Saturday in Review: Week 3

Missouri has hardly impressed anyone by this point in the
season. Yet, last year was much the same and the Tigers went
on to win the SEC East. Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

After our third weekend, the season is starting to take new shape. Preseason favorites have been defeated and new favorites have emerged. On Thursday, Clemson held off Louisville to remain undefeated. The Cardinals will likely pick up their first win of the season next Saturday, against Samford. The Florida State offense couldn't get much going Friday night, but it did enough to win as the Seminole defense scored a touchdown while shutting out Boston College.

South Florida fell to Maryland on Saturday, proving incapable of preventing big plays by the Terrapin passing game. Five turnovers plagued Florida Atlantic in their loss to Buffalo. North Carolina suddenly look like potential ACC contenders after their blowout win over Illinois. The game between Missouri and Connecticut was thoroughly bizarre. Heavily-favored Mizzou won 9-6 (at home) without either team scoring a field goal; the game ended with a botched fake field goal by UConn.

Northwestern silenced their doubters (myself included) with a solid road win over Duke. The Wildcats look prepared to challenge for the Big Ten West title. After two impressive victories, Temple barely got by Massachusetts, needing a late field goal to get ahead of the home team.

Ohio State was given more trouble by Northern Illinois than most expected, scratching by with a 20-13 win over the Huskies. The top-ranked team suffered through poor quarterback play and hardly looked invincible. Of course, the Buckeyes ran into trouble repeatedly in the regular season last year before turning up their game in the postseason. The Navy sunk the Pirates of East Carolina, easily winning their first conference game in program history.

Leonard Fournette has emerged as our early-season Heisman
favorite. The running back ran for 238 yards and 3 touchdowns
on 19 carries against Auburn. Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame triumphed over Georgia Tech by playing great defense and running the ball. The Irish have a challenging schedule, but look to be competitive in every game. Down south, the Miami Hurricanes looked as though they'd blow away the Nebraska Cornhuskers. However, a fantastic fourth-quarter comeback sent the game into overtime, were the Huskers threw a pick and lost.

In Baton Rouge, LSU squashed the Auburn Tigers under the cleats of Leonard Fournette. In a similar performance, Georgia crushed South Carolina with great performances by halfback Nick Chubb and quarterback Greyson Lambert. Improbably, Lambert completed 24 of his 25 pass attempts.

It's a worse-case scenario in Orlando, where UCF hasn't won a game this season. The Knights' last loss was their worst, a 16-15 upset against Furman. After this loss, UCF is facing the prospect of their first winless season since 2004. FIU put away NC Central after a slow start defensively.

After many had predicted them the lose, the Florida Gators and their defense held off the Kentucky yet again. An interception by Vernon Hargreaves set up the Gators' first touchdown, but the Wildcats responded with a field goal. The Gators had a field goal blocked in the second quarter, but drove down the field late in the half for a touchdown, putting them up 14-3.

After halftime, the Gators drove down the field once again, looking to put the game out of reach. However, quarterback Will Grier threw a bad pass into the endzone and was intercepted. Kentucky scored another three points on the following drive, shortly after the beginning of the fourth. The Gator offense couldn't get anything going, and soon the Wildcats kicked another field goal, cutting the Gator lead to five. But the Gator defense wouldn't break, consistently pressuring quarterback Patrick Towles and stopping the run. The Florida defense sealed their 29th consecutive victory over Kentucky after Towles was intercepted by Quincy Wilson on the Cats' final drive.

One missed PAT was the difference between Cal and Texas
on Saturday evening. Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

One of the week's most exciting competitions was held between California and Texas. The Golden Bears barely hung on to win after a wild Longhorn comeback was undercut by a shanked PAT. Despite the heartbreaking finale, Texas fans can look forward to freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard, who delivered a heroic performance in defeat. Both Heard and Cal quarterback Jared Goff set school records in the game.

Iowa kicker Marshall Koehn hit a 57-yarder to beat Pitt as time expired. Stanford upset USC in Los Angeles, shaking up perceptions of a few teams. Not only does Stanford look far more formidable now, but so does Northwestern, who defeated the Cardinal in their season opener and remain undefeated.

For the first time in history, the Ole Miss Rebels scored their second consecutive victory over Alabama. The game lived up to expectations, as the Crimson Tide kept coming back despite a bevy of turnovers. Missing a star receiver like Amari Cooper, quarterback Jake Coker was frustrated by the Rebel secondary and pass rush. The Rebels made some spectacular plays to build up big leads, only to have Alabama climb back in it. In the end, Ole Miss came out of Tuscaloosa with a 43-37 victory. Now Ole Miss is the team to beat in the SEC West, although Alabama and LSU are sure to remain contenders.

In the week's final thriller, UCLA held off BYU and their late-game magic to win, 24-23. UCLA, Utah, and Arizona all remain undefeated in the Pac-12 South, while Cal is the only northern team to remain unblemished.

State of Florida:

• 9 Florida State (3-0) over Boston College (2-1), 37-30 14-0
• Florida Atlantic (0-3) over Buffalo (2-1), 27-24 33-15
• South Florida (1-2) over Maryland (2-1), 17-13 35-17
• Nebraska (1-2) over Miami (3-0), 34-27 36-33 (OT)
• FIU (2-1) over North Carolina Central (1-2), 38-6 39-14
• UCF (0-3) over Furman (1-2), 31-10 16-15
• Florida (3-0) over Kentucky (2-1), 27-20 14-9

Southeastern Conference:

• 22 Missouri (3-0) over Connecticut (2-1), 34-10 9-6
• 17 Texas A&M (3-0) over Nevada (1-2), 38-13 44-27
• 13 LSU (2-0) over 18 Auburn (2-1), 45-17 45-21
• Mississippi State (2-1) over Northwestern State (0-3), 58-7 62-13
• Vanderbilt (1-2) over Austin Peay (0-3), 45-6 47-7
• 7 Georgia (3-0) over South Carolina (1-2), 31-28 52-20
• Arkansas (1-2) over Texas Tech (3-0), 38-35 35-24
• Tennessee (2-1) over Western Carolina (1-2), 52-3 55-10
• 2 Alabama (2-1) over 15 Mississippi (3-0), 37-31 43-37

Top 25:

• 1 Ohio State (3-0) over Northern Illinois (2-1), 45-14 20-13
• 3 TCU (3-0) over SMU (1-2), 31-10 56-37
• 4 Michigan State (3-0) over Air Force (2-1), 38-17 35-21
• 6 USC (2-1) over Stanford (2-1), 28-14 41-31
• 14 Georgia Tech (2-1) over 8 Notre Dame (3-0), 37-20 30-22
• 10 UCLA (3-0) over 19 BYU (2-1), 27-17 24-23
• 11 Clemson (3-0) over Louisville (0-3), 38-24 20-17
• 12 Oregon (2-1) over Georgia State (1-2), 77-14 61-28
• 16 Oklahoma (3-0) over Tulsa (2-1), 44-21 52-38
• 20 Arizona (3-0) over Northern Arizona (2-1), 52-17 77-13
• 21 Utah (3-0) over Fresno State (1-2), 24-7 45-24
• Duke (2-1) over 23 Northwestern (3-0), 20-17 19-10
• 24 Wisconsin (2-1) over Troy (1-2), 45-21 28-3
• 25 Oklahoma State (3-0) over UTSA (0-3), 31-20 69-14
• 5 Baylor (2-0), BYE

Week 3 Record: 21-9 (70%)

Season Record: 74-15 (83%)