After breaking down the tape and sifting through box scores from around the country, TeamFB7 filters down the weekly “Game Balls” list to the 10 very best or most impactful individual performances from college football’s Week 4.
The TeamFB7 “Game Balls” committee had to deny a linebacker who scored pick-6 touchdowns on consecutive snaps, a quarterback who threw for 464 yards with 4 total TDs, two other 400-yard passers, the FBS’ Week 4 rushing leader, three receivers with more than 150 yards and a defensive lineman with multiple sacks and a game-saving blocked field goal.
Most of those standouts can at least be found on our list of 10 honorable mentions at the bottom, but let that serve as context for how incredible the 10 “Game Ball” recipients must have been to make the exclusive cut this week.
As always, making the cut is about more than raw stat totals, though that kind of thing certainly helps. There is extra weight put on starring in the biggest games of the week and delivering in the most pivotal moments.
The snubs are never easy, but that’s the challenge.
Here were the biggest stars of college football’s Week 4.
Game Balls For The 10 Best Performances From College Football’s Week 4
1. Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith
Jeremiah Smith has set the bar for amazement so impossibly high during his three years at Ohio State that it’s easy to take for granted the incredible performances he delivers week to week.
But even by Smith’s superlative standards, his Week 4 stat line stood out in an undeniable way.
The junior led all FBS players with 217 receiving yards in Week 4, totaling 12 receptions and 4 touchdowns in Ohio State’s 42-19 win over Illinois in its Big Ten opener.
Those were single-game career-highs across the board for Smith, while he became the first Ohio State player with double-digit catches for at least 200 yards and 4 TDs in a game.
“I mean, if there’s a better player in the country, it’s hard to imagine,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said. “Even just watching him play every game this year, I think he’s taking his game to the next level.”
Smith leads the FBS level with 617 receiving yards, is tied for first with 7 receiving TDs and ranks tied for fourth with 33 receptions through four games for No. 5-ranked Ohio State.
2. Indiana RB Lee Beebe Jr.
Indiana extended its FBS-leading win streak to 20 games last Friday night, and it has running back Lee Beebe Jr. to thank for that.
The Hoosiers were pushed for four quarters by upstart Northwestern in an ultimate 29-23 win while losing star running back Turbo Richard early in the game to a foot/ankle injury.
Beebe stepped up big with 24 carries for 203 yards and a TD to lead the Hoosiers to victory. It was a career-best performance for the fifth-year senior, who spent his first three seasons at UAB before joining Indiana last year. His previous single-game highs were 19 carries and 161 yards.
Beebe saved perhaps his biggest contribution for last. On the first play from scrimmage after Northwestern cut Indiana’s lead to 22-20 with a little more than 5 minutes remaining, Beebe broke off a 70-yard run all the way to the Wildcats’ 5-yard line to set up an eventual TD from QB Josh Hoover to extend the lead to nine points late.
Thanks to Beebe, the No. 6-ranked Hoosiers stayed unbeaten. But he may take a backseat again this week, as Richard is considered day-to-day and expected to play Saturday at Rutgers.
3. Florida RBs Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark
The biggest statement performance of Week 4 was undeniably Florida running all over then-No. 4 Ole Miss in a 52-28 win that vaulted the Gators up 13 spots in the AP poll to No. 8.
Florida star Jadan Baugh was a force as usual, rushing 29 times for 142 yards and 3 TDs (plus a 12-yard reception). but his backfield tag-team partner Duke Clark was equally impressive with 126 yards and a TD on just 12 carries.
Overal, the Gators rushed for 302 yards and 6 TDs in the signature win for first-year head coach Jon Sumrall.
That’s five straight 100-yard games for Baugh going back to last season, making him the third player in program history after Emmitt Smith and Fred Taylor to achieve that feat. He has 600 rushing yards (second-most in the FBS) and leads college football with 11 TDs on 83 carries through four games.
Meanwhile, it was a breakout for the sophomore Clark, who never had more than 65 yards in a game prior to running all over the Rebels. Clark’s 45-yard TD scamper early in the third quarter was one of the plays of the game as the Gators continued to assert themselves anytime Ole Miss narrowed the gap.
Florida had lost 12 straight games against top 5 teams before Saturday night. The Gators (4-0, 2-0 SEC) rank second nationally in scoring at 53.5 points per game and fifth in yards at 532.8 per game.
4. Texas EDGE Colin Simmons
We’re not overlooking the offensive, regrettable and costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Colin Simmons received for how he celebrated one of his sacks, but we also can’t overlook the fact that he had 5.5 sacks, a forced fumble and 9 total tackles in Texas’ defensive-driven 20-17 win at Tennessee in a showdown of ranked SEC teams.
The 5.5 sacks is a Texas single-game record and tied the SEC record set by Mississippi State’s Greg Favors in 1996. According to research by Inside Texas, Simmons became the first FBS player in the last 20 seasons to have at least 5 sacks against a ranked team.
No. 1 Texas (4-0) had 10 sacks overall and needed just about every one of them in holding off then-No. 14 Tennessee.
Simmons leads all FBS players with 7.5 sacks so far this season.
5. Wake Forest WR Carlos Hernandez
Wake Forest is enjoying a revival under second-year head coach Jake Dickert, going 9-4 last season after back-to-back 4-8 finishes prior to his arrival. The Demon Deacons are now 3-1 this fall, including a 30-27 road upset of then-No. 16 Louisville last Saturday.
That signature win came in large part because the Cardinals had no defense for wide receiver Carlos Hernandez, who racked up 9 catches for 194 yards and a TD — a 77-yard deep-shot connection from Gio Lopez in the second quarter.
Hernandez, who spent his first two seasons at Washington State with Dickert before following him to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, had a career-high 40 catches for 611 yards and 3 TDs last year. Through four games in 2026, he’s already up to 30 receptions for 516 yards (fifth-most in the FBS) and 3 scores.
6. Alabama QB Keelon Russell
Alabama redshirt-freshman quarterback Keelon Russell is really building noticeable momentum now in his first year as the Crimson Tide’s starter.
He had the best game of his young career Saturday — after having his previous best game the week prior — while completing 21 of 27 passes for 365 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs along with 35 yards and a TD rushing in a 49-18 win over South Carolina.
Russell has elevated the offensive outlook for No. 7-ranked Alabama, throwing for 1,129 yards, 8 TDs and 2 INTs along with 168 rushing yards and 3 scores. That included a true breakout performance in Week 3 vs. Florida State with 320 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs and 3 rushes for 56 yards and a TD.
7. Oklahoma State QB Drew Mestemaker, WR Wyatt Young and RB Caleb Hawkins
We try to keep the shared Game Balls to a minimum and almost never more than a two-way split, but there’s justified exceptions for every rule.
And this former North Texas trio is showing it’s just as prolific in the Big 12 now at Oklahoma State after following coach Eric Morris to Stillwater this year.
Drew Mestemaker completed 20 of 27 passes for 389 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT, Wyatt Young caught 8 of those passes for 192 yards and a TD and Caleb Hawkins took 31 carries for 180 yards and a score in a 41-24 road win at previously unbeaten West Virginia. How could they not be listed all together?
Since losing at Tulsa in its season-opener, Oklahoma State has reeled off three straight wins (including the upset of Oregon in Week 2).
Last season, that trio led North Texas to a 12-2 record while Mestemaker led the FBS level with 4,379 passing yards (34 TDs, 9 INTs) as a redshirt-freshman, Hawkins ranked fifth nationally with 1,434 rushing yards and led college football with 25 rushing TDs as a true freshman and Young finished third nationally with 1,264 receiving yards on 70 receptions with 10 TDs as a sophomore.
8. UAB EDGE Marlin Dean
Marlin Dean was a wrecking ball, plain and simple, for UAB in a 24-20 win over Navy.
A well-traveled fifth-year senior who started his college career at Georgia before bouncing to Butler Community College, Utah State, Georgia State and now UAB, Dean had 12 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles (with the Blazers recovering 2 of them).
His strip sack early in the fourth quarter gave UAB the ball near midfield and set up what was ultimately the decisive touchdown a player later — a 48-yard run by Bam McReynolds — for the final points of the game.
Through four games, Dean has 18 tackles, 7 TFLs, 4 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
9. Utah RB Wayshawn Parker
Utah keeps creeping up the national rankings, now at No. 13 after a 4-0 start following an impressive 31-17 road win at Iowa State.
This time the star was running back Wayshawn Parker, who busted out after a relatively quiet start to the season.
Parker had 154 rushing yards through the first three games but went for 174 yards and 2 TDs on 18 carries vs. the Cyclones. He also added 5 catches for 65 yards and a score.
He started immediately with a 54-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage.
It was a career day for the junior as he set single-game highs for rushing yards, total offensive yards and touchdowns.
Parker has 9 total TDs already with 328 rushing yards and 154 receiving yards.
10. Mississippi State WR Kamario Taylor
Kamario Taylor has emphatically announced himself as one of the most exciting players in college football as a sophomore.
One of the most dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks in the country, Taylor mostly only needed his arm Saturday to lead Mississippi State to a 31-24 win over then-No. 19 Missouri.
He completed 27 of 38 passes for 360 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT, throwing for TDs of 43 yards to Sanfrisco Magee and 11 yards to Fluff Bothwell in the first quarter to stake the Bulldogs to a 14-0 lead.
But Mississippi State was trailing 24-17 entering the fourth quarter before Taylor rallied them back into the lead and ultimately a big win. He passed for 53 yards on a 74-yard game-tying touchdown drive capped by a Bothwell scoring run, and later with the game tied and less than 4 minutes on the clock, Taylor connected with Magee for a go-ahead 24-yard touchdown on third-and-8.
Mississippi State is up to No. 16 in the AP poll, ranked for the first time since 2022 and off to a 4-0 start with Taylor leading the way.
He’s thrown for 1,192 yards, 14 TDs and 2 INTs while rushing for 185 yards and a score.
Honorable Mentions
Virginia Tech RB Jeff Overton: The sophomore had by far the best game of his young college career, taking 25 carries for 209 yards and a TD along with 3 receptions for 19 yards in the Hokies’ 21-14 win at Boston College. More to the point, Overton broke a tie game in the fourth quarter with a 76-yard touchdown run to help Virginia Tech move to 4-0.
Texas Tech LB Austin Romaine: Romaine became the second player in FBS history to deliver an interception return for touchdown on back-to-back plays in a 49-14 win over Sam Houston. Romaine’s pick-6s came within the span of 7 seconds, from 15 and 31 yards to stake Texas Tech to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. He also had a team-high 8 tackles.
Georgia LB Chris Cole: Cole had 8 tackles, a sack and recovered 2 fumbles, returning one 85 yards to take the Bulldogs to a three-touchdown lead in the second quarter on the way to a dominant 41-13 win over Oklahoma. Cole returned his second fumble recovery 23 yards to the OU 11 to set up another quick Georgia TD in that same second quarter.
LSU WR Jackson Harris: After a breakout season for Hawaii last year (49 catches for 963 yards and 12 TDs), Harris had been fairly quiet in LSU’s crowded wide receiver corps so far this season — until Saturday, that is. He more than doubled his previous season-high with 6 catches for 163 yards and his first 2 TDs as a Tiger in LSU’s dominant 35-6 win over then-No. 23 Texas A&M.
Wake Forest DL Gabe Kirschke: Kirschke notched his first 2-sack game and blocked Louisville’s potential game-tying 57-yard field goal to seal a 30-27 win over the then-No. 16 Cardinals.
Bowling Green EDGE Myles Bradley: Bradley had 4.5 sacks (believed to be a program record) against a South Florida team that had given up just 1 sack all season prior to Week 4. He also had 2 forced fumbles (recovering one) and a pass breakup in a 14-6 loss.
Tulane RB Maurice Turner: Turner’s season-high for rushing yards is 314 way back in 2022 as a freshman at Louisville. That context makes what he did Saturday all the more impressive, as he needed just 12 carries to rush for 200 yards and 2 TDs in a 24-21 win over Southern Miss.
Stanford QB Davis Warren: The former Michigan QB has settled in nicely at Stanford and had his best game yet Saturday with 396 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs in a 34-27 win over Georgia Tech as the Cardinal moved to 2-2.
SMU QB Kevin Jennings: SMU’s day started very inauspiciously with a turnover on downs, fumble and then Jennings 60-yard pick-6 as the Mustangs fell behind 10-0 to Missouri State. But Jennings settled in from there and went on to finish 33-of-39 passing for 464 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT plus a rushing TD in a 34-24 win.
Clemson CB Elliot Washington II: Clemson held Cal to just 145 passing yards, including a career-low 119 for Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, as Washington made 2 interceptions to key that effort in a 24-10 Tigers win.
