College Football - Week 4 (Sept. 21)

[Andy]

Top 25 games
UL Monroe at (1) Texas (8 pm, ESPN+)

Marshall at (3) Ohio State (12 pm, FOX)

Georgia Southern at (5) Ole Miss (7:45 pm, SEC Network)

(6) Tennessee at (15) Oklahoma (7:30 pm, ABC)

Vanderbilt at (7) Missouri (4:15 pm, SEC Network)

(8) Miami at South Florida (7 pm, ESPN)

Kent State at (10) Penn State (3:30 pm, BTN)

(11) USC at (18) Michigan (3:30 pm, CBS)

(12) Utah at (14) Oklahoma State (4 pm, FOX)

(13) Kansas State at BYU (10:30 pm, ESPN)

UCLA at (16) LSU (3:30 pm, ABC)

Miami (OH) at (17) Notre Dame (3:30 pm, NBC)

Georgia Tech at (19) Louisville (3:30 pm, ESPN2)

Arkansas State at (20) Iowa State (2 pm, ESPN+)

NC State at (21) Clemson (12 pm, ABC)

(24) Illinois at (22) Nebraska (8 pm Friday, FOX)

Buffalo at (23) Northern Illinois (3:30 pm, ESPN+)

Bowling Green at (25) Texas A&M (7:30 pm, ESPN+)

 

Other nationally available games
Thursday

South Alabama at Appalachian State (7:30 pm, ESPN)

Friday

Stanford at Syracuse (7:30 pm, ESPN)

San Jose State at Washington State (10:30 pm, CW)

Saturday TV

Florida at Mississippi State (12 pm, ESPN)

Kansas at West Virginia (12 pm, ESPN2)

Houston at Cincinnati (12 pm, FS1)

Charlotte at Indiana (12 pm, BTN - Regional)

Villanova at Maryland (12 pm, BTN - Regional)

Tulane at UL Lafayette (12 pm, ESPNU)

James Madison at North Carolina (12 pm, ACC Network)

Rice at Army (12 pm, CBSSN)

Ohio at Kentucky (12:45 pm, SEC Network)

Arkansas at Auburn (3:30 pm, ESPN)

Arizona State at Texas Tech (3:30 pm, FS1)

Rutgers at Virginia Tech (3:30 pm, ACC Network)

Memphis at Navy (3:30 pm, CBSSN)

Duke at Middle Tennessee (4 pm, ESPNU)

TCU at SMU (5 pm, CW)

UTEP at Colorado State (5 pm, TruTV)

California at Florida State (7 pm, ESPN2)

Northwestern at Washington (7 pm, FS1)

Florida Atlantic at UConn (7 pm, CBSSN)

Iowa at Minnesota (7:30 pm, NBC)

Akron at South Carolina (7:30 pm, ESPNU)

Baylor at Colorado (8 pm, FOX)

Michigan State at Boston College (8 pm, ACC Network)

Purdue at Oregon State (8:30 pm, CW)

Fresno State at New Mexico (8:30 pm, TruTV)

Portland State at Boise State (9:45 pm, FS1)

Saturday Streaming (all ESPN+)

Ball State at Central Michigan (1 pm)

St. Francis at Eastern Michigan (2 pm)

Utah State at Temple (2 pm)

Virginia at Coastal Carolina (2 pm)

Southern Miss at Jacksonville State (3 pm)

Central Connecticut State at UMass (3:30 pm)

Houston Christian at UTSA (3:30 pm)

Youngstown State at Pittsburgh (3:30 pm)

East Carolina at Liberty (6 pm)

Monmouth at FIU (6 pm)

Florida A&M at Troy (7 pm)

New Mexico State at Sam Houston (7 pm)

Toledo at Western Kentucky (7 pm)

Tulsa at Louisiana Tech (7 pm)

Wyoming at North Texas (7 pm)

Edited September 15, 2024 by Andy

[Tryptamine]

NIU and UI in the top 25 at the same time. I wonder if that has ever happened before. 

[soccer10k]

 

[Outshined_One]

24 minutes ago, soccer10k said:

 

[Irrelevant Dude]

I know I'm just setting myself up for disappointment, but I'm excited for the Illinois/Nebraska game tonight.  It's all going to come crashing down sooner or later, but maybe we can continue the illusion of Illinois being a contender for one more week.

[CubinNY]

I'd take USC giving points and the under (44) this week if I could bet. I hate betting against Michigan but it seems like a good bet. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

This Nebraska QB is pretty good, but not nearly as good as the announcers think he is.  The lead announcer (Tim Brando) actually said, "The only difference between Raiola and Mahomes is size.  Raiola is bigger."

Edited September 21, 2024 by Irrelevant Dude

[Derwood]

And the only difference between Aioli and mayonnaise is eggs,

[Andy]

1 hour ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

This Nebraska QB is pretty good, but not nearly as good as the announcers think he is.  The lead announcer (Tim Brando) actually said, "The only difference between Raiola and Mahomes is size.  Raiola is bigger."

He did make a pretty freakin' great throw off his back foot with a rusher bearing down on him, but just because he cosplays as Mahomes sometimes doesn't mean announcers need to go insane with the comparisons.

[Soul]

That’s a fine road win by the Illini

 

[Derwood]

That may be the worst overtime possession I've ever seen

[gflore34]

20 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I know I'm just setting myself up for disappointment, but I'm excited for the Illinois/Nebraska game tonight.  It's all going to come crashing down sooner or later, but maybe we can continue the illusion of Illinois being a contender for one more week.

Add another week, at Penn State next, which is probably where it'll all come crashing down.  There's a chance that Altmyer, Bryant, Franklin and Feagin are actually good a development no one saw coming.  We'll see if they can take away the run from Penn State, if they can, there may a chance at even bigger win for the Illini.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

54 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

Add another week, at Penn State next, which is probably where it'll all come crashing down.

Man. Illini beat a ranked Nebraska team in OT on the road in prime time and this is the takeaway?

[Irrelevant Dude]

23 minutes ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

Man. Illini beat a ranked Nebraska team in OT on the road in prime time and this is the takeaway?

We have been through this too many times before.

[gflore34]

26 minutes ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

Man. Illini beat a ranked Nebraska team in OT on the road in prime time and this is the takeaway?

Oh yeah, we've seen many false positives, hence, I'm cautiously, very cautiously optimistic.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

24 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

We have been through this too many times before.

We have? How many 4-0 starts can you remember the Illini having? Unless you were born in the 1940’s, the answer, including 2024, is two.

 

Go ahead enjoy it without the imposing sense of dread! They’ll probably lose to #10 Penn State in Happy Valley next week, and that’s ok. That doesn’t mean the wheels are coming off.

Illinois started a stretch of 5 ranked opponents in 7 games two weeks ago. They’ve banked wins against 2 of those 5 already. Their coordinators ran circles around Nebraska last night. Their QB has 10 TDs to 0 INTs. They have two very reliable WRs and a strong defense that’s held two pretty darn good QBs in check already.

There’s two truly scary games left on the schedule. 7 or 8 wins feels like a pretty decent bet.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

1 hour ago, gflore34 said:

Oh yeah, we've seen many false positives, hence, I'm cautiously, very cautiously optimistic.

Curious what years you’re considering false positives. I arbitrarily went back to 2002. Here are the times they’ve started 3-1 or 4-0:

2007: 3-1 (ended with a trip to the Rose Bowl)

2011 4-0 (wins over 10-3 Arkansas St., S Dak State, 6-7 Arizona State (ranked #22 when we faced them—maybe this year’s Kansas W winds up looking similar when the dust settles), and 6-7 Northwestern

2013 3-1 (SIU, 9-4 Cincinnati, and 0-12 Miami Ohio)

2014 3-1 (Youngstown State, 8-5 Kentucky, 7-5 Tx State)

2015 3-1 (3-9 Kent State, Western Illinois, 7-6 Middle Tennessee State)

2022 3-1 (finished 8-5, should’ve been 9-4…still not over the loss to Michigan

 

So, it’s been mostly true negatives, two seasons I’d consider positive results, one false positive in 2011, and a few seasons of taking care of business against early season patsies.

 

[SpongeWorthy]

horsefeathers off Riley losing a game where the opposing qb has 32 yards passing 

[Andy]

26 minutes ago, SpongeWorthy said:

horsefeathers off Riley losing a game where the opposing qb has 32 yards passing 

Seems to be a pattern in that conference

[Andy]

In case any ND fan was clinging to the hope that NIU was some kind of elite MAC school, they lost to Buffalo in overtime in their first game since the disaster 2 weeks ago.

[Derwood]

Penn State put up a school record of 720+ yards today and 40 first downs

[Ding Dong Johnson]

33 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Penn State put up a school record of 720+ yards today and 40 first downs

Against the fighting librarians

[Derwood]

1 hour ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

Against the fighting librarians

Kent State may never win another game again

[Derwood]

In case people haven't been following Kent St football (and why wouldn't you be?), they are 0-4 and have been outscored 205-41. They are giving up an average of 606 yards per game. The closest game they had was a 23-17 loss to St. Francis of PA.

Oh, and they're down to their 3rd string QB as their first two both left the game with leg injuries

Edited September 22, 2024 by Derwood

[gflore34]

19 hours ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

Curious what years you’re considering false positives. I arbitrarily went back to 2002. Here are the times they’ve started 3-1 or 4-0:

2007: 3-1 (ended with a trip to the Rose Bowl)

2011 4-0 (wins over 10-3 Arkansas St., S Dak State, 6-7 Arizona State (ranked #22 when we faced them—maybe this year’s Kansas W winds up looking similar when the dust settles), and 6-7 Northwestern

2013 3-1 (SIU, 9-4 Cincinnati, and 0-12 Miami Ohio)

2014 3-1 (Youngstown State, 8-5 Kentucky, 7-5 Tx State)

2015 3-1 (3-9 Kent State, Western Illinois, 7-6 Middle Tennessee State)

2022 3-1 (finished 8-5, should’ve been 9-4…still not over the loss to Michigan

 

So, it’s been mostly true negatives, two seasons I’d consider positive results, one false positive in 2011, and a few seasons of taking care of business against early season patsies.

 

False positives in sense of looking "good", as you've tabulated above, early in the season.  Nevertheless, you are correct, mostly true negatives.