College football’s fourth weekend had the usual chaos baked in, and the results kept landing like punch lines. Oregon survived USC in a game that turned on a frightening injury, Texas kept flashing the kind of inconsistency that makes you squint at the rankings, and Jeremiah Smith put up another reminder that he’s operating on a different level.
But the headline moment belonged to Dylan Raiola.
When he entered for Oregon after Dante Moore was carted off following a hit that sent Moore to the hospital, the scene was impossible to miss. Raiola’s first snap came with the ambulance still visible on the screen in the top left corner, and the game had clearly shifted into something heavier than football for both sideline and scoreboard.
Two plays later, Oregon was in the end zone. By the end of the day, Raiola had thrown for 289 yards and two touchdowns and helped the Ducks beat USC 41-27.
That’s a huge relief job in any setting. Doing it in that moment made it stand out even more.
Raiola also deserves credit for choosing Oregon knowing he probably wouldn’t be the starter if Moore returned to college. He accepted the backup role, kept learning, and gave the Ducks a level of insurance most teams simply don’t have from QB2 - especially one with 22 career starts.
USC, meanwhile, is still stuck in the same old loop.
The Trojans had another chance to land a defining win and another chance to show that the defense had truly been fixed. Instead, the familiar script showed up again: a big moment against an elite opponent, a defense that couldn’t hold, and another loss to a backup quarterback.
Gary Patterson was supposed to change that side of the ball. The talent was supposed to be better.
The plan was supposed to be better. None of it changed the ending.
Dan Lanning keeps winning the West Coast battles, and Lincoln Riley’s seat keeps getting hotter.
Elsewhere, Florida is starting to look dangerous enough that nobody should be late to the bandwagon. Jon Sumrall stock? Buy it now.
Texas remains the most puzzling top-ranked team in the country. The Longhorns have really looked the part for one quarter all season: the fourth quarter against Ohio State, when they erased a 21-point deficit and stole the game.
Outside of that stretch, the Arch Manning-led offense has been uneven, with a few strong drives followed by long stretches where everything goes cold. That’s hard to square with the weapons Texas has.
It’s also hard to ignore when the penalties get ugly, like they did against Tennessee. Even with 10 sacks, Texas still needed a three-point finish in a game it controlled for so long.
That’s a rough way to live at No. 1.
Ohio State, on the other hand, keeps giving Jeremiah Smith more and more reasons to head to New York City. The Buckeyes found him for four touchdowns on Saturday, which is exactly the kind of stat line that catches the eye of Heisman voters.
Non-quarterbacks usually need something outrageous to get into the conversation, and Smith has that. The wrinkle is that Ohio State also has Julian Sayin in the Heisman mix, which could split the credit when voters start sorting out who gets the biggest share of the offense’s shine.
Smith should still be a finalist. As for the trophy itself, that’s the harder climb.
Either way, the production speaks for itself.
Boise State also keeps strengthening its case in the Group of 6 race for the College Football Playoff. The Broncos already have a close loss at Oregon, a blowout over Memphis, and a dominant win against Western Michigan. They look positioned to be the favorite in the new-look Pac-12, and if they finish that job, they should be in line for the highest ranking among Group of 6 champions and the CFP auto-bid that comes with it.
And then there’s the kind of weekend rule you almost never want to test: never trust a Jeff Brohm team the week after a big win.
Finally, Iowa found the last throw and the last laugh at Michigan Stadium. One second, two seconds - it doesn’t matter.
The Hawkeyes’ comeback over Michigan on Saturday felt like the football gods evening things out after Week 1’s Hail (Bail?) Mary.
Now Iowa gets a massive one next week in Iowa City, with Ohio State coming to town.
In Other News...
Indiana Is Back At The Center Of A CFP Sideline Dispute
Steve Sarkisians postgame explanation for the late-game communication hiccups in the College Football Playoff final has already turned into a larger conversation than the final minutes themselves. The Texas coach said President Donald Trumps early departure created headset issues for both teams, a claim the White House quickly rejected, setting off a back-and-forth that pulled the spotlight away from the field and onto the sideline.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti added another layer to the dispute, pushing back on reports that his team suffered a major headset shutdown. He said there were brief communication problems earlier in the game, but they were resolved before the finish, leaving the broader question of what actually happened in the final stretch still very much alive. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Faces One Road Test That Will Expose Last Years Biggest Flaw
Texas heads to Tennessee carrying a different kind of roster this time, one with far more experience than the group that went through last season's road growing pains. The Longhorns know the setting will be hostile and the margin for error thin, but that is exactly why this trip matters. It is the kind of away game that can tell a lot about whether the program has truly steadied itself in the moments when noise, pressure and the road all hit at once.
Last season, Texas' trouble away from home was not just about talent level. Penalties and composure issues kept showing up in losses, turning otherwise manageable stretches into uphill climbs. This matchup in Tennessee offers a cleaner test of whether the added experience on the roster translates into better poise when the environment gets difficult, and for a team with bigger goals, that is the part worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Newcomers Are Already Setting The Tone For No. 1
At the University of Texas Mens Swimming and Diving Sam Kendricks Dust Off Your Boots Invitational, the Longhorns got an early look at how their new faces might fit into a program built to win. Freshman Laon Kim made an immediate impression by taking the 200 free and 100 free, while also helping the winning 400 free relay. Senior Rex Maurer added his own weight to the lineup with victories in the 1000 free and 500 free, and he too was part of that relay win.
Sophomore Luka Mladenovic gave Texas another strong showing by winning the 200 breast and finishing second in the 100 breast and 200 IM. The meet mixed collegiate and professional swimmers across several events, but the Longhorns still came away looking like a group with depth and versatility. For a No. 1 team trying to establish its rhythm early, performances like these matter because they hint at how quickly the newcomers are already raising the standard. [Read more 🡒]