Week three of the college football season saw a lot of shake-ups in the rankings. With Alabama, USC and Georgia Tech all losing this past weekend, three top-15 teams have new homes in the polls.
Notre Dame, LSU and UCLA are all nipping at the heels of Baylor for its No. 5 rankings. Here are a couple of notable matchups in week four:
No. 3 TCU at TEXAS TECH, 3:30 p.m. FOX
Every week, upsets in college football occur. This week, the TCU Horned Frogs might be a victim. While sitting tied at the No. 3 spot in the rankings with Ole Miss, the Horned Frogs have played noticeably slower than last season.
With a 3-0 record, the Horned Frogs have gotten into some sloppy contests against Minnesota and SMU.
TCU will also be hurting on defense, where it has already lost four starters to injury, suspension or leave of absence.
Texas Tech comes off a solid showing against Arkansas. Although the Razorbacks have been hampered by injuries, Texas Tech’s notoriously weak defense stepped up and played well, something it will have to do again against TCU.
With TCU’s defense, look for Tech’s gunslinger Patrick Mahomes to do damage in the secondary.
TCU 35, TEXAS TECH 41
No. 9 UCLA at No. 16 ARIZONA, 8 p.m. ABC
The Bruins come into this week hot off a one-point win against BYU. For UCLA, quarterback Josh Rosen has been great thus far. The true freshman has racked up 680 yards and five touchdowns in 2015 but has also notched four interceptions (three against BYU).
Rosen’s performances have steadily declined week-to-week, though. With Arizona’s defense performing well in their contests so far, look for a chess match all game between Rosen and Arizona’s defense.
Spirits are high for Arizona. Quarterback Anu Solomon tossed 10 touchdowns and 778 yards after three weeks of play.
Coming off a fantastic freshman campaign last season, Solomon seems to be at the height of his game. UCLA’s defense allowed 405 yards to BYU, something that Solomon could certainly exploit.
On defense, Arizona could also see the return of All-American linebacker Scooby Wright, who tore his meniscus in the offseason. Wright was a unanimous All-American last season, winning the Nagurski, Lombard and Bednarik awards as the nation’s top defender and linebacker in 2014.
Against the Bruins last season, Wright registered 19 tackles, a career high. If he is out on the field for the Wildcats, look for them to play at a very high level both physically and emotionally.
UCLA 24, ARIZONA 34
While the other top three teams also play this weekend, expect all three to win big. Ohio State plays Western Michigan and should live up to its 30-point favoritism.
The Buckeyes did not particularly play well last week, turning over the ball five times against unranked Northern Illinois.
No. 3 Michigan State should also win big against Central Michigan Chippewas (1-2), while No. 3 Ole Miss should also notch another high-scoring win against unranked Vanderbilt (1-2).
