What We Learned About College Football in Week 4

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Florida Makes a Statement

It’s been a long road back to contention for the Gators. According to early returns, they may have found their guy in Jon Sumrall. Florida annihilated #4 Ole Miss on Saturday, 52-28, helping the Gators leap from #21 to #8 in this week’s rankings. While Ole Miss may have been suffering a bity of an emotional hangover after one of the biggest wins in program history, it’s clear that Florida was the flat-out better team. Quarterback Aaron Philo has been impressive, while running back Jadan Baugh has been practically unstoppable, racking up 600 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns through four games. The Gators will be tested by Missouri on Saturday, before showdowns with #1 Texas and #2 Georgia later in the month.

The First Coaching Casualty of 2026?

It seemed as though Mike Norvell or Greg Schiano were going head-to-head to see who would be the first head coach fired this season. There now seems to be a new leading contender – Maryland’s Mike Locksey. The Terps have fallen to 2-2 after losses to Virginia Tech and an absolute 54-3 drubbing against UCLA on Saturday. Things are only going to get more difficult from here, with Nebraska and Ohio State up next. Locksey is in his eighth season with Maryland, and there seems to be no progress as the Terps are 2-10 in the last 12 games. The buyout stands around $9 million, which is a much more reasonable amount than other buyouts that have occurred in recent years.

The Football Gods Giveth, the Football Gods Taketh

Michigan “beat” Western Michigan in week one due to some questionable officiating giving them an extra set and a bonus play, which resulted in a game-winning Hail Mary. They seemed to get their comeuppance on Saturday in a stunning 20-19 loss to Iowa. The Hawkeyes found themselves needing to get into the end zone from the 16-yard line on the final play of the game, and did just that as Hank Brown threw a dart to the side of the end zone for the game winning score. While a 16-yard touchdown strike on the final play is nowhere near unheard of, there seems to be some irony that Iowa was able to pull it off of all teams, considering all of their woes in the passing game of late. Michigan has been knocked out of the rankings, and may not be returning with the lack of offense this season.

Super Kamario Strikes Again

Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor has been the breakout star of the first month of the season. The sophomore wasn’t on anyone’s radar heading into the season, but he has quickly built buzz after leading the Bulldogs to a 4-0 start that includes a 38-13 blowout at Minnesota and a victory over #19 Missouri on Saturday night. Taylor has been reminiscent of Trinidad Chambliss, and it seems like anything is possible when he’s scrambling around the pocket. He was electric against Missouri, passing for 360 yards and three touchdowns with several clutch plays for the go-ahead score in the final moments. Things will get much more difficult with a showdown against Alabama on Saturday, but an upset win could help Taylor rocket up the Heisman list.

Texas A&M and Oklahoma are Toast

I mentioned these two teams have an uphill climb to return to the playoffs. You can likely count them out after both had dreadful days on Saturday. Texas A&M was drilled by LSU 35-6, while Oklahoma was demolished by Georgia, 41-13. Both programs were hoping to build off positive momentum after a strong 2025 season, but both are heading in the opposite direction for now.

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