Week 4 is where the season starts sorting itself out, and for a few playoff hopefuls, there’s no more room for a soft landing. The 12-team format gives contenders a little more breathing room than before, but it does not erase the damage of stacking early losses. With six ranked matchups on Saturday’s slate, the pressure is already real.
Some teams can survive a stumble. These ones probably can’t.
Michigan gets Iowa at home in a game that figures to be about trench warfare more than fireworks. The Wolverines are 3-0, but the record doesn’t tell the full story.
Their Week 1 win over Western Michigan is the kind of result that won’t carry much weight with the playoff committee, and while they do have a win over Oklahoma, that one has lost some shine with the way the Sooners have opened the season. Michigan still hasn’t put together the kind of complete four-quarter performance that makes the rest of the country sit up.
Iowa gives them a chance to change that. A loss would crank up the pressure heading into Big Ten play, with Penn State, Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State still looming.
A win would help Michigan put a shaky start behind it and build real momentum.
Texas A&M and LSU are staring at a game that already feels like an elimination round. By the time the dust settles Saturday night, one of them will be 2-2 overall and 0-2 in SEC play.
Texas A&M is trying to bounce back from an ugly loss to Kentucky, a game that made the Aggies look a long way from playoff material. LSU comes in after a hard-fought defeat to Ole Miss, but the Tigers have questions of their own after their first-half showing in that one, Sam Leavitt’s play, and the fact that their big Week 1 win over Clemson is looking less impressive now.
The schedule doesn’t get easier for either side, which is what makes this matchup so critical. The loser will have a steep climb and almost no margin left if the playoff conversation is going to stay alive.
Oregon is in a surprising spot for a team that entered the year with the kind of buzz reserved for the very top of the sport. The Ducks head to USC trying to avoid a 2-2 start, and that alone tells you how fast the ground has shifted.
USC, under Lincoln Riley, has been waiting for a statement win in a game like this, and it has a prime shot at home against an Oregon team that has already shown cracks. For Dan Lanning’s group, a loss would be the sort of setback that can send a season sideways in a hurry, especially with Ohio State still on the schedule.
After all the preseason hype, Oregon is suddenly in a must-win spot in September.
In Other News...
Johnny Manziel Just Said What Texas A&M Fans Are Fearing
Johnny Manziels postgame criticism landed with the kind of force only a former Texas A&M star can bring. After the loss to LSU, he took to social media to question what the Aggies are doing right now, and the reaction was not hard to understand. The offense has struggled to find rhythm, the defense has had its own issues, and the overall look has been of a team still searching for something steady to hang onto in SEC play.
For Aggies fans, the uncomfortable part is that the problems do not seem isolated to one side of the ball. Coaching, cohesion and the lack of a clear offensive identity have all become part of the conversation, with the running game looking like one area that could help set a tone if it ever gets going. Until then, the concern Manziel voiced is the same one hovering over the program: the season feels like it needs a reset, and there is no obvious sign yet of where that comes from. [Read more 🡒]
Mario Craver Is Giving Texas A&M Fans A New Reason To Vent
Texas A&Ms rocky start has already left Aggies fans looking for answers after two straight losses erased the momentum of a 2-0 opening, and now receiver Mario Craver has given them another topic to grumble about. The latest frustration came off the field, where Craver drew criticism on social media after liking Instagram photos of Peyton Blomquist, the Florida Gators fan who went viral during Floridas win over Ole Miss.
For a fan base already uneasy about the direction of the season, the timing could hardly be worse. Even a small social media gesture can become a talking point when a team is trying to steady itself, and Cravers online activity landed in the middle of a week when Texas A&M supporters were already searching for reasons to feel better about a 2-2 start. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Fans Wont Love What Elko Is Facing After LSU Loss
A rough night in Baton Rouge left Texas A&M searching for answers after a 35-6 loss to LSU dropped the Aggies to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in SEC play. The offense never found much rhythm, the defense spent too much time on its heels, and the kind of complementary football Mike Elko has been trying to build was nowhere to be found.
Marcel Reeds uneven performance only added to the frustration, but Elko said he is not changing the starting quarterback for now. For a fan base already uneasy about the early conference skid, the bigger concern may be how many areas need fixing at once, from protection and execution on offense to a defense that could not generate pressure or keep LSU from piling up passing yards. [Read more 🡒]