Football season keeps finding new ways to deliver drama. Week 4 in college football brought another round of interesting outcomes, key individual performances and a few head-scratching letdowns that will echo in the playoff picture. Meanwhile, Week 3 of the NFL season offered the kind of highs and lows that test both fan bases and bettors — dominant performances in some spots, costly mistakes in others, and point spreads that swung on a single play. From Saturday’s fireworks to Sunday’s wacky endings, here’s a look at the standouts, the disappointments, and what it all means from a betting perspective.
College Football Week 4: Great
Indiana Hoosiers
Welcome to the conversation, Indiana. The real conversation. Indiana was surprisingly good in Curt Cignetti’s first year in Bloomington, as the team lost one regular-season game, made the College Football Playoff, and then lost to Notre Dame in the opening round. However, it never actually felt like the Hoosiers were contenders. This year is different. Kurtis Rourke was a good college quarterback, but Fernando Mendoza is a special one — and could very well be the top player selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. Indiana is currently 10th in the nation in yards per play (7.3), which is something considering the team just faced an Illinois group that is supposed to be very good defensively. The Hoosiers put up 63 points in that game, making them the third-highest scoring offense (54.8) in the country heading into Week 5. Indiana does have some tough games coming up, but the lift Mendoza has given this program on offense is real. And the defense is excellent. Cignetti now has a roster that is talented enough to match his ambitions, and the Hoosiers look like a decent value to win the Big Ten at 14-1. However, they’re an even better value to make the College Football Playoff at +180.
Memphis Tigers
We’ve been trying to keep tabs on the Group of Five CFP situation. Two weeks ago, South Florida looked like the leader there, but a loss at Miami dimmed that light quite a bit. Last week, Tulane was the talk of the town after a win over Duke, but the Green Wave got shellacked in a road game against Ole Miss last week. Well, Memphis is now 4-0 and just beat Arkansas in a shootout that a lot of people were watching. The Tigers are now the betting favorites to make the 12-team field, and it’s hard to argue with the pecking order. Memphis will play both South Florida and Tulane, so all of these teams will have chances to win the voters over. But both of those games will be played at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, so the Tigers are in great shape.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
My questions about Texas Tech were answered in Week 4. The Red Raiders had been pummeling lesser opponents to start the season, but I wasn’t sure how they’d look in a road game against a good-looking Utes team. Well, they aced that test. Texas Tech’s defense completely shut Utah’s water off, holding Devon Dampier to 162 yards with no touchdowns and picking the dynamic quarterback off twice. The Red Raiders also held the Utes to only 3.3 yards per carry. Texas Tech also ran wild against Utah, going for 173 yards and two scores on 37 carries. This Red Raiders team is nasty in the trenches, the defense looks scary, and the offense should continue to perform as long as the quarterback play remains steady.
Trinidad Chambliss
Lane Kiffin insists there’s no quarterback controversy in Oxford, but Trinidad Chambliss, a transfer from Ferris State (which I had totally heard of before), has balled out over the last two weeks. Against Arkansas, Chambliss threw for 353 yards and a touchdown, plus rushed for another 62 yards and two scores. Then, in a beatdown over Tulane last week, he threw for 307 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for another 112 yards. This is the most dangerous the Rebels offense has looked all year, and the win over Tulane was the most impressive showing we’ve seen from Ole Miss overall. Now, Kiffin’s crew hosts LSU in a massive game on Saturday, and it’ll be interesting to see who starts. Austin Simmons isn’t 100% healthy after suffering an ankle injury, but it’s not clear he should start even when he is. Chambliss is way more explosive as a runner, and he’s making all the throws.
College Football Week 4: Not-So-Great
Auburn-Oklahoma Officials
What happened to Auburn in this game was criminal. In the first quarter, a replay review wiped away an Auburn scoop-and-score on a play in which the Oklahoma receiver pretty clearly had two feet down and was turning up field. But the officials said he didn’t make a “football move.” The drive then ended with the Sooners kicking a field goal, resulting in a 10-point swing. Then, in the second quarter, Oklahoma scored a touchdown on a play in which the team had wide receiver Isaiah Sategna III pretend to sub out of the game. Sategna then stayed on the field, out of the view of the Auburn secondary, and John Mateer put it on him for a 24-yard touchdown with no defenders in sight. That play was illegal according to the NCAA rulebook and should have resulted in a 15-yard penalty. The Tigers also got burned on another big play, as they ran a double-pass to Cam Coleman in the fourth quarter. Coleman got by his man and was on his way to scoring a touchdown, but the ball was a little under-thrown and the defensive back ran into him and took him out before the ball arrived. There wasn’t a soul in the building that thought it was clean, but the referee that needed to make the call had his back turned to the play.
Admittedly, this one is in here because I took Auburn +7.5 and had a sprinkle on the moneyline. Fortunately, I at least covered the seven. But the Tigers should have probably won that game, and Hugh Freeze isn’t going to take kindly to all of the apologies coming his way.
California Golden Bears
How quickly things can change. Last week, after Cal’s 27-14 win over Minnesota, the Golden Bears were looking like a sleeper in the ACC. Well, we can probably put a pause on that now. On Saturday, Cal was a double-digit favorite against San Diego State, but the Aztecs pummeled the Golden Bears in a 34-0 victory. Of course, that result doesn’t have any ACC implications. But if Cal couldn’t handle that type of road game, are we sure this team can navigate even a mediocre conference schedule? I’ll quote Mark Cuban here: “I’m out.”
Clemson Tigers (and Dabo Swinney)
“If they want me gone, if they’re tired of winning, they can send me on my way, because that’s all we’ve done is win.” That’s what Dabo Swinney said after Clemson’s 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech in Week 3. That loss took the Tigers to 1-2, but it didn’t quite end their season. And in some ways, it wasn’t that embarrassing that they couldn’t beat a good Yellow Jackets squad on the road. But what happened against Syracuse last week? Unacceptable. Clemson was a 17-point favorite in a must-win home game on Saturday, but the team got completely outclassed by an average opponent. The Orange went into South Carolina and earned a dominant 34-21 win. After the game, Swinney seemed defeated and sounded nothing like the confident coach that stood in front of the microphones after Week 3. This Clemson team is in free fall, and this is shaping up to be one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory. The Tigers were a popular pick to win the national title after returning 80% of last year’s production, along with Heisman hopeful Cade Klubnik. Now, Clemson won’t even be a popular pick to win the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Oklahoma State Cowboys (and Mike Gundy)
We all kind of knew that Oklahoma State would stink this year, but things are spiraling out of control. Two weeks ago, Mike Gundy decided to open his mouth and call out Dan Lanning’s Oregon program, and the Ducks laid the smackdown on them. Oregon won that game 69-3 and really showed the world how bad things are getting in Stillwater. Then, after a bye week, Oklahoma State hosted Tulsa and lost 19-12 as a double-digit favorite. There’s a real chance the Cowboys don’t win another game this season, and Gundy’s seat is suddenly scorching hot. That might not seem fair for somebody as accomplished as he is, but he hasn’t navigated the NIL waters well enough.
Wisconsin Badgers (and Luke Fickell)
I’m not sure anybody cares about this one, but I’m a Wisconsin alum and the fact that the Badgers are terrible is big news in my world. On Saturday, Wisconsin was a 10-point favorite against Maryland. The Badgers also looked to be taking some sharp action, which had me a little excited with news of quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. returning. Unfortunately, for the second time this season, Edwards’ knee held up for less than a quarter, and Maryland beat the brakes off Wisconsin. New offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes has been trying to get the Badgers back to their run-first, power-football roots, but the offensive line is a complete mess. Wisconsin used to be elite up front every single year, but Luke Fickell has allowed that position group to turn into a weakness. The secondary has also fallen apart, which is crazy considering Ricardo Hallman once looked like a surefire NFL talent. Wisconsin is simply bad and poorly-coached on both sides of the ball, and the “Fire Fickell!” chants are getting louder and louder. Looking forward, if Edwards can’t stay healthy, this looks like an easy team to fade. And the Badgers could soon be looking for a new leader of the program. (Somebody tell Chris McIntosh that I’d like it to be Jason Eck.)
NFL Week 3: Great
Baker Mayfield
On Sunday, Baker Mayfield delivered his third game-winning drive of the 2025 NFL season, which is absurd considering we’re three weeks into the year. Mayfield’s numbers weren’t eye-popping, as he only had 233 passing yards and one touchdown against a questionable Jets defense. However, context is important. Mayfield was working behind an offensive line that featured exclusively backups and players playing out of position. He also lost Mike Eavns to an injury, plus he’s already without Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan. With nobody to throw to, and very little time to do it, Mayfield still came through in the clutch. He now has six touchdown passes and zero interceptions, and he has also been extremely effective as a runner. Thanks to Mayfield, Tampa Bay is up to -425 to win the NFC South. And I think the fiery signal caller deserves some MVP love. He’s out there at 20-1 right now, if you want to jump on it.
Blocked Kicks (and big ones at that)
We saw more than just three blocked kicks on Sunday, but three of them were bigger than the others. We just hit on the Mayfield game-winning drive, but the reason he even needed to come up with the goods was that the Jets took the lead on a blocked Chase McLaughlin 43-yarder that they brought back for a score. If McLaughlin made that kick, Tampa would have had a shot at covering the spread. A blocked kick also changed the Green Bay-Cleveland game. The Packers probably shouldn’t have needed a field goal to win it, but they played with their food and paid the price. So, they ultimately had to send Brandon McManus out for a field goal that would have given them a 13-10 lead with less than 30 seconds left. But the Browns were all over it, then Joe Flacco got his team down the field and set up a game-winning 55-yarder for Andre Szmyt. The last one, which I’ll tackle a little below, saw the Eagles blocking Joshua Karty’s game-winning attempt, with Jordan Davis scooping it up and taking it to the house. That was Philly’s second block of the quarter. All of the blocks were massive, and they all came in an action-packed 10-minute stretch.
Caleb Williams
The train looked to be off the tracks after Chicago’s 52-21 loss to Detroit in Week 2, but there’s hope for the Bears after all. In a must-win Week 3 showdown with the Cowboys, Ben Johnson’s offense finally clicked. The Bears came away with a 31-14 victory, and Caleb Williams turned in the best performance of his young career. Williams completed 19 of his 28 passes for 298 yards with four touchdowns and no picks. He was in full command of everything and will now look to keep the momentum going against a Raiders team that is shaky when looking at the back of the defense (much like the Cowboys).
Isaiah Rodgers
Isaiah Rodgers just had one of the best games in NFL history. The defensive back, who Minnesota signed away from Philadelphia, recorded a 99.9 Pro Football Focus grade for his performance against Cincinnati. That’s the highest grade that PFF has given to a single player, and it was a fitting score. Rodgers forced two fumbles and picked Jake Browning off in the game, making him responsible for three takeaways. Rodgers also scored a touchdown on two of those, making him the first player in Vikings history to score two defensive touchdowns in a game. Not only was Rodgers excellent in Week 3, but he’s currently PFF’s highest-graded corner (90.9) and his coverage grade is a tremendous 91.2. Oddly enough, Rodgers isn’t even on the oddsboard for NFL Defensive Player of the Year right now, but that should change soon. And he might even be worth a sprinkle. He’s clearly the top corner in one of the league’s best defenses.
Jonathan Taylor
Daniel Jones has been getting most of the love for Indianapolis’ 3-0 start, but Jonathan Taylor was the guy in Week 3. In a 41-20 win over Tennessee, Taylor rushed 17 times for 102 yards and three scores. He’s currently leading the league in rushing yards, and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to slow down considering he’s running behind a big, bruising offensive line. Taylor could be worth a look as Offensive Player of the Year. He’s down to +450 in several spots, but you can still find a +750 out there.
NFL Week 3: Not-So-Great
Jake Browning
Jake Browning has been productive filling in as a starter for Joe Burrow in the past, throwing for 1,936 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven picks over nine games in 2023. But he was atrocious on Sunday. Browning threw for only 140 yards with a touchdown and two picks in a 48-10 loss to the Vikings, and that performance followed up a questionable showing in backup duty against the Jaguars in Week 2. Considering Cincinnati is 2-1 with an all-world group of pass-catchers, the season isn’t done yet. But if Browning doesn’t figure things out, this front office might want to make a call to New York to check on the availability of Jameis Winston.
Rams +3.5 vs. Eagles
Los Angeles +3.5 was one of my Week 3 best bets, so this one definitely hurt me quite a bit. The Rams went up 26-7 on a touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Kyren Williams with just over 14 minutes left in the third quarter, and they had multiple chances to put this game away. And honestly, for most of the game, it felt like it was put away. With a little over 13 minutes left in the third quarter, ESPN had Los Angeles with a win probability of 94.4%. And that number was still as high as 86.4% early in the fourth quarter. But the Rams got conservative, Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown got hot, and the stage was set for a wild final 10 minutes. In that span, the Rams had two of their field goals blocked, but none were as bad as the final one. If Karty just missed his 44-yard attempt, Los Angeles would have lost by one and there would have been no harm done. But, after leading all game, the Rams had to get blocked, let the Eagles go the other way for a touchdown, and lose by seven. That’ll be the worst beat of the year, by far.
Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson quieted some of his haters by throwing for 450 yards and three touchdowns against the Cowboys in Week 2, but those critics were louder than ever in Week 3. In a Sunday Night Football showdown with the Chiefs, Wilson completed just 18 of his 32 attempts for 160 yards, no touchdowns and two picks. His decision-making was absolutely terrible, and he’s not going to get many more chances. Brian Daboll seems pretty eager to turn to rookie Jaxson Dart, and that could come in Week 5. The Giants likely won’t throw him in there against the Chargers this week, but a debut against the Saints is very reasonable. So, Wilson might have to cook in Week 4. Otherwise he could be handing over the apron.
Survivor Entries
After a calm couple of weeks, we finally saw some action in Survivor. Nearly 2,000 entries went down in flames with the Packers in Circa Survivor, and another 1,179 went down with the Falcons losing to the Panthers. Let’s see what Week 4 brings.
