Week three of the college football season has come and gone, and there were lots of things that went down that were expected by the large majority of college football fans. Some of the best teams in the country had some, let’s call them, tune-up games, and took care of business handily.
There were also some, uh…surprises.
There were some things that went down Saturday that were absolutely not expected by the majority of the college football fanbase. And if you don’t know, analyzing everything that did go down this weekend is kind of what this series is for!
Alright, enough of me yapping in the intro, I’m not good at these anyway. Let’s jump right in!
Indiana has a legitimate case for the Top 25 after this weekend
Sorry. I had to.
Going into this game, I was expecting Indiana to come out with a win. The 2024 iteration of UCLA is not a particularly good football team (sorry, Bruin fans), and even though UCLA did have home-field advantage at the Rose Bowl, Indiana had been impressive enough that I expected them to take care of UCLA.
However, what I did not expect is how Indiana took care of the Bruins on Saturday night.
The Hoosiers absolutely mopped the floor with UCLA, destroyed them, crushed them, whatever you want to call it. Throw out any descriptive adjective or phrase and it probably applies to this game. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke put on one of the best overall performances of the young season, as he threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns and absolutely dissected the Bruins’ defense all night long. Miles Cross caught six balls for 90 yards and a score, and Ke’Shawn Williams had a wildly efficient night, as two of his three catches were touchdowns. The Hoosiers’ defense also generally performed well throughout the night, as the UCLA offense never really got much of anything going.
Head coach Curt Cignetti, who came over from James Madison after completely turning that program around, has ignited a massive culture change in Bloomington. He won a ton at JMU, and if this game is any indication, he’s not slowing down with that winning culture any time soon. Indiana just might vault itself into the Top 25 after this dominant effort.
Jalen Milroe might have just earned his spot as the Heisman Trophy frontrunner
Okay, does the Quinn Ewers injury have anything to do with this (more on that in a minute!)? Maybe. But there is absolutely no denying that this was a dominant performance from Milroe, who happens to be one of my favorite players in college football.
Admittedly, it was a bit of a slow start for Milroe and the Alabama offense, but that only lasted about a quarter or so before the Crimson Tide really got going. The offense really started to click when Milroe launched a bomb of a touchdown pass to superstar freshman Ryan Williams to go up 7-3. From there, it was all Alabama, as Milroe would end up throwing for three touchdowns and running for over 70 yards and adding two touchdowns on the ground.
There is a difference in culture in Tuscaloosa now under new head coach Kalen DeBoer. And a part of me wonders if Milroe will ascend to even greater heights than he already was at because of that shift in culture. If this game is any indication, he very well might. He was already one of the most dynamic players in college football. But to come into a hostile environment in Madison and completely destroy the Badgers’ defense with both his arm and his legs? And leave the stadium after crushing Wisconsin 42-10?
I’d say that’s one heck of a statement. This was a statement win, both for the Tide and Milroe, and he just might be the Heisman Trophy frontrunner after this weekend.
Oregon looked more like the team that was initially ranked top-3 in the country
Now that’s more like the Oregon we were all waiting for.
This was a rivalry game, so it’s quite reasonable to conclude that there was a little extra juice in both teams. A part of me was expecting Oregon State to keep it close, especially when considering how questionable the Ducks looked.
Well, I was wrong.
Oregon looked much better in this one, and they looked more like the team that had been ranked third in the country before the season began. Dillon Gabriel was absolutely surgical, as he threw 20 completions as opposed to just four incompletions, not to mention 291 yards and two scores. His second score was a screen pass that wideout Jayden Limar took 65 yards to the house. Running back Jordan James also enjoyed a great game, as he carried the ball 12 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
I am aware that Oregon State isn’t exactly a college football powerhouse this year, and Oregon did what they were supposed to do by beating them by as much as they did. But given how inconsistent and unconvincing Oregon looked over the first two weeks and how they were managing to squeak out wins (see Idaho in Week 1), this was a good sign for the Ducks.
Now the question is, can they do that every week? That’s a different story entirely. Only time will tell on that front.
LSU is the toughest SEC team to get a read on
My question after this weekend is, how good is this team, really?
Of course, the season did not exactly start off on the best note for LSU as they took the loss to USC in Week 1. They easily cruised past Nicholls in their next game in what was a tune-up game before this weekend’s matchup with South Carolina in Columbia.
In the game, quarterback Gavin Nussmeier ended up playing okay, as he went 24-for-40 for 285 yards and two touchdowns plus an interception. However, this game was 17-0 in South Carolina’s favor in the second quarter before running back Caden Durham ran for a 26-yard score to narrow the lead to ten.
However, the second half of this game is where things got absolutely nuts.
To begin the half, LSU went out on downs twice in a row, and South Carolina went three-and-out. Thrilling start, right? Well, apparently we just had to wait a little longer for the fireworks to start. Caden Durham ran for another score to make it a 24-22 Gamecock lead. After another South Carolina punt, Nussmeier hit Mason Taylor from two yards out for a touchdown to give LSU the lead. But the Gamecocks struck right back to take the lead again as the fourth quarter got underway. Finally, after a back-and-forth fourth quarter which included Nussmeier’s interception and a South Carolina fumble, among other things, running back Josh Williams found paydirt from two yards out to give the Tigers a lead they would never relinquish, as the Gamecocks missed a potential game-tying field goal and LSU walked away with the win.
LSU did win the game, that’s for sure. However, when I look at this one, I can’t help but wonder a couple of things: 1) should this game have been as close as it was, and 2) how much did this take out of the Tigers’ players and coaches? LSU’s next game is against the same UCLA team that Indiana just demolished. My initial thinking is that the Tigers should have little trouble here, as they are at home and UCLA is coming off a pretty demoralizing loss.
But at the same time, if the first three weeks are any indication, there’s no sure thing with this team.
Georgia did not look like the No. 1 team in the country
At least, in this game they didn’t.
After looking exactly like the top team in the nation over the first two weeks of the season, Georgia ran into its first semi-roadblock in this primetime showdown with Kentucky. And to be honest, I did not expect this game to be particularly close, as I expected the Bulldogs to roll in Lexington.
Clearly that did not happen, and before I analyze this game any further, a major tip of the cap to the Wildcats’ defense. They played outstanding and held that vaunted Georgia offense to 13 points all game. It was a surprisingly quiet game from Carson Beck, as he only threw for 160 yards and no touchdowns. However, he also didn’t throw an interception and he took good care of the ball against a pesky Kentucky defense. Trevor Etienne played okay, as he ran for 79 yards but didn’t find the end zone. That honor belonged to Branson Robinson, as one of his two carries on the game was the lone Georgia touchdown on the game.
There was no doubt that the Kentucky defense played well throughout the game, but Georgia’s defense also played well, and the Kentucky offense was, uh, not particularly great. Brock Vandagriff barely completed fifty percent of his passes and, like Beck, didn’t throw a touchdown or interception. In the end, this was a game where the Bulldogs played just well enough to earn a gritty, sloppy win.
And if you’re Georgia here, especially offensively, you might just scrap the tape from this one and move onto next week, because it was ugly.
And last but not least…
Texas may be the best and most complete team in college football
At least right now, that looks like it might be the case.
Yes, I know the Longhorns were playing UTSA, and it was clear that Texas was leaps and bounds better than the Roadrunners. This was a tune-up game for them as they prepare for SEC play. And after Quinn Ewers went down with an injury, there was reason for doubt, that’s for sure.
Enter Arch Manning.
Manning, who is easily the most famous backup quarterback in college football, entered the game in Ewers’ stead and was awesome. He only threw twelve passes in the game, but completed nine of those to the tune of 227 yards and four touchdowns. And unlike his uber-famous relatives, Arch showed that he can be a major threat on the ground, as he ran for 53 yards and a touchdown. His connections with his wideouts was elite right out of the gate, as Ryan Wingo caught three passes for 127 yards and a score, and Isaiah Bond hauled in five receptions for 103 yards and two touchdowns.
Even in Ewers’ absence, Texas looked ridiculously good. And again, I know their opponent was UTSA, but I was extremely impressed with how Manning entered the game and literally just picked up right where Ewers left off. And with Georgia’s struggle to put away Kentucky, and with how the Longhorns dominated UTSA this weekend right after throttling Michigan and their elite defense last weekend?
Well, we might have a new best team in college football at this current moment in time. It will take another couple of weeks, and an update regarding Ewers’ status, to declare the Longhorns the best team in the nation period.
But for now? Texas just might be all the way back.
Elms' Essentials: Rivalry Week
Elms' Essentials: Week 13
