College football week 2 is in the books. After every week fans can take away things from what happened on the field. Here are 5 things learned from college football week 3.
Related: 5 Things to watch in college football week 3
1. All College Football Weeks are Worth Watching
Coming into week 3, there were not many marketable games on the schedule. ESPN’s College Gameday and Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff both chose to attend the Colorado-Colorado State game to chase the Deion Sanders hype. There were no ranked matchups, but as is what usually happens, crazy things occur when everyone least expects it.
There were plenty of close games and a few upsets sprinkled in. Even more than the average football fan stayed up to watch Colorado-Colorado State, at least to start. Two ranked teams lost on the week. Kansas State lost on a 61-yard field goal, while Tennessee lost to their rivals Florida. There were plenty of other close games that we’ll be covered later in this article.
2. Tennessee is Overrated
It has been mentioned in these articles that the SEC may have a down year. That was a result of nonconference records, which included Florida losing to Utah. Florida was able to rebound in week 3 by beating their ranked rivals, Tennessee, at home.
While this should be seen as a big win, there is something different from this Tennessee team this season. Joe Milton isn’t able to run the offense as effectively as Hendon Hooker did last season. They were ranked 11th in the game, but from their struggles in the early part of the season, it seems like that ranking was too high. The Volunteers can still have a good season, but they have to figure out how to get their offense moving, as the team was not built to win defensive slugfest.
3. There May Be No Elite Teams
Most years in college football, there are a few elite teams that stick out. That may not be the case this year, which could create some chaos. Georgia struggled to beat South Carolina by 10, after the Gamecocks have shown to have bad offensive line play. Alabama really struggled to pull away from USF after losing last week to Texas. Florida State defeated Boston College by just two points. Texas was tied with Wyoming heading into the fourth quarter.
That wasn’t all for top teams on Saturday. As mentioned, Tennessee lost. Michigan turned the ball over too much against Bowling Green. Ohio State dominated Western Kentucky, but haven’t impressed in past weeks. If fans are looking for a really dominant team, they might need to turn to Washington, who is now 3-0 and have looked good in all three games. Still, a lot of these teams got wins and have time to correct the ship.
4. College Kickers Can Be Good
One of the more interesting games of the day featured Missouri and Kansas State. The two teams played a crazy game that was tied at 27 late. Missouri had the chance to take a field goal, then were penalized with delay of game. That meant when things settled they needed to hit a 61-yard field goal to win the game.
Harrison Mevis, one of the better kickers in the country, nailed a 61-yard field goal to give Missouri the win over a ranked Kansas State team. That distance was an SEC record. For all the hate that college kickers get, it is only fair that they are recognized when they do great things.
5. Never Go to Sleep Early
As mentioned earlier, even casual fans tuned in for the late night game of Colorado State at Colorado. The game delivered from a storyline perspective, as Jay Norvell stirred things up with comments during the week and then during the contest, things got chippy. It looked like Colorado State was going to pull off an upset, but Colorado came back at the last minute.
With about eight minutes left, the Buffaloes were down 28-17. They kicked a field goal to make it a one score game. The Buffaloes got the ball next deep within their own territory and had to do a two-minute drill to score a game-tying touchdown. That touchdown was a 45-yard pass to Jimmy Horn. They got the two-point conversion to tie the game and send it to overtime. Colorado scored first and went up by seven, which was followed up by Colorado State following that up with a score of their own to tie. After not going for the win with a two-point conversion in the first overtime, Norvell decided to go for it on a fourth down in the second overtime, which ended up costing the Rams. It was a game that looked bleak, but extended into the night before the Buffaloes could come out on top.
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