Shakeup at the Top With the College Football Key Results and New Rankings – Week #3

There was a shakeup at the top of the rankings this weekend as the top Dawgs struggled mightily and the rampaging herd saw a change at quarterback and…may have gotten better? As expected, things are beginning to shape up regarding the measurement of teams and now a clearer assessment can be made. 

There were a few tight games worth watching, and a few statistical curiosities seen, but overall we saw many of the top teams settling into their framework in the rankings with many dominating lesser opponents as expected. Of the anomalies seen:

• This defines “Win/Win.” Maryland wanted out of its scheduled game with Toledo, so they paid the school more than half a million dollars to not play. Toledo then replaced the date by accepting over one million to travel to Mississippi State. This led to the Rockets pocketing over $1.7 million and then delivering another of the upsets seen this year as they routed the Bulldogs 41-17.

• The ACC may soon be the one asking FSU to leave the conference. The formerly #10 ranked Seminoles fell to 0-3 as the offense has become so anemic they managed to put up less than 50 yards of total offense in the first half.

• Texas Tech had a flurry of scoring – literally. During its rout of North Texas, the Red Raiders had 35 second-quarter points, during which they put up three touchdowns in under one minute. Following one score, two plays and 32 seconds later, they recorded a pick-6, and then on the first play of the next possession had another interception at the 10-yard line, scoring on the next play.

• Michigan QB Davis Warren only made 14 throws in the Wolverines’ victory, and all of them went for catches – three of which were caught by Arkansas State.

• Colorado’s Micah Welch had a respectable day running, ending the day with 65 yards on nine runs. This marks the highest rushing total by a running back under the Deion Sanders era.

Some of the bigger results from Saturday:

Georgia 13 – Kentucky 12

This defined “ugly win” by the #1 ranked Bulldogs, as they trailed for much of the game and did not manage their only touchdown until the 4th quarter. The defense managed to bail them out, as they kept former Georgia backup QB Brock Vandagriff to just 114 yards throwing, and while surrendering some yardage to the Kentucky running game, they kept the Wildcats out of the endzone for the narrow victory.

Texas 56 – UTSA 7 

The Longhorns faithful have long been anticipating the arrival of Arch Manning behind center in Austin, and Saturday delivered. Star QB Quinn Ewers went down with an abdominal injury, and Manning exploded in relief. He threw for four touchdowns and 223 yards on just 12 attempts and added a sterling 67-yard touchdown run.

LSU 36 – South Carolina 33

Quite the thriller with things staying close and the Tigers never leading until they got the go-ahead touchdown with just under a minute remaining. South Carolina managed to get close enough for a tying field goal but the kick barely edged to the left in the miss. The Gamecocks were undone by 13 penalties, none more damaging than a pick-6 being erased due to a deeply questionable roughness penalty during the return.

You be the judge…this hit on the pick-6 was flagged for unnecessary roughness. If it’s not called, South Carolina goes on to beat LSU because the pick-6 would have put the Gamecocks up 11. pic.twitter.com/SbVnEBz8eD

— WACHoopsNation (@WACHoopsNation) September 14, 2024

Missouri 27 – Boston College 21

The 24th-ranked Eagles looked competitive as they took an early 14-3 lead, but the Tigers settled in and played their game plan to take over through the second half. Brady Cook was efficient with a 264-yard day with one passing TD and running for another, as Mizzou controlled play with a ground game as Nate Noel ran for 121 yards.

Here is the latest AP Top-25 poll:

1. Texas

2. Georgia

3. Ohio State

4. Alabama

5. Ole Miss

6. Tennessee

7. Missouri 

8. Miami

9. Oregon

10. Penn State

11. USC

12. Utah

13. Kansas State

14. Oklahoma State

15. Oklahoma

16. LSU

17. Notre Dame 

18. Michigan

19. Louisville

20. Iowa State

21. Clemson

22. Nebraska

23. Northern Illinois

24. Illinois

25. Texas A&M