College Football Week 4: 5 teams on upset alert

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Which five teams could be on major upset alert in Week 4 of the college football season?

The college football season is just trucking along now. We are now in Week 4 and there have already been a wealth of upsets. Non-conference play is over for many teams and even more upsets are on the horizon as road contests at this point in the season can always spell doom for ranked opponents and conference title contenders.

Plenty of teams have been bitten by the upset bug so far this season — I don’t know if that’s an actual thing, but I’m making it one. Teams like Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, LSU, Oklahoma and Florida State have all been on the wrong end of some major upsets.

In the first week of the year, it was Texas taking down No. 10 Notre Dame at home, dropping the Fighting Irish in the rankings while the Longhorns jumped to No. 11. The LSU Tigers, led by hot seat-having coach Les Miles, fell to unranked Wisconsin at Lambeau Field while ranked fifth. Oklahoma dropped a tough neutral site game against No. 15 Houston while ranked third.

Last week, Oklahoma State was embarrassed on its own turf by MAC foe Central Michigan thanks to a final-second Hail Mary and lateral to win it. The Chippewas shocked the nation with that incredible play. Not a major upset on paper, but the final score of the No. 2 Florida State versus No. 10 Louisville game was video game-like: 63-20 Cardinals.

Could the upsets continue in Week 4 even though there aren’t as many premier matchups? Let’s take a look at the five teams that will be on upset alert.

Sep 17, 2016; Auburn, AL, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight (8) looks to pass during warm-ups prior to the game against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

Texas A&M Aggies

3-0, vs. Arkansas (17)

Winning on the road in the SEC is not an easy task. Heck, winning on the road in any Power Five conference isn’t easy, but the SEC happens to be one of the strongest leagues out there and is the subject of many upsets every year.

However, winning on the road isn’t impossible. Heck, even last year Ole Miss traveled to Alabama and won in Crimson Tide country. That’s something that you rarely hear these days since Nick Saban preaches consistency and focus.

To start league play on Saturday, the Texas A&M Aggies, ranked 10th in the latest AP Poll, will be hosting No. 17 Arkansas. The Razorbacks are one of the newest additions to the Top 25, but made it in because of a Week 2 victory against then-No. 15 TCU on the road. Arkansas has won on the road against a ranked opponent already this season, so there’s no reason to believe it can’t happen again.

Bret Bielema will have his guys ready as they travel to one of the most hostile environments in college football. Playing at Texas A&M is a nightmare, but the Aggies have started each season strong for the past couple of years before slowing down drastically in SEC play.

Last year, Kevin Sumlin’s Aggies were 5-0 and climbed to No. 9 before losing at home to Alabama. The year before, Texas A&M was 5-0 and ranked sixth before losing to Mississippi State and looking back to 2013, the Aggies played well against unranked conference opponents, but didn’t win against ranked foes.

Arkansas comes to town hungry for another upset win and this is the type of defense that might give Trevor Knight a tough time.

Sep 17, 2016; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp (1) scores a touchdown against Oregon Ducks cornerback Ugo Amadi (14) in the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska Cornhuskers

3-0, at Northwestern

Nebraska is riding high right now. The Cornhuskers are coming off their biggest win of the season over No. 22 Oregon and are now firmly supplanted in the AP Poll at No. 20. Last year, Nebraska couldn’t even sniff the Top 25 thanks to six one-score losses, including a Hail Mary defeat to open the season at home against BYU.

This team may have turned a corner and figured out a way to win the close ones. Beating the Ducks by three after a game-winning touchdown run by Tommy Armstrong with just over two minutes left is a good start.

Next on the schedule is a 1-2 Northwestern team that might not look like much of a threat thanks to losses against Western Michigan and Illinois State to start the year, but you can’t let that early-season trouble fool you. Northwestern is always a pesky team under the lights at home in conference play.

Mike Riley and the Cornhuskers will be heading to Evanston this weekend for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff in front of thousands of raucous Wildcat fans. It might not be the most hostile environment in college football, but primetime games at home have produced a handful of upsets for Northwestern.

Could this defense key yet another one and put the Wildcats’ season back on track?

Sep 17, 2016; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers running back Leonard Fournette (7) is defended by Mississippi State Bulldogs defensive back Lashard Durr (25) during the first quarter of a game at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

LSU Tigers

2-1, at Auburn

Brandon Harris’ leash was as short as can be to start the 2016 season for LSU and he’s now the backup quarterback, giving way to Purdue-transfer Danny Etling. Harris was given plenty of chances to improve, but he just regressed and it led to an opening week loss to unranked Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.

Ealing has a better arm and improved accuracy, but he struggled in the second half of a Week 3 matchup against Mississippi State at home. The Tigers mounted a 23-3 lead at halftime and allowed the Bulldogs to get back in it, scoring all 17 second half points between either team and nearly pulling off the upset.

Unfortunately for Les Miles, his leash from the athletic department is just as short as the one he gave Harris. One more upset loss and he might be out of a job — albeit, not for very long. If the Tigers can almost blow a 20-point halftime lead against an unranked foe at home, imagine what can happen against a pesky team on the road in SEC play.

Hoping Leonard Fournette can continue to play well, Etling will have to put up better numbers than his 19-for-30, 215-yard performance against Mississippi State.

On the other hand, Auburn is 0-for-2 at home against ranked foes this season and an 0-3 mark in four games could spell the end of Gus Malzahn’s career there. There is plenty of motivation to win on both sides of this contest, which might end in an upset.

Sep 17, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies wide receiver Chico McClatcher (6) is lifted up by teammate wide receiver John Ross (1) after a touchdown against the Portland State Vikings during the first quarter at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports

Washington Huskies

3-0, at Arizona

Rich Rodriguez has pulled rabbits out of hats before. The Arizona head coach might be facing his toughest test in quite some time, though, as one of the top quarterbacks in the Pac-12 is coming to town and his team is down a starting dual-threat.

The excitement around the Washington program has been restored thanks to Chris Petersen and it didn’t take long for the former Boise State head coach to win over fans with his coaching style and ability to recruit. He has brought Washington back from the dead and the Huskies are now ranked No. 9 in the nation.

Traveling to Tucson to face an Arizona team that always seems to be up for the task and never gets the respect it deserves might spell trouble, though. Washington will have the luxury of facing the Wildcats without starting quarterback Anu Solomon, though, most likely.

Solomon suffered a knee injury in a season-opening loss to BYU and backup dual-threat Brandon Dawkins has filled in quite nicely. Dawkins might present a matchup problem for the Huskies who haven’t seen him in person and the scouting report might not be as extensive as they would have liked if Solomon were staring.

Dawkins has passed for 458 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 215 yards and five more scores, leading the Wildcats to a 2-0 record in his starts. Arizona has an explosive offense and will give Washington its toughest test of the season, on the road, to date.

Sep 17, 2016; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal quarterback Ryan Burns (17) passes against the USC Trojans during a NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Stanford Cardinal

2-0, at UCLA

Stanford is a scary-good football team. The Cardinal are 2-0 with a couple of wins over Kansas State and USC to open the season, making it look easy. Any team that has Christian McCaffrey on it, though, is going to make scoring touchdowns look like a breeze.

Facing a tough road contest against UCLA, a team that opened the season in the Top 25, could be an upset waiting to happen. McCaffrey can’t play both sides of the ball, nor can he play quarterback, which might happen to be the weakest aspects of the team. Ryan Burns isn’t playing poorly under center, but the first-year quarterback hasn’t proven much.

Playing at UCLA under the lights in Week 4 might just be a ‘welcome to the Pac-12’ moment for the gunslinger.

If this game comes down to quarterback play, there’s no doubt in my mind that the UCLA Bruins will come out victorious. Stanford’s defense has struggled against the pass versus two unproven quarterbacks to start the season and Rosen happens to be one of the top gunslingers in the Pac-12, proving that as a true freshman.

In fact, Rosen passed for over 3,600 yards and 23 touchdowns in his first collegiate season in 2015 and is on pace to have an even better output this year. He’s put up 917 yards and four touchdowns through just three games. He could afford to improve his accuracy and decision-making, but he will take advantage of a struggling Stanford defensive backfield.

Heck, Rosen passed for 326 yards and three touchdowns a season ago against the Cardinal, he can do it again.