Four weeks into the college football season, it’s certainly easier to decipher things than it was three weeks ago, but with another round of September games coming this weekend, there’s still a lot we don’t know. However, a few dramatic developments over the weekend really stand out. Here is our Week 4 college football recap for 2025.
Oklahoma riding high off a missed call to beat Auburn
Two weeks after a huge win over the Michigan Wolverines, the OU Sooners beat the Tigers at home 24-17. The difference was a touchdown to a receiver who faked like he was going to sub and then came back in, which should’ve been a 15-yard penalty. Still, at worst, that would’ve sent the game to overtime, and Brent Venables’ team still would’ve won if they got a field goal on that drive.
Simply put, they’re rolling. On the other side, the Auburn Tigers are among the teams with a loss to look like national title contenders. They have faced two Power Five programs on the road, winning one and losing the other off a questionable call, so Hugh Freeze’s group is still in good shape. This loss just narrowed the path for them slightly.
Billy Napier or Sam Pittman: Who gets fired first?
For different reasons, the Florida Gators and Arkansas Razorbacks head coaches both appear to be done. In Florida’s case, they are now 1-3 and just bad. Sure, they have a tough schedule, but this started with a home loss to the South Florida Bulls and has spiraled with bad losses to the LSU Tigers and Miami Hurricanes. They could legit go 1-11.
The Hogs, meanwhile, are the unluckiest team in college football, losing their second straight game because they fumbled in the red zone off what should have been game-winning drives. Still, this has always been a problem for Pittman, who continually makes basic mistakes within the game to cost his team, so the 32-31 loss to the Memphis Tigers, while brutal, has to somewhat fall on him.
Missouri, USC, Texas and LSU quietly move the needle
Don’t look now, but Mizzou has two Power Five wins despite needing a fourth quarter comeback to beat the South Carolina Gamecocks last weekent. So do the USC Trojans. Both are undefeated as well, and USC’s offense seems to be returning to form under Lincoln Riley after they blew out the Michigan State Spartans this past weekend.
Meanwhile, the Texas Longhorns and LSU Tigers both scored big wins against horrible FCS schools. It seems like nothing, but it assuages concerns about both teams’ offenses being busts behind Arch Manning and Garrett Nussmeier and about LSU, who is still undefeated, not looking as impressive anymore for beating Florida or Clemson. And speaking of Clemson…
Dabo Swinney and Bill Belichick lose their magic
In the winter of 2019, these were the two premiere coaches in the sport. Bill Belichick was leading the New England Patriots to their sixth Super Bowl under him, and Dabo Swinney was blowing out the Alabama Crimson Tide behind Trevor Lawrence to win his second national championship in three years. Six and a half years later, both appear to be over.
Swinney is 1-3 at Clemson after a loss to the Syracuse Orange, and Belichick is 2-2 after his North Carolina Tar Heels got blown out by the UCF Knights. Syracuse and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets now look like good teams, but it could be because they beat a very bad Clemson program. Could the Swinney run at Clemson be over? Was Belichick always a fraud? September of 2025 seems to suggest both.
Wait…Indiana and Miami are LEGITIMATE?
Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers decided to let everybody know they can beat good teams. Amidst all the talk they only got into the College Football Playoff last year because of their easy schedule, they blew out an undefeated Illinois Fighting Illini team 63-10 in easily the best win of the Cignetti tenure. If they can keep that up, maybe they are elite.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes seem back to form. Sure, Napier is all but fired, but the Miami did blow out Florida over the weekend, and Mario Cristobal’s team is now in the top five. Of course, they were undefeated through November of last year, so a lot can happen between now and then, but Carson Beck appears to have a solid command of this offense. Finally, that win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks good too because…
Notre Dame, Michigan get needed wins; Nebraska CHOKES
After a bad call to fall to 0-2 two weeks ago, Notre Dame came off a bye and beat the Purdue Boilermakers pretty handily. It may not seem like much, but Marcus Freeman’s team needed that win. Now, they may not be able to reach the CFP this year even if they win out, but there could be some other opportunities on their schedule down the line, so no reason to quit just yet.
Meanwhile, the Wolverines bounced back from a tough loss two weeks ago to beat the Cornhuskers on the road. Matt Rhule and Nebraska just aren’t back yet. Sherrone Moore wasn’t even needed for this one, and Nebraska’s losing streak against ranked teams extends to 28 games dating back to 2016. Will this once proud program ever reach its former glory?
Texas Tech leads among six teams in Big 12 contention
Cody Campbell’s money has the Red Raiders looking like a legit playoff team, as they blew out the Utah Utes over the weekend. Joey McGuire has done a good job there, and this program has done a 180 from the one that looked for a pretext to fire Mike Leach over 15 years ago because they didn’t want to pay him. They are now the Big 12 favorite.
However, there are six teams undefeated overall in the Big 12, and the Iowa State Cyclones have two Power Five wins. The Houston Cougars, BYU Cougars, TCU Horned Frogs and UCF Knights all also remain undefeated to this point. Based on resume, Iowa State is in the best position to challenge Texas Tech, but America’s Conference is just heating up.
Memphis enters Group of Five race
Sure, they were lucky to beat Arkansas, but USF’s loss last week gives the Tigers the opportunity to be the best Group of Five team in college football. They are still undefeated, joining only the Navy Midshipmen, North Texas Mean Green and UNLV Rebels in that category. Only they and UNLV have wins over Power Five schools among that group to this point.
UNLV’s win, however, is over the UCLA Bruins, who are horrible this year. Arkansas isn’t bad, just unlucky, but you have to be good enough to hang with them. As a result, Memphis has the best resume of any undefeated Group of Five team this year, even if USF remains the favorite to represent those five conferences in the CFP at the end of the season to this point.
Heisman race
1. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana
2. Jayden Maiava, USC
3. John Mateer, Oklahoma
4. Dante Moore, Oregon
5. Josh Hoover, TCU
As is always the case, the Heisman Trophy race for us is not a projection and not based on who we think is better. It’s solely a breakdown of production in comparison to competition. Stats wise, Dante Moore should lead the way, but the Oregon Ducks have literally played nobody to this point, which is why he’s down at No. 4 on this list.
Fernando Mendoza’s game against Illinois puts him atop the list now, as he balled out and has his team undefeated. Jayden Maiava is looking like Caleb Williams running Riley’s offense. John Mateer has the wins resume for OU, and he’s efficient, but he needs to pad his stats. That will come, though, with easier games. Josh Hoover is chugging along.
Top 10
1. Oklahoma
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Ole Miss
5. USC
6. Indiana
7. Texas A&M
8. Georgia Tech
9. Miami
10. Mississippi State
Four weeks into the season, there’s enough data for us to rely more heavily on a formula, and that formula is record, head-to-head and strength of schedule. SOS is based on a team’s winning percentage and their opponents’ winning percentage. That’s all we do for a top 10, as it’s resume based, not projection based, but until September ends, we’ll still base this somewhat on Power Four and road vs. home games.
Taking all that into account, the Sooners are the only loss for two separate Power Four teams. Nobody else in college football can say that. Teams that just missed this ranking are Iowa State, LSU, Missouri and Florida State, all of whom have Power Four wins and are undefeated. Oregon and the Penn State Nittany Lions have proven nothing to get on here yet.
