Week Four in College Football: Strong Start, Stronger Finish

Published: Monday, September 23, 2024

by Kyle Ferreira

Truly, this is the funniest timeline in the college football universe.

For whatever reason, this past week brought a lot of laughter to college football fans nationwide. From California dominating the X/Twitter space to Marshall’s head coach enticing Ohio State players with biscuit-themed NIL deals—what is happening?! Well, it was just another part of a spectacular weekend in this great sport.

Friday night kicked things off with all three games going down to the wire. A ranked matchup between No. 24 Illinois and No. 22 Nebraska, Stanford vs. Syracuse, and San Jose State vs. Washington State were all fantastic. But what made them such incredible games?

The Illini dazzled the Cornhuskers with their aerial attack and pressured Nebraska’s quarterback, Dylan Raiola, to pull off the upset in overtime. In Stanford’s first game as a member of the ACC, kicker Emmet Kenney hit the game-winning FG to beat a strong Syracuse program. Then, to end the night in Pullman, Washington State resurrected PAC-12 After Dark with a thrilling double OT victory over San Jose State, 54-52.

By noon on Saturday, the action was mixed. Several blowouts took place, including Florida vs. Mississippi State, NC State vs. Clemson, and James Madison vs. North Carolina. Let’s talk about that last matchup.

The final score was 70-50, which at first glance could be mistaken for a UNC basketball win. But this was not basketball, and it wasn’t a Tar Heels victory. James Madison, a former FCS contender and current Group of Five team, went down to Chapel Hill and humiliated UNC.

While the early slate wasn’t the best, from 3:30 on, things got exciting. No. 11 USC vs. No. 18 Michigan and No. 12 Utah vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State kept fans engaged. Utah won with Isaac Wilson, Zach Wilson’s brother, under center at QB, but the Michigan game held special significance. After a rocky start to the season, Michigan did what they do best, running it down the Trojans’ throats and securing the win.

What fans likely found amusing was what was happening on The CW. On Friday, TCU posted a video mocking SMU for playing on a channel “no one watches.” TCU then got destroyed by SMU on a network that once aired “Pokémon,” “Reba,” “Supernatural,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “The Flash”... you get the point.

The rest of the night was absolute cinema. Vanderbilt nearly pulled off the impossible and upset No. 7 Missouri on the road, but a missed game-tying FG in double OT sealed their fate. Shedeur Sanders and Colorado celebrated like it was 1994. Against Baylor, Sanders threw a Hail Mary at the end of regulation to score, then Travis Hunter in overtime played brilliant defense, forcing a massive fumble to win the game for the Buffaloes.

The premier game of the night was No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Oklahoma, hyped all week long. It was Oklahoma’s first game in the SEC and also Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel’s return to Norman. A former national champion with the Sooners, Heupel outsmarted his former team, with the Volunteers’ defense suffocating Oklahoma’s offense all night.

So much happened at the Division I level, but there’s something unique happening in Division III. Salisbury (MD) has been dominating opponents with their traditional, option-heavy offense, amassing 1,069 rushing yards and 14 TDs through three games. While other run-heavy teams like Hope (MI) and Springfield (MA) are also undefeated, Salisbury has beaten Centennial Conference juggernauts Muhlenberg and Johns Hopkins.

While they won’t get a ton of coverage, Salisbury beating two of Division III’s top programs should be noteworthy for diehard college football fans. Once again, this is the funniest timeline in this great sport.

Kyle Ferreira can be reached at kyle.ferreira@student.shu.edu. 

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