Week 4 is lined up to test a handful of ranked teams that are already walking a tightrope.
The biggest pressure point sits in Knoxville, where No. 1 Texas brings its unbeaten record into a road game against Tennessee on Saturday night.
The Longhorns are coming off a 30-6 win over UTSA, but that result did little to quiet concerns after a sluggish follow-up to their thriller against Ohio State. Arch Manning finished that game 16/32 for 161 yards, and Texas needed second-half work to pull away.
On the road for the first time outside Austin, that kind of start won’t be enough.
Tennessee has opened 3-0 and handled each of its first three opponents. Freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon, a former five-star recruit, has been ahead of schedule so far.
He has completed 64.1% of his passes for 552 yards with 6 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, while adding 137 rushing yards and 3 more scores. If Brandon gets rolling early, Texas could be in for a long night.
Manning, meanwhile, has been inconsistent enough that the Longhorns can’t count on a late surge to save them every week. Texas needs to start fast and take the crowd out of the game.
Florida’s matchup with Ole Miss carries a different kind of tension. The Gators are technically favored, but the Rebels come in with the better ranking and have already knocked off two ranked opponents.
Their latest statement came in a 32-24 win over top-10 LSU, a result that only sharpened the oddsmaking debate. Jon Sumrall even questioned what Vegas was thinking.
There’s also real shootout potential in Gainesville. Florida has one of the country’s most dangerous rushing attacks, averaging 246 yards per game on the ground behind Jadan Baugh.
Ole Miss has its own firepower, with Trinidad Chambliss looking even better than he did a year ago and carrying Heisman buzz. The one major name to monitor is Kewan Lacy, who is considered doubtful.
That would be a significant loss for the Rebels if he can’t go.
USC is another team that has been living dangerously. The Trojans barely escaped Rutgers, winning 42-35 in a road game that stayed tight for most of the second half.
Jayden Maiava has been electric and is leading the country in passing yards and passing touchdowns, but the defense keeps leaving the door open. USC has allowed 26 or more points in three of four games, including back-to-back outings of 30-plus against Louisiana and Rutgers.
Keep playing with that kind of margin, and eventually it catches up.
Missouri also enters Week 4 with questions hanging over it, even if the matchup on paper looks manageable. Mississippi State has already matched its win total from 2025 and has won back-to-back road games at Minnesota and South Carolina.
Bulldogs sophomore quarterback Kamario Taylor is becoming a name to know, with 56 completions on 82 attempts for 832 yards, 11 touchdowns and 1 interception, plus 178 rushing yards and another score. Jeff Lebby has the program in a good place.
Missouri hasn’t looked sharp in its wins over Kansas and Troy. Against Troy, the Tigers scored 24 of their 27 points in the second quarter, then went quiet until the final frame.
The Trojans even led 10-0 at one point. If Missouri doesn’t put together a full four quarters, Mississippi State has enough momentum to make this one uncomfortable.
West Virginia, meanwhile, is trying to push itself into the top 25 for the first time since 2018. The Mountaineers earned that kind of attention with a 38-27 upset of ranked Virginia in Charlotte, holding the Cavaliers to 13 points over the final three quarters. Now the schedule shifts to Big 12 play, starting with Oklahoma State.
That game has its own upset feel after the Cowboys knocked off No. 6 Oregon 39-31 two weeks ago, then followed it with a 59-0 win over Murray State.
The season-opening loss to Tulsa suddenly looks far behind them. West Virginia will lean on quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. and his dual-threat ability, but Oklahoma State has already shown it can land a punch.
Drew Mestemaker, who likes being the underdog, could be the one to do it again.
In Other News...
Florida Just Reached A Place Gators Fans Have Missed For Years
The AP Top 25 after Week 4 kept Texas right where it has been, still No. 1 with 62 first-place votes, as Georgia stayed at No. 2 and Notre Dame held No. 3. But one of the more notable shifts came a little farther down the list, where Florida climbed into the top 10 at No. 8, a spot the Gators had not occupied in five years.
For Texas, the ranking serves as another reminder that the margin for staying atop the poll is thin, with the usual heavy hitters still in close pursuit. Floridas return to that tier adds a bit more weight to the Longhorns path ahead, because every week now seems to bring another contender moving back into view. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Learned Something Important About Will Muschamps Defense In Knoxville
Texas left Knoxville with a 20-17 win built on defense, and it was the kind of performance that tells a coach a lot about his team early in the season. Tennessee never found a steady rhythm against the Longhorns, and the game turned into a field-position grind as Texas kept applying pressure and making the Vols work for every inch.
Will Muschamps unit was especially disruptive up front, and the pass rush never let Tennessee settle in. The Longhorns kept collapsing the pocket in waves, with multiple players getting involved and one standout turning in a night that will be remembered around Austin for a while, even if the full scale of it took until after the final whistle to really sink in. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Survived Tennessee Despite A Problem That Could Haunt Them
Texas came out of Knoxville with a win, but not much comfort. The Longhorns edged Tennessee 20-17 in a game that exposed the kind of offensive issues that can turn into a real problem later in the season, with Texas sputtering through stretches and getting tagged for 11 penalties and 115 yards. Even so, the defense kept the night from slipping away, harassing Tennessees freshman quarterback from start to finish and giving Texas a chance to survive a messy road test.
The pass rush was the difference, and it was relentless enough to tilt the entire game. Texas piled up 10 sacks, with Colin Simmons tying a school record by getting to the quarterback five times, a performance that masked plenty of offensive frustration elsewhere on the field. For a team still unbeaten, the bigger concern may be how much it had to lean on its defense to escape a game that stayed tense until the very end. [Read more 🡒]