Written by Adrian Beecher
Week three of the College Football brought a few upsets, one of which I predicted earlier in the week, (Alabama loss to Ole Miss). There were others that surprised me, like Stanford’s topping of USC. With Kevin Hogan at the helm for the Cardinal look for them to have a big year in the Pac-12.
Another surprise that stood out to me this week was Notre Dames impressive performance defeating Georgia Tech. If they are able to close games out and not let teams climb back at the end of the game like against Georgia Tech look for the Irish to be in the midst of Playoff talk come November. DeShone Kizer did well in filling the role under center in his first start for the Irish, finishing the game 21 for 30 passing for 242 yards and a touchdown. The real story was the explosion of senior running back C.J. Prosise, who put up 198 yards rushing and 3 TD’s on 22 carries. The only question with the Irish now, injuries. Just a week after losing their starting quarterback for the year, the Irish are suffering another loss with defensive back Drue Tranquill suffering an injury after a celebration during Saturdays matchup. If he’s lost for a long period of time it could hurt the Irish defense. Its next man up for the boys from South Bend if they want to get their first taste of the playoffs.
Now time for my top 25 for week 3 of the college football season.
1.) Ohio State
–The Buckeyes remain perfect on the season after surviving a scare from Northern Illinois. The Huskies took advantage of two costly interceptions by Cardale Jones into points giving NIU a 10-3 lead in the 2nd quarter. This prompted a quarterback change by the Buckeyes and J.T. Barrett rallied the troops and held on late to pull off the 20-13 victory.
2.) Michigan State
3.) TCU
4.) Georgia
– The Bulldogs showed they mean business in a 52-20 beat down on South Carolina. Heisman candidate Nick Chubb recorded his 3rd straight 100+ yard game of the season, burning the Tigers defense for 159 yards on 21 carries including 2 TD scores. Their next big test will be against Alabama at home on October 3rd.
5.) Notre Dame
6.) Ole Miss
–The running rebels were able to hold off a late comeback attempt by the Crimson tide to pull off the upset for the second season in a row. Alabama turned the ball over 5 times and still had a chance to win in the end. Ole Miss is a team not to be brushed to the way side. This win sets their legitimacy for now, but a tough schedule the rest of the season pits some possible road blocks on their hopes to stay playoff contenders.
7.) Baylor
8.) LSU
9.) UCLA
10.) FSU
–Transfer quarterback Everett Golson continued to struggle getting into the rhythm of the FSU offense, but it didn’t matter as a lights out performance by the ‘Noles defense shutout Boston College and has them sitting well at 3-0 going into their bye week. This will give Jimbo Fisher time to assess Golson’s performance and make adjustments prior to playing Wake Forrest on October 3rd before starting the meat of their schedule.
11.) Alabama
-First one loss team in my rankings. Despite trailing to Ole Miss by 3 scores late in the 4th quarter, they were within one score as the final minute approached with a chance to win the game. Turnovers and dropped passes hurt the Tide. You can be assured the Nick Saben will make the correct adjustments and have his team once again in playoff contention come the end of the season.
12.) Clemson
12.) Oregon
–Ducks only loss came at the hands of a downright good Michigan State football team by 3 points. If Oregon is able to keep winning, expect them to keep climbing back into the rankings.
13.) Texas A & M
14.) Arizona
–Big offensive numbers have been the Wildcats code to victory this season averaging over 40 points per game. Their schedule has been less than average competition. They will put their 3-0 record to the true test against the UCLA Bruins this weekend in a Pac-12 matchup.
15.) Oklahoma
16.) Northwestern
17.) Oklahoma State
18.) Utah
19.) USC
20.) Wisconsin
21.) Miami
–Losing a 23 point lead in the final minutes of the 4th quarter is not the best way to get into the rankings. But when you pull off a 36-33 overtime win over Nebraska with an interception and a field goal to movie to 3-0 it feels pretty good. Is Miami for real this year? We shall find out October 10th when they head to Doak Campbell to face FSU.
22.) Missouri
23.) Stanford
24.) Georgia Tech
25.) Florida
