Some nice upsets, plus some good teams played meh. I like to give every team a crappy win pass. You know what I mean? A top ten team plays a team they should crush, and they almost lose, or they struggle. It should probably be called the Northwestern Effect. You get one of those. If those games become normal, then I start counting it against you.
- Georgia (3-0)–#1–W 24-14 South Carolina. The Bulldogs struggled in the first half, but settle down and took down the Gamecocks.
- Michigan (3-0)–#2–W 31-6 Bowling Green. Jim Harbaugh returns next week. Does not look like they needed him for these games.
- USC (3-0)–#3–BYE
- Florida State (3-0)–#4–W 31-29. The Seminoles got lucky to come away with this win.
- Penn State (3-0)–#5–W 30-13. A very weird game. The Illinois defense did such a great job shutting down the Nittany Lion run game, but PSU’s defense picked off Altmyer four times. I wonder if this game would have been different if Bielema ran the ball more? It felt like the Nittany Lions could not stop Reggie Love.
- Texas (3-0)–#6–W 31-10 Wyoming. The Longhorns struggled with Wyoming in the first half. If they dominated the Cowboys, I may have jumped Texas over Penn State.
- Ohio State (3-0)–#7–W 63-10 Western Kentucky. The offense looked much better, next week should be a good one.
- Notre Dame (4-0)–#8–W 41-17 Central Michigan. The Irish are for real, and it will be fun to see Sam Hartman against that Buckeye defense.
- Washington (3-0)–#9–W 41-7 Michigan State. Michael Penix put up 375 yards in the first half. I know MSU is in disarray at the moment, but that kind of beatdown against a Power Five school is impressive.
- Oregon (3-0)–#12–W 55-10 Hawaii. The final season of the Pac-12 is setting up to be exciting. The Ducks continue to look impressive.
- Oklahoma (3-0)–#13–W 66-17 Tulsa. The Sooners are for real. Look out Big XII.
- Alabama (2-1)–#10–W 17-3 South Florida. Yikes. The Crimson Tide struggled with USF. They are lost at the QB position, which is so weird to see.
- Ole Miss (3-0)–#14–W 48-23 Georgia Tech
- Utah (3-0)–#16–W 31-7 Weber State
- Oregon State (3-0)–#17–W 26-9 San Diego State
- Duke (3-0)–#18–W 38-14 Northwestern. The Blue Devils have another easy game next week, and depending on what happens between Clemson & FSU, they could see a nice jump in the rankings.
- UNC (3-0)–#23–W 31-13 Minnesota. Drake Maye continues to impress, and the Tar Heels defense handled Minnesota easily.
- LSU (2-1)–#21–W 41-14 Mississippi State. I thought this game would be closer, but the Tigers dominated.
- Miami (3-0)–#24–W 48-7 Bethune-Cookman
- Colorado (3-0)–#20–W 43-35 2OT Colorado State. This team does not play defense very well. The Buffaloes will be in trouble playing against Caleb Williams or Michael Penix, but they still won the game, so that counts for something.
- Washington State (3-0)–#25–W 64-21 Northern Colorado
- Maryland (3-0)–HM–W 42-14 Virginia
- UCLA (3-0)–WL–W 59-7 North Carolina Central. Why did I bump UCLA up so high? Honestly, I feel they are better than the next two teams.
- Missouri (3-0)–NR–W 30-27 #15 Kansas State. Mizzou was on my early season Watch List last year, and I was fairly high on them, but they let me down, and I was not ready to give them a shot this season. Will they prove me wrong?
- Iowa (3-0)–NR–W 41-10 Western Michigan. Ugh, I am not convinced the Hawkeyes are a top 25 team, but that defense is good, so I guess they deserve to be ranked.
Honorable Mention
Clemson (2-1)–HM–W 48-14 Florida Atlantic
BYU (3-0)–NR–W 38-31 #19 Arkansas. Maybe I was wrong about the Razorbacks? Or maybe the Cougars are that good.
Tennessee (2-1)–#11–L 29-16 Florida. Yikes, I guess the Volunteers are not nearly at the same level as last year.
TCU (2-1)–HM–W 36-13 Houston
UCF (3-0)–HM–W 48-14 Villanova
Watch List
South Alabama (2-1)–NR–W 33-7 Oklahoma State. The Jaguars dominated their Big XII opponent. I love when a G5 beats a P5.
JMU (3-0)–WL–W 16-14 Troy. The Dukes are good. Could they be that Sun Belt team that ends up undefeated and eventually ranked?
Kansas (3-0)–WL–W 31-24 Nevada. How was this game so close?
Kansas State (2-1)–#15–L 30-27 Missouri
SMU (2-1)–NR–W 69-0 Prairie View A&M. The Mustangs face TCU this week. They could pull off a nice upset and then run the table in the AAC.
There are some fun games in week four. The kind of games that will help tell us who is legit and who is not. Before I get to my big three games, here are some other interesting games.
After West Virginia defeated Pitt in the Backyard Brawl, I am looking to see how each team plays next week. Pitt has #17 UNC at home. If they lose, they are 1-3, could that put Pat Narduzzi on the hot seat? West Virginia takes on Texas Tech, and if they win they are 3-1, does that mean Neal Brown’s job is safe?
Rutgers head to #2 Michigan. Are the Rutgers any good? I do not expect them to win this game, but if they can not get destroyed, I would consider that a victory. BYU at Kansas is a fun little Big XII matchup. If the Jayhawks win this game, I think it is time to start thinking about putting them in the top 25.
Then we have some honorable mention games between ranked teams. #23 UCLA heads to #14 Utah, will we have another year when every Pac-12 team beats each other? Also in the west we have #20 Colorado going to Eugene to take on the #10 Oregon Ducks. And then we have the White Out! #25 Iowa coming to Happy Valley to take on the #5 Nittany Lions.
Feels like a bunch of great games. What are the big three that I am watching?
#13 Ole Miss at #12 Alabama–can you imagine the insanity if Ole Miss beats ‘Bama at home?
#3 Florida State goes to Clemson–if FSU is for real, they have to win this game, but if Clemson wants back in the rankings, they need to win.Obviously.
#7 Ohio State at #8 Notre Dame–I am really high on the Irish right now, and nothing would help push them higher in my mind then beating the Buckeyes.
