College football blitz: Week 4 recap

(Maddie Schroeder/Dispatch/TNS)

Ohio State wide receiver Austin Mack (11) celebrates after a play against Miami (Ohio) during a 76-5 romp for the Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on September 21, 2019. Nebraska will provide a much stiffer test in Week 5, but fifth-ranked Ohio State is still a 17 1/2-point favorite on the road.

Noah Powers, Sports Editor
September 25, 2019

Four weeks into college football and while a lot of teams are starting to feel the heat, some are sitting at the top of mountain.

Appalachian State @ North Carolina

Speaking of mountains, one of the bigger headlines coming out of this weekend was Appalachian State (3-0) knocking off a, now, lukewarm North Carolina (2-2) squad.

The Mountaineers made the trek off the mountain for a rendezvous in Chapel Hill on Saturday — and went back to Boone with a boost of confidence. App. State, in its first win over a Power-5 team since defeating Michigan 34-32 in 2007, gave the Tar Heels a run for their money through much of the first half, boasting a 27-17 lead at the intermission.

UNC, as it has all season, relied on its offense to make a second-half comeback — to no avail. Noah Ruggles’ game-tying 56-yard field goal was blocked by Demetrius Taylor to give the Mountaineers the 34-31 win.

7 Notre Dame @ 3 Georgia

Notre Dame proved once again that, while it is a historically good team, it is one step below what we consider to be the football elite. At the top sit the Clemsons, Alabamas and Georgias of the football world, and a step below them is Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish showed this on Saturday night when they had a chance to knock off the no. 3 team in the country, possibly making a bigger case for College Football Playoff contention. But Notre Dame, as you can infer based on past games, had the opportunity seep through its hands.

The Irish trailed 23-17 with 3:12 left in the fourth quarter and were unable to force a three-and-out for a chance to get the ball back. 23-17 was the final, and while they came close, the Fighting Irish fell to a top-5 opponent as they had 18 out of the last 19 times according to Fox Sports.

10 Utah @ USC

Southern California, which put up a subpar 5-7 showing last season, looks to make itself a known entity this season. The Trojans did exactly that on Saturday when they hosted — and outlasted — no. 10 Utah.

Both squads kept it close for much of the contest, but a Utah safety, which turned into a touchdown for USC put the Trojans up 10 with less than seven minutes to play.

Unable to close the gap, no. 10-ranked Utah fell 30-23, giving the Utes their first loss of the season as well as a loss in their Pac-12 opener.

UCLA @ 19 Washington State

There are a plethora of notables surrounding this game so here are a few:

-UCLA defeated no. 19 WSU 67-63

-UCLA trailed 49-17 with 3:49 left in the third quarter

-Both teams combined for 1,377 total yards

-Both quarterbacks combined for 1,077 yards and 14 touchdowns

Other upsets

-No. 13 Wisconsin knocked off no. 11 Michigan 35-14

-Colorado knocked off no. 24 Arizona State 34-31

-Southern Methodist knocked off no. 25 TCU 41-38

-Pittsburgh knocked off no. 15 Central Florida 35-34