Four weeks into the current college football season have produced the following assessment:

The defending national champion, the Ohio State Buckeyes, holds the number one spot in the national rankings. Led by a superior defense and freshman quarterback Julian Sayin, who replaced former signal caller Will Howard, this 2025 Ohio State team has done just enough to keep the defending champions ahead of the rest of the pack of national title contenders and pretenders.

But make no mistake, this Buckeyes defense is the centerpiece of this powerful team, as witnessed by their stellar performance against the University of Texas and preseason All-American Arch Manning in game one of the season. Manning and the Longhorns drew most of the national press headlines heading into that contest, which bristled the Buckeyes, who entered the season as the number two ranked team in the preseason poll behind Texas.

Ohio State Coach Ryan Day, who was able to keep his job by winning the national title, despite losing a fourth straight game to their archrivals, the Michigan Wolverines, let his feelings be known in the aftermath of his team’s 14-7 nail-biting win over the Longhorns.

“We were motivated by the fact that here we are, national champions of college football, and ranked below Texas. That did not sit well with me or my players. I understood the hype surrounding Arch Manning — he deserved it — but we deserved more respect heading into this game.”

The Buckeyes followed their season-opening victory with dominant performances against Grambling (70-0) and Ohio University (37-9) to put a firm grip on their number-one status. Sayin has played steadily, gaining high marks for his poise and precision. Big games remain on the Buckeyes’ schedule: Sept. 27 against unbeaten Washington, a Nov. 1 matchup against Penn State, currently ranked number three nationally; and the always-bitter rivalry game against archrival Michigan on Nov. 29.

The rest of the top 10 in the poll rankings are as follows:

#2 University of Miami Hurricanes (4-0)

#3 Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0)

#4 Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers (4-0)

#5 University of Georgia Bulldogs (3-0)

#6 University of Oregon Ducks (4-0)

#7 University of Oklahoma Sooners (4-0)

#8 Florida State Seminoles (3-0)

#9 Texas A@M Aggies (3-0)

#10 University of Texas Longhorns (3-1)

One of the most intriguing stories on the college football landscape deals with the rise of the Florida State Seminoles. Led by former Boston College quarterback Tommy Castellanos, the Seminoles have climbed from being ranked number 10 in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 and Coaches’ preseason poll to the #eight position nationally.

Castellanos has been the top factor in the team’s rise. There are still questions surrounding his departure from Boston College through the transfer portal. Still, aside from the speculation, he has prospered in his role as the starting quarterback for the Seminoles.

He has multiple weapons at his disposal at FSU, but he is the key factor to this undefeated team’s success. This year, he has 94 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, one interception, and a 91.6 passer rating. He has also rushed for 139 yards in his three games played in 2025. Meanwhile, the Eagles of Boston College are 1-2 to date under second-year coach Bill O’Brien.

Two other headline-grabbing college football stories drew attention — the first being the Indiana Hoosiers football team, which is now 4-0 following their 63-10 demolition of previously unbeaten number 23 Illinois. This was supposed to be a tightly contested battle, but ended up as a most embarrassing defeat for Illinois, as the home team Hoosiers ran up the score against their visitors. Remember that Indiana was good enough to make it to the College Football Playoffs last season, giving Notre Dame a challenging game before losing to their crossstate and more celebrated rival.

Some people feel that the Hoosiers might be good enough to make it to the CFP Dance this year despite a grueling Big 10 schedule. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti was cautious about his next game against Big 10 heavyweight, Iowa: “This will be a challenge, a more difficult challenge than the last one (Illinois), for sure.”

Cignetti went on to praise Iowa for how it’s not a team that gives you anything: “The thing about Iowa, in general, is that they will not beat themselves. You’re gonna have to beat them.”

Second, the Syracuse Orangemen’s 34-21 upset of the home team, the Clemson Tigers, before a stunned sell-out crowd. The Orangemen jumped out to a lead and ran away from the Tigers. There are calls for Dabo Sweeney’s job following this defeat, the third defeat for the Tigers this season, against just one win. This is the worst start for the Tigers in Sweeney’s coaching tenure at Clemson. It is a hard fall from glory for Sweeney, who has led the Clemson football program to two national championships (2016@2018) during his 18-year coaching stint at the school, in which he has produced a sparkling record of 181 wins and 49 losses, multiple Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, and a 12-9 record in bowl games as of September 2025. Coach Dabo Sweeney: “I love coaching here at Clemson. We are down right now, but I believe we will turn things around. This is a family of dedicated people, and family sticks together, especially in tough times.”

Sweeney built the Clemson football program into what it is today.

It is unfair that a 1-3 start should put his job in jeopardy. But such is the way of life in big-time college football.