Kirk Herbstreit reveals his top performing teams from Week 4

As he does every week, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit has released his list of the top performing teams in college football from Week 4. There were several big games to choose from, but Ohio State led off the list thanks to a 17-14 victory against Notre Dame.

Florida State was right behind them after escaping Clemson in overtime to take a two-game lead on the Tigers in the ACC standings. Washington State and Alabama rounded out the top four after winning their matchups against Oregon State and Ole Miss, respectively.

You can view Herbstreit’s full list of the top performing teams from Week 4 below.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes found themselves trailing 14-10 with less than five minutes to go, but came up with a defensive stop to get the ball back with 1:26 remaining. They then quickly marched 65 yards downfield before Chip Trayanum punched in the game-winning touchdown with just one second remaining.

Quarterback Kyle McCord was 5-of-13 passing for 73 yards on the final drive, including three completions of 15-plus yards. The exciting finish helped Ohio State to jump up to No. 4 in the latest AP poll and gives it a quality win to hang its hat on early for its College Football Playoff resume.

2. Florida State Seminoles

Florida State entered this season College Football Playoff hype and has looked the part early on. The Seminoles announced their arrival as the ACC frontrunner on Saturday, defeating Clemson for the first time since 2014 in a 31-24 overtime win.

Coincidentally, 2014 was also the only season that FSU made the Playoff. Quarterback Jordan Travis continued to look impressive in the Week 4 win, throwing for 289 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 24-yard connection with Keon Coleman.

3. Washington State Cougars

Cameron Ward has quietly been one of the best quarterbacks in the Pac-12 and people are beginning to take notice after a 38-35 win against Oregon State. Ward continued to put up huge numbers in that victory, going 28-of-34 passing for 404 yards and four touchdowns.

His impact isn’t limited to through the air either, as he also has 109 yards rushing and three touchdowns for the season. Washington State now has two wins over ranked opponents after also beating Wisconsin in Week 2 and looks like a dark horse candidate early in the Pac-12 race.

4. Alabama Crimson Tide

After struggling with Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson in Week 3, Alabama turned back to Jalen Milroe as its starting quarterback. It turned out to be a wise decision as he went 17-of-21 passing for 225 yards, one touchdown and an interception in a 24-10 victory.

The Crimson Tide tightened things up in the second half after trailing 7-6 at halftime, scoring on their first three drives while also forcing an interception defensively to pull away. It was a solid start to conference play after a concerning past two weeks, and they’ll aim to keep rolling against Mississippi State this weekend.

5. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech bounced back from a blowout loss against Ole Miss in Week 3 to earn a 30-16 victory against Wake Forest. That marked the first ACC win for the Yellow Jackets this season as quarterback Haynes King was 16-of-27 passing for 222 yards, two touchdowns and an interception along with 53 yards rushing.

Georgia Tech jumped out to a 20-3 lead by halftime and never looked back. Now it will hope it can keep that momentum going with a Week 5 matchup against Bowling Green on the horizon.

6. Northwestern Wildcats

Not many expected Northwestern to have a successful year coming off of a 1-11 finish in 2022 and a hazing scandal that saw coach Pat Fitzgerald fired this offseason. However, the Wildcats have already doubled their win total from last season thanks to a 37-34 overtime win against Minnesota on Saturday.

The defense held the Golden Gophers to a field goal on the first possession of overtime before Ben Bryant found Charlie Mangieri for the game-winning touchdown. Receiver Bryce Kirtz set a career-high with 215 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns as Northwestern notched its first Big Ten win.

7. Kansas Jayhawks

The Jayhawks round out Herbstreit’s list of top teams from Week 4 after beating BYU by a score of 38-27 in front of a sold-out home crowd. Kansas set the tone on the ground to finish with 221 yards rushing as quarterback Jalon Daniels tossed for three touchdowns.

It is the second straight season that KU has started off with a 4-0 record, though it fell apart down the stretch of last year to lose seven of its final eight games. The Jayhawks will look to avoid another slide this year as they travel to Austin next week to face No. 3 Texas.