With games between Top 25 teams, and conference schedules getting underway in earnest, Week 4 of the college football season felt a bit like moving day at a golf tournament.
As such, some teams are moving up, and others are moving down.
Let’s dive in with a look at three risers, and three fallers, after Week 4.
Up: Indiana
“We broke their will, and just pounded them.”
That was just part of what Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti had to say after the Indiana Hoosiers throttled Illinois by a final score of 63-10. In a matchup of two teams ranked inside the Top 20 — Illinois entered ranked No. 9 while Indiana checked in at No. 19 — the Hoosiers broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring Illinois 21-3 over those 15 minutes to take a 35-10 lead into the locker room.
It was Indiana’s first win over a Top-10 opponent in five years, and it also extended their home winning streak to 12.
The Hoosiers opened the scoring with a blocked punt, with D’Angelo Ponds scooping the loose football after blocking an attempt from Illinois punter Nico Radicic. Then, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza kicked into gear, as the QB threw five touchdowns in the blowout win.
“We’ll get people’s attention with this one,” Cignetti said. “The team really laid it on the line tonight. There’s nothing better than being the Grinch in the second half with a big lead. I love that feeling.”
The win certainly caught our attention.
Down: Illinois
On the other side of the field, Bret Bielema was at a loss for words.
Quarterback Luke Altmeyer was under duress from the opening snap, as he was sacked seven times, five of those coming in the first half. He connected with Collin Dixon on a 59-yard scoring strike to even the game at 7-7 in the first quarter, but that would be the only time the Illini reached the end zone.
“We didn’t respond to any adversity. It started with the blocked punt and never really got anything on offense or defense,” Bielema said. “Embarrassing and at a loss for words.”
After blowing out three non-conference opponents, the Illini now have to rebound after a blowout loss in their Big Ten opener. They’ll welcome 4-0 USC to Champaign next weekend, hoping to right the ship and, as Bielema framed it, deliver the “right response.”
“Like, the response is what’s going to define us. Today happened. I get it. I understand it. It’s something that we got to live through. Very disappointed for our football team, our coaches, our fans, anybody that had supported us to get to this point,” said Bielema after the game.
”We took a long time to build ourselves to get to this point. And we got to have the right response because USC is going to obviously take advantage of everything they see on film and a very talented football team and a homecoming crowd that I know is excited to see their team play.
“So, we have to have the right response. But, I think the response that we’re looking for is — one of our three goals this week was to win ‘your and our opportunity.’ And I was kind of trying to put it into a phrase to have both all the players be accountable and how the accountability of each of us individually affects all of us. And I think this is going to be the defining moment for sure.”
Will next week be a defining moment for the Illini?
Or will Saturday’s blowout loss?
Up: Texas Tech
The Indiana-Illinois tilt was not the only game in Week 4 featuring a pair of ranked teams.
In a Big 12 clash, Utah welcomed Texas Tech to Salt Lake City, with the Utes ranked No. 16 coming into the game with the Red Raiders one spot behind them.
And they proved rather hospitable hosts, as the Red Raiders ripped off 24 points in the fourth quarter — including 21 unanswered — to win going away by a final score of 34-10.
Backup quarterback Will Hammond provided Texas Tech with a spark in the second half. After starter Behren Morton was ruled out with a head injury, Hammon entered the game and threw a pair of touchdown passes, and engineered four scoring drives as the Red Raiders turned the game around in the second half.
After the win, Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire had nothing but praise for his backup QB.
“He’s a dude, man,” said McGuire. “The one thing we really feel, and I know this, is coach speak to a lot of people, but the standard is the standard. You walk on that field and you’re wearing a double T, there’s only one way to play, which you go out and execute the game plan.
“You know, I thought he did a great job, and we’ve got some big playmakers. They were going to give us some 1-on-1 shots, and we’re able to take them and win enough to really stretch the lead and win the game.”
Down: Utah
On the other side of the field, Utah pointed to one area responsible for Saturday’s loss.
Turnovers.
The Utes committed four total turnovers, including a pair of interceptions from quarterback Devon Dampier.
“We didn’t show today what we’re capable of doing,” Dampier said after the loss.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham made it clear that the Utes “didn’t do anything” to help themselves out, particularly on the offensive side of the football.
“We didn’t do anything to help our own cause, particularly on offense. First quarter was a disaster, two turnovers, another turnover on downs. Fourth-and-one, you have to convert that. Touchdown called back because of a penalty,” said Whittingham after the game. “Really didn’t get into a rhythm offensively essentially the whole morning or afternoon. Nice two-minute drill in the first half, got us a field goal and then we had the one touchdown drive in the second half, but other than that, we didn’t play with much rhythm or much continuity. Ran the ball very poorly, way under 100 yards if you take away the garbage yards that happened those last three or four plays and that was disappointing.
“I never would have believed we’d lose the line of scrimmage, never would’ve believed that in a million years, but we did. We didn’t win the line of scrimmage.”
Up: Memphis
Don’t look now, but the Memphis Tigers might be at the front of the Group of Six field when the playoff berths are announced.
The Tigers moved to 4-0 on the season with a dramatic win over Arkansas, getting a 64-yard touchdown run from Sutton Smith with just under five minutes remaining to power Memphis to a 32-31 victory.
Smith finished the day with a career-best 147 rushing yards.
The Tigers moved to 4-0 on the year, but while they have yet to begin conference play, they face a rather favorable schedule. Games against other top teams in the AAC, such as Navy, South Florida, and Tulane, all come at the friendly confines of Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, and the Tigers avoid UTSA and North Texas this season.
Down: Wisconsin
A loss to Alabama on the road is one thing.
But Wisconsin opened up their Big Ten schedule by welcoming Maryland to Camp Randall, and the Badgers were subsequently trounced by the Terrapins by a final score of 27-10.
Chants of “Fire Fickell” rained down from the student section, and the Badgers were booed as they left for halftime trailing by 20-0. Wisconsin did not reach the end zone until less than 30 seconds remained in the game, and the loss dropped head coach Luke Fickell to 15-15 over his two-plus seasons in Madison.
While Athletic Director Chris McIntosh gave Fickett the dreaded vote of confidence after the loss — “When you have kids that have given it all and are faced with, as a program, adversity like this, I think it’s a time for our people to come together I think it’s a time for me to express my support,” said McIntosh to local media — it feels like the wheels are coming off in Wisconsin.