There’s no doubt about it. This was easily the biggest Saturday of the college football season so far. The schedule was loaded with quality match-ups, and chief among them was that showdown between Colorado and Oregon up in Eugene. Dan Lanning made a few comments in his pregame speech that made it a little more spicy, but when both teams hit the field, it turned into a bloodbath quickly. The Ducks won the game 42-6, and Bo Nix had another quality outing, going 28/33 for 276, three touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, and one pick. He’s now up to 12 total touchdowns on the season.
Caleb Williams continues to do Caleb Williams things. Arizona State made that game on Saturday interesting, but ultimately, the Trojans were just too much to overcome. Williams went 20/31 for 322 yards and three touchdowns, tacking on two more scores on the ground. He’s now up to 18 total touchdowns on the season, but USC has played absolutely no one. There’s no reason to think he can’t keep this train going, but I’d like to see this kind of production hold up when five of their last six games come against Notre Dame, Utah, Washington, Oregon, and UCLA before I give him the ol’ back-to-back.
There’s certainly something to be said for a wide receiver you can trust to just throw up those 50/50 balls and know he’s got a good chance at coming down with it. That’s what the Florida State offense has in Keon Coleman, who hauled in a ridiculous catch in overtime to stave off the Clemson Tigers and keep the Seminoles unbeaten season intact. Coleman had five catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday, giving him 256 yards and six touchdowns on the season.
Keeping with that theme, while all the attention has been on Michael Penix Jr., Washington has themselves a tremendous pair of NFL-caliber wide receivers in Ja’Lynn Polk and Rome Odunze. Odunze was particularly deadly as the Huskies routed Cal on Saturday night. He had five catches for 125 yards with two touchdowns to go along with an 83-yard punt return touchdown.
But, I’m heading to Pullman for this week’s #1 because quarterback Cam Ward is quietly putting together one hell of a season. Maybe it’s high time we put him firmly in the Heisman conversation nationally. The Cougars are 4-0 with two wins over ranked teams so far including Saturday’s impressive showing against a stout Oregon State squad. Ward is third in the FBS in passing yards with 1,390. He’s fourth in the FBS in passing touchdowns with 13 (16 total if you factor in his three rushing touchdowns). Five of those touchdowns came against Oregon State when he went 28/34 for 404 yards, four passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown. I hope the Heisman voters are staying up late to watch these Wazzu games!
Honorable Mentions: Ricky Pearsall just for that ridiculous one-handed grab taking on two defenders.
HEISMAN POINTS (WEEK 4)
- Cam Ward
- Bo Nix
- Rome Odunze
- Keon Coleman
- Caleb Williams
HEISMAN POINTS (2023 SEASON)
- Shedeur Sanders – 8
- Bo Nix, Michael Penix, Jr. – 7
- Jordan Travis, Cam Ward – 6
- Jayden Daniels, Quinn Ewers – 5
- Trevor Etienne, Tyler Van Dyke – 4
- Sam Hartman, Travis Hunter, Rome Odunze – 3
- Keon Coleman, Caleb Williams – 2
If you haven’t already, be sure to go subscribe to the College Football Roundup Podcast, on which Steven McCash and myself break down all the action from the college football world and look ahead to the week to come.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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