College Football Roundup Week 3

This weekend was called a bad slate by many, but you can’t ever go in with that mindset this sport always delivers.

American

This hasn’t been a banner OOC performance by this conference and Saturday in particular was really rough. Yes, what appears to be the top 2 teams in the conference won Memphis and South Florida, but who knows if Memphis’ win over Florida State will age well. There were many tough results elsewhere, Oklahoma’s disappointing start seemed to open the door for Tulane but they Green Wave were dispatched in a 15 point loss. UTSA wasn’t competitive at all and there might be serious concerns with that team. No one outside the big 4 had a good performance either.

ACC

Florida State and NC State clearly seem to be the 2 most disappointing teams in the conference, both appear on their way to struggling to bowl bids.

Boston College faced a very tough test at Missouri, the Eagles didn’t win unfortunately but they stayed competitive and showed they might be able to stick in or near the Top 25 for a while.

At what point do we consider that Virginia Tech’s disappointing opening loss was a result of Vandy being very difficult to prepare for as a result of their revamped team? I’m not there yet, but I’m getting close.

How about Pitt?? The Air-raid offense seems to be helping for the 2nd week in a row the Panthers pulled off a dramatic late win.

Big Ten

Curt Cignetti is going to waste no time making Indiana competitive isn’t he? The Hoosiers rolled into the Rose Bowl in NBC primetime and dismantled UCLA. It feels like he’s going to get this team to bowl eligibility, maybe even before the end of October. Very impressive start.

If Wisconsin is going to run out of shotgun on 4th and 1, miss field goals and get burned for TDs in 30 seconds, what are we even doing here? Luke Fickell had a vision of merging their previous identity with a more modern offense but it hasn’t worked so far. Fickell was a great hire but he’s going to need to adjust how he wants to mold the team this offseason this isn’t working. I know it was Alabama they lost to, and Tyler Van Dyke got hurt early but I seriously struggle to find 4 more wins for them the rest of the way.

Big 12

One of the best games of the day was UCF’s last moment comeback against TCU. That action filled game is exactly what was expected for this conference. That was an early taste of conference play, but buckle up more is coming.

This happened on Thursday but what a performance by Arizona State. They fell behind early and Texas State dared them to find a way to move the ball without using Cam Skattebo. The Sun Devils made it happen, Sam Leavitt impressed with a very gritty effort and maybe a top target in Jordyn Tyson emerged. The Sun Devils could set up a massive showdown with Utah if they can win the next 2 games.

Kansas and Arizona appear to be early disappointments in the conference. The loss of Andy Kotelnicki was underestimated in the offseason for Kansas, they’re still trying to run the same offense without him but it’s clear that everything is just a tick off where it needs to be and it’s resulting in struggles for the Jayhawks. Arizona meanwhile doesn’t seem to have much else in the passing game besides Tetairoa McMillan and that got exposed by the Kansas State defense.

CUSA

This is going to be an interesting conference race. Liberty definitely appears to be off from where they were last season.

Western Kentucky had the rough opener, but the Tops have improved each week. They turned to Famous Toastery Bowl hero Caden Veltcamp in the 100 Miles of Hate and he didn’t disappoint, throwing 5 TDs and only 3 incompletions.

Jax State meanwhile is off to a disappointing 0-3 start mainly thanks to a defense that is struggling.

Sam Houston, FIU and maybe Louisiana Tech are teams who could get themselves into contention.

MAC

Now that’s how you do it Toledo. The Rockets rolled into Starkville and got paid $1.2 Million to beat the Bulldogs 41-17 in a game that could have even been worse. It had been a slow start for Toledo but this result shows they may were holding things back.

It’s been a good non-conference for a lot of the top of the conference but a disappointing one for the Miami RedHawks. Hosting a vulnerable Cincinnati at home was an opportunity they needed to take advantage of and they just couldn’t do it.

Eastern Michigan won a fun overtime battle with Jacksonville State to move to 2-1. The Eagles appear to be well on their way to another solid season, once again Chris Creighton proves to be the most underrated coach in the sport.

Mountain West

It was a tough go early and they needed some help but UNLV pulled off a massive victory over Kansas on Friday night. Matthew Sluka will need to keep working on the deep ball so that the passing game improves as the season goes on but he is an incredibly slippery runner and made a lot of great plays down the stretch to give the Rebels the win.

Fresno State can’t be forgotten about in the conference title race the Bulldogs handled New Mexico State 48-0 and get their shot at UNLV in 2 weeks. Watch out for the Bulldogs.

Outside of the top 3 (UNLV, Boise State and Fresno State) the rest of this league appears to be very down. Air Force and Wyoming are on the verge of their worst seasons in a long time, Colorado State’s offense hasn’t been nearly as good as expected. San Jose State’s 3-0 start might be the only positive development for the conference outside of the top 3.

Pac-12/Independents

Washington State took down Washington with a goal like stand to win the Apple Cup, it doesn’t get much more satisfying than that for the Cougars who appear to be a very impressive team this year. The Cougs have already passed 2 big tests so it could be a very special season.

Oregon State meanwhile…that was rough. They got dismantled by their rival Oregon. It was already apparent in the offseason that the Beavers were hit hard this offseason with the coaching change and the portal. It might be a rough season for them.

UMass is in for a long season, their offense has taken a massive step back and really can’t move the ball at all. The Minutemen need to figure out something fast to salvage the season.

SEC

What was that Georgia?? Sure it was a road game but that didn’t bother South Carolina the week before. The Bulldogs were against a bad Kentucky team they’ve blown out historically and struggled with them instead. Kentucky had a shot at it near midfield with just over 2 minutes left but punted on 4th down. Will Georgia go scorched earth from here? Or continue to wheeze past inferior opponents? They have a bye then play Alabama so we only have to wait a couple weeks to find out.

Bowl eligible Vandy has taken a massive hit, the Commodores lost on the road to Georgia State and that means they need to find an upset win elsewhere.

South Carolina really let one get away. The Gamecocks dominated a lot of that game against LSU but inopportune penalties really cost them and took points off the board. Not to mention the injury to LaNorris Sellers. That was a game they needed to have.

Sun Belt:

The Sun Belt finds themselves behind in the AQ bid pecking order at this point. They still have 4 undefeated teams, Coastal Carolina being the only one at 3-0, JMU, Louisiana and UL-Monroe are all 2-0.

Texas State is still the clear favorite to win the conference, they had center stage on Thursday night and despite not getting the result they wanted they didn’t disappoint. It was clear 2 good teams were on the field but in the end there were a few regretful plays for the Bobcats that cost them in a tight game.

Appalachian State managed to rebound from last week’s disaster with a tight comeback win against ECU. The Mountaineers face South Alabama next Thursday in a game that will give us a better picture on where both stand in the conference.

FCS

Can confirm, Idaho is a legit contender to win the FCS championship this year. The Vandals had their home opener against Albany, the team that ended their playoff run last season and the Vandals served up revenge in dominating fashion 41-13.

Youngstown State was a team expected to be on the playoff bubble this season but the Penguins took a surprising and costly loss at home to Duquesne. The Penguins will have more opportunities to build a resume but this one hurts. Big win for Duquesne and the NEC though.

We learned more about some teams that were tough to get a read on. Mercer was a wagon against bad competition early on but faced a Chattanooga team with high expectations that opened with 2 FBS foes. Mercer came out with a 10-3 win in a rock fight, very impressive effort from the Bears.

Sacramento State and Nicholls both opened with decently competitive efforts against FBS foes, but neither had won a game yet. Sacramento State made a statement with a blowout win. It wasn’t all bad for the Southland though, Lamar upset Weber State and Southeastern LA took down Eastern Washington.

Southern Illinois took down Incarnate Word in another prove it game for both teams. The Salukis absolutely dominated the first half to take a 35-14 lead at halftime but had to withstand an Incarnate Word rally to hold on to the win. Incarnate Word showed back to back weeks they can compete, but came up empty in terms of quality wins.

UC Davis and Southern Utah had a close battle in a key game between two Top 25 teams. Southern Utah grabbed an early lead but UC Davis rallied to make it a back and forth battle with the Aggies coming out victorious. Huge win for them and a tough close loss for the Thunderbirds.

There was nearly a MAJOR upset as East Tennessee State led North Dakota State 35-23 late before Cam Miller led the Bison on a miracle rally with help from an onside kick recovery. The Bison are such a tough team to beat, but wow what a tough gut-wrenching loss for the Buccaneers this could have been a statement victory but it’s also clear the Bucs are one of the best teams in the SOCON this year.