Week 4 College Football Highlights Countdown

10. September is finally over – Now the real games can being. For the most part, we are done with cupcakes (except in the SEC where the front loaded conference schedule means a couple of easy wins each week in the league)

9. Michigan backup quarterbacks – Denard Robinson went down early in the game against Bowling Green and while I wouldn't like Michigan's chances if he went down long-term, Tate Forcier and Devin Gardner are more than good enough to keep the offense rolling in short absences and they proved it against Bowling Green

8. Stanford everything – Give Stanford some different colored jerseys and a different name (like say USC, Michigan, etc.) and they would be ranked in the three in the country. They have looked that good so far this season and have done so against good opposition (UCLA, Wake Forest and Notre Dame aren't great, but none are awful)

7. Arizona resilience – One week after nearly blowing a big lead against Iowa, Arizona came down to the wire again needing a late drive to avoid an upset against Cal. They got it courtesy of Nick Foles and Juron Criner who connected for the only big play Arizona got all game from the offense (a 50-yarder) and then got the touchdown for a 10-9 win on a night when Arizona was obviously sleeping.

6. LSU defense and special teams, again – The LSU offense stinks. That can't be said enough. The defense and special teams led by Patrick Peterson might be the best in all of college football. Nobody knows what that will mean in the teeth of the SEC schedule, but it has the Tigers 4-0 with no cupcake wins thus far (North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Mississippi St and West Virginia)

5. Florida has found an offense – Trey Burton has assumed the Tebow position, cerca 2006. Notice that all of a sudden, the struggling Florida offense came to life as soon as a quarterback who could run was found. May this be a signal to Urban Meyer: don't bother recruiting pro-style, immobile quarterback. They don't really work well in your system. You are stuck with John Brantley for now just like you were stuck with Chris Leak when you got to Gainesville and I expect wins, but no more after this.

4. UCLA running game – Maybe all UCLA needed to do was fully commit to Nevada's pistol offense. They ran it sporadically in the first two games and got whopped. In the last two games running it almost exclusively, the Bruins have run for over 260 yards each game and blown out ranked foes from the state of Texas.

3. The ACC lives – Virginia Tech and Florida St. at the top of the league pitched shutouts. Miami destroyed Pittsburgh. North Carolina, still suspended, managed to get past Rutgers and none of the teams playing out of league games suffered an embarrassing loss except Duke and that is generally expected. Well done to this league getting off the mat for now.

2. Alabama offense when a drive is needed – Last year against Auburn and Texas and now this season against Arkansas, Alabama has needed a drive to either preserve or win a close game. They have succeeded all three times. Seeing that, the way to beat this team may be to have the ball last and do it that way (though Tennessee tried that and failed last season too)

1. Auburn QB Cam Newton – Well over 300 yards of offense and 5 touchdowns. All in a days work in another close, hard fought Auburn win. Enjoy the virtual bye against Louisiana-Monroe next week Cam. You and your team have earned it.

Follow me on Twitter