While Week 3 has plenty of interesting rivalry matchups, last week’s college football slate was full of close calls. Several games went down to the wire, and teams fans expected to make short work of their opponent were taken to the game’s closing seconds in several instances.
Oregon narrowly escaped Boise State at home. Meanwhile, Penn State was pushed to its limits against Bowling Green.
Some, however, were not so lucky, including one big program that disappointed. Here’s the summary of how things went down in college football last week, plus a look ahead to this weekend.
Recap of Week 2’s Saturday Spotlight: Texas and Michigan
The Texas offense picks up right where it left off. In a much-anticipated game between College Football Playoff finalists, the Longhorns took it to the Wolverines in front of their home fans at Ann Arbor. Texas capitalized on key turnover before and had a huge 21-3 lead at the break. That large lead took Michigan out of their brand of football that relies on the running game to throttle down the opposition.
Once out of their style of play, it thrust the game heavily on Davis Warren‘s shoulders and limited Donovan Edwards to eight rushing attempts. Warren’s struggled against the Texas defense and threw two interceptions.
Meanwhile, Quinn Ewers didn’t have to do much but execute the offense. He was cool in the pocket, made the right reads, and put the ball in the hands of his playmakers to do the heavy lifting. Tight end Gunnar Helm paced the receiving core with 98 yards receiving as Texas cruised to the decisive win.
Recap of Week 2’s Upset Pick: NC State and Tennessee
Talk about taking a big swing and a miss. Last week’s article argued that NC State was enduring growing pains with its newcomers and needed more time to build chemistry. Thus far, the experiment went wrong, as did the upset pick.
Due to miscommunication, the NC State defense let several receivers run free in their coverages. Grayson McCall was expected to perform better than he did against the Tennessee Volunteers, and that couldn’t have been further from the truth. To be fair to NC State, the game was going as well as it could have gone late into the first half before McCall’s pick-six to Will Brooks as NC State was on the verge of tying the game late in the second quarter.
Things snowballed on the Wolfpack from there. Asserting that NC State quit seems harsh, but some of their effort in tackling exuded a team that was defeated long before the final whistle. Dylan Sampson carried the offense and NC State defenders on his back to 132 yards rushing on 20 carries and two scores. Tennessee destroyed the upset pick, winning 51-10 over NC State.
Who helped or hurt themselves the most?
Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame Fighting Irish would be an easy choice here. Their loss at home against Northern Illinois is a head-scratcher for a program with a clear advantage over their opponent.
Notre Dame was drawn into a back-and-forth battle with lesser competition against Texas A&M, but it managed to win. Freeman’s loss is disappointing because you would have expected them to trounce the Huskies at home at this stage in his tenure. However, they aren’t the ones who hurt themselves the most; that infamous distinction belongs to Shedeur Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes.
No one will mistake the Buffaloes as some National Title contender, let alone a threat in the Big 12. Yet, weekly, despite all the attention the program receives nationally, they disappoint in ways similar to how they did against Nebraska.
Colorado took a 28-0 deficit into halftime and never got back up, being knocked down to the mat. The game and the final outcome aren’t why Sanders and Colorado hurt themselves the most; it’s what he said following the game.
Shedeur Sanders puts all the blame on his offensive line for his sloppy play against Nebraska.
Zero accountability…pic.twitter.com/shzum7b8U4
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 8, 2024
Sanders’ comments throw his entire offensive line under the bus. As the quarterback and leader of the team, that’s unacceptable. It’s not the right example to lead a program fighting for the respect that matches the recognition it receives because of the star power at the team’s helm.
Of course, Deion Sanders is at the forefront. What do you say to the leader of your team who hung his teammates out to dry with such comments, intentional or otherwise? How do you broach that conversation when the leader is your son? Systemically, Colorado is operating in orbit of its most notable figures for better or worse.
The head coach understands that how he handles his players and the media will either attract or repel the upper-echelon recruits he desperately needs once his stars head to the NFL to advance the program truly.
As for Shedeur, when talent evaluators and NFL scouts appraise his talents and temperament as to whether or not he can be a franchise quarterback, it’s moments like the postgame after Nebraska that are going to give detractors; this is true whether they be in NFL organizations or the media, ammunition to condemn his viability as the centerpiece of an NFL team. The two most prominent figures of Colorado hurt themselves the most this week.
College Football Week 3 Saturday Spotlight: Boston College at Missouri
Aside from both teams ranked in the top 25, the intrigue for this game is the quarterbacks and their contrasting styles.
Boston College’s Thomas Castellanos is a small-dual threat who can create plays from outside the pocket, and his mobility plays well off of Kye Robichaux and Treshaun Ward out of the backfield.
Opposite of Castellanos is Brady Cook, one of the NCAA’s better pocket passers. He’s smart. He’s a good decision-maker that takes care of the football.
Fans should be anxious to see where both teams are mentally heading into this week’s game. Boston College is confident after their big win against Florida State and is playing with house money in the ACC, with Louisville as the only ranked ACC opponent on their schedule now.
For Missouri, there’s a little pressure to pay attention to Boston College as a brutal SEC stretch awaits them, including a visit from Oklahoma.
Boston College has a run-pass ratio of 71 percent to 29 percent in favor of the run. The key will be if Missouri’s offense can generate enough explosive plays to force Castellanos and Boston College to win with him from the pocket.
College Football Week 3 Upset Special: South Carolina over LSU
Shane Beamer has found the early recipe to success for the Gamecocks. Playing with a freshman quarterback, LaNorris Sellers, Beamer is letting his signal caller be his best self and allowing him to run the ball to settle the offense.
The team does lack an explosive element, however, as Gamecock fans anxiously await when Nyck Harbor will be implemented into the offense. Nevertheless, South Carolina pounding the football is their offensive identity for now. That’s not a problem because their defense is leading the charger.
Dylan Stewart and Kyle Kennard have led the way with six sacks between them. South Carolina’s cornerbacks Jalon Kilgore and O’Donnell Fortune are also very good. It’ll be a tall task to contain Kyren Lacy and Mason Taylor in the Tigers offense. However, South Carolina should get some push in the pocket on Garrett Nussmeier. Vegas also has this Week 3 college football game very close, with LSU only a seven-point favorite. Something is cooking in South Carolina on Saturday.
