The Ohio State Buckeyes quarterbacks have struggled, Alabama has tumbled and a couple of other teams that started the season in the Top 10 have dropped. The unpredictability has been a big part of the excitement and we’re only three weeks in. Maybe Ohio State gets their heads on properly but other than them, it’s unlikely anyone goes undefeated this season.
This week, the focus shifts to the Pac-12 for a trio of notable games including five different teams currently ranked in the Top 25. Here is a look at the four can’t miss games for Week 4 of the college football season.
No. 24 Oklahoma State @ Texas
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET
Oklahoma State has emerged as a dark horse in the Big 12 after ripping off three straight wins. While the schedule is about to get a lot tougher, it’s impossible to write off what they have done to this point. The Cowboys defense forced seven turnovers in last week’s 69-14 win over UTSA while sophomore quarterback Mason Randolph threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns.
None of that will matter nearly as much if they don’t keep it going against Texas this weekend with the Longhorns coming off a heartbreaking 45-44 loss to California. Texas has the potential to really push Oklahoma State in this contest – especially if Texas quarterback Jerrod Heard continues to shine. It will be interesting to see how the Sooners respond on the road with the opportunity to improve to 4-0 on the season with a win over a Big 12 rival.
No. 9 UCLA @ No. 16 Arizona
Saturday, 8:00 PM ET
The Wildcats got a tremendous boost from the return of linebacker Scooby Wright and after opening the year with three straight wins, they have plenty of momentum heading in to this biggest home game in recent memory. The focus will be on keeping UCLA running back Paul Perkins in check and forcing true freshman quarterback Josh Rosen to beat them with his arm.
The pressure will be on Rosen to live up to his star status against this Arizona defense and that’ll be difficult on the road in what will be Arizona’s biggest game in the RichRod era. This game has all of the makings of a classic.
No. 18 Utah @ No. 13 Oregon
Saturday, 8:30 PM ET
Oregon followed up a close loss at Michigan State with a big win over Georgia State at home. While the experts have talked a lot about their defense getting beaten up a little bit against a mediocre opponent last week, the reality is that they were coming off a very physical loss to the Spartans, so a bit of a letdown should have been expected.
The return of quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. will be important but Utah is dealing with a key injury to its star quarterback as well as Travis Wilson continues to deal with an injured shoulder. The Ducks are posted as a 10.5-point favorite here, which seems low for what we’re typically used to with Oregon. This will be a great offense-versus-defense matchup.
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No. 19 USC @ Arizona State
Saturday, 10:30 PM ET
The Trojans looked terrible on both sides of the football in last week’s loss to Stanford and now they have to regroup both mentally and physically. They have to bounce back quickly as they’re on the road in front of a hostile crowd against a somewhat underrated Arizona State team.
The Sun Devils have bounced back from a season-opening loss at Texas A&M with back-to-back double-digit wins and Todd Graham’s program has an excellent opportunity to make a statement in this game. Steve Sarkisian is feeling the heat following last week’s loss and while on paper USC is the more talented team, that was also the case last week when they lost at home to Stanford.
Something just doesn’t seem right in USC-land these days as Sarkisian just doesn’t look like the coach that can get this team to play to their potential. Don’t be shocked if it’s back-to-back losses for them.
