College football preview: Week 4

Looking forward to week four and my picks for which games to watch this weekend.

September 18, 2013; 6:29 AM • by Ross Catrow

Highlights & Recaps

• Virginia Tech over ECU, 15-10. Tech’s defense is the real deal! Currently ranked #2 in the nation for Total D, they’re holding opponents to 190 yards per game. Now if they could just get consistent performance out of the other two phases of the game, they’d be a pretty decent football team.
• Gardner-Webb over #11 Richmond, 12-10. The Spiders fell to the Racing Bulldogs as their last-second field goal attempt sailed wide left and short. Worse than the loss was a nasty injury to r-Sr. tight end Sam Roller. Roller caught five passes for 54 yards and a touchdown in the loss to NC State in Week 2.
• #1 Alabama over #6 Texas A&M, 49-42. That score looks close, but it wasn’t. After two incredible drives (and a Jonny Manziel highlight you will probably see 10,000 times this season), Alabama woke up and dominated the Aggies. Remember, Virginia Tech held that same Alabama offense to 206 yards and 14 points.

And finally, watch this crazy ending to the Wisconsin-Arizona State game:

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Virginia Tech vs. Marshall

ESPNU • 12:00 PM • VT -9.5

Another week, another pass-happy offense.

Last week the Hokies faced a dude who was completing 80% of his passes and they absolutely shut. him. down. This week they face Marshall and QB Rakeem Cato who led the nation in passing yards last year. Now that Tech’s true freshman corners have proved themselves (Fr. Brandon Facyson has three interceptions in as many games), it’ll be interesting to see how offenses begin to attack the Hokie D. Barring injuries, there certainly aren’t a lot of weak spots.

Marshall is only allowing 67 rushing yards per game (albeit against subpar competition), so it may be tough sledding for Hokie RB Trey Edmunds. He had a great game against Alabama, but struggled against ECU. Teams will continue to focus on stopping Tech’s running game until the Hokies can prove their receivers won’t continually drop passes.

Virginia vs. VMI

ESPN3 • 3:30 PM

Virginia returns to action after taking the week off to recover from the beatdown they received at the hands of Oregon–a beat down that the vast, vast majority of college teams would have also received. Luckily, this week they’ll face the Keydets of VMI, a Big South team that’s only won five games in the past three seasons.

The Hoos could use a tune-up game–especially one to get QB David Watford a little more comfortable at his position. Coach London will be looking for Watford to improve his running game (he’s currently averaging just two yards per carry) and passing game (he’s thrown four picks and just one TD).

#20 Richmond vs. Liberty

SpiderTV • 6:00 PM

This Saturday, the Spiders face Coach Rocco’s former team: the Liberty Flames. Richmond looks to bounce back after two incredibly heart-breaking losses, while the Flames are on a two-game winning streak. Did you guys remember that Turner Gill is Liberty’s head coach? Remember when he was at Kansas for a hot second?

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National game of the week

• #5 Stanford vs. #23 Arizona State • Saturday, 7:00 PM • FOX

ACC game of the week

• #3 Clemson at NC State • 7:30 PM • ESPN

Worth watching

• #19 Florida vs. Tennessee • 3:30 PM • CBS
• #22 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State • 3:30 PM • NBC
• #6 LSU vs. Auburn • 7:45 PM • ESPN
• Indiana vs. Missouri • 8:00 PM • BTN

The Theoretical Playoff

No changes this week other than the (theoretical) matchups. Left on the outside looking in are: Stanford, LSU, Louisville, and Florida State. Out of those, I think FSU makes the most compelling addition.

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Clemson
4. Ohio State

September 18, 2013 6:29 AM 0