College Football Week 3 Wrap up
Estimated 7 minute read
Weekly round up featuring rankings, media, and analysis from this week in college football.
Week 3 saw G5 contenders flex their muscles on the road and some bounce back performances from high profile teams.
Games of the Week
UCF Knights 35, TCU Horned Frogs 34
UCF lost three games last season where they held a second-half lead, including a brutal 36-35 home loss to Baylor where the Bears scored the game’s final 29 points. Georgia Tech scored 27 unanswered in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. Kansas State dropped 24 to erase a deficit. This time, it was the Knights mounting a comeback. Early on, it looked like TCU was going to run away from UCF. The Horned Frogs converted their first 7 third downs, with each seeming to be third and long. Kicker Colton Boomer had two field goals blocked. TCU took a 28-7 lead on a 50 yard touchdown pass from QB Josh Hoover, his fourth of the day. From that point, UCF put the game in RB RJ Harvey’s hands. Harvey finished with 180 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns, while adding a 29 yard touchdown reception. Knights quarterback KJ Jefferson threw 2 second-half touchdowns to WR Kobe Hudson, including the game winner with 36 seconds left to play.
Pittsburgh Panthers 38, West Virginia Mountaineers 34
For the second consecutive week, Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein delivered an electric 4th quarter performance to overcome a deficit against a rival. Last week, the Panthers scored 22 points in the final 15:46 to defeat Cincinnati. This week, the Panthers scored two touchdowns in the final 3:06 of the game. Holstein finished 21/30 for 301 yards and 3 TDs passing and was Pittsburgh’s leading rusher with 14 carries and 59 yards. With under a minute to play, Holstein somehow escaped a sack and scrambled for 17 yards to the Mountaineer 13 yard line. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi will be hoping for no fourth quarter heroics in next week’s matchup against Youngstown State.
Toledo Rockets 41, Mississippi State Bulldogs 17
Mississippi State paid MAC opponent Toledo $1.2m to come to Starkville and lose. Instead, the Rockets cashed the check and walked out 41-17 winners on the road against an SEC opponent. The outcome was never in doubt. Toledo scored first 8 minutes and 25 seconds into the first quarter en route to a 28-7 halftime lead that they never relinquished. The Rockets outgained the Bulldogs 454-385 while holding the hosts to 66 yards rushing on 2.4 yards per carry. If you took away the jerseys and logos, you’d expect Toledo to have been the side paying the Bulldogs to play.
Week 3 Heisman Top 5
Ashton Jeanty, RB Boise State, 45 carries, 459 yards, 10.2 yards per carry, 9 TDs
Travis Hunter, WR/DB Colorado, 30 receptions, 342 yards, 11.4 yards per reception, 5 TDs, 11 tackles, 2 pass defensed, 1 INT
Jaxson Dart, QB Ole Miss, 73/88, 83% completion, 1,172 yards, 11 TDs (3 rush), 1 INT
Cam Ward, QB Miami, 65/89, 73% completion, 1,039 yards, 12 TDs (1 rush), 1 INT
Jalen Milroe, QB Alabama, 35/52, 67.3% completion, 590 yards, 0 INTs, 36 carries, 156 yards, 6 TDs
Week 3 Players of the Week
Offensive: Tucker Gleason, QB Toledo - 23/28 285 yards, 3 TDs, 10 carries, 40 yards
Defensive: R Mason Thomas, DL Oklahoma - 3 tackles, 3 TFLs, 3 sacks, FF, FR, PBU
Special Teams: Ethan Hawks, K Cincinnati - 2/2 FGs, 2/2 FGs 50+
Week 3 Trending Up
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Someone turned the difficulty down to Freshman this week as the Irish beat in-state rival Purdue 66-7 on the road. This season Notre Dame has beat Texas A&M on the road, lost to Northern Illinois at home, and Purdue on the road. This week Notre Dame faces the Miami (OH) Redhawks, who play in the MAC, at home.
Oregon Ducks
Dillon Gabriel and Dan Lanning finally showed the potential that saw the Ducks ranked 3rd. Their play through weeks 1 and 2 has dropped them to 9th in the AP Poll going into their Week 4 bye week. Oregon avoided the trap of playing on the road against a rival who had everything to play for.
G5 Playoff Contenders
This weekend Memphis defeated FSU, UNLV beat Kansas, and Toledo embarrassed Mississippi State - all on the road. Boise State and Northern Illinois were both off. UNLV now has two road wins over P4 schools Kansas and Houston - and they still have Oregon State and Syracuse out of conference. Throw in Fresno State, Boise State, and a conference championship game and UNLV is in the driver’s seat. ESPN’s FPI has UNLV favored against both Oregon State and Syracuse. Northern Illinois, fresh off a bye after defeating Notre Dame on the road, goes on the road to face a struggling NC State squad - and now their October 19th game against Toledo looms large. Tulane fell to 1-2 after losses to ranked P4 opponents Kansas State and Oklahoma but is favored by ESPN in all of their remaining games - including Memphis.
Colorado Buffaloes
The level of on field competition was not great - Texas defeated the Rams 52-0 in Week 1. Colorado did what they needed to, winning 28-9 on the road after a week of trash talk from Colorado State and the Buffs tucking their tail between their legs after being humiliated at Nebraska. Coach Prime’s squad is favored at home against new/old conference foe Baylor this week.
Arch Manning
The bad news for Texas fans is that Heisman favorite Quinn Ewers suffered an oblique injury this week against UTSA and is considered week-to-week. Fortunately backup Arch Manning seems more than capable of filling in. Manning finished 9/12 for 223 yards and 4 TDs while adding a 67 yard touchdown run.
G5 Power Rankings
Northern Illinois Huskies (2-0) next: Buffalo
UNLV Rebels (3-0) next: bye
3. Memphis Tigers (3-0) next: at Navy
4. Toledo Rockets (3-0) next: at Western Kentucky
5. Boise State Broncos (1-1) next: Portland State
Week 3 Most Miserable
Florida Gators
The Gators are in free fall right now. It doesn’t look like Napier will survive the season. What might save Billy Napier’s job is his and the administration’s incompetence, as fans continue to question where the football program is. Napier and the players are all saying the right things amid a feeling of inevitability of the coach’s departure. There are few readily and logically available replacements. Florida President Ben Sasse recently resigned after a scandal involving excessive catering expenses. Napier’s buyout is over $27 million. The Gators travel to Starkville this week to face a Bulldog squad that just lost 41-17 to Toledo. Napier has not had recent success on the recruiting trail. The Gators’ 2025 class ranks 21st in the country - but 10th in the SEC on 247Sports.
Florida State Seminoles
Florida State has fallen to 0-3 after a home loss to AAC foe Memphis that saw fans don paper bags to cover their faces. A successful season may now be simply making a bowl game.
Kent State Golden Flashes
The top of the Mid-American conference owns some of the league’s biggest wins in years. Northern Illinois upset Notre Dame and Toledo outclassed Mississippi State. The Golden Flashes have had a tough stretch, losing on the road to Pitt, at home against FCS St. Francis, and this week 71-0 to Tennessee where the broadcast was showing how close Tennessee was to breaking all-time scoring records at halftime with the Volunteers up 65-0. Kent State ranks 123rd in passing yards, 132nd in rushing yards, 129th in points for, and 134th in points against. No relief for the weary coming up this week as the Golden Flashes are 49.5-point underdogs on the road against No. 10 Penn State.
TCU Horned Frogs
Since TCU’s 2022 College Football Playwin Semifinal win over Michigan, the Horned Frogs have gone 1-5 in one score games and 7-9 overall. This of course includes their 65-7 loss to Georgia in the National Championship Game, but also a 45-42 loss to a Colorado team that finished 4-8, a 41-3 defeat to Kansas State, and now a 35-34 loss to UCF.
Washington Huskies
Both Washington and Oregon played former PAC-12 rivals Washington State and Oregon State. Oregon took care of business in Corvallis, seemingly steadying the ship after close calls in Weeks 1 and 2. Washington, who played for a national championship less than nine months ago, lost at home to the rival Cougars after being stuffed on 4th and goal from the 1-yard line with 1:07 to go. Fans have a lot of questions after this loss.
Week 3 Most Anxious
Liberty Flames
Liberty entered the season with the weakest strength of schedule in the nation, featuring no P4 opponents. They were expected to dominate Conference USA and were hoping for collective amnesia about their loss to Oregon in order to make the College Football Playoff (CFP). Week 1 saw the Flames deliver a lackluster performance against FCS Campbell - winning by 17 as a 42-point favorite. Then they needed a last-minute comeback against New Mexico State, a team that suffered a 48-0 loss to Fresno State and managed a comeback win against SE Missouri, as a 22-point favorite. Week 3 saw the Flames win by 18 against UTEP as 21-point favorites - their best performance to date. Liberty now enters the toughest stretch of the season: welcoming East Carolina and traveling to Boone to face an App State team (that lost to Clemson 66-20). A single loss will end the Flames' CFP hopes, and they are not earning the necessary style points.
