Studs, Duds, and Floods: Week 2 Recap

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Good morning and welcome to 4th & Forever, Rand & Tate’s College Football Newsletter. We tried to tell you that the inconspicuous slates - like this past weekend - with minimum top 25 matchups is where college football thrives. We mentioned that last year’s Week 2 slate looked similarly terrible but ended up with a massive upset and some great football, but did you listen? If you did, you witnessed some wild and interesting moments but if you didn’t, that’s what we’re here for. While it was a light day for most of the college football world, when it hit, it hit. We started last week’s recap off by breaking down a massive upset that happened in the state of Florida, so it’s only right that we do the same this week, right? And no, I’m not talking about the massive upset that the State of Florida won against science and reason over not getting children vaccinated against Polio last week. We’re talking about… well, let’s just get to it.

Bulls Forever

If you know three things about me (Tate), it’s this: A) I’m a massive Georgia fan, B) I love my friends and family and try to do the right thing as I go about my life, and C) I’m a massive USF fan due to familial ties. So it was a fantastic day for me as the long-delayed UGA game ended (we’ll get to that later) and led right into USF’s historic upset over Florida in The Swamp. Everyone is ready to jump down Billy Napier and UF’s throat, and rightfully so, but we here at 4th & Forever would like to take a moment to give flowers to the Bulls. USF is now the only team in the country to have beaten two ranked teams after blowing out Boise State in Week 1, QB Byrum Brown has looked like a Heisman contender, and the team is playing with an energy unseen in Tampa since the Bulls made it up to #2 in the country in 2007. The Golden Brahmans are the clear frontrunner for the G5 playoff spot and now head to take on #5 Miami next week to prove that the best team in South Florida is actually in Central Florida. If you’re not paying attention to this, you’re missing out on some fun.

But while we’re at it… what the hell, Billy Napier? It’s not just that Florida struggled and lost to a really good USF team that has all of Gator Nation up in arms; it’s the way that it happened. This Florida team is easily the most talented version of the Gators since Dan Mullen’s COVID squad in the Mickey Mouse 2020 season, but it was yet again plagued by the same issues the program hasn’t been able to get over in Napier’s tenure: the dumbest possible decision-making in critical moments and abject stupidity by players on the field. It was a long shot that USF could get the ball down the field to attempt a reasonable game-winning field goal until a Florida player spit on a USF player, got kicked out of the game, and gave the Bulls a free 15 yards in the most critical moment. But that only came after Napier punted twice on 4th & medium in USF territory, with another punt attempt sailing over the punter’s head for a safety. It was a horrid performance against an overmatched opponent, and it may be the nail in the coffin for Billy’s tenure, which has shown so much promise on the talent-accumulation front but just cannot seem to pull it together on the field.

But really, there’s no shame in losing to the Kings of Florida.

The Rest of Week 2

There were a few moments where it looked like Florida might not be alone in upset alert, as Troy took a 16-0 lead over a struggling #8 Clemson team and looked to have a serious shot to pull it off after several hours of weather delays, before completely and utterly mentally imploding as the second half started and giving it away, 27-16. Not a great look, though, Dabo.

It was Mississippi State who pulled off the second most notable upset of the day by beating defending Big 12 Champion #12 Arizona State 24-20 in an absolute banger while, #11 Illinois spoiled the most-bet upset pick of the week by beating Duke 45-19 and #20 Ole Miss escaped Lexington with a 30-23 over Kentucky.

All eyes were on the only ranked-vs-ranked game of the week in Norman between #15 Michigan and #18 Oklahoma, but it was far from what we’ll likely be calling the game of the year in a few months. Michigan freshman QB Bryce Underwood, the #1 player in last year’s recruiting class, was good but clearly not ready to go beat a Brent Venables defense on the road, while Sooner QB John Mateer made some fantastic plays to secure the win but still looks like a work in progress as a passer. That Oklahoma defense looks like it might be the real deal though - we’re starting to think the Sooners could be a sneaky dangerous team in the SEC this year. 

Over in Ames for the battle of the Cy-Hawk rivalry (though we should really start calling this game something like “The AssFest”), it was 13-10 deep into the third quarter, because of course it was, until Iowa State was able to secure victory in a game where both teams had a 0.0% explosive play rate on offense. Just incredible stuff in a game that’s the exact same thing every year, but it was a massive win for Iowa State who is now 3-0 and looks to maybe be the frontrunner in the Big 12 race here in early September. It was the complete opposite vibe elsewhere in the Big 12 as Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson threw 50 passes for 440 yards, leading his team to an insane comeback over SMU in double overtime in maybe the most entertaining game of the day - which naturally happened on The CW. If you like Heisman future odds, we recommend looking into Robertson. He’s now thrown for over 400 yards in both of his games with a 7 to 0 TD-to-INT ratio. Baylor’s defense is horrid, and they can’t run the ball, so there’s a chance we see some RGIII-like numbers from Robertson as the season progresses.

The rest of the top teams in the country got their cupcake games in, and they all had a wide variety of looking either very good, like they were not even trying, or slightly concerning. But we’ll actually learn more about these squads as they round into form and start playing real competition in the coming weeks.

Five Studs

Mississippi State WR Brenen Thompson: 6 receptions for 133 yards and 2 TDs would get you recognition on this list most weeks. But catching the 58-yard game-winning TD pass with 1 minute left to beat the defending Big 12 Champs, Arizona State? That’ll guarantee it. Great win out of MooU.  

Syracuse QB Steve Angeli: After Kyle McCord led the nation in passing last year and Syracuse went on to win 10 games in Fran Brown’s first year, we were eager to see how the Orange offense under Notre Dame transfer Angeli would fare. Even though they got waxed by Tennessee in the opener and needed OT to beat UConn, Angeli looked the part, throwing for 417 yards and a pair of TDs on 53 attempts. This Syracuse team might not be good but they’re going to throw the piss out of the ball and rack up a million stats.

Mizzou QB Beau Pribula: The transfer from Penn State has the juice. Pribula threw for 339 yards and 3 TDs as Mizzou came back to win The Border War over Kansas. Don’t sleep on Pribula and the Tigers as they have a relative cakewalk of an SEC schedule this year. Also watch out for the RB tandem of Jamal Roberts and Ahmad Hardy, who combined for 255 yards and 2 TDs. Also, did you see the Mizzou fan who could’ve won $25k if he made a 45-yard FG, knew he couldn’t do it, so he painted ‘F KU’ on his chest and intentionally tried to hit Kansas players with his kicks? If this happened in the NFL, Roger Goodell would have the fan tried at The Hague. 

Arkansas QB Taylen Green: Arkansas demigod Frank Broyles likely rolled over in his grave after the Hogs scheduled Arkansas State for the first time ever, and given that current head coach Sam Pittman currently occupies one of the hottest seats in America, the Hogs had to leave no doubt here. QB Taylen Green threw for 239 yards and 4 TDs and added another 151 yards on the ground and a touchdown. He did throw 2 picks, which is part of the roller coaster experience you’ll get with Green, but so far so good for the Hogs, Pittman, and Green. The euphoria might be short-lived given that eight of their ten remaining opponents are currently ranked, and the others are Mississippi State and a tricky road trip to Memphis.

 Texas WR Parking Livingstone: With the departures of Matthew Golden (Packers) and Isiah Bond (Browns), it was imperative for Texas to find some WRs for Arch this year. Redshirt freshman Livingstone has answered the call thus far. After a TD catch against the Buckeyes, he went for 2 TDs and 128 yards on just 4 catches in a win of San Jose State. The jury is still out on Arch being the next Andrew Luck, but Livingstone popping is a good first step. If former 5-star Ryan Wingo can get going - 6 catches, 65 yards, no TDs this year - then Texas might start looking like the world beater we were promised.

Bonus: Wake Forest RB Demond Claiborne - Homer pick? Yes. FCS opponent? Yes. Do I care? Hell no. After missing 99% of the Kennesaw State game last week, Claiborne came back from his rib injury and reminded us why Miami, Oregon, Ole Miss, and the rest of the nation were after the fastest RB in the country. 10 carries, 193 yards, and 3 TDs. His TD runs were from 27, 33, and 85 yards out, and almost every one of them he went untouched. He’ll be playing on Sundays. 

Five Duds

It’s not all rainbows and unicorns in college football. After all, one of the 4&F writers is a Wake Forest fan. We’d be remiss not to mention some of the worst things we saw over the weekend. Who knows, we might just have to do this every week. 

UCLA OL: Two games into the Nico Iamleava experiment in Westwood have gone about as poorly as you could imagine. A Week 1 blowout to Utah followed with a 30-23 loss to UNLV and 1st year head coach Dan Mullen. UCLA’s OL has Nico running for his life - 6 sacks and 10 TFLs - and there are no quick fixes in football for a sieve of an OL. For comparison, let’s pick a random QB out of the CFB hat and oh, what do you know, Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar is 2-0 and hasn’t been sacked yet. We might have to continue comparing these two QBs for no reason at all.

Virginia Tech out-of-conference scheduling: Pop Quiz - when was the last time Virginia Tech won an out-of-conference Power 4 game? If you guessed 2017 against West Virginia, then here’s your sign to start a CFB newsletter or buy a Powerball ticket. After losing to Vanderbilt (again), the Hokies have now lost 15 straight OOC P4 conference games. The list includes 5 bowl games, Purdue, Rutgers, and West Virginia twice. That list does not include losses to Marshall, Liberty, Old Dominion, and Old Dominion again. Time to start packing your bags, Brent Pry. 

Iowa QB Mark Gronowski: We mentioned him last week, but through two games, Mark Gronowski might be the most Iowa QB Iowa has ever QBed. The Hawkeyes lost on a 54-yard field goal in the final minutes to Iowa State, which is 29 yards less than how many yards Gronowski threw for the entire game. In fact, he didn’t even eclipse that mark last week against Albany. Not even the slow mesh is solving this fiasco. 

Losing the season opener in Ireland: If you’re a fan of TCU or UNC and plan on going to Dublin for the game next year, be prepared to stay there if you lose because A) Temple Bar is awesome, and B) you’ll save yourself from watching the worst season imaginable. Since the loss to Iowa State, Kansas State fans have watched their QB's dad and brother brawling in the parking lot, survived a nail-biter against North Dakota, and then witnessed a 4th quarter collapse to Army, who was coming off a loss to FCS Tarleton State. Kansas State is cooked and is likely a non-factor in this year's Big 12 race. Here’s a list of the previous Aer Lingus Classic losers and what they went on to do:

2024 Florida State - lost to Georgia Tech and went 2-10 in one of the most embarrassing CFB seasons in recent memory…maybe ever

2023 Navy - got smoked by Sam Hartman and the Irish, finished 5-7, including losses to Army & Air Force

2022 Nebraska - lost 31-28 to Northwestern, finished 4-8 with another loss to Georgia Southern, and eventually fired Scott Frost

Also, the NFL could never.

Duke’s ball security: The scorebox reads 45-19 to #11 Illinois, but if Duke didn’t keep shooting themselves in the foot at the worst possible time, it would’ve been a lot closer. Here’s a recap of the butterfingers in Durham: Up 3-0 in the first quarter, Duke fumbled a punt, and Illinois turned right around and scored on a short field. Down 8 at the Illini 13 right before halftime, Duke QB Darian Mesah was strip-sacked. They ended up getting the ball back and scoring before half, which is good. The bad is we’re not even halfway done with this exercise. Down eight still and driving, Duke WR Sahmir Haggins picked up 24 yards before fumbling. Illinois scored 4 plays later. Somehow, only down 12 points in the 4th quarter, Duke made it to the Illinois 11-yard line before Mensah threw an interception. Illinois iced the game with a 12-play, 89-yard TD drive immediately after. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Mensah fumbled again and Illinois scored on the next play. 

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Holding Ourselves Accountable

Tate’s Great Picks 

Last Week: 3-2 // Season Record: 5-5 (50%)

W - Oregon -28.5 v Oklahoma State: Ducks won 69-3

W - USC - 28.5 v Georgia Southern: Trojans won 59-20

W - Missouri -6.5 v Kansas: Tigers won 42-31

Push - Iowa State -3 v Iowa: Cyclones won 16-13

L - Ole Miss -9.5 @ Kentucky: Rebels won 30-23 - Thanks Lane

L - UTSA -4 v Texas State: Bobcats won 43-36

OnlyRans

Last Week: 5-5 // Season Record: 9-8 (53%)

W - Iowa +3.5 @ Iowa State: Cyclones won 16-13

W - UNLV +2.5 v UCLA: Rebels won 30-23

W - Baylor +2.5 @ SMU: Bears won in 2OT 48-45

W - Hawai’i -6.5 v Sam Houston State: Rainbow Warriors won 37-20

W/L - Oklahoma -5.5 v Michigan & Game Total Over 44.5: Sooners won 24-13

L - Texas Tech -48.5 v Kent State: Red Raiders won 62-14

L - Ole Miss -9.5 @ Kentucky: Rebels won 30-23

L - Duke +2.5 v Illinois: Illini won 45-19

L - Virginia +2.5 @ N.C. State: Wolfpack won 35-31

Getting hosed by a Kentucky field goal with 8 seconds left will surely be seen on SVP’s Bad Beats this week. Also, missing the Texas Tech spread by half a point might be up there for one of the worst of the year. That being said, I made up for it with a .5 point win in the CyHawk and Baylor saved my ass (and their season) by coming back from 14 down to beat SMU in 2OT. 

Wake Forest & Georgia

#4 Georgia 28 - Austin Peay 6: As I’ve mentioned a few times now, I’m not going to spend a ton of time breaking the Dawgs down given the level of competition we’ve played in the first two weeks. I tried not to get too ahead of my skis when we looked like world-beaters against Marshall, and I’m trying to not be too negative after we looked like dog ass amidst a change to the game time and a multi-hour rain delay against Austin Peay. But yes, the offense looked concerning on Saturday. Kirby mentioned about four separate times that Gunner Stockton consistently pushes the ball downfield and makes big plays in practice, but has gotten into these first two games and seemingly looked scared to make mistakes and throw to anybody that isn’t a wide-open checkdown. It’s absolutely concerning that he’s not throwing to open guys streaking down the middle of the field, but in all honesty, I’d take this over the alternative where he’s throwing multiple picks into triple coverage and just making boneheaded decisions left in right. The coaching staff is going to be on his ass this week about taking more shots this week in Knoxville - because we’re going to need it - and that is frankly an easier thing to get fixed than trying to get a guy to stop hurling up prayer balls. Still, we have to flag this performance as a potential major concern moving forward because Gunner did not look like a championship-caliber QB on Saturday. It doesn’t help that guys on the OL keep getting banged up and causing us to switch things around up front, but it was still Austin Peay - this should’ve looked better.

There were positives too, though. The defense really looks like it might be back to an elite level after a couple of years of good-but-not-great (at least by UGA standards), and the playmakers that Gunner hopefully starts distributing the ball to are vastly better than what we had last year. But I’m going to stick to my guns and try not to take too much away from what was a glorified scrimmage that the team just didn’t seem too thrilled about playing. We’ve seen Kirby’s Dawgs look underwhelming in games like this before, and then follow it up by absolutely rocking SEC teams. It’ll be a huge test in Knoxville this coming Saturday, but the staff has a pretty clear indication of what we need to get better at during practice this week - the offense made damn sure of that.

Wake Forest 42 - Western Carolina 10: Well, this game was completely off the rails, took six hours, saw torrential downpour, and Wake still won by 4+ touchdowns. Three minutes into the game, there was a 2+ hour rain delay, and at halftime, there was another 45-minute stoppage due to lightning. My dad and I sat down in our seats as Wake was running the punt team on the field after a mere six plays, and after the delay was called, we never made it back into the stadium. We’ll do a full preview of the NC State Puppies on Thursday, but let’s quickly run through the good and bad from a thrashing of an FCS team. 

The good was the offensive explosiveness, something that was sorely lacking against Kennesaw State. In addition to Claiborne’s 3 rushing TDs, Ashford ran one in from 41 yards out and threw a 51-yard bomb to WR Sterling Berkhalter (Cincinnati). Backup QB Deshawn Purdie added a 27-yard TD pass to WR Jeremiah Melvin, who’s a breakout name to watch for the Deacs. In total, Wake averaged 10 yards/pass, 9 yards/rush, and 17 yards/reception. That’s what you’re supposed to do to FCS defenses, and if I’m being honest, Kennesaw State’s too. WR Chris Barnes (Greg Dortch lite) had 149 receiving yards on 6 catches and looks to be Ashford’s favorite target. 

Now for the bad, because I can only gloat about beating Western Carolina for so long. First, Wake missed a 35-yard field goal where the ball didn’t even make it to the uprights. I’ll chalk it up as a mishit or some weird fluke, but something to monitor as we move forward. Wake could’ve hung 70+ here, but missed throws, dropped balls, and holding calls wiped at least another three TDs off the board. QB Robby Ashford also threw an interception and coughed up a fumble before halftime. He will start on Thursday night and unless the wheels come completely off, the game will be on his shoulders. Wake fans are already restless with the missed throws, happy feet, and inconsistency he’s shown, and with Purdie coming in during garbage time and looking good, the calls for a quick hook aren’t going to grow any quieter. The dichotomy of giving this coaching staff the benefit of the doubt while also expecting more out of our QB play is going to be a story all season as long as Ashford is out there. The theory is he has a lower ceiling than Purdie but a higher floor and protects the ball better. Whether it’s a thrashing of the Catamounts where our offense looked like 2020 Alabama or a 10-9 defensive slogfest against the Owls, a win is a win is a win, and I’ll never not be happy about that. We’ve got #24 NC State rolling into town, which has been a house of horrors for the Pack during the entirety of Doeren’s tenure.

Texts of the Week

“I did turn off the Texas vs SJSU game when the contractions picked up…I didn’t get the effusive praise from Maddie that I expected.” - 4&F reader texting me while his wife was in labor on Saturday.

“We should just run the triple option” - Wake fan Thomas B…and I don’t entirely disagree

“Extend Napier” - UGA fan Robbie E

“Jesus Christ that’s so bad.” “Okay I am disgusted.” “We’re so bad.” “Jesus f****.” “Holy sh*t we’re terrible.” - Multiple UGA fans during the goal-line disaster right before halftime. Great stuff Dawgs.

“You turned into this beatdown?” - Kansas fan Greg W during the 1Q when Kansas was up 21-6

-1 hour later-
“Might’ve gotten too cocky…that was miserable” - Greg, again

“Congratulations Greg, you made texts of the week.” -Rand

“Dammit” -Greg

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Rand & Tate met a few years ago through a mutual friend who went to college with Rand and high school with Tate. Tate went to Georgia and has spent the last few years collecting championship rings while traveling to watch the Dawgs. Rand went to known CFB powerhouse Wake Forest, and currently pays rent in Charlotte, but is rarely found there with all the work & CFB travel he does.