A thriller in Oxford, a road win by Kentucky, Alabama’s slow start, a USC pillow fight, weather delays everywhere, West Virginia securing Duke’s Mayo, and one of the worst ways to lose a football game you’ll ever see were highlights of week 3 in college football.

18 Stripes Top 20 Ranking

Dropped Out:

#13 Texas A&M
#18 SMU
#20 Missouri 

It’s rare for a team to win and drop out of my rankings but I felt it was justified for Missouri after this weekend. Their offense looked dreadful against Troy (230 yards, 91 passing yards, 2 third down conversions) and a punt return touchdown really helped them hold off the Trojans 27-17 in Columbia.

National Stories:

#1 B R U T A L 

There are not many worse ways to lose than the way NC State did on Saturday. Firstly, they led Vanderbilt 17-0, then 24-7, and led by 10 points with 9:35 remaining in the game. From the Vanderbilt 31-yard line they’d later turn the ball over on downs, but picked the Commodores off on the next series right near the end zone. With 1:04 remaining, NC State led by 3 points and Vanderbilt only had 2 timeouts to use.

It’s 4th & 7 from their 4-yard line with 6 seconds remaining after NC State took a delay of game penalty. Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey takes the snap, refuses to take a knee at first, doesn’t run around enough to burn the whole game clock, dives forward, gets tackled, fumbles, and Vanderbilt recovers in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. OOOOF!

#2 Kiffin Denied

I thought we’d see overtime in Oxford and it almost happened! In a fun game where LSU battled back from a 24-7 halftime deficit, we saw Ole Miss take a touchdown lead on a Trinidad Chambliss scamper and then add a 2-point conversion in a gutsy decision late in the 4th quarter. LSU did drive the ball down field but a tipped end zone interception from Sam Leavitt sealed the victory for the Rebels.

#3 Three Out of Five

Texas A&M had a nice win over Arizona State last week but it won’t matter as much now as they lost at home 31-21 against Kentucky. Our boy Kenny Minchey finished 14/18 for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns in the win. He outplayed Marcell Reed (who threw 2 interceptions). That’s 3 losses out of their last 5 games for the Aggies stretching back to last year.

#4 You Good, USC?

I lowered USC in the rankings this week. You can’t go to Rutgers, allow 460 yards, 35 points, and win by a touchdown without a lot of skepticism. They will host Oregon this weekend when we will find out more.

#5 Already Dropped

I removed Oklahoma from the rankings last week and that looks like it was the correct decision. The Sooners could barely run the ball, Mateer threw 2 interceptions, and a 14-6 win over New Mexico leaves a whole lot to be desired.

#6 Battle of Virginia’s and Such

Somehow this was only the 24th meeting between Virginia and West Virginia, and the 1st meeting in 24 years. They played in Charlotte this weekend in the Duke’s Mayo Classic with the Mountaineers winning 38-27. Technically, a ranked win for WVU (Virginia was #25 in the AP Poll coming into the week). Is Rich Rod cooking something up this year with former Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr?

#7 Test Passed

As expected, Houston and Texas Tech were evenly matched with the latter coming out on top 28-26 from Lubbock. The Cougars drove down the field for a late touchdown but couldn’t convert the necessary 2-point conversion. The odds of Tech going 12-0 are now much higher, although they look pretty mortal overall.

#8 Chuck, No

Miami (OH) was well on their way to an upset at Cincinnati and led the Bearcats 28-7 while picking up a sack on 4th down to stop Cincinnati’s first drive of the 2nd half. Then, the RedHawks finished the game on offense going missed field goal, interception, field goal, missed field goal, punt, and fumble. Cincinnati scored 28 points in the 2nd half to win 35-31.

#9 Kamario is the new LaNorris

Again, I’ll stump for Miss State quarterback Kamario Taylor. South Carolina led 16-0 at home but the Bulldogs came roaring back to win 41-34 in a thriller. Taylor finished with 251 passing yards and 4 touchdowns–he’s now up to 5th nationally in passer rating.

#10 No One Goes into Northwestern’s (Temporary) Home 

Colorado players were seen pre-game making fun of Northwestern’s temporary football stadium before they open up their new facility soon. The Buffaloes left with a terribly embarrassing 41-7 loss. That was only Northwestern’s 2nd game of the season and they travel to Indiana this weekend. Could it get frisky?

#11 Sleepy Bama

Another blown lead this weekend! Florida State led Alabama 21-6 in a game that featured an extended weather delay–one of many such delays we saw this past weekend. The Tide ended up pulling away late and winning 50-36. Ashton Daniels threw 3 picks for Florida State, who have now lost 9 out of their last 11 against power program opponents. But, the Tide also gave up 471 total yards!

Opponent Recap:

Wisconsin (2-1): Colton Joseph threw for 362 yards and ran for 46 yards as the Badgers beat Eastern Michigan 54-10.

Rice (1-2): The Owls added a late touchdown but fell 28-21 to visiting Western Michigan.

Michigan State (2-1): Up next for the Spartans after the loss to Notre Dame, it’s Nebraska coming to East Lansing.

Purdue (1-2): Late night action saw Ryan Browne throw for 378 yards but the Boilers gave up an absurd 369 yards at 7.7 per carry in a high-scoring 52-38 loss to UCLA out west.

North Carolina (2-1): UNC as a sneaky good opponent took a big hit as they led Clemson for the majority of the game on Saturday and then lost 28-20 on the road.

Stanford (1-2): Coming off a bye, Stanford had one of the worst performances of the weekend nearly getting doubled up in yardage while being blown out at Duke 35-7.

BYU (3-0): Colorado State added some cosmetic scores in the 4th but this game wasn’t close, the Cougars won 41-23.

Navy (1-1): Bye week for the Middies, they travel for UAB this Friday.

Miami (3-0): For the first time this season, Miami looked pretty mediocre at times but still beat Wake Forest 33-20 in Winston-Salem.

Boston College (2-1): The Eagles scored 16 points in the 1st quarter against Maine then shut it down with a 22-16 win over Maine.

SMU (2-1): A fun back and forth game at Louisville saw the Cards hold on 41-31. SMU was -3 on turnovers and doomed themselves.

Syracuse (1-2): Back-to-back losses for the Orange as Steve Angeli has thrown 5 interceptions over the last 2 games. They lost back on Thursday at Pittsburgh to the tune of 27-13. Angeli was benched late.