Week 4 College Football: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (Updated all weekend!)

[caption id="attachment_25770" align="alignright" width="350"]Photo by Will Leverett Photo by Will Leverett[/caption] Week 4 of college football is here, and while we have fewer games to work with than normal with the Red Raiders and Longhorns on bye weeks, some intriguing match-ups should keep us going. We'll give you our thoughts on the best and the worst (and sometimes, the absolute worst) of the weekend. JUMP TO... Texas A&M 45, Arkansas 24Baylor 35, Oklahoma State 24Houston 64, Texas State 3Southern Miss 34, UTEP 7North Texas 42, Rice 35 (2 OTs)Old Dominion 33, UTSA 19TCU 33, SMU 3Texas A&M 45, Arkansas 24The Good: Once again, Texas A&M closed the deal against Arkansas. With about two minutes left in the third quarter and the game tied at 17, Arkansas had the ball facing 4^th and goal on the Aggie 1-yard line. Three plays later — an A&M defensive stop from Armani Watts, a forgettable breathing-room running play, and a bomb from Trevor Knight to Josh Reynolds for a 94-yard touchdown — the Aggies had a lead they would not relinquish. That’s been the chorus of these Aggie-Hog games of late: yes, they’re close, but ultimately, A&M finds a way to win. This time, it was because of red zone defense, which was masterful all game long, as Arkansas simply couldn’t operate its power running game when it counted the most. Offensively, it was a solid performance — not the light-the-world-on-fire stuff we’ve seen in past weeks, but good enough, with the running game led by Trayveon Williams taking center stage. But the overall message of the win that moved A&M to 4-0 is that they finished, and that’s something that will serve them well through the grind of SEC play. The Bad: The A&M special teams were a nightmare, especially early. Christian Kirk coughed up a punt in the first three minutes that handed Arkansas a touchdown, and Daniel LaCamera missed a field goal soon after. If Texas A&M has SEC title hopes — and it should after tonight’s win — it needs to iron out these special teams issues. The Ugly: Injuries mounted for the Aggies in this hard-fought conference victory. Ricky Seals-Jones left in the first half and didn’t return, taking away their most physical receiver. Justin Evans left in the third quarter and played sparingly afterward, calling into question the status of the Aggies’ leading tackler. And perhaps most importantly: star defensive end Myles Garrett went down in the third quarter clutching his lower left leg and writhing in pain. He was taped up and returned to the game, but was noticeably lacking his usual burst. If that is a lingering issue, that’s especially problematic for the breakout A&M defense. — Greg Tepper, DCTF Managing EditorBaylor 35, Oklahoma State 24The Good: This was not a flawless effort, by any means. But if you were looking for good signs, you found them. Receivers made big plays. Seth Russell got things going with his feet and looked like the duel threat that was carving teams up before last year’s injury. The defense forced four turnovers, and that was while staying on the field over twice as long as the offense. That’s big, it can’t be understated. Baylor’s defense is often criticized, but it held Oklahoma State to 4.9 yards per play while defending 100 plays. Mercy. With Iowa State and Kansas up next on the schedule, Baylor is in prime position to be 6-0 before facing Texas on Oct. 29. If the Bears keep progressing the way they have the last two weeks (and stay healthy), they’ll be in great shape. The Bad: We can start with two Bears turnovers on downs. Both fourth down calls were a little odd, situationally, and also didn’t feel necessary. Neither worked out, so hindsight’s 20/20, but on a night where Kendall Briles seemed to be scripting a nice game offensively, the fourth down calls were a little odd. And again, if they get them both, no one says a thing. If we said we had an issue with just 136 yards rushing, we’d be nitpicking. This was a solid win against a conference opponent. - Max Thompson, DCTF Digital DirectorHouston 64, Texas State 3The Good: It’s becoming abundantly clear that Greg Ward Jr. may not be totally “right” for the rest of the season. It’s also becoming abundantly clear that it may not mean diddly to Houston’s chances. The Houston offense, even with Ward’s throwing ability clearly hampered, continued to hum, getting big plays from its running game and special teams. The star of the night was the true freshman D’Eriq King, who caught a touchdown pass, threw a touchdown pass, and returned the second-half kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown; that’s the kind of special player we saw at Manvel last season. And let’s not discount the Houston defense, which stifled an overmatched Texas State squad all night long. Ed Olver — another true freshman, mind you — looks every bit the superstar we thought he’d be coming out of Spring Westfield, and the secondary continues to reload on the fly. Simply put: it was a nearly perfect night for the Top 10 Coogs. The Bad: We’re in a weird spot with Texas State. The last two games have pitted the Bobcats against teams that — all due respect to Party In The Endzone Nation — outclassed Texas State. Arkansas is an above average SEC team; Houston is rightfully a Top 10 squad. But at the same time, Texas State has basically no-showed against both of them — a combined six points and just 247 yards in those two games. Obviously, things lighten up on the schedule from here on out, but Tyler Jones and the Bobcats’ inability to get anything going offensively is going to be a continuing concern. The Ugly: Late in the second quarter, Houston running back Mulbah Car caught a pass, ran to the sideline and was taken down. He immediately clutched his right knee. The freshman from Austin Reagan had to be helped off the field by trainers, and everyone immediately feared the worst: a tear of something ending in an “L”. We won’t know much until Monday or Tuesday, but if Car — who had enjoyed a breakout game against Lamar and had established himself as one of the three-headed hydra in the Cougars backfield — is out for a significant period of time, Houston’s move to 4-0 will have come at a significant cost. -Greg Tepper, DCTF Managing EditorSouthern Mississippi 34, UTEP 7The Good: Aaron Jones continued to be the lone bright spot for a struggling UTEP team as the Miners fell to 1-3 on the season. Jones had 16 carries for 127 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and now has 566 yards on the season. He has posted more than 100 yards in three of the Miners' four games, and entered the game with the fourth most rushing yards in the country. The Bad: The UTEP defense was dominated by Army last week, and the Miners allowed more than 30 points for the fourth time this year in the loss to Southern Miss. The Miners made some plays early in the game to keep the Eagles out of the end zone, but that effort faded as the game moved into the second quarter. Southern Miss scored just three points in the first, but exploded for 21 in the second. From there, Southern Miss was on cruise control as Nick Mullins threw for 176 yards and three touchdowns. Ito Smith added 108 yards on the ground, and Southern Miss had no trouble after a slow start in the first quarter. The Ugly: The UTEP quarterback situation was a mess in the game, as Zack Greenlee went 7-for-14 for just 62 yards and two interceptions – including one that was returned 100 yards for a touchdown by Curtis Mickell in the third quarter. The Miners had no balance offensively, and Ryan Metz, who was promoted to second on the depth chart just a few days ago, replaced Greenlee in the third quarter. Metz wasn’t much better though, finishing 7-for-14 for 51 yards, but he didn’t turn the ball over in the second half. The Miners will have to figure out the quarterback position moving forward in order to take some of the pressure off Jones in the backfield. - Brady Keane [caption id="attachment_25753" align="alignleft" width="350"]Photo by Diana Porter Photo by Diana Porter[/caption] North Texas 42, Rice 35 (2OT)The Good: Seth Littrell picked up his first Conference USA win as head coach of North Texas, coming back to pull a mild upset over a struggling Rice team. The night didn’t start well for the Mean Green, and they almost gave away the game late, but it was a gutsy win with plenty of positives. Most of all, North Texas proved it can overcome adversity. The offense recorded negative yardage as a team in the first quarter and trailed 17-0 early in the second quarter before mounting the comeback. Running back Jeffrey Wilson made big plays and ended the night with 157 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. Mason Fine didn’t make huge mistakes and took what the defense offered. Rice’s first quarter performance was inspired. The Owls jumped out to a quick lead and the defense was suffocating. The effort didn’t last and Rice fell asleep for much of the second half, but it did show resolve with a game-tying touchdown and two-point conversion to force overtime. The Bad: Rice will view this as a game that got away. A 17-0 lead at home should be enough to win football games. The Owls allowed North Texas to stay in the game and eventually the Mean Green took advantage and took the lead. Rice’s defense wasn’t good last year and it eventually gave way to North Texas’ offense. Rice’s offense sent the game to overtime and even scored on the first possession, but the defense couldn’t hold, North Texas scored on consecutive possessions and the game was over. Rice’s defense couldn’t get the important stops or create big plays. Littrell will have plenty to harp on after a win. The sluggish start should lead the list. North Texas isn’t talented enough to spot conference foes 17 points on the road. The Mean Green got away with a horrid first quarter in this game, but it won’t be a trend Littrell wants to see continued. - Mike CravenOld Dominion 33, UTSA 19The Good: The running back duo of Jarveon Williams and Jalen Rhodes showed promise throughout the game. Williams received a large workload and responded with nearly 100 yards and a touchdown. Rhodes, not as heralded entering the season, continued to impress in his sophomore campaign. He averaged 5.7 yards on 12 carries. The overall running numbers won’t look good, in large part because of the -26 yards rushing attributed to quarterback Dalton Sturm, but UTSA will take a combined 161 yards on 33 carries from Williams and Rhodes. The Bad: UTSA’s defense couldn’t get off the field when it needed to the most. A quarterback change sparked the Roadrunner offense and a touchdown brought the Roadrunners within six points heading into the fourth quarter. Instead of getting Jared Johnson and the UTSA offense back on the field, penalties and deficiencies in the secondary allowed ODU to go the length of the field for a touchdown. The offense couldn’t respond and ODU controlled the game down the stretch. ODU went 1-for-6 on third downs in the first half, but converted five of its next seven. A penalty also wiped out a UTSA interception. The Ugly: UTSA appeared to have the quarterback situation figured out going into conference play. Sturm was playing well despite UTSA’s 1-2 record. Sturm started 3-for-9 for just 32 yards and an interception in the first half, also losing 26 yards in sacks or scrambles. Sam Houston State transfer Jared Johnson replaced Sturm in the second half and led a touchdown drive to get UTSA within a score, but he enjoyed no further success. Sturm eventually finished the game at quarterback. The wide receiver position went from a position of strength on paper to a wildly underperforming position unit through the first month of the season. - Mike Craven [caption id="attachment_25730" align="alignright" width="350"]Photo by Graham Staniforth Photo by Graham Staniforth[/caption] TCU 33, SMU 3The Good: The Horned Frogs settled in and took over the game in the second half after taking a 6-3 lead into halftime. Quarterback Kenny Hill and the TCU offense solved SMU’s defensive puzzle to increase its lead while the defense continued to play strong football. TCU gained 215 yards in the first half, but bested that margin in the fourth quarter alone. Hill finished with 452 passing yards and two touchdowns, while running back Kyle Hicks averaged more than 10 yards per carry. SMU’s defense was opportunistic in the first half, causing mistakes from TCU in the red zone, including an interception. The Mustangs held TCU to six points in the first half, the same amount of points Van Malone’s group allowed in the first half against Baylor. The depth isn’t there to carry the offense for 60 minutes against Big 12 competition, but the defense remains the most improved unit on the team in year two under Chad Morris. The Bad: TCU should score more than six points in a half against SMU. The Horned Frogs looked lost and disinterested at times in the first half, allowing SMU to stay in the game for 30 minutes due to unforced errors. The second half performance makes the scoreboard misleading because the Mustangs were very much in the game until the second half. Morris came to SMU with a reputation as an offensive guru from his time as head coach at Lake Travis and as the offensive coordinator for Clemson. The offensive production is disappointing thus far. The passing game was effective at times, but the only dynamic playmaker on the offense is Courtland Sutton. He had 113 yards receiving on five catches. The rest of the team accounted for 131 on 14 catches. No SMU running back had a rush over 10 yards in the loss. - Mike Craven