The Scarlet and Gray

[The Hunted]

This is a thing of beauty, great work in here and please kick some hurricane ass for us aggies.

[toysoldier00]

Got to be fun with all those weapons though

yes sir

see y'all boys Dec 31st

I'm way too nervous about that game.

This is a thing of beauty, great work in here and please kick some hurricane ass for us aggies.

That is the plan.

[toysoldier00]

Week 4 Recap: Miami’s Fast Start, Oklahoma’s Shutout Pace and Indiana’s Statement Win Reshape September

Marissa Bleday
September 21, 2025


By the time Saturday night ended, the sport had its next set of contenders, and a fresh reminder that September doesn’t care what you were “supposed” to be. Week 4 delivered a little bit of everything: Indiana winning the kind of game it used to lose, Miami punching Florida in the mouth before the Gators could blink, and two SEC hopefuls in South Carolina and Auburn walking out of ranked matchups looking like they’d been through a car wash.

The headliner came in Bloomington, where No. 13 Indiana beat No. 7 Illinois 24–15 in a game that felt like a quarterback clinic staged inside a phone booth. Neither run game existed, Indiana finished with three rushing yards, Illinois had 48, so it turned into a duel of patience, protection and precision.

Fernando Mendoza played like the adult in the room, completing 30 of 36 for 285 yards, tossing a touchdown to Elijah Sarratt and adding a rushing score. Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer was efficient too (30-for-37, 308 yards, two touchdowns), but Indiana made the last two “must-have” plays: a red-zone stand that forced a failed two-point try, then a late touchdown with 1:45 left to finally slam the door after Altmyer’s 28-yard strike to Tanner Arkin cut it to 17–15. And when the tape gets pulled, it’s going to be hard to miss the Hoosiers’ pass rush. Mikail Kamara was a problem all afternoon, posting 2.5 sacks as Indiana piled up six total, repeatedly turning obvious passing downs into survival drills for Illinois.

If Indiana’s win was about grit and execution, Miami’s was about violence. Early, loud violence. No. 5 Miami ripped Florida 45–23 and essentially decided the game in the first quarter. The Hurricanes jumped out 21–0 so quickly that Florida’s sideline looked like it was trying to take a breath in a wind tunnel.

Mario Cristobal called it the kind of start his team has been hunting for, saying, “When we play with that edge, on the line of scrimmage, on special teams, on every snap, we look like what we believe we are.” Carson Beck stayed in control, throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns, while Mark Fletcher Jr. kept the chains and the end zone moving with 122 rushing yards and three scores. And when Florida tried to settle in, Tony Johnson detonated the coverage anyway: six catches, 158 yards, two touchdowns, the sort of stat line that feels like a warning label.

For Florida, the slide is no longer a storyline, it’s the season. DJ Lagway threw for 239 yards and a touchdown, but took four sacks and spent too much of the afternoon looking over his shoulder. Miami’s Reuben Bain Jr. added two more sacks, giving him four on the year, and Florida’s margin for error shrank to zero.



The other SEC headlines were, frankly, worse. No. 21 Missouri obliterated South Carolina 52–7 in a game that lasted about as long as it took the Tigers to find rhythm. After South Carolina scored on its opening possession, Missouri answered with 52 straight, turning a ranked showdown into a televised demolition. Beau Pribula didn’t need to throw a million times, 205 passing yards and two touchdowns was plenty, because he also ran for 122 yards and three more scores, the kind of stat cocktail that turns defensive coordinators into philosophers. Ahmad Hardy added 134 rushing yards and a touchdown, and Missouri’s offense looked less “explosive” than “inevitable.” South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers finished 15-of-28 for 191 yards with an interception, took three sacks and coughed up a fumble, and the Gamecocks never recovered from the wave of pressure and quick strikes that followed that opening drive.

In Norman, No. 12 Oklahoma did even more damage, thrashing Auburn 52–3 in a performance that felt like the Sooners’ defense was playing a different sport. Oklahoma led 45–0 before Auburn finally scraped points in the fourth quarter, and the Tigers’ offense spent most of the day trapped in mud. Ashton Daniels committed three turnovers, and Auburn couldn’t find a sustainable answer against a defense that kept winning first down. John Mateer was the clean, confident counterpunch: 354 passing yards, three touchdowns, plus a rushing score, the latest entry in a growing file of “Heisman watch” tape. Oklahoma receiver Isaiah Sategna’s seven-catch, 229-yard, three-touchdown eruption was the kind of afternoon that gets replayed all week.



Michigan delivered its own identity game in Lincoln. No. 14 Michigan beat Nebraska 27–17 by dragging the contest into its preferred neighborhood: the run game. The Wolverines rushed for 321 yards and three touchdowns, leaning into a bruising plan that asked freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood to complement the offense, not carry it. He threw only 16 passes (11 completions, 108 yards) but ran for 116 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown, the exact kind of dual-threat stress that makes defensive fronts look tired by the fourth quarter.

Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall provided the steady pounding, and when Nebraska finally made it interesting, a 43-yard touchdown from true freshman Marcos Davila to Dane Key cut it to 21–17, Michigan answered with a Haynes touchdown run with 2:29 left to restore order. Nebraska, without Dylan Raiola, got flashes from Davila but also the expected growing pains: 12-of-25 for 194 yards, two touchdowns and two turnovers. Key did his part anyway with four catches for 119 yards and two scores, but the Huskers couldn’t match Michigan’s physical consistency.

Out west, No. 18 Texas Tech announced itself in the Big 12, beating Utah 35–10 with a third quarter that turned a game into a statement. Behren Morton was sharp (30-of-36, 326 yards, two passing touchdowns) and added a rushing touchdown, while Quinten Joyner supplied two more scores on the ground. Utah moved the ball in stretches but couldn’t finish; Devon Dampier threw for 184 yards and ran for 29 more, but the Utes never found the end zone as Texas Tech’s defense tightened.



And in one more gut punch for a blueblood, Syracuse went to Clemson and won 31–24, deepening the sense that the Tigers’ season is drifting toward “how did it get here?” territory.

The individual honors matched the week’s tone. Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher earned National Defensive Player of the Week after stuffing Oregon State with a 10-tackle, interception, forced fumble, two-fumble-recovery masterpiece in a 34–20 win. Sategna, after turning Auburn’s secondary into confetti, took home the national offensive honor.

Even the teams not headlining this particular Saturday felt the gravity of what’s happening across the country. Florida State coach Mike Norvell, asked earlier in the week about managing expectations as the season accelerates, said, “September tells you who’s willing to do the hard things every day — and who just likes the idea of being good.”

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer echoed the same urgency from the other side of the pressure spectrum: “The season doesn’t give you time to feel sorry for yourself. You either respond, or you get passed.”

[Soapy]

this miami season is basically porn for me

[ShireNiner]

It's weird seeing Miami doing good, they suck in my save and in a few others I have seen.

[Caesar]

Michigan doing well in the sun here. Maybe we’ll see a dynasty where Underwood doesn’t transfer

[redsox907]

In Norman, No. 12 Oklahoma did even more damage, thrashing Auburn 52–3

James will be happy

beautiful as always sir

[djp73]

for some reason i thought you could not play other teams games

[toysoldier00]

this miami season is basically porn for me

maybe skip the week they play Louisville

It's weird seeing Miami doing good, they suck in my save and in a few others I have seen.

really? interesting I don't think I've seen them fall off too hard

Michigan doing well in the sun here. Maybe we’ll see a dynasty where Underwood doesn’t transfer

with me at the helm of Ohio State? I just don't think so.

James will be happy

beautiful as always sir

Oklahoma is set to up have themselves a year. I think Mateer is top of Heisman race atm.

for some reason i thought you could not play other teams games

add a new coach for another team, then play it, then retire

[toysoldier00]

bump