Both fans and players emotionally dedicate themselves to their college football teams. Week four of the college football season generated a ton of heartbreak across the country as many teams began conference play in week four. Instead of playing the speculation game, we finally saw how teams stack up with the competition in their own Conference. 

Two specific Pac-12 games were between a ranked team and an unranked team, where the unranked teams were on watch to upset their counterparts. Those two unranked teams were Washington State and Oregon State.

Both would tragically fall, losing by only three points each. Oregon State lost to USC by a score of 17-14, and WSU would fall to Oregon by a score of 44-41. 

The games were extremely similar, the winning team would score a majority of their points in the fourth and final quarter. As well as the fact that both teams would not take the lead for good until there were under five minutes left in the game. 

Focusing more on the WSU game, the Cougs had momentum for much of the game and had several defensive stands within the red zone. 

One of these stops had many fans thinking that the crimson and gray would be running away with the game, as Francisco Mauigoa would intercept Bo Nix and take the ball to the house with a 95-yard return. This return was the second longest interception return in WSU history.

Oregon would score 29 points in the final quarter of play including a swing of being down by 12 with under four minutes to being up by 10 with just over one minute remaining. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Cougs, but they truly showed that they are a good football team that deserves recognition. 

A game that had potential massive playoff implications was Clemson at Wake Forest, as it was a definite trap game for Clemson. A back-and-forth slugfest between the Tigers and Deacon Deacons played out in the North Carolina sun. 

The final score would come out to be 51-45 Clemson and would end after two overtime periods. Wake Forest had several leads during the fourth quarter, but could not get the clutch stop to pull off the upset. 

Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei would go for 26 completions on 41 attempts for 371 yards and five touchdowns, leading the Tigers to two scoring drives during OT to win the game. While they would come out on top, the cracks are starting to show for the Tigers and every week will be upset watching for them.

A game that was not expected to be a trap game was Oklahoma taking on Kansas State. The Sooners came in as the No. 6 in the rankings and were heavily favored to win the game. However, they would fall by a score of 41-34 based on the incredible play of Nebraska transfer QB Adrian Martinez. 

Martinez would tally five total touchdowns, four of which came on the ground. With a seven-point lead with under three minutes left to go in the game, Martinez was faced with a third and long. 

He was pressured and had no open receivers. Taking a sack would mean the Sooners would have total momentum and would potentially drive down the field to take the lead. He had other plans, he took off and ran down the sideline for a first down.

Martinez’s run all but sealed the game for the Wildcats, and his success will go down as the strike that potentially killed the Oklahoma season in just week four. 

Following the loss, the Sooners went from prime playoff contention being ranked at No. 6 to falling all the way to No. 18 in the most recent AP poll. 

In potentially the most heartbreaking loss of the week, No. 10 ranked Arkansas fell to Texas A&M. An already disappointing loss at face value was made heartbreaking by a missed field goal that would have taken the lead for the Razorbacks with under two minutes to go. 

Sophomore kicker Cam Little lined up the kick and sent it on its way. It looked good at first, but it began hooking more and more to the right. It smacked the top of the upright, and all of Arkansas’ faithful held their breath hoping it would bounce through the upright and somehow make it in. 

It did not. It fell into the end zone. Many players on the sideline were visibly upset following the missed kick and the ensuing Aggies possession. 

It was a tragic defeat that could haunt Little for the rest of the season. He is a good kicker and hopefully will be able to shake off the kick and look to help the team fight for a top-tier bowl game come the postseason. 

In other notable games of the week, No. 4 Michigan squeaked past Maryland by a score of 34-27. No. 11 Tennessee beat the No. 20 ranked Florida by a score of 38-33 in a game that solidified their position as a solid team this year. 

A couple of other upsets happened to teams near the end of the rankings, No. 22 Texas would fall to their in-state competition of Texas Tech by a score of 37-34, and in one of the biggest shockers of the week, No. 25 Miami fell to Middle Tennessee. 

It was not a good day for the Hurricanes, falling by a score of 45-31 in a game in which they never once held the lead. 

The next week of college football is shaping up to be a good one, with there being four top 25 matchups to enjoy on Saturday, those matches are; No. 2 Alabama at No. 20 Arkansas, No. 7 Kentucky at No. 14 Ole Miss, No. 9 Oklahoma State at No. 16 Baylor and No. 22 Wake Forest at No. 23 Florida State. 

In other top 25 matches, No. 12 hosts the Oregon State Beavers in what could be a huge upset. The Beavers took on the USC Trojans in their most recent matchup and only lost by three points. They are a good team and could take this game by potentially two or more scores. 

No. 25 Kansas State hosts unranked Texas Tech coming off a huge upset of the then-ranked Texas Longhorns. The Red Raiders are 3-1 on the season and their only loss comes to a ranked NC State team. Although both teams are coming off of huge wins, the flame will have to die out for one of them, and that may be the Wildcats. 

With many ranked matches and continued conference play, every play matters, and teams will have to compete for all 60 minutes if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. Here’s to another unpredictable and crazy week of college football.