College football rankings 2023: Projected Week 5 AP Top 25 after Ohio State breaks Notre Dame, Colorado exposed
- Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon notch signature wins
- Colorado, Iowa get exposed, drop out of Top 25
- Florida State makes another statement, ends Clemson drought
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 4: No. 10-9
10. Utah Utes
Everyone expected Saturday to mark the return of Cam Rising, but it was Nate Johnson at Utah’s QB1 once again, this time with a surging UCLA team coming to Rice-Eccles. But it was the Utes defense that really starred in this game, stopping the early-career run of Dante Moore in its tracks.
Utah’s offense managed just 14 points, but that was enough in the low-scoring affair to keep the team undefeated despite still not having a game from their starting quarterback. If that’s what they’re capable of without a legitimately reliable passing attack, it’s going to be hard to see the Utes being overwhelmed by any team, even in a Pac-12 that looks deeper with each passing week.
9. Oregon Ducks
Considering how handily Dan Lanning laid a beating on Colorado on Saturday, there are going to be some arguments from fans that say the Ducks should move up substantially. In these projections (and perhaps in hopes that logic prevails), however, they move up just one spot to No. 9.
At the end of the day, what we witnessed was a legitimate Top 10 team in Oregon playing at home against a Colorado team that was not only overhyped because of its 3-0 start but that was also playing without its best player on both sides of the ball, Travis Hunter. When that’s the case, a bloodbath is always in play.
Bo Nix made it look easy in this game against a hapless Colorado defense. That, however, was expected. What was more impressive was the Ducks defense completely stifling Shedeur Sanders and Co. in the 42-6 win. That was a concern for Oregon coming into this game and they answered the call on the big stage.