Week 3 College Review

There is a reason that I do not pay much attention to rankings before October and do not do them myself until October. There are a lot of pretenders out there. Yesterday showed us that much. I hate to say this, but outside of Alabama, the SEC looks like a train wreck this season. I will touch on this a little later in this post but holy cow they are playing some horrible football right now. It is far too early though to pick a conference that is playing the best football right now as most teams have yet to play their first conference games.

I had three intriguing games listed last week and the only game of those three that was worth watching was the USC-Texas game. Double overtime to determine a winner (USC). However, USC fans should be worried after that game. USC left way too many points on the field in this game. They certainly outplayed Texas but once they got to the plus side of the field they seemed not to be able to figure out how to score. That defense was absolutely porous, as well.

I thought the Oklahoma State-Pitt game would be a barn burner similar to last year. Oklahoma State felt otherwise. They led 21-0 after the 1st quarter and 49-14 at the half. Mason Randolph has to be in consideration for the Heisman, the threw for 497 yards and 5 touchdowns yesterday (1 INT). For the year he has thrown for 11 TDs and 1 INT in three games with a completion percentage of 72. He has also ran for 2 scores.

The Clemson-Louisville game did two things last night. It cemented Clemson as the team to beat on it's run for back-to-back titles (however, those already predicting a third National Championship matchup between Clemson and Alabama need to cool their jets). It also should have ended any serious discussion about Lamar Jackson repeating for Heisman. I will be honest I did not think he deserved it last year. He has a tendency to disappear in big games. He and the Cardinals vanished towards the end of last season yet he was awarded the Heisman (it is a held belief that a majority of the voters had already sent in their ballots before the Cardinals fell on hard times). In the Clemson game, Jackson did throw for three TDs but two of those were thrown after the game was well in hand. 538 had Clemson with a 97% to win the game with over 8 minutes left to go in the 3rd quarter. This game was simply a blowout and showed that when it comes to big games Bobby Petrino still cannot get it done

Playoff Team 1

Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama did what they were supposed to over a far inferior team. They beat Colorado State 41-23 but the game was not nearly as close as the final shows. Going into the 4th Alabama led 38-10. At the very least Nick Saban will have something to complain about how the defense allowed 13 points in the 4th, and you know he is not happy about it.

Next up for Alabama, they travel to Nashville for a game with Vanderbilt.

Playoff Team 2

Clemson Tigers

As discussed above, Clemson absolutely rolled over Louisville. What is more impressive is that they did it at Louisville. I really do not see much competition coming out of the ACC that can stop the Tigers. More than likely they will stop themselves (if that happens). Florida State is their sole remaining test. That is not to say they will not be challenged, but right now they look unbeatable.

Next up for Clemson, they take on Boston College at home.

Playoff Team 3

Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma looked like it was in for a post-Ohio State headache scare against Tulane. At the end of the 1st quarter the score was tied 14-14. Then the OU defense seemed to wake up and held Tulane scoreless for the rest of the game en route to a 56-14 thumping. Baker Mayfield threw for 331 yards and 4 TDs, continuing on his Heisman run.

Next up for Oklahoma, they head to Waco for a game against Baylor.

Playoff Team 4

Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State took on a far inferior team in Georgia State and won as they should have 56-0. There is not much else to say as Penn State's toughest game this year was against Pitt, which was blown out by Oklahoma State.

Next up for Penn State, they head to Iowa City to take on Iowa (Iowa now has what is arguably the greatest new tradition in college football. They built the new children's hospital adjacent to the stadium. The kids and their family head up to the top floor to watch the game. At the end of the first quarter the fans turn around and wave at the kids.)

Dark Horses

Oklahoma State continues to be the best team in the state of Oklahoma not named Oklahoma University. They are also on the outside looking in to the playoffs because of that. Oklahoma State hosts TCU this week and could be the Cowboys first true test. USC was able to withstand Texas and remain undefeated. The remain a dark horse for the moment, but unless they can tighten up on both sides of the ball they may lose two games this year. They face their first road test of the year this week traveling to Oakland to play Cal. The Washington Huskies are also on the list of dark horses and probably a bit higher than USC. However, Washington has not faced any adversity this season. They do travel to Boulder this week to take on Colorado (who had a surprising resurgence last year).

Best of Week 3

Upsets everywhere. This plays well into my new feature of overrated teams. Several ranked teams fell yesterday to what should have been inferior teams. But the best of week 3 was the aforementioned USC-Texas game. It was not a well played game by either team but there was plenty of drama and 2 overtimes. What is not to like.

In a Division III game something happened that has never happened and will probably never happen again (as the NCAA will probably change the rules to ensure that it does not happen again). Texas Lutheran lined up for a short field goal. The kick was blocked and the ball landed in front of the kicker. He had the presence of mind to kick it again and it went through the uprights. The officials awarded 3 points to Texas Lutheran. Because it is the NCAA there are three separate rules on something like this. 2 of the rules allow for the kicker to do what he did and the points count. However, the third rule supersedes the first two rules and what should have happened was an illegal kick penalty and a loss of downs. Sine, the officials went with the first two rules and awarded the points it is the best of Week 3.

Worst of Week 3

Nebraska

This should have been an easy win for the Huskers. Northern Illinois has, in the past, been a difficult win for teams. But this is Lincoln and non Power 5 teams are not supposed to come in and compete against the Huskers. But this is not the same Nebraska team of years passed. This is not even the same Nebraska of the last 10 years. Earlier this week Mike Riley received an extension with the Huskers (I do not know why either). After the game the AD continued his support of Riley. There is no telling how long that support will last. The way the Huskers are playing right now there are not many wins to be found on the schedule. Husker fans should hope for a turn around but be prepared for an under .500 season.

NCAA Rules

They just flat out do not make any sense. Three separate rules governing a kick. Then there was also the uniform rule enforced against Florida A&M's game against Arkansas. Because the numbers on the jerseys did not clash enough with their jersey they lost a time out per half for as long as they wore the uniforms. Yes FAMU knew the rule and it was on them to abide by it. But seriously, why have that rule? I am sure there will be other instances throughout the season that will make no sense.

​Rankings and Over-reaction

​There is a reason why the playoff rankings are not released until October and yesterday was a prime example. Mississippi State absolutely destroyed LSU, but why was LSU ranked in the first place with a new coach of a team that under-performed last year. Of course, because of MSU's route of LSU they will be ranked this week, and more than likely over-ranked. The "experts" are already saying that MSU may be the only team in the West that can take on Alabama. After one game. Take a breath people.

Over-rated teams

USC

Texas

Stanford

Kansas State

Ohio State

Florida

Tennessee

LSU

Louisville

UCLA

The SEC

The list will grow as the season goes on but to this point the rankings have just been plain horrible. There is no reason six SEC teams should be ranked this year. Outside of Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia the rest of the league is just plain. Having said that neither Auburn or Georgia should be ranked in the top 10 and barely in the top 15.

Most intriguing game of Week 4

​TCU at Oklahoma State

​This is the only really intriguing game of the week as two high power offenses square off against each other. Oklahoma State's defense has been stellar this year but will face a test in TCU. I am hoping for a good game but Oklahoma State's defense holds up this could turn into a route.

​Worth watching: UCLA at Stanford

The Pac-12 after dark game this week is a match-up of teams that both lost to teams they had no business losing to this week. UCLA lost at Memphis (the "experts" say they lost because the game started at 11 am in Memphis (which was 9 am in LA, that is a lame excuse for a team that was completely outplayed). Stanford finished off the sorry Pac-12 play by losing to San Diego State, a game that was delayed in the 4th quarter because the lights at Qualcomm were inexplicably turned off. This is a game between two teams trying to figure out who they are.

​Hottest seat game: Texas A&M at Arkansas (Cowboy Stadium in Dallas, TX)

The Aggies and the Hogs are two teams that should be better than they are. The Aggies have not looked like a solid team at all this year (outside of the first 3 quarters against UCLA). They blew a 35 point lead to UCLA and trailed Louisiana at halftime. Arkansas is in year 5 of the Brett Bielema era and in less they can figure out their identity it could be one of the worst years. Neither coach will be fired if they lose this game (probably) but their seat will get that much hotter.