The first three weeks of the 2023 season have left plenty to be desired in regards to marquee matchups. Fortunately for us, Week 4 gave us one of the deepest slates of games in recent history. For the first time since 2006, we had six matchups between teams ranked in the AP Poll, which gave many top teams a challenge they had yet to face.
The premiere matchup on Saturday was a battle of blue bloods in one of college football’s most iconic venues. Ohio State and Notre Dame both had plenty to prove, and each team looked like a playoff caliber unit.
With the seconds winding down, Chip Trayanum broke the plane by a hair to give the Buckeyes a statement win in South Bend. While this certainly wasn’t on brand for a Ryan Day squad, Buckeye fans should be more confident because of the way they won.
No one doubted Ohio State’s ability to win in a shootout, however, they have struggled in recent years to beat elite competition when the game comes down to physicality in the trenches. Second year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has changed that, and the level of defensive play we saw Saturday night will come in handy against Penn State and Michigan.
Ohio State has one of the most complete rosters in America. If they can get more out of first year starter Kyle McCord, there isn’t anything stopping them from winning it all.
There isn’t a coach attempting to silence the doubters more than Day, and that was evident in his postgame interview. Day went off on Notre Dame legend Lou Holtz after Holtz questioned Ohio State’s physicality.
While a back and forth between Ryan Day and Lou Holtz wasn’t on my 2023 season bingo card, I will never complain about coaches going at each other publicly. Day had every right to defend his program’s (and his own) reputation.
As for the Irish, I would be very hesitant to write them off even after suffering a loss. Notre Dame’s schedule is strong enough for them to make the CFP at 11-1, and their hardest game is out of the way.
Clemson looks like a shell of their former self, and USC still can’t be trusted defensively. They have to avoid the upset in Durham this week, but they should still control their destiny assuming they beat the Blue Devils.
We got a two-for-one special on coaches beef this week after Dan Lanning made his feelings about Colorado brutally clear. We live in a world where we have more behind the scenes access to these teams than ever before.
Whether it’s locker room footage during broadcasts or leaked audio, we get a glimpse at how coaches are like when they aren’t worried about the media. We have seen this with Kirby Smart’s halftime speeches (which are about 75% NSFW) and we saw it with Lanning on Saturday.
Lanning stated that Colorado was “fighting for clicks”, while his team was fighting for wins. Regardless of how you feel about his comments, it clearly motivated his squad, as they rolled Colorado 42-6 in a physical mismatch.
Many took issue with Lanning’s comments, and I honestly don’t know why. Deion Sanders is doing great things in Boulder and is already ahead of schedule in terms of on-field results.
With that being said, when you have this much attention on you, it puts a target on your back. Normally, this target is reserved for top-five teams, but Colorado is a unique situation. I have no issue with what Coach Prime is doing, his ability to make a dormant program nationally recognized overnight has helped them bring in waves of talent and will continue to do so.
While plenty of positives come from this approach, one negative (if you even want to call it that) is the fact that every team will have a chip on their shoulder when they play you. Players know that Colorado is the main attraction when they play them, even if you’re a three-touchdown favorite like Oregon.
Colorado plays USC this week, and more people will be watching for Deion and the Buffs than USC, a blue-blood program in the second biggest city in the U.S.
Many of the same people that love Deion’s confident approach and not being afraid to be brutally honest are criticizing Lanning for doing the same thing. Rivalries are what makes this sport great, and they’re even better when the leaders of each program aren’t afraid to trash-talk each other.
I wouldn’t even classify Colorado and Oregon or Ohio State and Notre Dame as rivals, but these games feel like rivalries because of the public shots taken at each other.
Two coaches that are probably on much better terms than the guys I just mentioned are Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin. They also faced off this weekend, with the Crimson Tide reeling off an abysmal offensive showing against South Florida.
The first half was more of the same for the Tide: a red zone interception and being unable to get six points despite having it first and goal at the one-yard line left Bama down at the intermission.
However, something clicked in the second half, as Jalen Milroe was able to hit a couple of critical deep balls to pull away from the Rebels. It was a small sample size, but if the offense can build off of a strong second half, this team could be right back in the mix.
Alabama has a defense that can keep them in games with anybody. If their offense can find another gear, they have the ability to get to Atlanta 11-1.
Milroe is still a work in progress, but he’s clearly the best fit in this run dominant offense.
Chris’s College Football Top 25 Rankings
1.Georgia Bulldogs (4-0) W vs UAB 49-21, last week-1
2.Michigan Wolverines (4-0) W vs Rutgers 31-7, last week-2
3.Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0) W vs Notre Dame 17-14, last week-3
4.Florida State Seminoles( 4-0) W vs Clemson 31-24, last week-4
5.Texas Longhorns (4-0) W vs Baylor 38-6, last week-5
6.Penn State Nittany Lions (4-0) W vs Iowa 31-0, last week-6
7.Washington Huskies (4-0) W vs California 59-32, last week-8
8.Oregon Ducks (4-0) W vs Colorado 42-6, last week-10
9.USC Trojans (4-0) W vs Arizona State 42-28, last week-7
10.Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-1) L vs Ohio State 17-14, last week-9
11.Alabama Crimson Tide (3-1) W vs Ole Miss 24-10, last week-12
12.Utah Utes (4-0) W vs UCLA 14-7, last week-13
13.LSU Tigers (3-1) W vs Arkansas 34-31, last week-11
14.Oklahoma Sooners (4-0) W vs Cincinnati 20-6, last week-15
15.Washington State Cougars (4-0) W Oregon State 38-35, last week-23
16.Duke Blue Devils (4-0) W vs UConn 41-7, last week-16
17.North Carolina Tar Heels (4-0) W vs Pitt 41-24, last week-18
18.Miami (FL) Hurricanes (4-0) W vs Temple 41-7, last week-19
19.Oregon State Beavers (3-1) L vs Washington State 38-35, last week-14
20.Ole Miss Rebels (3-1) L vs Alabama 24-10, last week-17
21.Kansas State Wildcats (3-1) W vs UCF 44-31, last week-20
22.Tennessee Volunteers (3-1) W vs UTSA 45-14, last week-24
23.Missouri Tigers (4-0) W vs Memphis 34-27, last week-25
24.Clemson Tigers (2-2) L vs Florida State 31-24, last week-21
25.Kansas Jayhawks (4-0) W vs BYU 38-27, last week-unranked
Dropped out of rankings – UCLA