College football look ahead: Week 4

By Chris Asbrock

The college football season has been interesting thus far. We have seen our fair share of season ending injuries, top teams tumbled and others step up. As we head into week four of the season, there are a few storylines to look out for. Myself and my FTI colleague Jin Kim look ahead to the today’s games.

1. Los Angeles takes on the state of Arizona

Both teams who call Los Angeles home, will head to Arizona for key Pac-12 Conference games Saturday night. The USC Trojans look to rebound from the tough loss to Stanford last week, when they take on a tough Arizona State team. Trojans QB Cody Kessler comes in to this game with an impressive stat line. Through the first three games, he is 70-89 for 922 YDS and 10 TD. Kessler must keep that type of play up if the Trojans are to make a run to the Pac-12 championship.

The other LA team, UCLA, will look to stay unbeaten against the Arizona Wildcats. The Bruins are led by Freshman quarterback Josh Rosen. The freshman phenom had an amazing start to the season but has since been brought back to earth. Even though the Bruins are favored in this game, their defense will be challenged with the likes of Anu Solomon, Nick Wilson and David Richards lining up for the Wildcats. This game should be one of the better games of the day and a can’t miss matchup.

2. Notre Dame looks to stay hot

I have not been a believer in Notre Dame from day one and the Irish continue to make me look really bad. I didn’t see the Fighting Irish making it to this point undefeated, especially with the rash of injuries they have experienced. With that being said, I think it is safe for me to now admit, this Notre Dame team is pretty good.

The Fighting Irish host an 0-2 UMass team who come into South Bend as almost 30 point underdogs. Do the Minutemen have any shot in this game? I am going out on a limb on this and say not a chance. Look for Notre Dame to stay hot and but if Notre Dame is looking ahead to next weekends massive showdown at Clemson, UMass could make this a game.

3. Big Day for Texas schools

Teams in the State of Texas are geared up for some big matchups. The Texas Tech Red Raiders play host to a high powered TCU team, in a game that sure has the makings to be a shootout. Vegas has the over/under for that game at a staggering 83.5 points. That number can certainly be blown out of the water, with the offenses these two teams have. If you like touchdowns, then this will be the game for you.

In another big matchup, the Oklahoma State Cowboys head to Austin to take on a Texas Longhorns team that is still reeling from their heartbreaking loss to Cal last weekend. The Longhorns are 1-2 on the season with losses to solid teams in Notre Dame and Cal. However, coach Charlie Strong is feeling the heat after the first three games of the season. This has the makings of being a sneaky good game. Texas will look to rebound against an Oklahoma State team who has yet to be challenged by a good team.

Top 10 Power Rankings:

1. Michigan State
2. Ole Miss
3. LSU
4. Ohio State
5. TCU
6. Notre Dame
7. UCLA
8. Baylor
9. Georgia
10. Clemson