2023 NFL Draft: College Football Recap, Week 4

Week 4 of the 2022 college football season was all about two of the nation’s most iconic programs suffering upset losses on the weekend. It’s been more of the same story for Miami and Texas in recent years. Two of the more successful programs in the history of college football have been let down with failure on the field for upwards of a decade.

On Saturday Miami dropped a game to Middle Tennessee State in which the Hurricanes were favored by four touchdowns. They didn’t lose in shocking fashion either—the Blue Raiders were in complete control the entire game, leading by as many as three touchdowns for a large portion. Head coach Mario Cristobal has a long way to go in piecing that program back together.

Steve Sarkisian’s Texas squad is attempting to return to national relevance after landing the newest Manning phenom—Arch, the five-star quarterback recruit who committed to the Longhorns over the summer. An impressive showing and near upset over Alabama made some believe the ‘Horns were back. They’ve quickly come back down to Earth after Texas Tech made a comeback to defeat them in overtime on Saturday.

Clemson winning an exciting shootout against Wake Forest in Winston Salem was another highlight of the weekend.

QB battle: Anthony Richardson bounces back, Hendon Hooker continues to show out

Richardson was very close to being written off as a 2023 NFL Draft prospect after two dud performances in a row against Kentucky and South Florida. The South Florida performance against weak competition was particularly worrisome. But you have to give Richardson credit for bouncing back in a big way. He looked very comfortable throwing the ball and maneuvering inside and out of the pocket on Saturday in a big game against Tennessee. Florida ultimately didn’t win, but Richardson accounted for over 500 yards of offense. He did throw a pick, but it was on a Hail Mary in the final seconds to attempt to win the game for his team. The light is flashing for Richardson, but it’s not all the way on yet.

On the other side, Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker is a name to watch. He’s shown marked improvement since his transfer from Virginia Tech to Tennessee and continues to put up monster numbers week in and week out. Hooker has legitimate steam as a real Heisman Trophy contender. Hooker’s 28 pass attempts and 13 carries combined gave him 461 yards of offense and three total touchdowns on the day. Hooker is big and nimble with a plus-arm to boot. He’s firmly on draft radars with the ‘Vols in the national spotlight for the first time in a long time.

OT Paris Johnson (Ohio State) pushing for OT1 status

The Buckeyes boast a pair of high-profile NFL prospects at offensive tackle in Dawand Jones and Paris Johnson. Johnson’s tools set him apart from Jones at this point with massive upside as a pass protector. Those tools stuck out on Saturday against a disruptive Wisconsin defensive philosophy. The line as a whole gave up zero quarterback pressures on the evening, and Johnson was a huge reason why the QB stayed clean. The offense smoothly went over 500 yards on the day and made it look easy against Jim Leonhard’s group. Johnson is looking like a pure, high-level pass-protecting left tackle at the next level.

DE Derick Hall (Auburn) finally steps on the scene

Fifth-year defensive end Derick Hall, much like his team as a whole, hasn’t been flashing as much as you’d like in the early stages of the season. But Hall showed up in a big way against Missouri in their first conference matchup of the season. Hall accounted for two sacks, three tackles for a loss, as well as an interception in addition to six tackles in the game. Hall has plenty of ability with speed-to-power and is an asset in run defense as well. He has great ability to force the issue on the outside of offensive tackles, but it was a long arm that got him one of his two sacks on Saturday afternoon. Hall has a ton of tools to work with and could be a notable Senior Bowl invite in the postseason.