The story of two-sport star Charlie Ward’s incredible Heisman season, 30 years later
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Harry Lyles Jr., ESPN Staff Writer
WALKING INTO THE Thomas County Public Library in Thomasville, Georgia, visitors see what they’d expect to see in any small-town library.
A flat-screen in the entranceway spells out the rules: no food, drinks, smoking or cellphones. Through a set of double doors is the circulation desk, with three banners above promoting the summer reading challenge.
To the left is the children’s section, with kid-sized tables and chairs and floor tiles with images of water, bubbles and a large goldfish. There’s a check-out desk to the right, an alphabet quilt to the left, butterfly mobiles hanging from the ceiling and shelf after shelf of colorful books.
Along the back wall, next to a window with a “Speak Quietly Please” sign, is a small glass case. On it sits a piece of paper in a plastic cover, propped against a small statue, with a quote that reads, “One way to get a quality education is to read what you don’t want and do what you’d rather not.” The quote is from Charlie Ward Jr., the former Florida State football star and pro basketball player who grew up less than 2 miles from the library.
Next to the quote sits a list of Ward’s accomplishments during the 1993 FSU national championship season in a black picture frame.
Inside the case is Ward’s No. 17 Seminoles jersey, a basketball card from his time with the New York Knicks, a framed photo of Ward and one more item of note. Right there — between a mostly empty magazine rack adorned with toadstools and a mini puppet theater — as presented by the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City to Ward 30 years ago, is the 45-pound Heisman Trophy.
An unsuspecting visitor would be taken aback. But for those who know Charlie Ward, the Thomas County Public Library children’s room is the perfect place for his Heisman Trophy.
WILLARD AND CHARLIE Ward Sr. are surrounded by trophies at their Thomasville home in what they call the “awards room.” The room is filled with an assortment of athletic trophies, awards and memorabilia from the whole family. Charlie Jr.’s Davey O’Brien Trophy, a Charlie Ward Jr. Boulevard sign (many have been stolen over the years in Thomasville), a 1993 ACC Offensive Player of the Year trophy and many more. In the middle of the room is a plate commemorating the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.
Among the many receipts of Charlie Jr.’s success at all levels of athletics, the Wards recall the exact moment they knew their son was gifted enough to fill such a room.
When Junior — as his family calls him — was 2 years old, a friend saw him out on a shuffleboard court bouncing a ball.
“She said, ‘Look at that boy!'” Willard says. “She saw the skills he had for a child that age. I hadn’t paid any attention to it.” Charlie Sr. adds: “He had cat reflexes.”
Athleticism is ingrained in the Ward family DNA. It’s evident from the way Charlie Sr. (who prefers to be called “Coach”) goes between different motions during a conversation — one moment he’s shooting an imaginary basketball, another he pantomimes swinging a baseball bat or settles in for a dribbling motion. If push came to shove, even at 84, the elder Ward — who played for Florida A&M and legendary coach Jake Gaither in Tallahassee — would be willing to compete.
Junior’s athletic career was molded in the Thomasville neighborhood, where he grew up playing every sport imaginable.
“We were playing in the streets,” Charlie Jr. says. “Street ball, whatever the ball was, we made it happen. We had quite a few guys in the neighborhood. Then we would take our neighborhood and go play another neighborhood. That’s the way we got down in the streets. And those were our rivalries and how we handled our business. It was all about bragging rights.”
The basketball hoop Junior grew up shooting on was 12 feet high, not the regulation 10 feet, as set by his father so nobody could tear the basket down. That didn’t matter to Junior.
“I mean, you shoot the ball and make it go in,” he says. “Whether it’s 12 feet, 10 feet, you just have to make adjustments.”
Willard feels a key event that shaped her son was a knee injury he had early in high school. A bone issue that required surgery left his doctors unsure of his athletic future.
“When that was taken away, I was, of course, frustrated,” Junior says. “But I was able to learn that I needed to make sure I took my schooling seriously because it can be easily taken away, the thing that I enjoyed most.”
As Charlie Jr. became a better student, something he said he previously hadn’t taken pride in, he also recovered physically and had a very successful high school athletic career. He wouldn’t have been Charlie Ward if he didn’t.
“Junior’s the kind of person — and his dad’s the same way — I said, ‘Only way he didn’t play or something, he wouldn’t have an arm, a leg, a head or something. But as long as he had one of those things, he was going to get out there,'” Willard says. “And that was that determination. ‘You won’t tell me I can’t do it.'”
CHARLIE WARD DID not immediately jump from high school to Florida State.
Despite his good grades coming out of high school, Ward’s ACT score didn’t meet the NCAA standard. He didn’t want to lose a year of eligibility, as the Proposition 48 rules at the time would have dictated, so he spent a year taking classes at Tallahassee Community College, less than 40 miles from his hometown of Thomasville.
When Ward finally arrived at Florida State in 1989, the future Heisman Trophy winner and first-round NBA draft pick saw the field immediately — as the team’s punter.
Because of an injury to Florida State’s starting punter, Ward took on the job and didn’t redshirt as planned. Even in that role, he did things people rarely saw. In a game against Tulane, Ward had a run, pass and punt in one drive.
But it was in practice — specifically, the team’s final preseason scrimmage — that Ward’s legend began to take hold.
“They always play the first and second team versus the rest,” former Florida State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mark Richt recalled. “Charlie was on the rest, and almost single-handedly won the game against the varsity. … And usually you spot the [rest] some points because you’re trying to make it competitive, but [the varsity] just about lost to the team Charlie was quarterbacking.”
And this wasn’t just any defense Ward went up against. It included the likes of LeRoy Butler, Terrell Buckley, Kirk Carruthers and Odell Haggins, all of whom played in the NFL.
Fullback William Floyd said, “Coach had to come over like, ‘Hey, man, you got to tell Ward, you got to call different plays, whatever, he’s making us look crazy over here.’ And he’s going against the starting defense.
“It was like, ‘Man, this is our starting defense, man! We can mess up their confidence if this keeps happening.'”
IN SPRING 1990, Bobby Bowden wanted Ward to compete for the starting quarterback job. But Ward knew he wasn’t going to win the role, given the team’s success the previous season and the experienced QBs — Casey Weldon and Brad Johnson — in front of him.
He also wanted to play basketball, which was a key factor in his choosing Florida State over Georgia coming out of high school, and as a freshman, he had met the academic requirements set by FSU.
“Coach Bowden had allowed Brad Johnson to play basketball and football,” Ward said, “and that’s what I wanted to do. … And my mom’s going to hold his feet to the fire if things change.”
When Ward approached Bowden about playing basketball during his redshirt season, Bowden told him he should think about it some more, which Ward didn’t like, and Ward’s mother let Bowden know.
“I said, ‘Coach Bowden, this is Charlie Ward’s mama,'” Willard recalled. “‘Junior called me real upset because he had asked you about playing basketball and you said to him to think about it. And he said he wasn’t going to go back and ask you again.'”
So, after playing scout team quarterback through the middle of October, Ward switched gears and joined the basketball team, immediately adding a unique personality to the group.
3:29
The start of Charlie Ward’s legendary Seminole basketball career
Take a look at Charlie Ward’s Seminole career, from his early days as FSU’s punter to his prowess on the hardcourt as the basketball team’s point guard.
“We used to call ’em ‘The Saint and the Sinners,'” former Seminoles basketball coach Pat Kennedy said with a laugh.
“Charlie was a saint, and the rest of the guys on the team were the sinners. If [Charlie] gave you a look, they all got very, very scared. It was almost as if there was an angel looking at you.”
Ward didn’t like cursing and still doesn’t to this day. It created a moment early on between him and Kennedy that changed the way Kennedy coached forever.
“The old New York in me, I used to get pretty fiery with some of my pregame and halftime talks,” Kennedy said. “And I gave a pregame talk before a Florida game, and it was a little salty. And so the guys went out on the floor. And Charlie was — I could tell he wasn’t comfortable with something.
“So I said, ‘Charlie, what’s up?’ He said, ‘Coach, you know, Coach Bowden doesn’t use that kind of language, and he gets us to play awfully hard as well.’ So from that point on I really — and then my whole coaching staff, because I had a few New York guys with me — we all cut back on the salty language.”
Ward said, “I was a big stickler for just being respectful. I wasn’t a curser. So I would share my displeasure with coaches, players, and they knew it.”
Sam Cassell, a member of the basketball team, still can’t talk about it without laughing. “You don’t curse him now. You curse around him too much and he just looks at you like, ‘Come on.’ He just shook his head like, ‘Wow, you can’t express it some other way?'” Cassell said with a cackle.
“We laughed at it. He was Charlie Ward. He was just Charlie Ward around us. You respect it because that’s who he was.”
For all of the ways Ward was orchestrating better behavior off the court, he was putting in just as much work on it. He added a different dynamic to the team as a distributor and defensive stopper, allowing scorers such as Cassell and Bob Sura to thrive.
“My job was to get those other guys the ball,” Ward said. “I shot, but I was a football guy. So me coming out there just jacking up shots wasn’t going to help us be productive.”
But when Ward did focus on scoring, he made it count. One of the biggest shots of his basketball career at FSU came in the Metro Conference championship against Louisville in 1991 — a 3-pointer to send Florida State to the NCAA tournament. The Seminoles would reach the second round before losing to second-seeded Indiana.
As Ward continued to improve as a basketball player, the stakes got higher. Florida State started playing in the ACC in the 1991-92 season, and its first conference game was at North Carolina. Ward scored 18 points, upsetting the Tar Heels 86-74 in front of what Cassell infamously called a “wine and cheese” crowd.
“After the game, Dean Smith grabbed him and said, ‘Son, you need to give up football,'” Kennedy said. Florida State would end up making the Sweet 16 that season, losing again to Indiana, which ended up in the Final Four.
The following season, as Ward emerged as a legitimate two-sport standout, his star continued to grow.
Kennedy recalled, “We’re starting one of our early home basketball games and my sports information director says, ‘Coach, somebody’s asking for two tickets for tonight, and they said it was Spike Lee.’ And we got the phone number, we call back and it was, in fact, Spike Lee.”
Lee attended a handful of games during that 1992-93 season, wearing a No. 17 Florida State football jersey. In a game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, during which Ward and Yellow Jackets star Travis Best went back and forth, Ward hit a layup to win the game 83-82.
“Spike was sitting under the basket in the first row,” Kennedy said. “Spike gets up, runs out onto the court with his 17 jersey and picks Charlie up, and he’s carrying Charlie around.”
The Seminoles finished that season having made the Elite Eight as a No. 3 seed, losing to No. 1 seed Kentucky.
With Ward as point guard, Florida State made three straight NCAA appearances, helping the Seminoles develop a reputation beyond football.
“He just grew and grew on us to where he became a pro, and not everyone thought he was a professional basketball player, obviously, when he first came in,” Kennedy said. “That’s the greatness of the story, you know?”
“I mean, no one ever, ever thought Charlie was going to be a professional basketball player.”
CHARLIE WARD’S TURN as Florida State’s starting quarterback arrived in 1992, when he made history as the school’s first Black player at the position.
His recruitment was pushed by Wayne McDuffie, Bowden’s offensive coordinator from 1983 to 1990.
“There had to be some politicking because Coach Bowden wasn’t sold on me,” Ward said, “Because he hadn’t played a Black quarterback, one. And two, he thought that his system didn’t fit me because he felt like I was a runner, and he wanted someone that was going to drop back and pass the football. But that’s all he knew, and he didn’t know anything different because that’s all he had. … [McDuffie] was very demonstrative in his approach to give me enough courage and they took a chance on me as a dual-threat quarterback.”
He was no finished product during the early portion of his time as QB1, and his lack of experience was evident. And as FSU’s first Black quarterback, he said, “I’m glad we didn’t have social media.”
“If you don’t have [experience], you got to go through the struggles of it. The struggles to get there,” he said. When he finally became the starter, in his fourth year at the school, “I had no meaningful quarterback snaps like what I was getting ready to go into.”
In his first start, the 1992 season opener, Ward threw four interceptions in a 48-21 win over Duke. In his second, he threw another three picks in a 24-20 win at Clemson. He was getting benched for an occasional series (or more) for Danny Kanell, a freshman, before going back in and finishing games.
“He was matching those [interceptions] with touchdowns and with great runs, and so we kind of felt like we had something really good there,” co-offensive coordinator Brad Scott said. “But there is a price to pay for experience and Charlie had to kind of go through that.”
“Coach Bowden had a meeting with our offensive staff,” Richt said. “He says, ‘Charlie’s throwing a lot of interceptions. Is that your fault?’ and he’s looking at Brad Scott. And he looked at me, he goes, ‘Is it your fault?’ And he goes, ‘Or is it my fault?’ And we’re like, ‘It’s our fault. We’ll get it fixed.'”
Richt had a conversation with Ward, telling him the school record for interceptions was 17. He told Ward, “Charlie, when you hit No. 16, you’re not going to break the school record because you’re not going to play anymore,” Richt recalled with a laugh.
Everything changed when FSU played Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. In a nationally televised game, Ward was again benched for Kanell after throwing three interceptions.
“The only option was me,” Kanell said. “And I wasn’t ready. But he was playing that poorly where they had to get him off the field. … I was like, barely just making sure I could hand the ball off. The offense was pared down, we couldn’t do any of the things that we could do with Charlie. And so I would go in for a series or two, and Charlie would come back in and he was like a different person.”
When Ward reentered these games, Florida State essentially went into its two-minute offense — with Ward in the shotgun, no-huddle, four wideouts and one running back — instead of its typical I-formation, toss-sweep, play-action attack.
Georgia Tech led 21-7 with 14:27 remaining in the game. Ward engineered the comeback, as Florida State once again went up-tempo. He completed 14 of his final 19 passes for 137 yards. The realization that a permanent change was needed was undeniable.
Richt said, “Of course of all people, my wife goes, ‘Charlie seems to do better out of the shotgun. You might think about starting a game that way.'”
Florida State did just that two weeks later against Maryland and won 69-21. The week after that brought a 70-7 win over Tulane. Then a 45-24 win over Florida, followed by a 27-14 Orange Bowl win over Nebraska.
“That’s kind of the birth of the fast-break offense,” Richt said. “The offseason between ’92 and ’93, we designed the entire offense around the no-huddle.”
“That’s when you knew that Charlie had figured something out,” Floyd said.
THE OVERWHELMING CHOICE as No. 1 in the preseason polls, Florida State was an unstoppable force during the first five weeks of the 1993 season. In wins against Kansas, Duke, No. 21 Clemson, No. 13 North Carolina and Georgia Tech, the Seminoles outscored their opponents 228-14.
Ward’s recollection of that stretch was not about what they did offensively, but rather the heroics of their defense. In their first game against Kansas, Florida State’s defense had a 12-play goal-line stand that team members and fans still talk about. (The Seminoles’ offense would follow with a 99-yard drive for a score.)
In Week 6, FSU got over the hump against No. 3 Miami after losses the previous three seasons, including Wide Right I in 1991 and Wide Right II in 1992.
After wins over No. 15 Virginia, Wake Forest and Maryland, the 9-0 Seminoles traveled to South Bend to take on No. 2 Notre Dame in a “Game of the Century” on NBC, with ESPN’s “College GameDay” in town for the first time in the show’s history. Ward had missed the previous week because of a bruised clavicle and was excited for the opportunity.
But it wasn’t the Seminoles’ night. Offensively, they weren’t as explosive as they had been in previous weeks, and their defense played out of character in the second quarter, allowing the Irish to build a 21-7 cushion.
Despite this, Ward and FSU had a chance at the end. Down 31-24, Ward marched the offense toward Notre Dame’s Touchdown Jesus, down to the Irish 14-yard line for one more shot. Ward’s pass was batted down in the end zone, and the Irish held on.
While it felt like Florida State’s national title hopes died in South Bend that night, it got a second wind the following Saturday.
As the Seminoles were in Burt Reynolds Hall preparing to play NC State in a matter of hours, everything changed.
“Right before it was time for us to walk down,” Ward said, “they started yelling that Boston College is lining up to kick the game-winning field goal [against Notre Dame].”
That prompted everyone to crowd around a TV wherever they could.
“[The kick] goes through, and that is when the whole dorm erupted,” Ward said.
Richt recalled chaos on Tennessee Street, which is essentially the north border of the Florida State campus. “Everybody started jumping out of their cars and dancing around the place because we had a chance to play for the national championship again,” he said.
The players were late getting to the locker room, but it didn’t matter. A team that was already primed to channel its energy had extra juice after the Irish were upset.
“That helped refocus us a little bit more,” Ward said. “A reason why we didn’t lose very many games was our mentality switch after a loss. We just wanted to make sure somebody paid the next week if we lost a game. Unfortunately it was North Carolina State that was on the back end of it.”
The Wolfpack got trounced 62-7.
At that point, the only thing standing between Florida State, Charlie Ward and Bobby Bowden and a shot at their first national championship was No. 7 Florida. The Gators hadn’t lost a home game since 1989, when Florida State knocked them off 24-17 during Ward’s freshman season.
The Seminoles came out strong, and took a 27-7 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Gators pulled within 27-21 with just under six minutes to go. “And now it’s as loud as I don’t know what in that stadium,” Floyd said.
Despite both the game and national championship hopes potentially slipping from the Seminoles’ grasp, Floyd was comforted amid the chaos.
“What I love is that you can look in [Ward’s] eyes and tell that you always had a chance to win,” he said. “He didn’t have to say a word, you can just look at his eyes.”
2:58
The game that secured the Heisman for Charlie Ward
In a must-win road test, Charlie Ward and the Seminoles fight off the Gators and boast his status for the Heisman Trophy.
Facing a third-and-10 from the Seminoles’ 21-yard line, Ward flicked the ball to his checkdown option as his protection broke down. Running back Warrick Dunn caught it just beyond the 30. Wideout Tamarick Vanover threw the last-needed block on Florida cornerback Anthone Lott, and Dunn galloped into the end zone to put the game away 33-21.
“It went from the loudest to the quietest in five seconds,” Ward said.
In what is still one of the biggest moments in Florida State football history, Ward connected with his roommate, Dunn, whom he had been helping get through the most difficult time of his life.
Dunn’s mother, Betty Smothers, was a police officer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and had been killed in the line of duty Jan. 7, 1993, when Dunn was just 18.
Former Washington Commanders quarterback Doug Williams was a family friend of Smothers, and wanted to make sure Dunn was being looked after. So he contacted Ward, who wore the No. 17 because of Williams.
“I didn’t have a roommate at the time,” Ward said. “And so there was no big issue for me to room with a freshman that was coming in, and also someone — one of my heroes — asked me to take care of him.
“He had a lot of stuff going on, a lot of stuff he had to process. And so, just being there for him was what he needed. We were made to be roommates in a lot of ways.”
Dunn was grateful to have Ward as a friend.
“We had deep conversations. And he was there to listen to me,” Dunn said. “Those are moments that I can never take back. Always be thankful for. He will always be my big brother.
“I just think us having a connection every day together, being roommates and so forth that, on that play, he believed in me. And I think that just signifies the impact our relationship had during that whole [year].”
As the ABC broadcast showed Ward running down the field to celebrate with Dunn, analyst Bob Griese said, “Give it to Charlie, go ahead,” referring to the Heisman Trophy. Legendary play-by-play man Keith Jackson responded, “You can call off your party and just mail it to him.”
Fifteen days later, in New York, Ward was announced as the 59th winner of the award, with a margin of victory of 1,622 points — second at the time only to O.J. Simpson’s 1,750-point win in 1968, when more ballots were distributed.
The attention of winning the Heisman made the 2½-week lead-up to the national championship game against Nebraska more difficult for Ward.
“I remember the line at his dorm room was like 20 or 30 players deep with memorabilia, with balls, Florida State gear, to have him sign because he’s the Heisman Trophy winner,” Kanell said. “That stuff normally didn’t happen, and we had first-round draft picks. We had guys who were going to play in the NFL.”
Dunn recalled other people coming to their door with requests. “‘Can I get his autograph? Can I get this?’ Charlie’s not here. Charlie’s not here. Charlie’s not here.” Eventually, Dunn put a sign on the door that read, “CHARLIE AIN’T HERE.”
Florida State had a celebration for Ward in Doak Campbell Stadium, where his No. 17 jersey was retired.
“That might have been the one time I saw him uncomfortable and truly not at peace with any situation,” Kanell said.
“I was always uncomfortable with the spotlight,” Ward said. “The night of the celebration, where they retired my jersey, grateful. But one thing I started to learn and understand was, you know, I was a man of faith, God was putting me in certain positions for a reason.”
When the national title game against the Cornhuskers finally arrived, the Seminoles were off the majority of the night.
“They played good defense,” Ward said. “And they knew everything we were doing or trying to do. They disrupted our routes … and they had a game plan.
“Their game plan was to hit. And so whether it was during a play or after the play, it didn’t matter. They actually took penalties because they were trying to send a message.
“But, you know, it didn’t deter me from being whoever because I wouldn’t get out of character in any form or fashion.”
After Nebraska’s Byron Bennett knocked through a 27-yard field goal to give the Huskers a 16-15 lead in the fourth quarter, Ward was given an opportunity with 1:16 remaining.
“There’s a TV cut where Nebraska goes down and scores,” Floyd said. “And [Ward’s] on the sideline, warming up, you know, that cool and calm Charlie demeanor. And he’s looking out on the field like, ‘Oh, they scored?’ Then he just starts throwing the ball again, warming up. So that’s TV seeing it. But me seeing it live, I’m looking at Charlie, and I’m looking in his eyes and I know we got a chance to win this thing.
“Man, we got Charlie Ward.”
Florida State’s offense took over on its 35-yard line after the Huskers’ kickoff went out of bounds. On one big play, Ward found Dunn for a 21-yard catch, then 15 yards were tacked on for a Nebraska late hit.
Ward led FSU to the Nebraska 3-yard line, where the Huskers’ defense held, but Scott Bentley hit the field goal to give Florida State an 18-16 lead with 21 seconds left. After a few more tense moments, including a premature Gatorade bath for Bowden, a last-ditch field goal try by Nebraska went wide left and the Seminoles had their championship.
“It was kind of surreal in the sense that the thing that we set out to do, we were able to accomplish,” Ward said. “And there’s no better feeling than when you prepare for a test, and you go in and ace the test.”
After the conclusion of the 1993 football and 1993-94 basketball seasons, it was time for Ward to take his athletic career to the next level. He wouldn’t say whether he wanted to go pro in football or basketball, wanting to keep his options open.
During the NFL draft that April, Ward was at the home he grew up in. After not hearing his name called in the first or second rounds, Willard recalls him getting up.
“He went outside, got that basketball, and started shooting,” she said.
Charlie Sr. added, “He said, ‘I better go work on my basketball skills.'”
The Kansas City Chiefs called Ward during the fifth round the next day. Ward said they wanted him to be Joe Montana’s backup, then take the reins once Montana retired.
“I told them I couldn’t guarantee that I would come to camp if I got drafted in the fifth round. Because if I got drafted in the first round in the NBA, I’m going there,” he said. “I was just being honest with them, so they didn’t draft me.”
In a telephone interview on ESPN2 midway through the seventh round, Ward said, “Basketball and the Canadian [Football] League are now a big option. A lot of teams in the NBA are telling me I have to concentrate on one sport. Maybe I will. Some [NFL] teams might have been interested, but they weren’t willing to take a chance. Maybe I’ll be the first Heisman winner that plays in the NBA.”
Ward wasn’t selected in the NFL draft, and that June was taken by the New York Knicks with the 26th pick of the NBA draft. He had a 12-year pro career, the first Heisman winner to play in the NBA.
PEOPLE VISITING THE Thomas County Public Library want to know if Charlie Ward’s Heisman Trophy is the real thing.
They’re often wearing some sort of Florida State apparel, trying to look as natural and casual as possible, just to get a peek at a piece of history. But the legend of Charlie Ward, and the hard evidence of one of his greatest two-way college stars of the past 50 years, is well known by everybody in Thomasville.
If you’re visiting the library to see the Heisman, everybody working inside can tell from the moment you walk in the door.
The children’s section of a public library certainly isn’t where one expects to find one of the most prestigious trophies in all of sports. But it ended up being the best fit for the Ward family, and fitting for who Ward is as a person.
Willard Ward was a librarian herself. The library wanted to put the trophy on display for a time, and of course, the Wards were happy to oblige. So the trophy was taken off its shelf at the Wards’ home and taken to the library.
Then the Wards decided it should stay there.
“At that time, we had no alarm system, and the library did,” Willard says. “And it just dawned on me, we would have more people that would go see it down there.”
Senior laughs, “And we’d have to keep this house too clean if we had it. And we just normal folks.”
So in a small town — Thomasville, Georgia — sits one of the 86 Heisman Trophy awards. Library employees say Charlie Sr. has been known to sit in the same seat to the right of the circulation desk to enjoy his morning coffee and read the newspaper, his son’s Heisman on display a short stroll away.
“Every award, everyone’s not going to be able to win. But what they can strive to do is have a sense of achievement,” says Ward, who is a motivational speaker and has been a high school football or basketball coach since 2007. “So whatever that achievement may be, it may be reading five books during the summer, and then you get a reward for that, whatever that reward may be.
“And so it’s not so much about the Heisman, but it’s about the process and the journey of it. We all have those processes and journeys to meet our goals. That is something we can all strive to do. And that’s what it’s really symbolic of.”
STILLWATER, Okla. — Redshirt freshman Baylor Hayes threw for 219 yards and a touchdown and Seth Morgan kicked four field goals to help Tulsa defeat Oklahoma State 19-12 on Friday night for the first time in 27 years.
Hayes started his second straight game in place of Kirk Francis and completed 23 of 36 passes without an interception for Tulsa (2-2), which last beat Oklahoma State in 1998. It was the Golden Hurricane’s first win in Stillwater since Nov. 3, 1951, ending a streak of 23 consecutive losses there.
The loss leaves things from bad to worse for coach Mike Gundy and the Cowboys, who have won just one of their past 12 games dating to last season. They also fall to 0-9 when coming off a loss dating back to last season, their longest such streak in the AP Poll era (which dates to 1936).
“I thought (Tulsa) did a great job early in the game with some of the concepts that we hadn’t (anticipated) on defense,” Gundy said. “Really, through the first quarter, they outcoached us.
“I thought their quarterback played really well. He’s a good little operator. Made some plays and was able to run and scramble.”
Morgan kicked field goals of 27, 38 and 47 yards to give the Golden Hurricane a 16-3 halftime lead. He connected from 47 yards on Tulsa’s first drive of the third quarter to make it 19-3.
Oklahoma State (1-2) rallied after that behind Zane Flores, a third-year freshman making his second career start. Flores passed for 214 yards and rushed for 56, scoring on a 5-yard keeper to cut the deficit to 19-9 early in the fourth quarter.
Logan Ward‘s 49-yard field goal with 5:49 left in the quarter made it 19-12. The game ended when the Cowboys’ Gavin Freeman was pushed out of bounds at the Tulsa 10-yard line.
“I know we caught ’em at a bad time and they’re struggling right now, but it’s all about us right now,” Tulsa coach Tre Lamb said. “That’s a huge win for our program, that’s a statement win for me and our staff and our administration and I told the team new Tulsa’s back, and I told the ESPN guys that we don’t want to be on the second page of the paper.”
Oklahoma State was playing for the first time since a 69-3 loss to then-No. 6 Oregon on Sept. 6.
The Golden Hurricane rebounded in a big way following a 42-23 home loss to Navy. Tulsa’s defense held Oklahoma State to three points and 117 of its 403 total yards in the first half.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
If there’s an overriding storyline through three weeks, it has been about the winners and losers of some big bets on quarterbacks.
Miami bet on Carson Beck reviving his NFL prospects after a down year at Georgia. So far, he has delivered, averaging nearly 10 yards per pass with eight total touchdowns, and the Canes are ranked in the top five.
Oklahoma wagered Brent Venables’ future on John Mateer, and the Washington State transfer has been electric, leading the Sooners past Michigan in a Week 2 showdown and earning Heisman front-runner status.
Auburn felt sure former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold still had plenty of untapped potential, and through three weeks, he has looked like the superstar he once was, getting the Tigers to 3-0.
Ohio State, Georgia and Oregon all bet on in-house QBs rather than dipping into the transfer portal, and all have been rewarded.
Florida State, Indiana and Tulane hit pay dirt in the portal.
That’s the good news.
On the flip side, so many quarterbacks who were expected to provide massive dividends — Arch Manning, Cade Klubnik, DJ Lagway, Nico Iamaleava, LaNorris Sellers — have wavered between average or awful.
Week 4 offers some chances for redemption, with Lagway getting another big test against Miami, Klubnik hoping to right the ship against Syracuse and UNC‘s Gio Lopez going on the road against UCF in the Tar Heels’ first real test since a blowout loss to TCU.
Some of the nation’s most talented young players have a chance to break through, too. CJ Carr can earn win No. 1 against woeful Purdue. Michigan’s Bryce Underwood, coming off a strong performance against Central Michigan, has a much bigger test against Nebraska. Ole Miss’ Austin Simmons hopes to return from injury in time to make his mark in a showdown with Tulane.
The story is just beginning to be written, so there’s plenty of time for Manning, Klubnik and other preseason darlings to find their footing. But it has been a cold September for some of the nation’s most renowned passers, and Week 4 could be another opportunity for others to grab their share of the spotlight. — David Hale
Jump to:
Auburn-Oklahoma | Utah-Texas Tech
Quarterbacks who are falling short
Breakout players | Quotes of the week
What do each of these teams need to do to win?
Auburn: The Tigers have to disrupt Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and make him pay for running the ball, and they have the ingredients to do so. Auburn is tied for sixth nationally in sacks per game (3.67) and tied for 12th in tackles for loss per game (8.7). Although Keldric Faulk is the headliner, Arkansas State transfer Keyron Crawford has been the team’s most disruptive pass rusher so far with three sacks and a forced fumble. The defense and run game, which ranks 16th nationally at 240 yards per game, ideally must reduce the pressure on quarterback Jackson Arnold in his highly anticipated return to Oklahoma. Arnold is completing nearly 70% of his passes, running the ball effectively and limiting mistakes, but the more Auburn’s other playmakers can take off his plate, the better the chances for a key road win. — Adam Rittenberg
Oklahoma: Arnold started nine games for the Sooners last fall. If anyone knows his weak spots, it’s Oklahoma coach Brent Venables. As Adam points out, Arnold (eight turnovers in 2024) has played efficient, mistake-free football in his first three games at Auburn. A Sooners defense that’s creating pressures on 44.6% of its snaps this season — 10th nationally, per ESPN Research — is built to change that and make Arnold uncomfortable, although Oklahoma will be without 2024 sack leader R Mason Thomas for the first half Saturday following a Week 3 targeting ejection. Mateer will have his own work cut out for him against the Tigers’ defensive front, but he should be able to find holes in a secondary that ranks 85th in yards allowed per game (220.0). The difference, ultimately, could come on the ground where a still-figuring-out Oklahoma rushing attack meets Auburn’s 10th-ranked run defense (67.0 yards per game) on Saturday. Freshman Tory Blaylock (5.4 yards per carry) has been the Sooners’ most effective running back through three games. — Eli Lederman
How do each of these quarterbacks need to perform?
Utah: Through three games a year ago, Utah had gone without a first down on nearly a quarter of its drives. This season, it has happened only three times in three games. The difference is Devon Dampier, who has looked as at ease running his brand of dual-threat football in a Power 4 backfield as he did a year ago at New Mexico. Dampier has racked up more than 800 yards of offense and accounted for eight touchdowns, and he has yet to turn the ball over. His skill set has made him particularly effective. He has already accumulated 80 yards on scramble plays, and three of his seven TD passes have come from outside the pocket. This will be his biggest test to date, but he’ll also be, by far, the biggest challenge for Texas Tech’s defense. — Hale
Texas Tech: Behren Morton hasn’t taken a snap after the third quarter across three straight 30-plus point victories to open the season. Still, Texas Tech’s senior quarterback enters Week 4 tied for No. 1 nationally in passing touchdowns (11) and ranks ninth in passing yards (923), leading the nation’s highest-scoring offense (58.0 PPG). Utah, with the nation’s 20th-ranked pass defense (134.0 yards per game), should present Morton with his toughest test yet in 2025. He’ll have to be accurate against an experienced Utes secondary, and Morton’s decision-making will be key, too, in the face of a Utah front seven that features the nation’s joint sack leader in John Henry Daley — five in three games — and blitzes on 42.6% of its snaps, the 10th-highest rate among FBS defenses, per ESPN Research. Most of all, Texas Tech will hope Morton’s experience (27 career starts) can keep its offense steady in the Red Raiders’ first visit to a notoriously hostile Rice-Eccles Stadium. — Eli Lederman
Three quarterbacks who aren’t meeting their preseason hype
1. Arch Manning
Anyone can have a rough outing in a Week 1 matchup against the defending champs, and Manning looked fine a week later against San José State. So, nothing to worry about, right? Ah, not so fast. A dismal first half against UTEP ignited a full-on inferno of criticism of the preseason Heisman favorite, and for good reason. Manning is completing just 55% of his throws and has turned the ball over three times, and Texas has gone without a first down on nearly a quarter of its drives so far. Add the sideline grimace that coach Steve Sarkisian chalked up to — well, we’re not quite sure — and it would be enough reason for concern even if Manning didn’t carry a legendary name and a ton of hype. That this all comes on the heels of such high expectations means Manning will be fighting critics for the foreseeable future.
2. Cade Klubnik
What’s wrong with Clemson‘s offense? The answers are everywhere, but none appear bigger than Klubnik, who has at times looked lost, frustrated or intimidated in the pocket. His 37.5 QBR through three games ranks 121st out of 136 FBS passers, and his miserable first-half performances — no passing touchdowns, two turnovers — have put Clemson in some early holes. Klubnik is completing less than 60% of his throws on the year, but the bigger issue is the number of open receivers he hasn’t even targeted in key moments. He has been sacked just three times this year, but he has gotten moved off his position too often, and abandoned ship even more frequently. So, what’s wrong with the Tigers? The better question is what’s wrong with the Tigers’ QB?
3. DJ Lagway
After last year’s hot finish, the assumption was that Lagway would take the next step in 2025 to becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Through three weeks, he’s nowhere close. Not only is Florida off to a 1-2 start, Lagway has been the primary culprit. He’s completing 71% of his throws, but nearly one-third of his throws are behind the line of scrimmage. He has done nothing to extend the field, attempting just seven throws of 20 yards or more. On those throws, he has one completion and two picks. Lagway’s six interceptions overall are tied for the second most nationally through three games. If Florida wants to turn things around amid a brutal schedule, it has to start with Lagway looking more like the player he appeared to be down the stretch in 2024. — Hale
Five early breakout players
Rueben Bain Jr., DL, Miami: The 6-foot-3, 275-pound pass rusher is performing at an All-America level so far this season with 15 stops, 11 pressures, 2.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble through three games. Bain was a top-100 recruit and a Freshman All-American in 2023, so there’s nothing shocking about his rise, but he’s making the leap as a junior and proving he’s a no-doubt NFL draft first-round pick. As ESPN draft expert Jordan Reid put it, no other draft-eligible player in the sport is having a greater down-to-down impact than Bain.
Taylen Green, QB, Arkansas: Green is off to an incredible start to his second season under OC Bobby Petrino, leading the country in total offense with 866 passing yards, 307 rushing yards (most among all FBS QBs) and 13 total touchdowns. Last week against Ole Miss, he became the first QB in program history to surpass 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in a single game. The Razorbacks came up short in their SEC opener but have seven more top-25 opponents on the schedule, which should give Green every opportunity to play his way into Heisman contention.
Mario Craver, WR, Texas A&M: The Aggies faced Craver last year during his freshman season at Mississippi State and knew he could be a dangerous playmaker. He has been an absolute game changer for Marcel Reed and Texas A&M’s passing game with an FBS-leading 443 receiving yards and four TDs on just 20 receptions. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound wideout isn’t flying under the national radar anymore after burning Notre Dame’s secondary for a career-best 207 yards on seven catches, and his 279 yards after catch are nearly 100 more than any other pass catcher in the country.
Ahmad Hardy, RB, Missouri: Hardy had a prolific freshman season at UL Monroe and hasn’t slowed down one bit since making his move to the SEC. He’s now the second-leading rusher in the FBS with 462 yards and five TDs after a ridiculous 250-yard day against Louisiana last week. The sophomore has played in only 15 career games, yet he already has three 200-yard performances on his résumé, and he leads all FBS backs with 29 forced missed tackles, according to ESPN Research.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, QB, Cal: The true freshman from Hawaii was a late riser in the recruiting rankings as a high school senior, and we’re quickly learning why he became so coveted. Sagapolutele signed with Oregon but flipped back to Cal in early January, believing he’d have a chance to start right away for the Golden Bears. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound lefty has flashed big-time arm talent and exciting potential with 780 passing yards and seven total TDs while leading a 3-0 start. He’s becoming must-see TV on a Cal squad that looks poised to exceed expectations. — Max Olson
Quotes of the Week
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney on speculation about his job security:
“Hey, listen, if Clemson’s tired of winning, they can send me on my way. But I’m gonna go somewhere else and coach. I ain’t going to the beach. Hell, I’m 55. I’ve got a long way to go. Y’all are gonna have to deal with me for a while.”
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian on quarterback Arch Manning:
“Here’s a guy who’s had an awesome life, the way he’s grown up, the people he’s been surrounded by. I think you learn a lot about yourself through adversity and overcoming adversity. … When he gets on the other side of it, I think all of this is going to serve well not only for him, but for us as a team.”
LSU coach Brian Kelly:
“LSU won the football game, won the game. I don’t know what you want from me. What do you want? You want us to win 70-0 against Florida to keep you happy?”
Michigan fill-in coach Biff Poggi on Bryce Underwood:
“He might actually be Batman. We need to do a DNA test on him.”
Georgia Tech coach Brent Key addressing his team after beating Clemson:
“Enjoy the s— out of it, man. Guess what? Next week is going to be bigger.”
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Bill Connelly
You could say that Saturday brings the first act of the 2025 college football season to a close.
Next week, we’ll get a couple of mammoth helmet games — Oregon at Penn State, Alabama at Georgia — and conference play will be fully underway. We’ll head into October talking a lot about playoff implications and the hierarchy among the sport’s top teams.
First, however, we have to tie up some loose ends. We get another week to figure out which of a large group of hyped-but-struggling quarterbacks — Texas’ Arch Manning, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik, Florida’s DJ Lagway, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier — will steer out of a current skid. We get a huge Illinois-Indiana game (just an amazing combination of words there). We get a matchup of two of the Big 12’s best and meanest teams to date (Texas Tech at Utah). We get former Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold and Auburn heading to Norman in a battle of SEC unbeatens. And we get another massive week in the Group of 5, with American Conference unbeatens Memphis and Tulane getting shots at SEC upsets and ambitious teams such as UNLV, North Texas and Boise State facing big road tests.
At the start of the college football season, 11 teams had at least a 2% chance of winning the national title, per the Allstate Playoff Predictor. Three weeks in, there are 13. Nothing has been even slightly decided through three weeks, and the door for chaos could open even further this weekend. Before we get to the second act of 2025, here’s everything you need to follow in a loaded Week 4.
All times Eastern.
Jump to a section:
Scuffling QBs | Indiana-Illinois
Big 12 headliner | SEC eliminators?
G5’s big weekend | Week 4 playlist
Small-school showcase
Which disappointing quarterback can rally?
Despite some chaotic undertones, the season has gone approximately as we thought it might. Among the top nine teams in the preseason SP+ rankings, six are still there, and the three others (Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan) haven’t exactly plummeted. Some teams have disappointed early on, but few seasons are completely lost.
For a quartet of quarterbacks, however, we’re approaching now-or-never territory: Either start looking like you were supposed to look or chalk up 2025 as a spectacular disappointment.
Florida at No. 4 Miami (7:30 p.m., ABC)
If DJ Lagway threw only three interceptions against LSU, the Gators might have scored an upset. That’s a positive, right? He instead threw five in a 20-10 loss, but the Florida defense still gave the Gators a chance. It has allowed only 38 points in three games.
The offense has scored only 26 in two FBS games. Opponents aren’t afraid of the run game, receivers aren’t getting open, and Lagway is developing some pretty extreme tendencies in passing to specific areas of the field (as evidenced by all the green “completion” dots along the right sideline on this chart):
Four of Lagway’s six 2025 interceptions have come on third-and-long, and a fifth came in a last-ditch drive against LSU. He’s trying desperately to make something happen, and it’s bringing out some terrible tendencies.
Miami quarterback Carson Beck has been good, and he has gotten the help Lagway hasn’t, from his offensive line and his receivers. But the Florida defense could make this one interesting if Lagway can take what he’s given by a Miami defense that ranks 83rd in yards allowed per dropback.
Current line: Miami -7.5 | SP+ projection: Miami by 10.6 | FPI projection: Miami by 7.2
Syracuse at Clemson (noon, ESPN)
Like Lagway, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik has performed far worse than expected and has gotten little help from his castmates. Syracuse has a history of overachieving against Clemson, but the Orange have the worst-rated FBS defense remaining on the Tigers’ schedule. If Clemson’s offense, currently 96th in points per drive, doesn’t get going now, when might that happen?
The Orange blitz a good amount, and blitzing has hurt Clemson because of a banged-up offensive line and a less-than-scary run game. Klubnik is getting hit a lot and throwing lots of passes short of the sticks. The timing of the offense is off, and the Tigers can’t afford to suffer another conference loss before they start to figure things out. The return of veteran receiver Antonio Williams, listed as probable for Saturday, can’t hurt.
Current line: Clemson -16.5 | SP+ projection: Clemson by 9.2 | FPI projection: Clemson by 9.6
Southeastern Louisiana at No. 3 LSU (7:45 p.m., SECN)
With all proper respect to Southeastern Louisiana — the Lions are seventh in FCS SP+ with a loss to only Louisiana Tech — I’m guessing that LSU remains unbeaten Saturday. Now’s a good time to start repairing an LSU offense that ranks just 112th in points per drive.
Garrett Nussmeier has the most tenable place on this list; his team is unbeaten, and he’s 37th in Total QBR — not what was expected but far higher than anyone else here. His main issue is that he’s playing it safe. The LSU run game might be even worse than it was last year, the offensive line is committing too many penalties, and Nussmeier is throwing mostly quick passes to keep the train moving. His 65% completion rate is solid, but his average yards per completion has fallen from 12.0 (pretty low) to 10.0 (terribly low).
LSU’s line should hold up against SELA — if it doesn’t, yikes — so it will be interesting to see if Nussmeier starts looking further downfield. Now’s the time to build some better habits.
SP+ projection: LSU by 33.0 | FPI projection: LSU by 34.9
Sam Houston at No. 8 Texas (8 p.m., ESPN+)
Going by projections, Texas has the easiest game on this list. But Arch Manning might also be the most broken QB. After showing potential progress in Week 2, Manning completed just 11 of 25 passes for 114 yards, a touchdown and an interception against UTEP. The Miners mostly rushed only four defenders and forced Manning to work through progressions; he took forever to throw and was frequently inaccurate.
Manning is 124th out of 136 QBs with a 55.3% completion rate, and he’s 133rd in average time to throw (3.28 seconds). Meanwhile, his 14 dropbacks against man coverage have netted 13 total yards. His running backs are hurt, his line isn’t great, his receivers aren’t getting open enough and he’s throwing inaccurate passes. If the Texas offense doesn’t get right against a dreadful Sam Houston defense, it might not happen.
Current line: Texas -39.5 (down from -41.5 on Sunday) | SP+ projection: Texas by 40.0 | FPI projection: Texas by 37.7
Shades of 1950 in Bloomington
No. 9 Illinois at No. 19 Indiana (7:30 p.m., NBC)
On Oct. 28, 1950, “Goodnight Irene,” performed by The Weavers, was dominating the airwaves. “All About Eve,” starring Bette Davis and featuring a young Marilyn Monroe, was in theaters. SMU was No. 1 in the country, Bear Bryant’s Kentucky was No. 4 and live college football wasn’t found on national television.
It was a long time ago, is what I’m saying. And it was the last time Illinois and Indiana met as ranked foes. In that game, the No. 12 Fighting Illini rode spectacular line play to a 20-0 win over the No. 19 Hoosiers. History hasn’t been kind to either program since. But that has shifted of late.
Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers and Bret Bielema’s Illini are a combined 27-5 since the start of 2024, and though neither has played an opponent ranked higher than 65th in SP+, both are in the top 15 in points and points allowed per drive this season. They’re treating iffy opposition like excellent teams are supposed to.
Both teams dominate in the Little Things department — red zone, field position, turnovers — and both boast efficient offenses with dominant receivers: Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. has 299 yards and four TDs, while Illinois’ Hank Beatty has caught 19 of 20 passes for 289 yards and a TD. Each defense has allowed a few big plays, but they’re both still giving up 4.6 or fewer yards per play.
We know that blue bloods get the best TV ratings, but these two teams have earned this prime-time slot. The computers and sportsbooks lean toward Indiana — and frankly, it’s odd that Illinois is ranked 10 spots higher in the polls — but it would be a surprise if this one didn’t go down to the wire.
Current line: Indiana -6.5 (up from -4.5) | SP+ projection: Indiana by 3.9 | FPI projection: Indiana by 3.1
A Big 12 headliner in Salt Lake City
No. 17 Texas Tech at No. 16 Utah (noon, Fox)
If you take preseason projections out of the equation — a terrible idea if you want predictive accuracy, but an intriguing way to look at performance to date — Texas Tech would be first in SP+ and Utah would be eighth. The Red Raiders have overwhelmed three bad opponents by an average score of 58-12, and the Utes lead the Big 12 in early overachievement, topping SP+ projections by an average of 13.7 points per game. On Saturday, one of these teams will score a huge early Big 12 win.
Tech’s defense gives up quite a few big plays, while Utah’s offense, as is customary, doesn’t make many. The Utes rank first in rushing success rate, but so does Tech’s defense. Defensive tackles A. J. Holmes Jr. and Skyler Gill-Howard have eaten up interior run blockers, but the Utah line is one of the most proven in the country, and quarterback Devon Dampier and RBs NaQuari Rogers and Wayshawn Parker keep Utah on schedule.
Even with huge leads in each game, Texas Tech has passed more than 35 times per game at a fast tempo. The Red Raiders are third in yards per dropback, and Behren Morton is completing 70% of his passes at 16.2 yards per completion. Receiver Coy Eakin‘s early numbers (245 yards at 20.4 per catch) are scary.
As you’d expect, however, Utah’s pass defense looks good, too: eighth in completion rate, ninth in interception rate, 24th in yards per dropback. The Utes have given up a few more third-and-long conversions than expected, and if that remains an issue, Tech might never give up the ball. Regardless, there are strength-versus-strength matchups everywhere. This game will be awfully fun.
Current line: Utah -3.5 | SP+ projection: Utah by 1.9 | FPI projection: Utah by 3.8
SEC elimination(ish) day
As with Indiana-Illinois in the Big Ten, the SEC has a couple of huge games among teams that aren’t necessarily conference title contenders — though, we don’t know for sure yet — but are jockeying for 10-2 records and potential CFP bids.
No. 22 Auburn at No. 11 Oklahoma (3:30 p.m., ABC)
Oklahoma’s ridiculously back-loaded schedule — six of its final seven opponents rank 17th or higher in SP+ — meant that the Sooners would need a fast start. So far, so good. They’re 3-0 with a win over Michigan despite an offense that remains a work in progress. Quarterback John Mateer might be the current Heisman betting favorite, but the run game averages just 4.3 yards per carry (not including sacks), and the Sooners have fumbled five times with lots of passes broken up. Their five turnovers (104th nationally) haven’t come from bad luck.
Still, Mateer is creating big plays with his arm, and four Sooner pass catchers are on pace for 50-plus receptions. Plus, the OU defense doesn’t need a ton of help — the Sooners rank fourth in points allowed per drive and third in yards allowed per play.
They’re also sixth in rushing success rate allowed, and that might be the most important number against Auburn. The Tigers are running the ball a ton, with the combo of running back Jeremiah Cobb and quarterback Jackson Arnold carrying a heavy load. They’re avoiding must-pass situations — which doomed Arnold as OU’s QB in 2024 — but they’ll likely face some Saturday afternoon, and we’ll learn if Arnold has improved a little or a lot from last year’s disastrous campaign.
Current line: OU -6.5 | SP+ projection: OU by 7.4 | FPI projection: OU by 3.8
South Carolina at No. 23 Missouri (7 p.m., ESPN)
Missouri is one of just 16 teams to overachieve against SP+ projections in all three games, and the Tigers are up to 11th in SP+ because of it. The offense looks great because of a trio of transfers: quarterback Beau Pribula (on pace for 3,100 passing yards), running back Ahmad Hardy (1,800 rushing yards), and receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. (1,000 receiving yards).
South Carolina has the first top-50 defense (per SP+) the Tigers have faced, though the Gamecocks got worked over by Vanderbilt’s efficient attack last week in a jarring 31-7 loss. They don’t give up many big plays, but they rank 73rd in success rate. Mizzou’s offense ranks 12th.
The South Carolina offense saw plenty of offseason hype, but it has been an absolute dud, scoring just five touchdowns in three games and ranking 123rd in points per drive. Receivers Nyck Harbor and Donovan Murph are averaging 21.6 yards per catch, but at only four catches per game. Quarterback LaNorris Sellers has become even more sack-prone — I probably should have put him on the disappointing QBs list above — and this week, he has had to work through concussion protocol while preparing to face a Mizzou defense that grades out as well as or better than Vandy’s.
Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks are projected favorites in only two more games this season. Either they get back on track immediately or 2025 veers into “Lost Season” territory.
Current line: Mizzou -10.5 (down from -12.5) | SP+ projection: Mizzou by 13.7 | FPI projection: Mizzou by 9.5
Another huge weekend for the Group of 5
The race for the Group of 5’s guaranteed playoff spot could see some twists this week, with two major hopefuls (Memphis and Tulane) getting shots at SEC upsets, and three others — UNLV, North Texas and Boise State — all facing tricky road trips.
Arkansas at Memphis (noon, ABC)
Memphis has looked awesome early and gets AAC opponents South Florida, Tulane and Navy at home. SP+ gives the Tigers a 36% chance of finishing 11-1 or better. Quarterback Brendon Lewis and running back Sutton Smith (in for the injured Greg Desrosiers Jr.) lead an efficient offense, and the defense has crushed bad offenses (including a Troy offense that lost its starting QB early on).
Arkansas’ offense, however, is as explosive as ever, thanks to quarterback Taylen Green, running back Mike Washington Jr. and receiver O’Mega Blake. The Razorbacks could be a permanent track-meet team thanks to a shaky defense, but Arkansas is capable of regularly winning those track meets, too.
Current line: Arkansas -7.5 | SP+ projection: Memphis by 0.5 | FPI projection: Arkansas by 2.4
Tulane at No. 13 Ole Miss (3:30 p.m., ESPN)
It’s hard to figure out how good Tulane actually is. The Green Wave made runs of 27-0 against South Alabama and 24-3 against Duke but let both opponents back into the game. Jake Retzlaff is 11th in Total QBR, but the run game moves backward a lot. The defense is a turnover machine, but it’s inefficient otherwise. Against whichever Ole Miss QB holds the reins — the injured Austin Simmons or backup Trinidad Chambliss, who destroyed Arkansas — the Green Wave will need far more stops than they’ve been making. Ole Miss’ run defense has been damningly bad, but the Rebels probably have too much firepower for Tulane to snag a third power-conference victory.
Current line: Ole Miss -13.5 | SP+ projection: Ole Miss by 17.5 | FPI projection: Ole Miss by 13.8
UNLV at Miami (Ohio) (noon, ESPNU)
After a rough start against Idaho State in Week 0, Dan Mullen’s UNLV has begun to look the part, and SP+ gives the Rebels a 14% chance of getting to 11-1 or better. Anthony Colandrea is fifth among G5 quarterbacks in Total QBR, both RB Jai’Den Thomas and WR Jaden Bradley are on pace for 1,000-yard seasons, and the defense has at least stabilized a bit.
Miami was outscored 62-17 by Wisconsin and Rutgers, but the RedHawks gave up almost no big plays, and with explosive quarterback Dequan Finn and receivers Keith Reynolds and Kam Perry on offense, they could make UNLV’s long road trip awkward.
Current line: UNLV -2.5 | SP+ projection: UNLV by 8.4 | FPI projection: UNLV by 3.3
North Texas at Army (noon, CBSSN)
In two home games, quarterback Drew Mestemaker and North Texas have overachieved against SP+ projections by a combined 77.6 points. In their lone road game, the Mean Green nearly lost to No. 122 Western Michigan. They’ll need to play far better in West Point against an Army team that sure looked like Army again in Week 2’s upset of Kansas State. Quarterback Cale Hellums rushed for 124 yards and led five drives of double-digit plays in Manhattan, Kansas, and if Hellums remains steady moving forward, Army will be a giant pain for any AAC team with CFP aspirations. Like North Texas.
Current line: North Texas -2.5 (flipped from Army -2.5) | SP+ projection: Army by 2.2 | FPI projection: UNT by 0.2
Boise State at Air Force (7 p.m., CBSSN)
Boise State’s season-opening faceplant at USF, combined with an upcoming trip to Notre Dame, removed all margin for error. The Broncos will likely have to sweep Mountain West play to have any hope of a CFP bid. Of course, they’re projected favorites in every MWC game, and they still have massive talent with running back Sire Gaines, defensive tackle David Latu, edge rusher Jayden Virgin-Morgan and safety Ty Benefield.
Air Force has been a pain for BSU plenty of times, and the Falcons still dominate the ball. But the defense got torched by Utah State last week. Not an encouraging sign.
Current line: BSU -10.5 | SP+ projection: BSU by 10.6 | FPI projection: BSU by 11.2
Week 4 chaos superfecta
We’re once again using this space to will chaos into existence, looking at four carefully curated games with pretty big point spreads and mashing them together into a much more upset-friendly number. Our winning streak ended last week when Miami, Ole Miss (barely), Alabama and Auburn all won. But we’re still 2-for-3 on the young year, and now it’s time to move to 3-for-4!
Sticking with this week’s “Anatomy of a mid-major upset” theme, SP+ says there’s only a 38% chance that Washington (88% win probability against Washington State), Cal (80% against San Diego State), Colorado (75% against Wyoming) and BYU (72% against East Carolina) all win. Let’s take down a power-conference team!
Week 4 playlist
Here are some more games you should follow if you want to get the absolute most out of the weekend, from both information and entertainment perspectives.
Friday evening
Iowa at Rutgers (8 p.m., Fox). In theory, few matchups scream “ROCK FIGHT!!” like Iowa-Rutgers, but Rutgers is ninth in points per possession and 83rd in points allowed per possession. Iowa has little big-play potential, but the Hawkeyes have moved the ball well against mortal defenses. So, maybe this one isn’t destined to finish 7-6 or 5-3 or something.
Current line: Iowa -2.5 | SP+ projection: Rutgers by 0.2 | FPI projection: Rutgers by 1.6
Tulsa at Oklahoma State (7:30 p.m., ESPN). At the moment, this is the last game in which OSU is a projected favorite. Either the Cowboys use this as a spectacular get-right game after their 66-point humiliation at Oregon in Week 2 — or there’s (more) pain on the horizon in Stillwater.
Current line: OSU -12.5 | SP+ projection: OSU by 9.8 | FPI projection: OSU by 11.0
Early Saturday
SMU at TCU (noon, ESPN2). The Battle for the Iron Skillet! Few teams have underachieved against SP+ projections more than SMU through three games; maybe a rivalry game will wake up the Mustangs. If not, TCU’s big-play offense could have a lot of fun against an SMU defense that has given up loads of chunk plays.
Current line: TCU -6.5 | SP+ projection: TCU by 7.4 | FPI projection: TCU by 4.7
UAB at No. 15 Tennessee (12:45 p.m., SECN). Trent Dilfer’s third UAB team has been the same “solid offense, no defense” squad as his past two. If Tennessee is still reeling from last week’s heartbreaker against Georgia, the Blazers might land a punch or two, but not 60 minutes’ worth.
Current line: Vols -38.5 | SP+ projection: Vols by 37.0 | FPI projection: Vols by 36.4
Maryland at Wisconsin (noon, NBC). Per SP+, Wisconsin has only a 26% chance of reaching bowl eligibility this season, thanks to a schedule that already featured one top opponent and has five more to go. Lose to Maryland, and those odds fall to basically nil. At least it sounds like injured quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. — formerly a Terrapin — could be ready to go.
Current line: Wisconsin -9.5 (up from -7.5) | SP+ projection: Wisconsin by 0.4 | FPI projection: Wisconsin by 5.1
Saturday afternoon
No. 21 Michigan at Nebraska (3:30 p.m., CBS). Two years ago, Nebraska was on the wrong end of a 45-7 blowout loss to Michigan at home. Now, on paper, the Huskers have basically a 50-50 shot at taking down the Wolverines and scoring their biggest win since, what, 2015 (39-38 over No. 7 Michigan State)?
Current line: Michigan -1.5 | SP+ projection: Nebraska by 1.1 | FPI projection: Nebraska by 0.1
Purdue at No. 24 Notre Dame (3:30 p.m., NBC). Well, Notre Dame, it’s time to start scoring some style points. After losses to Miami and Texas A&M, the Irish will have to win out to have serious hope of a CFP shot, and they might have only one more genuine marquee win opportunity — USC in Week 8, and that’s only if the Trojans maintain their current form. So, it’s time to wreck some opponents. (Purdue might have something to say about that. Especially if the Irish defense doesn’t start defending.)
Current line: ND -26.5 | SP+ projection: ND by 20.4 | FPI projection: ND by 20.3
NC State at Duke (4 p.m., ESPN2). Duke has allowed 18 gains of 20-plus yards (tied for 122nd nationally). NC State has given up eight of 30-plus (tied for 114th). With State’s Hollywood Smothers and Wesley Grimes and Duke’s Nate Sheppard and Cooper Barkate, this could be a great game to be an explosive skill corps guy.
Current line: Duke -3.5 | SP+ projection: NC State by 1.2 | FPI projection: NC State by 0.1
North Carolina at UCF (3:30 p.m., Fox). I have no idea about either of these teams. Bill Belichick’s UNC has collected itself since its embarrassing Week 1 loss to TCU, and UCF has been good enough in Scott Frost’s first two games back in town. But anything from a 35-point UNC win to a 35-point UCF win wouldn’t surprise me.
Current line: UCF -7.5 | SP+ projection: UCF by 7.0 | FPI projection: UCF by 11.2
Temple at No. 18 Georgia Tech (4:30 p.m., The CW). Temple can make some big plays and could make things messy if Georgia Tech lets its guard down after last week’s big win over Clemson. The Yellow Jackets haven’t given us any reason to think that’s possible, though. (By the way, they’re projected favorites in their next eight games.)
Current line: Tech -23.5 | SP+ projection: Tech by 21.6 | FPI projection: Tech by 18.9
Oregon State at No. 6 Oregon (3 p.m., BTN). Three weeks into the season, Oregon has risen from seventh to second in SP+ while OSU has fallen from 75th to 107th. We will need to conjure a lot of Weird Rivalry Magic to make this one interesting.
Current line: Oregon -34.5 | SP+ projection: Oregon by 40.1 | FPI projection: Oregon by 36.3
Saturday evening
Arizona State at Baylor (7:30 p.m., Fox). Arizona State finally checked into the 2025 season, putting away a spirited Texas State team with relative ease last week. Now, the close-game festival that is Big 12 Play begins against a Baylor team that might have transformed its season with Week 2’s wild comeback win over SMU.
Current line: Baylor -2.5 | SP+ projection: Baylor by 3.8 | FPI projection: Baylor by 0.8
West Virginia at Kansas (6 p.m., FS1). Kansas got a week to recover after a blown lead and a rivalry loss to Missouri; WVU is riding the crest of a big comeback and a rivalry win over Pitt. Who’s ready to move past the emotion and start the rest of their season? I’m pretty sure Kansas is still good, and WVU’s offense might have finally begun its season late against Pitt.
Current line: Kansas -13.5 | SP+ projection: Kansas by 7.1 | FPI projection: Kansas by 9.7
BYU at East Carolina (7:30 p.m., ESPN2). ECU has overachieved against SP+ projections by nearly three touchdowns per game. The Pirates could be good. And they get to give BYU’s freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier his first big road test. But the Pirates will have to score on BYU’s defense, which is first in points per drive and yards per play.
Current line: BYU -6.5 | SP+ projection: BYU by 9.5 | FPI projection: BYU by 6.0
Washington at Washington State (7:30 p.m., CBS). Washington State was impressive in its 36-13 runaway win over San Diego State in Week 2. Then, the Cougs went to North Texas and got absolutely blasted 59-10. Week 2 Wazzu and a torrid Martin Stadium would make this awfully tricky for Washington. Week 3 Wazzu … would not.
Current line: UW -20.5 | SP+ projection: UW by 18.6 | FPI projection: UW by 21.0
Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech (7:30 p.m., ESPN+). From 2021 through 2024, each of these proud old mid-major programs went 14-35 with an SP+ ranking of about 112.5. Now, both are 2-1 with at least a 60% chance of bowl eligibility. Can Southern Miss quarterback Braylon Braxton engineer enough points on a Tech defense allowing 12.3 points per game?
Current line: Tech -3.5 | SP+ projection: Tech by 7.8 | FPI projection: Tech by 3.7
Late Saturday
Michigan State at No. 25 USC (11 p.m., Fox). A kickoff at 11 p.m. ET for a team based in Eastern Time? Cool. Makes perfect sense. Anyway, USC is averaging 55 points per game and 9.6 yards per play, and Michigan State has topped 40 points for two straight games. I don’t think the Spartans have the defense to make this a game for 60 minutes, but this could have Pac-12 After Dark vibes for a while.
Current line: USC -17.5 (up from -14.5) | SP+ projection: USC by 17.7 | FPI projection: USC by 24.2
California at San Diego State (10:30 p.m., CBSSN). Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Cal are 3-0 and projected favorites in the next six games. But they’re 94th in third-down conversion rate, and SDSU’s defense ranks seventh. If the Aztecs can score a bit (not a given), they could make this one tricky.
Current line: Cal -12.5 | SP+ projection: Cal by 13.2 | FPI projection: Cal by 10.9
Smaller-school showcase
Let’s once again save a shout-out for the glorious lower levels of the sport. Here are three games you should track.
Division III: No. 16 Wisconsin-Whitewater at No. 6 Mary Hardin-Baylor (noon, local streaming). These programs lorded over Division III for nearly 15 years before getting surpassed by North Central. Both are still talented and dangerous, and they’re meeting for the seventh straight season (not including 2020). UWW has produced a 200-yard rusher in each of its first two games, but a third straight, against the Crusaders’ defense, would be a surprise.
SP+ projection: Whitewater by 1.2
Division III: No. 3 Johns Hopkins at No. 4 Susquehanna (1 p.m., FloFootball). The second D-III game on the list is even bigger: JHU backed up its top-five standing with a 27-13 win over No. 20 John Carroll last week and boasts the second-best defense in D-III, per SP+. Susquehanna, meanwhile, ranks fifth on offense. It might be North Central vs. The Field in D-III, but either of these teams could make a deep playoff run.
SP+ projection: Susquehanna by 0.3
FCS: No. 23 New Hampshire at Dartmouth (1 p.m., ESPN+). An incredibly interesting Ivy League season finally opens Saturday: The league champ will participate in the FCS playoffs for the first time, and at first glance, it looks like we have a three-team race among Harvard, Yale and a Dartmouth team that gets an immediate shot at a résumé win of sorts. UNH nearly beat Ball State last week — it was actually a bit of an upset that the Wildcats didn’t — and boasts one of the stingier defenses the Big Green attack will see all season.
SP+ projection: Dartmouth by 1.7
(One game you shouldn’t track? Rio Grande at Ferris State. That’s the second-worst team in NAIA, per SP+ — pronounced “Ry-Oh Grand” and located in the same Ohio town as the first Bob Evans restaurant — facing the class of Division II. SP+ projects Ferris State as a tidy 97.2-point favorite. The final score will be whatever the Bulldogs want it to be. If morbid curiosity gets the best of you, it kicks off at 3 p.m. on FloFootball.)
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