College Football Playoff mock committee First Four: Ohio State-Clemson, Utah

With an experienced passer in Connor Cook and a solid running duo with LJ Scott and Madre London, the Spartans’ offense has more than enough firepower to give any team fits, and the Buckeyes are no different.

LSU moves into the top five this week and can also now claim a first-place vote.

TCU’s success came at the expense of reeling Texas (1-4, 0-2) which has dropped back-to-back games to the Horned Frogs for the first time since 1958-59.

– This game slides to Dallas so that No. 3 TCU wouldn’t gain an unfair homefield advantage as a lower seed.

No. 4 TCU and No. 5 Baylor both won huge. Is it No. 1 Ohio State, with the Buckeyes just three points up on No. 2 Utah? The problem: What team has that resume? “With everything that’s happened to them, they just keep fighting”. That’s not an excuse. Youngsters like linebacker Travin Howard (36 tackles) and linebacker Montrel Wilson (team-high 37 tackles) have emerged as playmakers while others like cornerback Nick Orr are proving to be more trustworthy with each passing Saturday. NIU and Hawaii each held Elliott to less than 5 yards per carry, and the Buckeyes only scored 26 points per game across those two outings. “They’ve played more snaps, so obviously they understand a little bit more what’s going on”. The incentive to avoid tough Septembers are multi-million dollar coaching salaries, and coaches have far too much power on most college campuses. Texas Christian is second in both polls. Utah (!!) has been dominant, beating the aforementioned Oregon and Michigan, crushing the former in their own house 62-20. Performances against Utah State (24-14) and at Fresno State (45-24) were more pedestrian. Could be the runnerups from the conferences, could be teams that lost one game and didn’t make the conference title game, could be a team from a smaller conference with an unbeaten record, whatever.

Never mind the fact the Eastern Michigan hung around for a few quarters on Saturday. It didn’t go particularly well. And the Tigers’ best game until Florida arrives at Red Stick was 3-2 Mississippi State -a daunting stretch that includes Auburn playing virtually without a quarterback, Syracuse and a fifth string quarterback, Eastern Michigan and a second string quarterback, and South Carolina with… you get the point. Ole Miss plunges eight spots to No. 13 after being dominated by resurgent Florida. Great win against Georgia, though. The SEC also has three teams in the top 10. “Love everybody.” – A mash-up of James Franklin’s lengthy response to a question that essentially asked if fans should be disappointed with Penn State’s six-point home win over 1-4 Army. Pretty good, though none have come on the road. Unlike TCU and Baylor, the Sooners have defeated teams (Tennessee, West Virginia) with a number to the left of their name. And that’s not even counting the usual land mines like Iowa State, Texas Tech or Kansas State who always seem good for at least one upset per year.