2016 College football look ahead: Week 4

by Chris Asbrock

This weekend is one where the matchups aren‘t as strong as they have been the last few weeks. So far this year, we have seen the domination by Ohio State and Alabama and the making of a star in Louisville. We have seen the powerful North Dakota State Bison travel to Iowa to knock off the 13th ranked Hawkeyes. There are some great games this coming weekend and some teams will be put on upset alert. Lets take a look at the storylines for this weekend and how the playoff layout looks to us so far just four weeks in. 

1. Can Florida State rebound on the road at South Florida?

Will the Seminoles recover from their 63-20 dismantling at the hands of Louisville last week? The Seminoles gave up seven rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown. If that wasn’t enough, their special teams unit gave up a 69 yard punt return as well. Louisville came into the game ranked #10 and was incredibly hyped, but to dominate the Seminoles like that, was truly astonishing. The Noles now travel to South Florida to face a 3-0 Bulls team ready to pounce. The Bulls are led by quarterback Quinton Flowers who has thrown for 716 yards and seven touchdowns.

Flowers is a dual threat quarterback who has also rushed for two touchdowns. The Seminoles will have to stop Flowers, along with running backs Marlon Mack and Darius Tice. The Bulls have penetrated the endzone 19 times via the air and ground game. The Seminoles defense will have to play tough defense to keep the USF offense out of the endzone.

2. Will Cincinnati avoid the upset in the battle for the Victory Bell?

In one of the best rivalry games in college football, the Cincinnati Bearcats and Miami Redhawks will battle it out for the Victory Bell. The Bearcats currently have defeated the Redhawks 10 straight years, which is a record in this long, 120 game, rivalry. The Bearcats will have to rebound from their let down loss against Houston last week. The Bearcats gave a valiant effort but ultimately fell, 40-16 to the sixth ranked Cougars.

Both teams come into this game, averaging over 400 yards of total offense. The defense is a different story. The Bearcats have given up and average of 70 more yards than their rivals. While the Bearcats avoided defeated to a FCS school this season, the Redhawks fell victim, losing to Eastern Illinois 21-17. The Redhawks come into this game with their best team so far but will it be enough to end their 10 game losing streak to the Bearcats?

3. College football playoff teams continue to jostle for position

The college football landscape hasn’t seen much shuffling these past few seasons, as the known powers have stayed on top. Alabama and Ohio State have reloaded, while Michigan, Clemson and Louisville look to stay in the top five. The big unknown is the Houston Cougars. Houston looks to stay in the hunt with a road game at Texas State. Stanford and Michigan State both have very tough games. With next week being a massive week in college football, will any of these teams be looking ahead and slip up today?

College Football Playoff Pairings: