College Football Week 4 Recap: Winners, Losers and Standouts
The teams, players and coaches that had notable results in Week 4 of the 2021-22 college football season.
By Stone Lexington
Updated: Sept. 27, 2021 • 12:25 PM ET

Jim Harbaugh - Wikimedia Commons
Week 4 of the college football season has concluded, and several teams shined over the weekend. Others didn’t fare so well. Below are the winners, losers and standouts from Week 4 of the 2021-22 college football season.
Winners
Brian Kelley
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish secured their most impressive win of the season with a 41-13 victory over No. 18 Wisconsin on Saturday. With the win, Brian Kelley moved to the top of the list for the most games ever won at Notre Dame. It hasn’t been easy either, as the Fighting Irish have already used three quarterbacks and four left tackles this season.
Boston College Eagles
Moving to 4-0 with a 41-34 overtime victory over SEC school Missouri on Saturday, Boston College probably should be ranked at this point. Eagles quarterback Dennis Grosel threw a 10-yard touchdown pass in overtime, and Brandon Sebastian intercepted a pass to seal the victory.
Bowling Green Falcons
Bowling Green picked up its biggest win of the season thus far on Saturday, defeating Big Ten representative Minnesota 14-10 in Minneapolis. Two late interceptions by the Falcons defense spoiled Minnesota’s homecoming festivities. Bowling Green will look to use the victory as a launching pad for the rest of the season.
SMU Mustangs
SMU moved to 4-0 for the third straight season with a 42-34 victory over Big 12 opponent TCU on Saturday. Behind quarterback Tanner Mordecai, who leads the nation in touchdown passes, the Mustangs should probably be a ranked team.
Texas Longhorns
Since a lopsided loss to Arkansas in Week 2, Texas has responded with back-to-back wins. The Longhorns latest victory came on Saturday, blowing out undefeated Texas Tech 70-35.
Jim Harbaugh
Defeating opponents by 28.5 points per game this season, Jim Harbaugh has the Michigan Wolverines at 4-0 for the first time since 2017. In their Big Ten opener, Harbaugh and the Wolverines defeated an undefeated Rutgers team 20-13.
Baylor Bears
The undefeated Baylor Bears defeated No. 14 Iowa State 31-29 on Saturday. With the win, Baylor moved to 4-0 this season for the first time since 2019, and they could find themselves ranked this week.
NC State Wolfpack
NC State had lost eight straight and 15 of 16 meetings to Clemson, but that all changed on Saturday. The Wolfpack moved to 3-1 this season with a 27-21 victory over the No. 9 ranked Tigers and likely ended Clemson’s hopes of returning to the College Football Playoff.
Arkansas Razorbacks
The Arkansas Razorbacks are playing some of the best football in the nation, and it showed on Saturday in their 20-10 victory over No. 7 Texas A&M. Since Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2011, the Razorbacks had yet to secure a victory over the Aggies.
Oklahoma Sooners
It wasn’t pretty, but the Oklahoma Sooners escaped with a 16-13 victory over West Virginia on Saturday to remain undefeated and keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive. The Sooners can’t look past Kansas State this week in anticipation of the Red River Rivalry the following week.
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Losers
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers have lost both of their games against ranked opponents this season. The Badgers were blown out by 28 points against No. 12 Notre Dame in Week 4, and they’ll face another ranked opponent in Week 5 when they host Michigan.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota had a streak of 21 straight non-conference wins, the longest streak in the nation, alive heading into Saturday. That streak was snapped by MAC representative Bowling Green. The loss is particularly surprising considering the Gophers traveled to Colorado the week before and shut out the Buffaloes 30-0.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Texas Tech had an opportunity to move to 4-0 on Saturday. Instead, the Red Raiders gave up 70 points in a blowout loss to Texas. Texas Tech will attempt to bounce back when they travel to West Virginia this week.
Iowa State Cyclones
Although highly ranked, the Iowa State Cyclones haven’t looked like a ranked team this season. The Cyclones barely escaped against Northern Iowa in Week 1, and they lost their second game of the season on Saturday in a 31-29 loss to Baylor. As a result, the Cyclones dropped from No. 14 to out of the rankings this week.
Clemson Tigers
It’s safe to say that Clemson won’t be returning to the College Football Playoff this season following their second loss of the season on Saturday. The Tigers have struggled on offense this season, averaging 12.6 points per game against FBS opponents.
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M struggled to get anything going on offense in their 20-10 loss to No. 16 Arkansas on Saturday. If they don’t rebound against Mississippi State this week, they could find themselves on a three-game losing skid with a matchup against Alabama looming the following week.
North Carolina Tar Heels
North Carolina was supposed to be a playoff contender this season, but it hasn’t worked out that way. The Tar Heels were blown out 45-22 by Georgia Tech on Saturday, their second loss of the season. A rivalry game against Duke awaits North Carolina this week.
Kansas State Wildcats
The Kansas State Wildcats’ appearance in the rankings will last only a week. The Wildcats lost 31-20 to Oklahoma State on Saturday, their first loss of the season. However, they can erase the bad feeling with a win over Oklahoma this week.
Standouts
(note: These are players or units from a team that defeated a Power 5 school, or from a team that defeated a ranked team.)
Notre Dame defense/special teams - 51 total tackles, 1 sack, 4 tackles for loss, 2 pass deflections, 4 interceptions, 3 touchdowns in the Fighting Irish’s 41-13 victory over No. 13 Wisconsin
LSU quarterback Max Johnson - 280 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, 1 interception in the Tigers’ 28-25 victory over Mississippi State
Boston College running back Pat Garwo III - 25 carries, 175 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns in the Eagles’ 41-34 victory over Missouri
Bowling Green defense - 66 total tackles, 4 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, 2 pass deflections, 10 points allowed in the Falcons’ 14-10 victory over Minnesota
SMU running back Ulysses Bentley IV - 20 carries, 153 rushing yards, 1 touchdown in the Mustangs’ 42-34 victory over TCU
SMU running back Tre Siggers - 18 carries, 110 rushing yards in the Mustangs’ 42-34 victory over TCU
SMU receiver Danny Gray - 4 receptions, 130 receiving yards, 1 touchdown in the Mustangs’ 42-34 victory over TCU
Texas quarterback Casey Thompson - 303 passing yards, 5 passing touchdowns, 1 interception; 7 carries, 29 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown in the Longhorns’ 70-35 victory over Texas Tech
Texas running back Bijan Robinson - 18 carries, 137 rushing yards; 2 receptions, 54 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown in the Longhorns’ 70-35 victory over Texas Tech
Texas receiver Xavier Worthy - 5 receptions, 100 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns in the Longhorns’ 70-35 victory over Texas Tech
Texas receiver Jordan Whittington - 5 receptions, 93 receiving yards, 1 touchdown in the Longhorns’ 70-35 victory over Texas Tech
Utah running back TJ Pledger - 10 carries, 117 rushing yards 1 touchdown in the Utes’ 24-13 victory over Washington State
Purdue defense - 64 total tackles, 2 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, 4 pass deflections in the Boilermakers’ 13-9 victory over Illinois
Michigan defense - 69 total tackles, 1 sack, 6 tackles for loss, 3 pass deflections, 13 points allowed in the Wolverines’ 20-13 victory over Rutgers
Arkansas receiver Treylon Burks - 6 receptions, 167 receiving yards, 1 touchdown in the Razorbacks 20-10 victory over No. 7 Texas A&M
NC State quarterback Devin Leary - 238 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions in the Wolfpack’s 27-21 victory over Clemson
NC State receiver Emeka Emezie - 14 receptions, 116 receiving yards, 1 touchdown in the Wolfpack’s 27-21 victory over Clemson
NC State receiver Devin Carter - 5 receptions, 54 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns in the Wolfpack’s 27-21 victory over Clemson
Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham - 264 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 14 carries, 56 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 31-23 victory over Florida State
Duke quarterback Gunnar Holmberg - 328 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 1 interception; 17 carries, 88 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns in the Blue Devils’ 52-33 victory over Kansas
Duke running back Mateo Durant - 21 carries, 124 rushing yards, 1 touchdown; 3 receptions, 62 yards in the Blue Devils’ 52-33 victory over Kansas
Duke receiver Jake Bobo - 7 receptions, 105 receiving yards in the Blue Devils’ 52-33 victory over Kansas
Oregon quarterback Anthony Brown - 206 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 12 carries, 41 rushing yards in the Ducks’ 41-19 victory over Arizona
Florida quarterback Emory Jones - 209 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 15 carries, 144 rushing yards in the Gators’ 38-14 victory over Tennessee
Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims - 112 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 0 interceptions; 10 carries, 128 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns in the Yellow Jackets’ 45-22 victory over No. 21 North Carolina
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson - 251 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 16 carries, 30 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns in the Bruins’ 35-24 victory over Stanford
UCLA running back Zach Charbonnet - 23 carries, 118 rushing yards, 1 touchdown; 5 receptions, 57 receiving yards in the Bruins’ 35-24 victory over Stanford
UCLA receiver Kyle Philips - 5 receptions, 120 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns in the Bruins’ 35-24 victory over Stanford
Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders - 344 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 0 interceptions; 9 carries, 18 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown in the Cowboys’ 31-20 victory over No. 25 Kansas State
Oklahoma State running back - 27 carries, 123 rushing yards; 4 receptions, 81 receiving yards in the Cowboys’ 31-20 victory over No. 25 Kansas State
Oklahoma State receiver Tay Martin - 9 receptions, 100 receiving yards, 1 touchdown in the Cowboys’ 31-20 victory over No. 25 Kansas State
Kentucky running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. - 26 carries, 144 rushing yards in the Wildcats’ 16-10 victory over South Carolina
Oregon State quarterback Chance Nolan - 213 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions; 5 carries, 57 rushing yards in the Beavers’ 45-27 victory over USC
Oregon State running back B.J. Baylor - 23 carries, 158 rushing yards in the Beavers’ 45-27 victory over USC
Oregon State receiver Tyjon Lindsey - 5 receptions, 102 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns in the Beavers’ 45-27 victory over USC
Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels - 236 passing yards, 0 interceptions; 7 carries, 75 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns in the Sun Devils’ 35-13 victory over Colorado
Email: stone@thesportshaven.com
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