It was a Saturday of upsets, near-upsets and recovery from past upsets.
Fans were treated to some exciting performances across the nation, including an upset of the No. 18 Louisville Cardinals by the previously winless Syracuse Orangemen, 38-35, and a narrow 41-40 victory for the No. 24 Nebraska Cornhuskers over the unranked Ball State Cardinals.
In many respects, Week 4 was about respect, or lack thereof. The USC Trojans cemented their No. 1 ranking with a 47-14 drubbing of Pac-10-rival Washington State. And in a clash of top SEC teams, No. 2 LSU and coach Les Miles earned a hard-fought win over Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks, 28-16.
The victory helped silence the critics who have argued that LSU's elite ranking has been attained with wins over inferior teams such as Middle Tennessee and Mississipi State, and an overrated Virginia Tech team. LSU asserted its dominance on the ground with 270 yards rushing.
After disappointing losses to Appalachian State and Oregon to start the season, the Michigan Wolverines fought their way back to a .500 season by defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions by a score of 14-10. Behind a 153-yard rushing performance on a career-high 44 carries by running back Mike Hart, the Wolverines controlled the ball and kept the high-powered Penn State offense off the field.
The Wolverines have re-established themselves as a contender in the Big Ten. Michigan will have to continue to improve, however, if it hopes to compete with rival Ohio State for the conference title. The Buckeyes are 4-0 now, thanks to a 58-7 win over Northwestern, and they've averaged 37 points and 414 total yards per game to this point in the season.
Wisconsin and the Michigan State are also 4-0, and both are contenders for the Big Ten title. The two teams face off in what should be the top matchup of next weekend.
Heading in the other direction are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who have begun the season with an 0-4 record for the first time in the 119-year history of the school.
The Irish lost to Michigan State by a score of 31-14 for their fourth loss Saturday. Coach Charlie Weis isn't ready yet to declare the season a failure, but he is haunted by offensive inconsistency and defensive indifference that has rarely been a trademark of the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame will attempt to get its first victory next week against undefeated Purdue, a team that has averaged 48.5 points a game so far this season.
Locally, the Boston College Eagles have firmly established themselves as one of the top teams in the country and a favorite for the ACC title, with an undefeated 4-0 record after a 37-17 victory over Army last week. The Eagles' potent offense has been driven by quarterback Matt Ryan, who has an extremely high passer rating of 136.8 and has averaged 335.2 passing yards per game, which is the ninth-highest average among Div. I quarterbacks.
In his four games, Ryan has thrown for 10 touchdown passes, leading the Eagles to first place atop the ACC's Atlantic Division. The Eagles have climbed to No. 12 in the AP Top 25 and No. 11 in the USA Today rankings.
The defending national champion Florida Gators are currently ranked No. 4 in the nation and carry a 4-0 record. Last weekend Florida inched by Ole Miss by a score of 30-24, having trouble with the Rebels after dominating Tennessee the week before.
Though the Gators don't seem to have the same overwhelming confidence that they had in the BCS Championship Game against Ohio State last year, head coach Urban Meyer will certainly look to silence the team's naysayers. Next week, the Gators will look to continue in their quest for a repeat championship when they play the 2-2 Auburn Tigers, who have been a disappointment this season with losses to Mississippi State and South Florida.
Though the season is still in its early stages, it is safe to say that powerhouses USC and LSU are the favorites to meet in the BCS National Championship game. Of course, after Ohio State dismantled Michigan in their regular season match-up last year, everyone assumed the Buckeyes were unstoppable, which proved to be far from true. And maybe a dark horse candidate will crash the BCS party and become this year's Boise State.
