In August, the college football universe is awash in an abundance of hope. In lieu of any evidence to the contrary, it's easy enough to imagine any outcome for the season ahead.
We could bask in the comforting consistency of Clemson's roster and believe the Tigers are back to being national title contenders.
We could squint at all the portal additions Auburn made this offseason and buy into the idea that perhaps Jackson Arnold was finally ready to fulfill his potential behind an offensive line that wasn't primarily made up of Popsicle sticks and tape.
We could hold our breath, focus on the way last year ended, and convince ourselves that Billy Napier truly had Florida on the right path.
In August, it was easy to believe Illinois was a playoff team, Nebraska was back and it was possible to make it through a Saturday without seeing the same commercials so many times we'd want to treat our televisions the way Jeremiyah Love treats an undersized linebacker.
And then the season kicks off, the rose-colored glasses begin to crack, and by Week 4, the only thing to rear its ugly head more often than reality is Doug the Pug.
Saturday delivered its share of the joy of victory, of course. Brent Venables, John Mateer and Oklahoma took another step in their redemption tour. Syracuse's Fran Brown continued to remind folks why he's arguably the most interesting coach in the country. Indiana finally earned a win against a team that hadn't just signed its defensive backfield from among a handful of drifters at a bus station before the game.
But Saturday, too, was filled with the agony of defeat -- with cold, hard facts that punctured all the bubbles that had insulated fans, coaches and players from the truth of what 2025 would look like.
At Clemson, Dabo Swinney may have wanted to shrug off his team's early struggles as a little bad luck and fluky plays, but after Syracuse dominated the Tigers 34-21 in Death Valley, there were no more illusions. Swinney was emotional, saying he carried the weight of Clemson's 1-3 start, noting that he was "not a cyborg." Like famed cyborg The Terminator, Swinney has continued to promise "I'll be back," but this season has had a lot more "Kindergarten Cop" vibes for Clemson. Who could've foreseen a defending ACC champion that entered the season with a veteran QB, a heralded defensive front and a top-five ranking crumbling so quickly and emphatically. Sorry, Mike Norvell. Don't answer that.
Meanwhile in Norman, Arnold wasn't looking for revenge against his former team exactly, but after being buried behind a woeful offensive line last year at Oklahoma, he at least wanted to prove things were different for him at Auburn. Instead, the Sooners racked up 10 sacks, while the Auburn O-line was flagged for six false starts, two holding calls and four times chased a laser pointed around the field like a cat while Arnold was pummeled by the Oklahoma pass rush. Instead, it was Mateer -- the portal replacement for Arnold -- who accounted for 300 yards and two scores in a 24-17 win. Afterward, Arnold was appreciative of his time at Oklahoma and gracious in defeat ... then he was tackled for a 6-yard loss during an on-field interview.
John Mateer breaks the plane to give the Sooners a lead late in the fourth quarter.
Any hope for Florida's recovery probably hit a dead end when the Gators were stopped on a fourth-and-short in the third quarter -- the lone real offensive energy they showed in a 26-7 loss to Miami. The Gators had just one first down in the first half, managed a total of 151 yards, and DJ Lagway mustered just 61 yards passing. To ensure his tenure ends as the most embarrassing in recent Florida history, Napier left immediately after the loss, chartered a fishing boat in Fort Lauderdale and promised not to return until he's photographed hugging a beluga whale.
There was buzz over the summer that Illinois could be this year's Indiana. Turns out, Indiana is probably this year's Indiana. In fact, that may be severely under appreciating the Hoosiers, who utterly destroyed the Illini 63-10 -- the type of embarrassment in Illinois usually inflicted only by its former governors.
Nebraska fans had hope this might be the year their luck changes. Instead, the Huskers fell to Michigan 30-27. It was yet another close loss for Nebraska, which is now 11-36 in one-possession games since Scott Frost's first season in 2018. Matt Rhule is now 4-11 in one-score games there, proving that this is the result of a curse that first befell Frost when he watched a haunted VHS tape of the 2012 CyHawk game and was then passed on to Rhule when he ate some enchanted hard candies Frost had left behind in his office.
And if North Carolina fans were encouraged by a pair of wins over Charlotte and Richmond, any enthusiasm ended faster than a Gio Lopez-led drive Saturday in a 34-9 loss to UCF. It was an emphatic response by the Knights after Bill Belichick had referred to the school earlier this week as "Central," before adding, "Seriously, I'm not past my prime and I totally understand how college football works. Why are you all laughing? I'm cool and relevant and, what's it the kids are saying ... rizzed? Yes, very rizzed."
By September's end, the season will have separated many of its pretenders from its contenders. The cream rises. October and November are about the winners, and the Sooners and Canes, and Hoosiers and Wolverines, all figure to be in the mix.
But those pretenders will move forward, too -- bruised and battered and uncertain what the future may hold.
Saturday wasn't the end -- even if a few of those teams may wish it was.
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Trends | Under the radar
Heisman five
Week 4 vibe check
Each week, the college football landscape shifts with dramatic moments, big wins and highlight-reel plays. But there are more subtle changes, too, and we try to capture those here.
Trending up: Hot seat temperatures
On Friday, Oklahoma State looked dismal in its latest embarrassing defeat, a 19-12 home loss to Tulsa. Being a man and being 40 would still leave you 34 years shy of remembering the last time that happened.
The Cowboys have now lost 12 straight FBS games, and coach Mike Gundy has gone from being the hottest coach with a mullet to a look that's more "going out of business" in the front and "retirement party" in the back.
Meanwhile, Luke Fickell is on thin ice in Madison after Wisconsin was dominated at home by Maryland on Saturday 27-10. Fickell is now 15-15 overall and 8-11 in Big Ten play at Wisconsin, far beneath the lofty expectations he arrived with after leading Cincinnati into the playoff. So, are the Badgers ready to move on?
Does Wisconsin have the $$$ to swallow a 33% Jimbo buyout?
— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) September 20, 2025
Luke Fickell would be owed $25 million if he's fired this season - which would be the second-biggest buyout figure in history.
Trending up: Being rich
This offseason, Texas Tech spent the gross national product of Estonia to add talent in the transfer portal, and Saturday, the results were on full display in a 34-10 win over Utah.
Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Utah Utes: Full Highlights
The Red Raiders faced their share of obstacles. QB Behren Morton left in the second half with an injury, putting the game in the hands of backup Will Hammond. The Utes crowd was rocking, too, creating seven false starts thanks to some deafening noise and also possibly kidnapping the right guard's dog, promising he'd be returned safely after his sixth holding call.
None of it mattered. Hammond was exceptional, throwing two touchdowns passes and racking up 230 yards of offense. The Red Raiders' D rattled Devon Dampier, who threw two picks.
Trending up: Large mammals
Ralphie VII made her debut in Colorado's 37-20 win over Wyoming on Saturday. The 1-year-old bison took over for Ralphie VI, who, like Colorado's playcalling under Deion Sanders, showed little interest in running.
Ralphie VII had a good bit more spring in her step, running the field after each Colorado score and also subbing in at quarterback for a handful of series in the second half because the Buffs don't really have anyone better.
Trending down: Anchors
Vanderbilt got a hefty taste of revenge Saturday, demolishing a Georgia State team that had beaten the Commodores a year earlier 70-15. Diego Pavia accounted for 331 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Vandy is 4-0 for the first time since 2008, back when Pavia was just a 36-year-old redshirt sophomore at the New Mexico Junior College Institute of Learning and Subway Sandwich Artistry, which we've all come to understand did not actually count against his college eligibility. After Saturday's win, Pavia celebrated by taking all his grandkids out for dinner and ice cream.
Holding steady: Skillet ownership
The SMU-TCU rivalry is on hold -- possibly forever -- meaning the Horned Frogs won't be sharing the Iron Skillet anytime soon.
TCU raced past the Mustangs 35-24 thanks to five touchdown passes from Josh Hoover and an epic eight-catch, 254-yard performance by Eric McAlister that included three touchdowns.
Eric McAlister hauls it in for a 70-yard receiving touchdown.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes took exception to the notion that the Frogs were ducking future showdowns with their longtime rival, noting his side had won five of the past six, which he said was like "a Meat Loaf song. ... Five outta six ain't bad."
Ultimately, though, SMU had the last laugh. Before turning the Iron Skillet back over to the Horned Frogs, it sprayed it down with Pam, used it to cook meatloaf, soaked it in the team's cold tub, then ran it through the dishwasher a half-dozen times.
Trending down: Getting DoorDash before kickoff
Trent Dilfer wisely placed his order for two Crunchwrap Supremes well before warmups, but because of traffic around Neyland Stadium ahead of UAB's showdown with Tennessee, he was still checking to see when it would be delivered right up until kickoff.
UAB Head Coach Trent Dilfer is locked in seconds before the kickoff pic.twitter.com/Bp0XhoyOXE
— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) September 20, 2025
Sadly, Dilfer's phone had few answers for slowing down Tennessee as Joey Aguilar threw three touchdown passes in the Vols' 56-24 win. On the plus side, Dilfer did find several helpful YouTube videos on attacking the Cover 2 before going down a rabbit hole of increasingly conspiratorial videos, ultimately subscribing to the theory that Tennessee had an unfair offensive advantage due to the Earth being flat.
Trending up: Football in the 'Sip
Is there a QB controversy for Ole Miss? For the second straight week, Trinidad Chambliss got the start for an injured Austin Simmons, and for the second straight week, Chambliss delivered -- throwing for 307 yards, rushing for 112 and tossing two touchdowns in a 45-10 win over Tulane.
In two starts, Chambliss has been electric, racking up 660 passing yards and forcing Lane Kiffin to consider leaving Simmons on an airport tarmac with a note pinned to his jersey reading, "This usually works out for the best."
Meanwhile, Mississippi State took care of business 38-10 vs. Northern Illinois to move to 4-0 for the first time since 2014, the year the Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff committee rankings.
Here's hoping this all is leading to an Egg Bowl with genuine SEC and postseason implications, and that a playoff spot comes down to a player riding an ATV into the end zone, feigning peeing like a dog on the head linesman, then giving a wedgie to a member of the chain gang before running off the field yelling "Viva Starkville!" while launching hot dogs into the crowd with one of those T-shirt cannons mascots use.
Trending down: Playing by the book
Duke's Anderson Castle, who is somehow a running back and not the uniquely brilliant but emotionally damaged protagonist who plays by his own rules in a medical procedural drama, scored three times in a 45-33 win over NC State.
Castle, a sixth-year senior who had just 10 carries this season entering Saturday (but had performed four kidney transplants without anesthesia), had 12 carries for 92 yards against the Wolfpack, including a 66-yard touchdown run to seal the game with 2:19 to play.
All of this was incredibly frustrating for both Dave Doeren and the hospital's chief of staff, but Castle doesn't care about the rule book. He gets results!
Trending up: Being fashionably late
Nearly a month after Week 0 games, the Ivy League finally got around to playing football this week, with Princeton getting off to an inauspicious start. San Diego scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Tigers 42-35.
Things went slightly better for Yale, Brown, Penn and Harvard, though it's hard to fault any of the Ivy Leaguers for a slow start. Everyone knows it's incredibly gauche to dabble with football prior to Mayflower Day. During those late summer afternoons in Cape Cod, it's more appropriate for sophisticated gentlemen to focus on urbane pursuits, such as day trading, pipe smoking and making haughtily suggestive puns while reading the London Times and enjoying the proper end of yachting season.
Under-the-radar game of the week
Army fell behind North Texas 21-0 after starting QB Cale Hellums turned the ball over three times early, but Dewayne Coleman came on in relief and lit a spark.
Coleman threw for 101 yards, ran for 117 and accounted for three touchdowns as the Black Knights charged back to tie the score at 38 in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
In overtime, however, UNT's Caleb Hawkins plunged into the end zone for his fourth rushing TD of the day, while Coleman went down with an apparent leg injury two plays into Army's possession. Without Coleman, the Black Knights' drive stalled, and North Texas held on for a 45-38 win.
The lesson: Always stay hydrated.
— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) September 20, 2025
Under-the-radar play of the week
Western Michigan trailed by 7 and faced a fourth-and-10 with just 1:24 to play when Broc Lowry hit Talique Williams for a 43-yard completion to the Toledo 5.
Talique Williams makes a big 43-yard grab for Western Michigan late in the fourth quarter.
Two plays later, Lowry rumbled in from 2 yards out, then did it again for the 2-point conversion, to give the Broncos a 14-13 win.
After the game, Lowry celebrated by announcing he'd finally earn enough in NIL to afford to buy the missing "K" in his name.
Heisman five
This week, Arch Manning racked up an impressive 309 yards passing and five total touchdowns in a 55-0 win over Sam Houston State, proving the theory that if Manning just played in Conference USA, he'd be a real Heisman contender.
1. Oklahoma QB John Mateer
It's always awkward when a team attends a party with its hot new QB and runs into its ex. Such was the case for Oklahoma in Week 4, but Mateer offered a reminder that the Sooners made the right call, accounting for 300 yards and two scores in a 24-17 win over Auburn.
2. Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza
Against a top-10 team on Saturday, Mendoza threw for five touchdowns and had two incompletions. Mendoza has now thrown for at least four touchdowns without a pick in three straight games. In the playoff era, only four other power conference QBs have done that. All four are starting on Sundays now (Caleb Williams, CJ Stroud, Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa).
3. Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed
Reed and the Aggies had the week off, so they got to work selling magazines door to door to continue chipping away at Jimbo Fisher's buyout.
4. TCU QB Josh Hoover
Hoover threw for 379 yards and five touchdowns in a 35-24 win over rival SMU. So, if you're keeping score at home, the TCU QB has 663 passing yards and seven touchdowns in two games against the ACC this season. Not that TCU has noticed or anything.
thanks acc 👋 pic.twitter.com/Nt0agnUiSW
— TCU Football (@TCUFootball) September 20, 2025
5. Missouri RB Ahmad Hardy
The Tigers' tailback carried 22 times for 138 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's 29-20 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks. Hardy has topped 100 yards in 10 of his past 11 games and six straight overall, dating back to last season with Louisiana-Monroe.