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Week 4: Florida State survives but LSU doesn't

Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn't pretty, but No. 1 Florida State figured out a way to beat No. 22 Clemson on Saturday night. The Seminoles needed overtime to do it, but a win's a win.

Eighth ranked LSU wasn't so lucky, dropping a 34-29 decision to upstart Mississippi State. Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott made quite the impression in leading his team to the victory and could have worked his way into the Heisman conversation.

Blowouts, blowouts and more blowouts. That was the obvious theme during Saturday's early games. Even No. 3 Alabama, which looked to be in danger of an upset at halftime, rolled to a 21-point win over Florida.

Elsewhere there was not much hope for Eastern Michigan in its lopsided game against No. 11 Michigan State that ended 73-14. No. 13 Georgia also didn't break much of a sweat in a 66-0 victory over Troy after losing to South Carolina last week. And No. 6 Texas A&M became the third straight team to lay a beating on SMU this season.

Here's what you need to know.

No Winston, no problem for Florida State

Ok, so that's a bit of an overstatement and, in fact, it looked like the Seminoles were in serious trouble against Clemson. Sean Maguire started for the suspended Jameis Winston and while Maguire passed for over 300 yards, he threw a costly interception late in the game.

Luckily for Maguire, Clemson fumbled away the ensuing possession and Florida State was content with sending the game to overtime. In OT, The Tigers had the first possession but failed to convert on a fourth-and-one and turned the ball over without scoring. The Seminoles needed just two Karlos Williams runs to find the end zone and earn the 23-17 victory.

While Florida State played without Winston, the quarterback still tried to get himself involved in the game. Winston suited up for warmups and had to be told by head coach Jimbo Fisher to go to the locker room and get out of uniform.

gifdsports's post on Vine

Dak Prescott leads Mississippi State to upset over LSU

The Bulldogs flew under the radar with their 3-0 start to the season, but that's all about to change after Saturday's 34-29 win over LSU. Quarterback Dak Prescott was electric passing for 268 yards, rushing for 105 more and adding three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing).

It wasn't just a one man show however, as running back Josh Robinson kicked in a career-high 197 yards on the ground, averaging a ridiculous 12.3 yards per carry. The win for Mississippi State ended a streak of 14 straight losses to the Tigers and was the Bulldogs' first win at Tiger Stadium since 1991.

The Mississippi State fans that made the trip to Baton Rouge were pretty darn pleased with the result.

Alabama overcomes first half turnovers for huge offensive day against Florida

With Florida only down 21-14 at the half, this appeared to be a close game, but that was deceiving, in large part because of three Crimson Tide turnovers in the opening 30 minutes. Alabama fixed things in the second half (though the Gators lone score in the second half came from another turnover) and won convincingly, 42-21.

Quarterback Blake Sims passed for 445 yards - the second highest total in school history - while Alabama put up a total of 645 yards on offense, the most ever allowed by Florida. It was also a huge afternoon for Alabama wideout Amari Cooper who had 10 catches for 201 yards and three touchdowns. He now has a school record 20 receiving touchdowns in his career.

That was fun? Michigan State rolls over Eastern Michigan

The Eastern Michigan-Michigan State tilt was an exercise in how not to play football. Eastern Michigan didn't pick up a first down in the first half. Not a single one. Last week was a major test for the Spartans, but their schedule looks to be smooth sailing from here on out, so this might become the norm.

This play pretty much sums up Eastern Michigan's day in a nutshell:

Jim Weber's post on Vine

Wisconsin breaks all the records

As mentioned, it was certainly an afternoon for blowouts, but at least No. 19 Wisconsin looked good doing it. Melvin Gordon tied a school record in Saturday's 68-17 win as he rushed for five touchdowns, and the Badgers' total rushing yards over Bowling Green set a school record 644 yards. And to top it all off, they also broke the school record for offense in a single game with 756 yards.

Indiana upends No. 18 Missouri

Missouri's 3-0 start to the season had many people wondering if the Tigers were the real deal in the SEC. Saturday's performance goes a long way to proving that they're not. Missouri was upset 31-27 by unranked Indiana thanks to a D'Angelo Roberts touchdown with 22 seconds left to play.

The game appeared to be over before that when Hoosiers quarterback Nate Sudfeld threw an incompletion on fourth down with just over a minute to go. However, a late pass interference flag extended the drive and allowed Indiana to score the go-ahead touchdown, and beat a ranked opponent for the first time in 19 tries.

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