Alabama survives a scare in the Swamp, Penn State holds serve over visiting Auburn, while UCLA blows all the goodwill they built up early in this 2021 season. Elsewhere, Clemson survived a near brutal upset by the Bees and Cincinnati comes back to defeat Indiana in the scorching Bloomington heat.
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 | 3-0 | 31-29 W at Florida |
| 2 | Georgia | 3-0 | 40-13 W vs. South Carolina |
| 3 | Oregon | 3-0 | 48-7 W vs. Stony Brook |
| 4 | Penn State (+7) | 3-0 | 28-20 W vs. Auburn |
| 5 | Iowa | 3-0 | 30-7 W vs. Kent St. |
| 6 | Oklahoma | 3-0 | 23-16 W vs. Nebraska |
| 7 | Cincinnati | 3-0 | 38-24 W at Indiana |
| 8 | Clemson (-4) | 2-1 | 14-8 W vs. Georgia Tech |
| 9 | Ohio State (+1) | 2-1 | 41-20 W vs. Tulsa |
| 10 | Texas A&M (+2) | 3-0 | 34-0 W vs. New Mexico |
| 11 | BYU (+8) | 3-0 | 27-17 W vs. Arizona St. |
| 12 | Notre Dame (+3) | 3-0 | 27-13 W vs. Purdue |
| 13 | Ole Miss (NR) | 3-0 | 61-21 W vs. Tulane |
| 14 | Michigan (+3) | 3-0 | 63-10 W vs. Northern Illinois |
| 15 | Coastal Carolina (-7) | 3-0 | 28-25 W at Buffalo |
| 16 | Florida (-7) | 2-1 | 31-29 L vs. Alabama |
| 17 | Arkansas (NR) | 3-0 | 45-10 W vs. Georgia Southern |
| 18 | Michigan State (NR) | 3-0 | 38-17 W at Miami |
| 19 | Wisconsin (NR) | 1-1 | BYE |
| 20 | Iowa State (NR) | 2-1 | 48-3 W at UNLV |
Scenes at the Swamp where Alabama appeared to just switch off for a long stretch? It was very un-Saban like in its appearance as the Gators largely outplayed the Tide in the 2nd half. Normally, this is something every team deals with but with this Alabama program it invites more worry.
Penn State zooms up our rankings following their tough Saturday night victory over a pretty good Auburn team. By the way, I had to chuckle at the Tigers switching their facemasks to white in the face of Penn State’s traditional big game crowd White Out. Petty, but you ended up taking that L anyway.
Oklahoma didn’t exactly put Nebraska away like you’d think and this continues to be a very weird year for the Sooners. They’re still 4th in the AP Poll which doesn’t feel right to me.
Did Cincinnati show a lot of weaknesses against Indiana or was it more of a gutty pull-it-out on the road in sweltering heat type of win?
Clemson hasn’t allowed a touchdown on defense yet but their offense still appears broken. My man DJU (RIP Heisman pick) is averaging 5.5 yards per attempt and has thrown just 1 touchdown so far.
Before BYU heads to the new Big 12 they are apparently looking to win the Pac-12, that’s now 3 straight wins to open the season against teams from that league.
No one comes into Amherst, New York without getting roughed up a little bit! UB was able to go toe-to-toe with Coastal Carolina but fell just short of the upset.
Michigan State is back in the rankings after a long absence following a thorough victory over Miami. That was in Coral Gables, by the way. That Canes schedule gets easier as the season progresses although at this rate 6-6 or worse isn’t out of the question.
OUT: UCLA, Virginia Tech, Arizona State, UCF, Auburn
Just when Chip Kelly was coming back the Bruins mess it all up in a loss to Fresno State. UCLA gave up 32 first downs!
Virginia Tech trailed 27-7 against West Virginia and came up just short on the comeback.
Does it still feel like Herm is DGT™ at Arizona State? They’ve lost 3 out of their last 6 stretching back to last year.
UCF lost in brutal fashion on a pick 6 only to see quarterback Dillon Gabriel break his clavicle on the play. Double ouch.
Week 4 Games to Watch
Last Week: 4-1
Overall: 13-8
SMU (+9) at TCU
TCU was off last week and barely got past California in their last game. SMU meanwhile barely got past Louisiana Tech last week. Both of these teams are undefeated which should add some spice to the Battle for the Iron Skillet and regional bragging rights. I like what Sonny Dykes has been doing and will go with an upset. Mustangs win 47-45.
Clemson (-10) at NC State
Something weird has to happen for Clemson to lose against a mediocre slate of ACC teams and last week felt like one of those opportunities missed. Can NC State replicate that game plan? Seeing as though they couldn’t run the ball on Mississippi State I’ll say no. We finally see Clemson’s offense wake up a little bit. Tigers win 34-9.
Texas A&M (-5.5) at Arkansas
Just a couple of ranked SEC teams duking it out in late September just like we all predicted. Arkansas has put together a really fun season so far but in modern times has a habit of briefly lifting spirits only to get crushed. This is one of those “this line doesn’t make sense” if you looked at it with pre-season eyes. Aggies win 31-17.
Iowa State (-7) at Baylor
I haven’t been able to get a read on Baylor this year as they continue to be way off the radar in the Dave Aranda era and their offense was garbage last season. So far in 2021 against weak competition they’ve looked better. This matchup has been really close in recent years, how about some more of that? Cyclones win 28-27.
Rutgers (+20) at Michigan
A sneaky actually decent Rutgers taken lightly by Michigan who is looking ahead to their trip to Wisconsin next week? Could this happen? I’d about die. Let these words will it. Scarlet Knights win 24-20.
To Rutgers:
Archival footage of me watching the ND offense on ANY. THIRD. DOWN
I would be so happy if Michigan lost to Rutgers. I really thought that Michigan was going to continue their downhill trend from last year, but it appears that they will be at least mediocre this year. However, I’m hopeful once they play some decent competition that they will take a loss and their positive momentum will come to an end and they will collapse to a 7-5 season.
At least one can hope right?
Surely. I think Michigan is like 19-0 in August/September under Harbaurgh, they always play MAC and low-end teams early in the season. If Penn State keeps it up, there’s no way Michigan finishes higher than third in their division.
Totally agree. I was just hopeful entering the year that Washington would hand them an early loss and the wheels would start coming off in Week 2 instead of in Week 5 or 6.
If Rutgers was at home, I’d pick them.
Michigan looks like a typical September Harbaugh team, so naturally everyone is wetting themselves about how amazing they are. Michigan’s greatest asset right now is that Ohio State looks vulnerable.
RE: the Cincinnati-Indiana game… With about four minutes left in the first half, Desmond Ridder threw incomplete on 3rd and 10 from the Cincinnati 25. Indiana LB Micah McFadden was flagged for targeting on Ridder; it was helmet to helmet, barely, but an exceedingly questionable targeting call. (Check the video here – McFadden is #47.)
McFadden is the engine of the Hoosiers’ defense, an extremely disruptive player (10.5 TFLs in 8 games last year and 4.0 in 2.5 games this year) whose loss was a big deal. Before the call, and not counting that down erased by penalty, Cincinnati had run 25 plays for 30 yards. Their drive chart went punt-punt-pick-punt-punt-fumble.
From Madden’s ejection forward, Cincinnati ran 44 plays for 303 yards (excluding kneeldowns). Indiana also fumbled on 1st and goal from the Cincy 2, down 30-24 midway through the fourth quarter. They were six feet away from taking the lead. The D held on Cincinnati’s next possession but Penix threw a brutal pick right after that iced it.
What I’m saying is, Cincinnati caught some huge breaks in that game and maybe they stink just as much as everyone else in the country this year. We’ll find out for ourselves soon enough, of course. Also fix the targeting rule already. It’s stupid.
Yep, I don’t think they’re that good, especially with all the talk coming into the year that Cincy could be a playoff team. I don’t think they’re on that level at all, and if they play like they did against IU, Notre Dame should be in a prime position to knock them off, perhaps in convincing fashion. In total they were at 4.6 yards/play against IU, and as you point out with a massive break of having their best player ejected.
That said, Ridder is good so maybe it was just a slow start and they’re dangerous and will be keyed up to play Freeman…But I’m a lot less afraid of the Cincy game than a few weeks ago based on last game.
Kinda surprised Cincy didn’t drop, but I guess at this point it’s not like anyone else is playing much better to justify moving above them now. Fine with ND playing from underneath, for now, since we’ll see soon enough which is better.
Also, historically speaking, Cincy is awful in these types of games.
They’re not a bad team but Cincinnati: Playoff Contender (TM) seems like mostly wishful thinking to me.
Cinci has all the sports talking heads frothing over a non-power 5 making the playoffs, and I think that’s silly, given the only power 5 teams they play are Indy and ND.
I think the rankings are off. I’d bet on Mississippi to win over almost everybody above them except Bama and Georgia. I wouldn’t want to see our defense on the field vs their offense. I don’t think we could keep pace with their scoring, and their qb is better than any we’ll play this year.
Good post. Based on your rankings here are some quick takes:
Overrated: Iowa, Cincinnati
Underrated: Ole Miss, OSU
I should note, my criteria is based on who I think would win on a neutral field