College football overreactions Week 3: Trinidad Chambliss wins Heisman? USC flop again?

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The week that was in college football, even though it didn’t produce any monumental upsets, still managed to deliver plenty of high intrigue, memorable moments, and last-minute drama. It also helped that for the second Saturday in succession, the main event on the slate more than lived up to its rather lofty billing.

It is in the aftermath of that unforgettable night in Oxford, Mississippi, where we open this week’s presentation of the biggest overreactions of the weekend. And, just like a week ago, we must throw a little figurative cold water on the well-deserved celebrations of the man of the hour.

Trinidad Chambliss just won the Heisman Trophy

Now we’ve been over this, friends. We’ve barely completed a quarter of the season, and the sport’s highest individual honor is not given out in September.

That said, however, there’s no doubt that Chambliss made the most of his opportunity on the big stage, just as Texas QB Arch Manning did a week ago. He had his way running and throwing against the LSU defense and delivered a loss to former coach Lane Kiffin. The numbers were impressive – 363 yards passing and two touchdowns – and his fourth-quarter drive to win the game was capped by a run for a secore.

Such memorable performances certainly resonate with voters, but there are going to be many more such opportunities in the coming weeks.

Same old Southern California?

Heading east hasn’t been easy for USC since joining the Big Ten. Even so, Trojans’ fans were undoubtedly hoping this week’s conference opener at Rutgers would be a stress-free trip. USC got out of Piscataway, New Jersey, with the win but allowed the Scarlet Knights to pile up 35 points and 460 total yards. That’s the same Rutgers team that was pushed around by Massachusetts on the same field just two weeks ago.

The Trojans shouldn’t panic just yet. Given their upcoming schedule, it’s human nature that they might not have taken the Scarlet Knights as seriously as they should have. Then again, the Lincoln Riley era has been marked by high-powered offenses but no stopping power on the other side. Five of USC’s next six opponents are currently in the US LBM Coaches Poll Top 25, so we won’t have long to wait to learn if things are actually going to be different for the Trojans this year.

Louisville and Ole Miss are each other's biggest fans

Once upon a time in early September, An SEC contender squared off against a challenger from the ACC. Actually, there were two such encounters in Week 1, but pundits and poll voters might have made too much of one result and not enough of the other one. We addressed LSU possibly getting too much credit for its demolition of Clemson last week in this space. We now consider the proposition that Ole Miss should have gotten more plaudits for outlasting Louisville.

The Cardinals picked up one of the most significant victories of the just-completed Week 3 lineup getting by SMU. They have an offense with rising star Lincoln Kienholz at the controls that could rival early favorite Miami (Fla.) for ACC supremacy. Should Louisville keep winning, that Week 1 result could serve Ole Miss well.

The Big 12 championship game is already set

If the polls hold, we can already identify the participants in the Big 12 title game, even though only a tiny fraction of the league schedule has been completed. Texas Tech was able to get by Houston thanks to a late stop of a two-point conversion attempt. There are no other ranked teams on the remainder of the Red Raiders’ slate, which is to say they won’t face either Brigham Young or Utah during the regular season. Those two will meet in the ‘Holy War’ showdown on Nov. 7, and the winner between the Cougars and Utes would then be in line to meet the Red Raiders for the championship.

That’s a lot of assumptions, of course, and the rest of the conference isn’t going to simply capitulate to the teams believed to be the favorites. But those three have distinguished themselves thus far.

North Dakota State will make the College Football Playoff

The NCAA Division I cabinet in June voted to eliminate the two-year waiting period for teams transitioning to the Bowl Subdivision, meaning the Bison are eligible immediately to appear in the postseason in their inaugural FBS campaign. That includes the Mountain West championship game, the conference they were invited to join, and yes, even the College Football Playoff.

NDSU is already off to a 4-0 start, including a win in its first conference game at Air Force. The long-time FCS power have to chance to crack the playoff field even faster than James Madison.

But that’s where things might get complicated for NDSU, even if it does run the table in its new league. The Bison would have to be the highest-ranked conference champion from all the so-called Group of Six leagues. In addition, the Bison will face some major road tests in their own conference. They must visit both New Mexico and UNLV, not to mention make the long trip to Hawaii. For now, they can enjoy a well-earned week off and ponder the possibilities.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football overreactions Week 3: Trinidad Chambliss wins Heisman? USC flop again?

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