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

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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