The college football landscape is coming into focus. As we approach Week 4, the true contenders (Tennessee, Texas, Ole Miss) are emerging while pretenders (Florida State, Florida) slip behind the pack.
Each week, Yardbarker highlights the 10 most important people leading into the weekend in college football. Here’s who we’re keeping an eye on in Week 4 (all games Saturday):
1. Josh Heupel | Tennessee head coach
Saturday’s marquee matchup between No. 7 Tennessee (3-0) and No. 15 Oklahoma (3-0) is a significant homecoming for Heupel. In 2000, he quarterbacked the Sooners to their seventh and last national championship and from 2006-14, he served as OU QB coach and co-offensive coordinator. Heupel is practically football royalty in Norman. However, all royal protocol will go out the window come kickoff, as Oklahoma will look to shine in its first SEC game.
2. Brent Venables | Oklahoma head coach
Venables is in his third year as Oklahoma head coach — a crucial benchmark — and toppling a Sooners favorite son in a highly anticipated game would do wonders for the program and his own legacy. Venables is 19-10 with OU.
In 1999, when then-Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Venables, spotted Heupel passing before the QB became a Sooner, he wasn’t impressed.
“He was skinny and just frail,” Venables told Sports Illustrated. “It was the middle of winter; was kind of pasty. The ball was coming off – he was southpaw, probably hadn’t played in a couple months – the ball was wobbly. Josh could occasionally do that. And we’re like, ‘That ain’t it.’”
3. Arch Manning | Texas quarterback
Manning had impressive relief performances in Weeks 2 and 3, totaling 371 yards and seven touchdowns, including five passing. With starter Quinn Ewers ruled out with an oblique injury, Manning has an opportunity to get a full regular-season game under his belt, one which could give fans of the No. 1 Longhorns (3-0) a reason to breathe easier.
4. Miller Moss | USC quarterback
Skeptics didn’t think Moss could elevate USC this season, but he has proved them wrong. He has thrown for 607 yards and two touchdowns as the No. 11 Trojans have jumped to a 2-0 start. Saturday’s game at No. 18 Michigan will be their first test in a stacked Big Ten.
5. Alex Orji | Michigan quarterback
On the other side of biggest Big Ten game of the week, Orji will be making his first start for Michigan (2-1) after Davis Warren (444 yards passing, six interceptions) put up sub-optimal performances in three games. Orji, a dual-threat quarterback, will provide the Trojans defense with a challenge it hasn’t faced yet. Michigan aims to bounce back against a quality opponent. Against No. 1 Texas at home on Sept. 7, the Wolverines got whacked 31-12.
6. Brady Cook | Missouri quarterback
The senior passer, who has thrown for 720 yards in three games to start the year, set lofty expectations for his team this week, telling Mad Dog Sports Radio that Mizzou expects to win “every single game.” No. 7 Missouri is 3-0, but it barely escaped a 27-21 upset bid by Boston College in Week 3. On Saturday, the Tigers host a 2-1 Vanderbilt team that exposed overrated Virginia Tech in Week 1. Missouri’s SEC opener won’t be easy.
7. Billy Napier | Florida head coach
Napier, whose team is 1-2, is on the hottest seat in college football, as ESPN’s Pete Thamel notes.
“In the aftermath of two listless home blowouts and a seven-game losing streak to FBS opponents,” Thamel writes, “Napier’s poor record has essentially sealed his coaching fate in Gainesville. All that’s remaining to figure out is the timing of his exit.”
Napier’s Gators showed too little life too late against Texas A&M in Week 3, putting 20 points on the board in the second half after being shut out in the first during a 31-20 loss. Napier is in win-now mode for the remainder of the season, starting with a game at 1-2 Mississippi State. The Bulldogs will be playing angry after an embarrassing 41-17 loss to Toledo last week.
8. DJ Uiagalelei | Florida State quarterback
At 0-3, Florida State is sinking as rapidly as Florida. Head coach Mike Norvell turned to transfer Uiagalelei as starting quarterback to open the season, but the former five-star recruit has played poorly, throwing for 666 yards and two interceptions. Now, Uiagalelei leads his team at home against a 3-0 California team making its ACC debut (believe it or not).
“Is Norvell too reliant on transfers?” asked veteran SEC writer Blake Toppmeyer of the USA Today Network. “This argument merits consideration. Becoming so dependent on transient players and putting less emphasis on signing and developing blue-chip recruits increases the chance of year-over-year variance.”
9. Cameron Rising | Utah quarterback
Rising is returning from a finger injury for the No. 12 Utes’ in their Big 12 debut. Interestingly, he’s going against another seventh-year quarterback in Alan Bowman of No. 14 Oklahoma State (3-0). Rising is 21-7 as a starter for Utah (3-0). Fun fact: Rising, 25, is only two years younger than Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, 27, who’s in his seventh NFL season.
10. Deion Sanders | Colorado head coach
Are Colorado (2-1) and Sanders no longer the darlings of college football? The Buffaloes’ 28-9 win over Colorado State on Sept. 14 drew 3.25 million TV viewers, off 65% from last season, per Yahoo. Afterward, Sanders received criticism for keeping QB Shedeur Sanders, his son, in the the game deep into the fourth quarter. On Saturday, Colorado plays host to Baylor (2-1) for its first Big 12 game.
