Week 3 - Sunday Storylines
South Bend stunner, Top Dawg Georgia and Haynes King hero ball.
Instant Replay
What did we just watch?
A stunner in South Bend - Details matter in college football and in life. Saturday night, Notre Dame did not shore up the details and it led to a disastrous 41-40 loss at the hands of Texas A&M.
With a chance to go up seven points, Fighting Irish holder Tyler Buchner botched the PAT attempt. A&M then took the ball down the field, punched it in on a fourth-and-goal, game-on-the-line scenario and iced the PAT to walk out of South Bend with a win.
Notre Dame finds itself at 0-2 and possibly on the outside of the College Football Playoff picture. Life comes at you fast.
Georgia reigns supreme - For much of Saturday afternoon, Tennessee looked like it had Georgia on the ropes. Joey Aguilar was dealing. The offense was hitting big plays. And the crowd was making its presence felt.
But after a stunning back-shoulder beauty touchdown toss by UGA quarterback Gunner Stockton in a must-have situation, Tennessee unraveled.
The Vols missed the game-winning field goal attempt. Tennessee was later forced to settle for a field goal in overtime. And then gave up the winning touchdown to UGA running back Josh McCray.
UGA’s ultra-impressive 44-41 victory proves that when they need it, Georgia can hit another gear.
Haynes King hero ball - Georgia Tech withstood a formidable Clemson rally and drilled home a walk-off, fire drill 55-yard field goal as time expired to dump Dabo Swinney’s bunch in Atlanta.
Haynes King was fantastic, dragging the offense across broken glass all day. Cade Klubnik still hasn’t lived up to lofty expectations. And GT kicker Aiden Birr hit a field goal so damn icy that Gucci Mane himself would’ve surely been hollerin’ “brrrrrrr”.
Brent Key remains one of my favorite coaches in all of college football. What a job he’s doing in Atlanta.
DJ Lagway disasterclass - Promising Florida quarterback DJ Lagway was seeing ghosts all night against LSU. For every nice throw he attempted, he made a stupid one, resulting in a 5 INT outing that doomed the Gators in a 20-10 loss at the hands of No. 3 LSU.
What we know:
LSU’s defense is legit.
The Tigers’ offense is still sluggish through three games.
Billy Napier is not long for this job.
Country Roads - 18 years ago, Pitt knocked off WVU in one of the most stunning upsets in college football history. Saturday night, new/old WVU coach Rich Rodriguez exacted revenge on the Panthers, cobbling together a nifty 31-24 upset victory.
I loved this win so much for Rich Rod. How can you not be romantic about college football?
Goodnight, Brent Pry - Something tells me I shouldn’t be surprised if VT head coach Brent Pry loses his job at some point on Sunday. The Hokies got drilled by ODU at home. Now, they sit at 0-3 and look a mile and a half away from a possible bowl game appearance.
This one is done and dusted. Time to start looking for a new coach.
Big-Game Diego Pavia - Vandy notched its first big scalp of the season, knocking off 11th-ranked South Carolina 31-7. Vandy QB Diego Pavia was fantastic, chipping in 177 passing yards and two touchdowns in the rout.
The story of this game was South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers getting knocked out of the game early in the first half. They need to get him right before a big one against Mizzou next week.
The Ireland Curse is real - Kansas State is officially flirting with a lost season after dropping a Friday night bollocks in a 23-17 game against Arizona.
The Wildcats sit at 1-3 with losses to Iowa State, Army and now Arizona…how did things go so wrong? It’s hard to pinpoint one thing wrong about this team. The offense feels disjointed. The defense hasn’t gotten off the field enough. And the special teams unit continues to underwhelm.
Kansas State correspondent Cameron Morgan thinks Klieman will retire at year’s end. I’m starting to feel the same way.
UCLLLA - Safe to say, the Nico Iamaleava-Joey Aguilar swap deal hasn’t exactly gone to plan for the Bruins.
Despite being sizable favorites at home, UCLA took its third consecutive loss on Friday night in a 35-10 drumming at the hands of New Mexico. Iamaleava probably isn’t the problem, but he surely isn’t the solution.
The UCLA defense got dogwalked in this one, allowing 450 yards total, 298 of those coming on the ground. That’s just an unacceptable performance. I wonder if DeShaun Foster could sneakily be on the hot seat if things keep trending this direction.
Quick Hits
Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is a certified star. He’s helped the Bears notch three-straight victories to start the season, including a big one against Minnesota last night. He just might be the best freshman QB in college football.
In a cruel twist of fate, Tulane defeated Duke to win the Darian Mensah Bowl. Former BYU QB Jake Retzlaff had four rushing touchdowns and won the QB battle. Tulane suddenly looks like a legit G5 College Football Playoff contender.
Stanford notched its first win of the Frank Reich era Saturday night with a surprising victory over visiting Boston College. BC QB Dylan Lonergan has been good…but that defense is stinky. Figure it out, Bill O’Brien.
Ole Miss and Arkansas were entertaining as ever, in a game that always produces an alarming amount of stupidity. I find it unfair that Lane Kiffin can just roll out a Division 2 QB and have him play that well.
NC State sits at 3-0 after Thursday night’s win over Wake Forest. I have no idea if that team is actually good, but it’s nice to see Dave Doeren turn things around a bit after a troubling 2024 campaign.
ICYMI, Liberty lost to Bowling Green on Saturday. The wheels have fully come off for Jamey Chadwell and the Flames.
Texas QB Arch Manning threw 10-straight incompletions in the Longhorns’ victory over UTEP on Saturday. I’m starting to get really worried about the Golden Boy.
North Texas beat Wazzu like they stole something on Saturday. I think the Mean Green are the Real Deal.
The Brent Musburger Gambling Guide
Let’s review my locks of the week.
Overall: -3 units
Clemson vs. +3.5 Georgia Tech - +1 unit
Georgia vs. +3.5 Tennessee - +1 unit
-2 App State vs. Southern Miss - -1 unit