College Football Week 4 Awards September 22, 2014

(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)

COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State

Glad I’m not him: Les Miles, LSU
Lucky guy: Rich Rodriguez, Arizona

Poor guy: Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ruffin McNeil, East Carolina

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
Desperately seeking … anything: Bob Diaco, UConn

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 11 Michigan State (defeated Eastern Michigan 73-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Central Michigan (lost to Kansas 24-10)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Troy (lost to No. 13 Georgia 66-0)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Texas State (lost to Illinois 42-35)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: East Carolina (defeated North Carolina 70-41)

Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Hawaii

You know, they’re not so bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: LSU

Did the season start? Virginia Tech
Can the season end? Eastern Michigan
Can the season never end? East Carolina

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 1 Florida State 23, No. 22 Clemson 17
Never play this again: North Texas 77, Nichols 3

What? East Carolina 70, North Carolina 41

Huh? Georgia Tech 27, Virginia Tech 24
Are you kidding me? Indiana 31, No. 18 Missouri 27
Oh – my – God: Mississippi State 34, No. 8 LSU 29

NEXT WEEK

(rankings are current AP (post-week 4, pre-week 5)
Ticket to die for: Arkansas @ No. 6 Texas A&M

Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Cincinnati @ No. 22 Ohio State
Best non-Power Five matchup: Central Michigan @ Toledo

Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 12 Georgia

Must win: Missouri @ No. 13 South Carolina

Offensive explosion: North Carolina @ Clemson

Defensive struggle: Iowa @ Purdue
Great game no one is talking about: Texas Tech @ No. 24 Oklahoma State

Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Mora of UCLA vs. Todd Graham of Arizona State

Who’s bringing the body bags? Wyoming @ No. 9 Michigan State

Why are they playing? New Mexico State @ No. 17 LSU

Plenty of good seats remaining: Miami (Ohio) @ Buffalo

They shoot horses, don’t they?  UTEP @ No. 25 Kansas State

Week 4 Random Thoughts:

• This week, the Big Ten acquitted themselves rather well. After three weeks of disaster, along with nearly everyone in America paying attention to the college football scene about to write the one-great conference’s epitaph, the B1G appeared to have reminded folks that, to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated. To wit:

• Maryland upset Syracuse. The Orange, who were 2-0 going into the game, seemed to be the favored team (especially since they were playing at home in the Carrier Dome). But the Terps showed up, and won 34-20, on the road.

• Yes, even Purdue won, even though they had to defeat an FCS team in order to do so, beating the Southern Illinois Salukis only 35-14. Just one more touchdown would have made the win semi-convincing.

• Iowa won on the road, defeating a respectable Pitt team, 24-20, in the last minutes of the game, no less.

• Think Purdue’s win was less-than-convincing? Check out Northwestern: they beat Western Illinois 24-7. Still, a win is a win – at least, in this case.

• Michigan State, without any surprise, thrashed their directional neighbor Eastern Michigan 73-14, in what amounted to be one of the biggest “body bag games” of the week.

• Even though Illinois had to struggle to do so, they pulled in out in the end over Texas State, 42-35.

• Granted, there was a rather ignominious loss concerning Michigan. To be sure, Utah is not a horrible team, but they’re not great either. Moreover, this was a home game for the Wolverines, who failed to even reach the red zone. In the Big House.

• Wisconsin’s blowout win over Bowling Green at home, 68-17, came as little surprise. And I must say, the Badgers’ red helmets look very nice indeed!

• Minnesota beat San Jose State 24-7.

• Let us not forget Nebraska’s win at home over Miami (Fla.), 41-31.

• Rutgers did beat Navy, 31-24, and the Midshipmen are never to be taken lightly.

• That said, Indiana (yes, that Indiana) represented the entire conference well by beating a more-than-respectable Missouri Tigers squad on the road. If these shadows remained unchanged, the Hoosiers could take the conference by storm this year (notwithstanding Michigan State or Ohio State, who both happen to inhabit the same division as IU).

• So, 12-1 for the conference is not bad considering the previous two weeks. Were it not been for Ohio State’s bye week, it might have been 13-1.

• In other news, while I hate to see LSU take it on the chin, it is very nice indeed to see Dan Mullen and Mississippi State get a nice, signature win.