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    • College Football Winners and Losers Week 4: USC and Utah Lead the Way
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    College Football Winners and Losers Week 4: USC and Utah Lead the Way

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    For much of the second half, it appeared No. 12 Southern California was poised for life in the Big Ten.

    That could still be the case: trailing 14-3 at halftime, the Trojans were nowhere to be seen offensively. In the second half, the Trojans turned things around against No. 17 Michigan and were just a late defensive line away from a great start to the new season.

    But the Wolverines scored with 36 seconds left on a 1-yard run by Kalel Mullings for a 27-24 victory. That leaves the reigning national champions in contention for the College Football Playoff and USC and coach Lincoln Riley frustrated with a victory that eluded them.

    There are things to like about the Trojans’ Big Ten debut. First, the shift in physicality and production on both lines in the second half suggests that USC is ready for the style of play in this conference.

    Meanwhile, the Trojans were able to bolster this running attack with a solid game from quarterback Miller Moss, who was pressured and pressured by the Wolverines’ pass rush but finished with 283 passing yards and three touchdowns. On the other end of the field, Michigan got nothing from quarterback Alex Orji, making his debut as a starter and had 32 passing yards and 43 yards on the ground.

    After signing new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn from rival UCLA this winter, the Trojans are also seeing improved results that could keep this team in contention for a playoff spot.

    But there are still plenty of unresolved questions. One is the Trojans’ ability to protect the quarterback, which will be in question after Saturday. Another is whether USC can afford to stumble out of the blocks, as it did Saturday, and bounce back against a team like No. 10 Penn State; the Nittany Lions visit the Coliseum on Oct. 12. While they held Michigan’s run game in check for long stretches, the defense allowed three big plays, including a 63-yard run to Kalel Mullings on the game-winning drive. The Wolverines finished with 290 yards rushing.

    And there’s some question about what it means to lose to Michigan. The Wolverines are inept on offense and clearly not built to compete for another national title. But when push came to shove, they had enough to hand USC a painful setback as new members of the Big Ten.

    The Trojans, Michigan and Utah are the winners and losers of college football in Week 4:

    Winners

    Utah

    No. 10 Utah’s 22-19 win over No. 15 Oklahoma State moves the Utes alongside No. 14 Kansas State as the Big 12’s cream of the crop, a small step ahead of underrated No. 21 Iowa State and underrated Central Florida. That’s largely because the Utes did so without quarterback Cam Rising in the lineup, meaning they’ll have to dig a gear through four games. With the senior sidelined again — injuries are a constant concern for Rising, who is excellent when healthy — coach Kyle Whittingham turned to backup Isaac Wilson, who threw a pair of interceptions but was bailed out by running back Micah Bernard’s 182 yards on 25 carries. The big story, then, was the play on defense: Utah chewed through two OSU quarterbacks, gave up just 38 rushing yards and showed why it’s more than ready to make a playoff push.

    Clemson

    After scoring 56 points in the first half of a 66-20 win over Appalachian State two weeks ago, No. 19 Clemson dropped 45 first-half points to North Carolina State and cruised to a 59-35 victory over a potential ACC contender. (Turns out, the Wolfpack definitely aren’t.) This explosiveness comes after a 34-3 loss to Georgia in the season opener raised an extra round of questions about the Tigers’ underperforming offense. While the Mountaineers and Wolfpack aren’t exactly elite competition, this quick turnaround strongly suggests that Clemson is a legitimate ACC contender and a playoff contender, either as the conference winner or via an at-large bid. Quarterback Cade Klubnik had 209 yards and four total touchdowns against NC State and has 11 total scores over the past two games.

    Indiana

    The list of victories isn’t impressive: Florida International, Western Illinois, UCLA and Charlotte. The final scores, however, are 31-7, 77-3, 42-13 and 52-14, respectively. With transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke at the helm, Indiana’s offense looks to be one of the best in recent program history, while new coach Curt Cignetti looks to be one of the most inspired additions of the past offseason. After Saturday’s loss to Charlotte, the Hoosiers are unbeaten through four games for the first time since the 2020 season — Indiana’s only ranked finish since 1989 — while Cignetti is the first new coach in program history to start his tenure 4-0.

    Losers

    Memphis

    A week after beating Florida State in Tallahassee to move atop the Group of Five ladder, No. 23 Memphis threw away all that goodwill and momentum with a 56-44 loss at Navy. In retrospect, coming off the highs of one of the biggest regular-season wins in program history and into a road trip against an option team may have been a recipe for disaster. With a potent running game, the Midshipmen finished with 361 yards on 39 carries, including a 90-yard score by quarterback Blake Horvath in the fourth quarter. Defensively, Navy gave up 659 yards but came up with a pair of key stops as the Tigers held the ball for nearly 36 minutes. While they’re still in the mix for a playoff spot, the loss could force Memphis to run the table from here on out to fend off other Group of Five contenders, including No. 25 UNLV, Toledo and James Madison.

    North Carolina

    How do you give up 70 points at home to the aforementioned James Madison like North Carolina? Start with five turnovers, the program’s most in a game since Sept. 27, 2018. Help JMU through those giveaways with two possessions that started inside the Tar Heels’ 35-yard line, both of which ended in touchdowns. Also give away one score on a blocked punt and another on a pick-six. But that doesn’t quite explain how abysmal UNC was on defense. The Tar Heels allowed 611 yards of offense on 8.4 yards per play as the Dukes pulled out a big, landmark win for new coach Bob Chesney and leaped into the playoff mix.

    State of Mississippi

    It doesn’t get much worse than this: Mississippi State is worse than Florida. How much worse? Try 17 points worse, and at home, no less. Behind 201 passing yards and three scores from Graham Mertz, the 45-28 win gives the Gators and coach Billy Napier a boost amid another sluggish start, slightly increasing the odds for six wins and a bowl spot. (The odds are still pretty slim.) Then again, losing in the friendly confines of a team and program clearly on life support raises some alarm bells about the state of the Bulldogs under new coach Jeff Lebby, who won his debut against Eastern Kentucky but has since lost at Arizona State, been embarrassed at home to Toledo and been blown out by the Gators.

    Kansas

    One of the downsides of being a winning football program — something Kansas has long lacked — is the expectations that come with competence. Coming off two straight bowl berths and a nine-win season in 2023, the Jayhawks are one of the biggest disappointments in the Power Four after giving up a late score to lose 32-28 to West Virginia and fall to 1-3. What makes it somehow worse is that each loss would have been extremely avoidable — they led in the fourth quarters of all three games. Against the Mountaineers, KU led 28-17 after scoring with 5:39 left, but then gave up a pair of scoring drives in the final minutes to lose this Big 12 opener and put its bowl hopes in jeopardy.

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