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Matt Kupec: Father Son College Football Analysis Week #4

by Matt Kupec

September 23, 2019

College Football turned out some incredible performances in Week #4.   While the landscape looks to be dominated again by the likes of Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State, teams like Wisconsin and LSU are looking very impressive.  And despite losing to Georgia, Notre Dame played the  Bulldogs tough in a close battles in Athens.

There were some very surprising outcomes from Week #4.  UCLA showed some life with an amazing second half performance to gain their first win of the year 67-63 on the road against #19 ranked Washington State.

How about Appalachian State taking down my Tar Heels in Chapel Hill?  Just two weeks ago I thought the Heels would be 4-0 going into next week’s clash in Chapel Hill against Clemson.  The Tigers remain undefeated but not the Tar Heels who now sit at 2-2.  All those dreams for ESPN’s Game Day in Chapel Hill evaporated in the ugly losses to Wake Forest and Appalachian State.

And how about SMU beating #25 TCU 41-38 to go unbeaten at 4-0.  This is the first time the Mustangs are 4-0 since 1983.  Hey, Big 12, how about inviting SMU into your conference?

In this column, each week my son Matthew and I will review the weekend games and make a few observations and provide some thorough analysis. If you have any comments, questions or perhaps disagree with our analysis, please send your comments by going to mattkupecqb.com and submit through the contact section. We’d love to hear from you!

 Biggest Surprise

Matthew Kupec – USC.  USC went into Friday night’s battle with #10 as the heavy underdog.  After having lost QB start JT Daniels in the season opener, the Trojans had rallied behind true freshman Kedon Slovis.  But then Slovis went down in the 1st quarter in the Utah game.  3rd string QB Matt Fink came in and passed for 351 yards and 3 TD’s to lead USC to a 30-23 win over the Utes.  Just like that the Trojans are 3-1 despite all the calls for Coach Helton’s job.  Even down to the 3rd string QB, the Trojans have very skilled weapons on offense and might find a way to finish with at least 8 wins this year.

Matt Kupec –Tennessee. We knew the Tennessee Volunteers where in big trouble this year when they opened the season getting destroyed by Georgia State.  Yes, Georgia State and not the University of Georgia and Jake Fromm and all the great Bulldogs from Athens.  But, I expected the Volunteers to at least compete against Florida this weekend in the swamp when they took on the Florida Gators who had a back-up quarterback starting.  No such luck for Rocky Top.  Things are so bad in Knoxville that they may have to change the lyrics of their great fight song!   Tennessee is bad!

Best Performance

Matthew Kupec UCLA.  Wow!!!  What game for UCLA.  After 130 combined points, nearly 1,400 yards in total offense, 14 TD passes and being down by 32 points, UCLA rallied to stun #19 Washington State for the Bruins 1st win this year.  Maybe this will quiet all the noise about Chip Kelly’s exit from UCLA.  QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 507 yards and 5 TD’s and looked like the talented highly recruited HS talent coming out of high school.  This might be the game that turns the corner for the Bruins.

Matt Kupec — Joe Burrow.  Against Vanderbilt Burrow threw for 398 yards and 6 TD’s in leading LSU to a whopping 66-38 win over the Commodores.  Burrow has been sensational all year and is not strongly entrenched in the Heisman Trophy conversation.  This is not the LSU offense we have painfully watched over the years as the Tigers are aggressively attacking defenses, particularly with vertical throwing routes.  Burrow may take the LSU Tigers to the Playoffs this year

Biggest Disappointment

Matthew Kupec — UCF.  #15 UCF came into the Pittsburgh game riding great momentum and the highest ranking of the Group of Five teams.  The Golden Knights started out poorly, came back to take the lead but then blew the game late.   This one hurt as  the Golden Knights lost a game against a  poor Pittsburgh team.  UCF dropped seven spots in the ranking to #22 while Boise State jumps up to #15 in the rankings, replacing UCF as the highest ranked Group of Five squads.

Matt Kupec — Michigan. The pundits all over Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines.  After barely squeaking out an overtime win over Army last week, the Wolverines were completely dominated by Wisconsin on the road this past weekend.  It was ugly.  And it was ugly early for Michigan.  Wisconsin totally dominated every phase of the game.  It was so bad and the Wolverines looked like they had no fight in them.   And it is hard to believe that Shea Patterson, the much heralded transfer QB from Ole Miss two years ago just can’t provide the magic on offense that was expected of him.  Clearly, Coach Harbaugh is not in danger of getting fired but I really thought he would have the Wolverines in the national championship hunt this year.

Picks for the Final 4 Playoff Teams

Matthew — Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, LSU

Matt — Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, LSU.

About the Authors

Matt Kupec is a former record-breaking four year starting quarterback for the UNC Tar Heels.  During his career he set 19 passing records, two of which still exist (most consecutive games with a TD pass and most wins as a starting QB).  He was named MVP of the 1977 Liberty Bowl and 1979 Gator Bowl becoming the 1st player in ACC history to be named MVP of two bowl games.

Matthew Kupec is a senior at East Chapel Hill School in Chapel Hill, NC.  Matthew played defensive back for the East HS football team last year and set a school-record when intercepting three passes in one game.  As a baseball junior last year, Matthew led the conference with the lowest ERA (earned run average).