Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 4: No. 4-3
4. Texas Longhorns
Texas moved up in the AP Top 25 last week after a 31-10 win at Wyoming, which was clearly an indication that the majority of the AP voters did not have Longhorn Network as part of their cable package. The Longhorns were tied 10-10 in that game and looked to be sleepwalking in Laramie. They turned it on in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win, but it was anything but an overall impressive effort on the heels of the win over Alabama.
So it was good to see Texas respond to that in Waco by thrashing a middling Baylor team.
It wasn’t the best night overall for Quinn Ewers, though he did notch a rushing and passing score on the night, but Texas didn’t need it to be. The defense was dominant and they also ran the ball well. The two turnovers on fumbles were the only blemish but ultimately didn’t even come close to factoring into the outcome of the contest.
3. Florida State Seminoles
Test passed.
Outside of Texas beating Alabama, Florida State still had the best win of the 2023 season with their dominant performance in Week 1 against LSU. After last week’s scare at Boston College, though, there were concerns about the Seminoles going on the road to face a rapidly improving Clemson team the program hadn’t gotten a win against in almost a decade. They quelled those with a major overtime victory in Death Valley.
Let’s be clear, FSU wasn’t perfect on Saturday afternoon in the win. Jordan Travis missed some throws and wasn’t particularly crisp for the entire 60 minutes. They also benefitted greatly from a missed field goal in the final minutes. But credit to the Noles for taking advantage of the opportunities that were presented to them. When it mattered most in overtime as well, Travis and Keon Coleman connected for a big-boy play and the defense stepped up with a huge stop to get the win and vault FSU back above Texas in the Top 25 rankings.