the edge, I thought we’d see Clemson bounce back and they ultimately fell. Oklahoma has seemed awfully teeter-y themselves and Manhattan seems like a really good place for this upset to take place. Wildcats win 24-21.
Baylor (+3.5) at Oklahoma State
Another battles of the unbeatens to start sorting things out in the Big 12. I’ve been trying to make Spencer Sanders happen on a national level and he just hasn’t blossomed yet. However, last week was a really good example of his talent level. I’ll take Gundy at home. Cowboys win 37-35.
Arizona State (+3.5) at UCLA
Everyone in the Pac-12 South has lost at least once so far this season, with 4 out of the 6 teams already losing at least twice. Here we have the only 2 teams who only have 1 loss and have not been defeated yet within the league. With USC sitting on 2 conference losses already (LOL) this may be the deciding factor in who wins the division. It’s Chip’s time to shine. Bruins win 49-43.
Saw that Will Shipley made it up to RB1 at Clemson (but got hurt). Probably made a good call for himself given Notre Dame RB depth, can’t imagine he would see much playing time this year. Very strange downfall for that program. They kinda seem like a house of cards in some ways, as going from a 1st round pick, all-time ACC yards leader in Etienne to….a true freshman shows how they like paper over problems and don’t really have the depth or base that even teams like UGA or aTm have.
Nervous for him on this one, they can lose any game. Glad they somehow won on the road at Colorado State. Not that they’re any good either, but just happy he got one win after scoring 3 points and losing to an FCS team. Gonna be a long and painful year.
Rough start to the season for future ND Message Board Head Coaches Matt Campbell, PJ Fleck, and Clark Lea. Things are trending upward quickly for future ND Head Coach Marcus Freeman. Future ND Head Coach Tommy Rees still sort of stuck in neutral, but with a big chance to make a statement against Cincy this weekend.
Rough times as well for former future Nd message board coach Gary Patterson. Some wild quotes from him this past weekend
Man, Clemson has fallen off a cliff. I watched most of their game against NC State last Saturday and they are just brutal on offense. Watching Dabo hop up and down like an angry toddler was particularly satisfying.
Too early to declare their run as a national power over, but the degree of dropoff makes you go Hmmmmmm.
Just hoping for a fun ACC title game this year. BC/PITT? Virginia Tech/Wake? Louisville/Georgia Tech? The possibilities are endless!
Might be another feather in the cap of QB Play Is The Most Important Thing, with a side of Not All Five Stars Are Good
Yea it shows how much they have been relying on generational QB play the last 6 years. It covers up a lot of warts.
IMO Florida should be ranked no lower than 5th
OUT: Clemson, Wisconsin, Historically Great Iowa State
Fixed it for you. And last of that for me? Yes, onwards.
Are we approaching 2007 levels of hilarity and bloodshed yet?
A Top 10 of OSU barely hanging in there, a Cinci team that could take a loss this week and still stay in, an ND team that looks on its way to being the offensive offense and monster defense of early Saban Bama…and Arkansas?
What universe is this? Where is evil Spock?