College Football biggest risers & fallers after Week 3
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Week 3 gave us a little bit of everything, and it was quintessential college football. We had international games, lightning delays, a literal one-in-a-million game-winner, upsets, dominating favorites, conference openers, conference championship implications, and interpersonal drama worthy of a reality show.
We even had a scandal involving broken elevators! There is nothing on planet Earth like college football, and college football was at its peak here in Week 3! How can you not be romantic about college football?
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Riser: Ole Miss
In the game of the day, the Ole Miss Rebels got revenge on Lane Kiffin in a 32-24 victory. As far as Kiffin is concerned, his treatment in Oxford was actually fairly tame. There weren’t any golf balls hurled at him this time, just a few expletives on College Gameday and a very untimely elevator outage that forced some LSU assistant coaches to take the stairs.
QB Trinidad Chambliss was paramount in Ole Miss’ victory, throwing for 363 yards and out-dueling Sam Leavitt by leading the game-winning drive after LSU tied the game at 24-24. This Rebels team can play with anyone in the country.
Faller: Texas A&M
A home game against Kentucky is just about as easy a game as you can get in the SEC. And Texas A&M just lost it, and it wasn’t particularly close. A lot of the blame has to fall on Marcel Reed, who threw two interceptions and does not seem to have taken any steps forward from last season.
With the schedule they have upcoming, the Aggies’ CFP aspirations are bleak.
Riser: Florida
The Gators’ offense was outstanding in their SEC-opening victory over Auburn. It was a balanced attack that saw Jadan Baugh rush for over 160 yards and the duo of Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson combine for 160 receiving yards.
In a battle of head coaches making their SEC debuts, Jon Sumrall sent the message to the rest of the SEC that the Gators are coming back!
Faller: Arkansas
How does a school with this many rich alumni and resources put out a football product that’s this bad? Georgia treated Arkansas more like a Group of 6 opponent than a conference game. Given that it’s Ryan Silverfield’s first year, he shouldn’t shoulder much blame.
This disaster, which will surely finish last in the SEC, is the fault of the administration.
Riser: Lightning Delays
It was a warm Saturday in the South that had thunderstorms popping up all over. There were three power-4 games that saw delays due to lightning. Clemson and Alabama ignited second-half comebacks after returning to the field to stun North Carolina and Florida State, respectively.
Meanwhile, Mississippi State and South Carolina had their kickoff delayed by an hour, and it seems as if the defenses decided not to stick around, as the Bulldogs won in a 41-34 shootout.
Faller: Dave Doeren
Where do we even begin with this one? NC State had the ball, up three, with 6 seconds left, facing a 4th down. This is the type of situation that a team should never lose in. In fact, in the last 20 seasons, teams were 1046-1 when leading and having possession of the ball with under 10 seconds remaining in the game. The 1 loss was the infamous “Whoa, he has trouble with the snap” Michigan botched punt that led to a Michigan State touchdown in 2015. What ensued today topped that.
NC State QB CJ Bailey ran around for a few seconds and was stripped of the football by a Vanderbilt defender. The Commodores fell on the ball and walked away with a 35-31 victory. At the end of the day, the buck stops at the head coach. Dave Doeren wasn’t exactly popular in Raleigh prior to this loss, and he certainly won’t be now.
Riser: Louisville
The Louisville Cardinals may have just punched their tickets to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game. Now, there’s a lot of the season left, but if you look at Louisville’s schedule, they’ll be favored in every remaining game.
Defeating SMU 41-31 on Saturday has massive implications in the ACC title race, as Louisville will now own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Mustangs. Jeff Brohm is an offensive genius, and Lincoln Kienholz and his dual-threat abilities are taking the Brohm offense to new heights.
Faller: Oklahoma
How could anyone possibly feel good about this team right now? After a 17-10 loss to Michigan (who struggled for a half against lowly UTEP today) last week, Oklahoma followed that performance up with a 14-6 victory over New Mexico. Woof.
The same problems from last year persist — a below-average offensive line can not generate running lanes, and the offense becomes too dependent on John Mateer making magic happen to move the ball. That is not a sustainable form of offense. The next two opponents on deck for the Sooners? Only #1 and #2 in the nation (Georgia and Texas).
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