Week In Review: The Highlights of Week 4

ACC

Russell Wilson showed why he just might be the best player in the ACC in Saturday's win against Georgia Tech. Aside from throwing an ill-advised interception early in the fourth quarter, Wilson was outstanding, completing 28-of-41 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns to lead N.C. State to the win.

Jacory Harris had his moments against Pittsburgh Thursday night, completing 21-of-32 passes for 248 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. If Harris could just cut down on the turnovers, he'd be set.

The electric Torrey Smith came up big again for Maryland Saturday afternoon, hauling in eight receptions for 159 yards. Smith is underused due to Maryland's passing difficulties, but you can bet opposing defensive coordinators are always jittery when Smith is on the field.

Elsewhere, North Carolina's T.J. Yates came back to earth in the Tar Heels' close win over Rutgers, finishing with just over 200 yards passing. To his credit, he did complete 73.3 percent of his passes.

Big 12

It was a strangely quiet week fantasy-wise for the Big 12.

Kansas State's Daniel Thomas was held under 100 yards by Central Florida as the Wildcats managed to escape with a win Saturday.

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert produced pedestrian numbers for Missouri even as the Tigers steamrolled Miami of Ohio, finishing with 187 yards passing before being removed with his team in control.

Elsewhere, Nebraska's Taylor Martinez looked human against South Dakota State, finishing 6-of-14 for 140 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He did add 75 yards rushing, but his passing numbers were certainly underwhelming.

Robert Griffin had the best week among Big 12 quarterbacks, throwing for three touchdowns and running for 50 yards against Rice, but Landry Jones' 370-yard, two-touchdown game against Cincinnati was close.

Big East

Cincinnati's offense finally started living up to expectations in Week 4.

Zach Collaros had his most impressive game of the season for in a tough, two-point loss to Oklahoma Saturday night, throwing for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Isaiah Pead erupted for 169 yards but failed to find the end zone.

Syracuse running back Delone Carter had the biggest day in the conference with a four-touchdown explosion against Colgate, but three of the other star runners in the conference had disappointing weekends.

Noel Devine wasn't able to get going against LSU, finishing with just 37 yards rushing in the loss Saturday night. Pittsburgh's Dion Lewis was shut down by Miami Thursday, totaling just 41 yards on 12 carries against the 'Canes defense. Elsewhere, UConn star Jordan Todman missed a great matchup against Buffalo due to an arm injury.

Big Ten

Terrelle Pryor got involved in every way possible Saturday against hapless Eastern Michigan. He scored six total touchdowns, including a 20-yard receiving touchdown as Ohio State destroyed EMU 56-20 in Columbus.

Elsewhere, Denard Robinson provided a scare when he came up lame after another one his long runs. Michigan left him on the sideline after that, but not before he had already racked up 190 total yards and scored two touchdowns against Ball State.

With the loss of Jewel Hampton for the remainder of the season, Iowa's Adam Robinson figures to enjoy an increase in touches and production. The versatile back finished with 195 total yards and scored two touchdowns as the Hawkeyes thrashed Ball State.

Wisconsin destroyed Austin Peay Saturday, racking up gaudy statistics in the process. Reserve running back James White finished with 145 yards and four touchdowns on just 11 carries for the Badgers, and may be the top backup to John Clay heading forward.

Conference USA

The hope of UTEP (that's Donald Buckram) finally saw the field for the first time this year, but he still seemed limited by his knee injury as he ran for just 59 yards on 13 carries against a weak Memphis defense.

G.J. Kinne threw three touchdown passes as Tulsa dusted Central Arkansas. Teammate Damaris Johnson was strangely silent in the passing game but did rush for 55 yards and a touchdown in the win.

Elsewhere in Conference USA, Bryce Beall picked up the slack for Houston's offense after the loss of Case Keenum, finishing with 123 yards and four touchdowns running in the win over Tulane.

SMU's Kyle Padron struggled Friday night against TCU's tough defense, but former linebacker Zach Line gained 139 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries against the Horned Frogs.

Independents

With Navy idle in Week 4, the fate of the independents was mixed.

Notre Dame's Dayne Crist threw for over 300 yards again, but missed on several throws and threw just one touchdown pass. Irish receiver Michael Floyd was Crist's favorite target, hauling in eight receptions for 110 yards as Stanford dominated Notre Dame.

Meanwhile, Army registered an impressive win over Duke with quarterback Trent Steelman scoring three touchdowns.

MAC

Chad Spann ran wild to lead Northern Illinois to a nice non-conference win over struggling Minnesota Saturday. The speedster rushed 15 times for 223 yards and two touchdowns, including a 61-yard scoring dash in the fourth quarter for the Huskies.

Fellow running back Bernard Pierce of Temple wasn't quite as effective against Big Ten foe Penn State, but he did score two touchdowns as the Owls gave the Lions all they could handle in Happy Valley before coming up short. Pierce left the game with an ankle injury and will be a game-time decision for Week 5.

Elsewhere, Toledo quarterback Austin Dantin accounted for four touchdowns as the Rockets shocked Purdue on the road. As usual, Eric Page was the most productive receiver for Toledo, finishing with 10 receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown in the win.

MWC

After producing very little early this season, San Diego State star receiver Vincent Brown broke out in a big way Saturday against Utah State. Brown finished with five catches for 177 yards, including two long touchdowns as the Aztecs erased the memory of last week's loss to Missouri.

Elsewhere, BYU freshman Jake Heaps threw for over 200 yards but wasn't overly impressive in his first career start, replacing the injured Riley Nelson.

TCU's Andy Dalton threw two costly interceptions against SMU that actually had the Horned Frogs trailing in the third quarter and finished 14-of-26 for 174 yards and a touchdown. Teammate Ed Wesley also struggled, finishing with just 41 yards rushing in the game.

Elsewhere in the MWC, Air Force's Jared Tew rumbled for 127 yards and a touchdown as the Falcons survived against Wyoming, and UNLV's Michael Johnson caught three touchdown passes against New Mexico's woeful defense.

Pac-10

Andrew Luck had his first subpar outing of the 2010 season Saturday in South Bend, but it wasn't enough to send Stanford to a loss. Luck completed 19-of-32 passes for 238 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions for the Cardinals.

Elsewhere in the Pac-10, USC's Matt Barkley picked apart Washington State, throwing for 290 yards and three touchdowns as the Trojans cruised.

Arizona's Nick Foles had a quiet game fantasy-wise but found star receiver Juron Criner late in the fourth quarter to lift the Wildcats to a 10-9 win over Cal.

Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers never got going against Boise State Saturday night, finishing with 46 yards rushing and a touchdown. The conference found a huge performance in UCLA's Johnathan Franklin, however, as he ran for 118 yards and a touchdown in the Bruins' huge upset over seventh-ranked Texas.

SEC

Ryan Mallett's Heisman hopes hit a big bump in the road Saturday. After playing well in the first half and securing a halftime lead, Mallett threw two costly interceptions to allow Alabama to rally to a win in the second half.

Meanwhile, Mark Ingram was in Heisman form in his second game back following knee surgery, rushing for 157 yards and two touchdowns for the Tide.

Auburn's Cam Newton was spectacular in a win over South Carolina, throwing for 158 yards and two scores and rushing for a whopping 176 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Tigers.

It's been a difficult season for Ole Miss, but Brandon Bolden's performance against Fresno State helped erase the bad memories. Bolden rushed for 228 yards and two scores and added a receiving touchdown as Mississippi escaped with a win.

The out-of-nowhere player of the week is obviously Florida's Trey Burton, who scored six touchdowns against Kentucky. The quarterback/running specialist/receiver/tight end is impossible to classify and apparently equally difficult to keep out of the end zone, as he struck gold five times on the ground and once more as a pass-catcher.

Sun Belt

Star Western Kentucky runner Bobby Rainey had his first difficult outing of the year, but he still managed to put up double-digit fantasy production. He totaled just 75 yards from scrimmage and averaged only three yards per carry, but Rainey threw a five-yard touchdown pass to boost his numbers a bit.

Troy wideout Jerrel Jernigan had a monstrous game this week, as he caught 10 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown and ran for 31 yards against Arkansas State.

Florida International hung with Maryland Saturday thanks in part to Wesley Carroll, who completed 35-of-58 passes for 355 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Meanwhile, Ryan Aplin continues to do double-duty for Arkansas State, running for 89 yards and throwing for 237 yards and two touchdowns against Troy.

Elsewhere, D.D. Kyles rushed for 84 yards and scored two touchdowns as Middle Tennessee State pounded Louisiana-Monroe.

WAC

The star quarterbacks were at it again in the WAC in Week 4.

Hawaii's Bryant Moniz took advantage of a great matchup against Charleston Southern, posting an impossible seven-touchdown performance, with six of the touchdowns coming in the first half.

Boise State's Kellen Moore threw for 288 yards and three scores against Oregon State and the Broncos prevailed on the national stage. Meanwhile, Fresno State's Ryan Colburn had a performance to remember, throwing for 390 yards and four touchdowns against Ole Miss.

Nevada's Colin Kaepernick put up disappointing numbers by his lofty standards, throwing for 196 yards and a score and rushing for 82 yards and one touchdown in the Wolfpack's win over BYU.

Speaking of disappointing, quarterback Diondre Borel and Utah State played horribly in the blowout loss to San Diego State. Borel was held to 131 yards passing and looked uncharacteristically out of sync Saturday.