Week Four Guide: Games to Watch

Welcome to Week Four of the College Football Season.

The Hawkeyes hit the road this Friday night for a showdown in Piscataway against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. With Iowa’s game wrapped up before Saturday, fans will have the whole weekend to kick back and enjoy the rest of the college football action unfolding across the country. If you are someone who sets up 2-3 TVs, like me, that means watching several games at a time. We’ve got you covered with what to watch. Once again, let’s skip an extended intro and just get into the games. HawkeyeReport breaks down the top games to watch during week four of the college football season.

***All betting odds/lines are provided by Bet MGM***

Must Watch Game of the Week: #9 Illinois at #19 Indiana

Game Info: Saturday, September 20th – 6:30pm CT – NBC Line: Indiana -4.5

The first of many great ranked vs ranked Big Ten matchups this season, this is where College Gameday should have gone this week, but Bloomington, Indiana is not SEC territory, so that means this game is irrelevant (allegedly).

I was on the Illini as a potential CFP team before the season and they’ve been impressive in their first three games, outscoring opponents 135-22, including a 45-19 win over Duke on the road. Quarterback Luke Altmeyer has already thrown for over 800 yards and eight touchdowns, including 18 completions to receiver Hank Beatty. For Indiana, this is their first test, after putting up 156 points against a rather poor non-conference slate (ODU did beat Va Tech). That being said, Cal transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza has chemistry with Omar Cooper and Elijah Surratt, with seven of his eight touchdown passes going to them. Tune in to see the Hawkeyes week five opponent and to watch what should be a pretty great Big Ten showdown.

Best 11:00am Game: #17 Texas Tech at #16 Utah

Game Info: Saturday, September 20th – 11:00am CT – FOX Line: Utah -3.5

The 11:00am kickoff slot has a couple of good games that are worth watching, but none are bigger than this matchup between a pair of ranked Big 12 teams. Texas Tech had the best portal class in the country and their offense, led by quarterback Behren Morton, has put up oodles of points, averaging 58.0 points per game so far. The Utes have been dominant as well, outscoring opponents 137-25, including a 43-10 win over UCLA. New Mexico transfer quarterback Devon Dampier has been great, but the defense has eight sacks and four interceptions. With Kansas State and SMU no longer in the AP Top 25, the winner of this game will the only team in the Big 12 with a ranked win assuming the loser doesn’t drop out. The winner will join ISU as an early top contender in the conference.

Best 2:30pm Game: #22 Auburn at #11 Oklahoma

Game Info: Saturday, September 20th – 2:30pm CT – ABC Line: Oklahoma -6.5

The best SEC vs SEC matchup this weekend, the Tigers will travel to Norman hoping to prove that they are a top 25 team. Oklahoma already has a ranked win, knocking off now #21 Michigan 24-13 in week two and their quarterback, John Mateer, is an early Heisman frontrunner with his 1,105 combined passing and rushing yards. As for Auburn, they took care of business, defeating Ball State and South Alabama after a road win over Baylor in their season-opener. Their quarterback Jackson Arnold is right behind Mateer with eight total touchdowns but is well behind with 693 pass/rush yards. The Tigers are 3-8 straight up as an underdog under Hugh Freeze and were no worse than +2.5 in those three wins and they’re +6.5 in this one.

Best After Dark Game: Michigan State at #25 USC

Game Info: Saturday, September 20th – 10:00pm CT – FOX Line: USC -17.5

An absolutely wildly timed game for fans of the Spartans, this game will kick off just an hour before midnight in the Eastern Time Zone. The Trojans have put the ball in the end zone the first three weeks, totaling 165 points, with quarterback Jayden Maiava throwing for 989 yards already. It wasn’t an impressive win against Purdue, but they endured a several hour long weather delay to get a 33-17 win last week. As for Michigan State, they’re 3-0, with a 42-40 highlight win in OT over Boston College in week two. Can Aidan Chiles lead the Spartans to their first ranked win since 2022? Under Lincoln Riley, USC is just 5-6 against the spread as a 14+ favorite in conference games.

Underrated Game of the Week: #21 Michigan at Nebraska

Game Info: Saturday, September 20th – 2:30pm CT – CBS Line: Michigan -2.5

Overshadowed by the Illinois-Indiana matchup, this is a huge matchup for both the Wolverines and the Huskers. For Michigan, they lost to Oklahoma back in week two and are trying to avoid possibly falling out of the College Football Playoff race before the end of September. As for Nebraska, they’ve lost 28 (!!!) consecutive games against ranked opponents, with their last win coming against a #22 Oregon team in 2016 that finished with a 4-8 record. A win in this one would not only end an incredibly long drought, but it would give them a legitimate chance at starting the season with a 7-0 record.

Best G5 vs P5 Game: Tulane at #13 Ole Miss

Game Info: Saturday, September 20th – 2:30pm CT – ESPN Line: Ole Miss -11.5

Don’t look now, but the American Conference is a couple of wins away from having several teams with legitimate CFP hopes going into conference play. Tulane, with an upset this weekend, would have a more that reasonable argument at a CFP at-large bid they can take down Ole Miss, as they’ve already defeated Northwestern and Duke. BYU transfer quarterback Jake Retzlaff has already combined for 810 pass/rush yards and eight touchdowns. As for Ole Miss, they’re 3-0, but they failed to cover against Kentucky (-9.5) and Arkansas (-8.5) and the Green Wave are +11.5 in this one. The other thing to keep an eye on, Ferris State transfer quarterback Trinidad Chambliss started last week and was good in the absence of starter Austin Simmons.

Other Games to Watch

Arkansas at Memphis (+7) (Saturday – 11:00am CT – ABC)

Another notable opportunity for a Group of 5 team to pick up a win over a P5 opponent, Memphis plays host Arkansas this weekend at the Liberty Bowl. The Tigers enter with a 3-0 record, outscoring their opponents a combined 111-33, including a 28-7 win over Troy last week. Quarterback Brendon Lewis has been efficient, completing 73.3% of his passes, while the offense has already totaled 11 rushing touchdowns. As for Arkansas, they won their first two games handily, but lost a high-scoring affair to #13 Ole Miss last weekend. Quarterback Taylen Green has been phenomenal, tallying 1,173 pass/rush yards, while he leads the country with 13 total touchdowns. This is a big one for Memphis against an SEC opponent, while Arkansas needs this one for their bowl hopes with seven currently ranked teams left on the schedule.

SMU at TCU ( -6.5) (Saturday – 11:00am CT – ESPN2)

The Battle for the Iron Skillet. This rivalry has always been a good one between two Dallas-Fort Worth programs, but SMU’s move to the ACC and their trip to the CFP last year as made it even better. The Mustangs opened at #16 but fell unranked after a loss to Baylor. Although unranked, SMU still has quarterback Kevin Jennings who led them to the CFP and receiver Romello Brinson leads the ACC with 314 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, TCU is an under the radar team. They blasted UNC in the opener and handled Abilene Christian last week for a 2-0 start. The Horned Frogs defense has already racked up 18 tackles for loss, but their offense is what makes them go with quarterback Josh Hoover leading the way. Winner likely finds themselves in the top 25 next week.

Florida at #4 Miami FL (-7.5) (Saturday – 6:30pm CT – ABC)

This game lost quite a bit of luster with the fact that Florida is off to a 1-2 start, but this is still a heated rivalry, which will inevitably lead to some chippy behavior throughout. Miami FL, led by transfer quarterback Carson Beck, has looked like one of the top teams in the country thus far. They defeated Notre Dame in the opener, while they smoked South Florida 49-12 last weekend, a week after the Bulls upset Florida in The Swamp. The Gators entered the season with a lot of hype, but their offense has put up just 26 points over the last two games leading to consecutive losses against USF and LSU. Quarterback DJ Lagway was in preseason Heisman discussions, but has thrown six interceptions, including five against the Tigers. I think the ‘Canes will handle Florida.

Arizona State at Baylor (-2.5) (Saturday – 6:30pm CT – FOX)

The race for a spot in Big 12 championship was wild last season and figures to be much of the same this season, with six, maybe even seven teams believing they have a legitimate to make it to Dallas. In this matchup, both the Sun Devils and Bears suffered non-conference losses, so the loser of this game will have any hopes of a CFP at-large bid put on very thin ice. As for the winner, they’ll be 1-0 in the standings and with the depth of contenders in the league, that’s a huge step in the right direction. Arizona State followed up their loss to Mississippi State with a 34-15 win over Texas State, while Baylor took down SMU and defeated Samford last week after their opening loss to Auburn.

Week Four Big Ten Schedule

• Iowa at Rutgers (+2.5) (Friday – 7:00pm CT – FOX)
• Maryland at Wisconsin (-8.5) (Saturday – 11:00am CT – NBC)
• Oregon State at #6 Oregon (-35.5) (Saturday – 2:00pm CT – BTN)
• Purdue (+26.5) at #24 Notre Dame (Saturday – 2:30pm CT – NBC)
• Washington (-20.5) at Washington State (Saturday – 6:30pm CT – CBS)