Week 3 of the best sport in the world saw an SEC showdown with plenty of twists and turns, an incredible game in South Bend, Indiana, and plenty of other results worth talking about. Check it all out below!
Top 10 Headlines
● The game of the weekend went down in South Bend. #8 Notre Dame and #16 Texas A&M went blow for blow for four quarters, featuring everything from an Irish TD from a blocked punt, an 82-yard spinning Mario Craver touchdown, multiple lead changes, and a missed Irish extra point on their final touchdown. That miscue gave the Aggies one last chance, a chance that they would take advantage of on a game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds left to win 41-40. I said before this game that A&M needed to win this game on Marcel Reed’s arm; he answered the call, overcoming early skittishness to total 360 passing yards and two touchdowns. It’s one of the signature wins of the 2025 season so far; how high will the AP voters put the Aggies after a big win like this?
● #6 Georgia had won 8 straight games over #15 Tennessee, but for a while it looked like that streak would end this year. Joey Aguilar and the Vols came out hot, scoring 21 in the first quarter, but the Dawgs ran the damn ball and clawed right back into the game. It was a topsy-turvy, back and forth affair that required overtime after a potential Tennessee game-winning field goal went wide right. UGA ended up with the win after holding the Vols to an OT field goal, scoring a touchdown to extend their
● #5 Miami welcomed a red-hot #18 USF to town and sent them home with their tails between their legs. The Bulls had beaten two ranked opponents to open 2025 yet looked completely outclassed all day by the Hurricanes. Miami continues to dominate in the trenches as well as anyone in the country, making the Bulls look tiny in a 49-12 Miami victory. Next up? A Florida team that all of a sudden can’t get out of their own way.
● #3 LSU did beat Florida to avenge last season’s loss to the Gators, but doesn’t it feel like the Tigers left a lot of meat on the bone? LSU picked off Florida QB DJ Lagway 5 times, yet only scored 13 points on offense (the other 7 came on a pick-six). LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier made some poor throws that allowed Florida to stay within striking distance, but man, that Tigers defense is for real.
● Do we need to have an Arch Manning conversation? #7 Texas’ offense started slow yet again, and Manning’s play continues to be a cause for concern. He finished the day 11/25 with 112 passing yards against a UTEP team coming off a 3-9 finish in 2024. The Horns pulled away to win 27-10, but they’ve looked quite unimpressive from an offensive standpoint through three weeks.
● Top Big Ten teams #1 Ohio State, #2 Penn State, and #4 Oregon and #9 Illinois went unchallenged in their games against Ohio, Villanova, Northwestern and Western Michigan respectively. #10 Florida State was idle.
Best of the Weekend
● Georgia Tech: ACC title contender? They’re 3-0 on the young season and just knocked off preseason favorite #12 Clemson for the first time since 2014. QB Haynes King is about as experienced as it gets when it comes to P4 QBs, and he totaled over 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards to set up a GT 55-yard field goal to win the game. Looking at the Yellow Jackets’ schedule, they could be favored in every game going forward sans Georgia at the end of the season. Brent Key is doing a phenomenal job in Atlanta.
● The Backyard Brawl is going away for a few years, but its finale for the time being brought the craziness the matchup of Pitt and West Virginia always does. WVU staked out to an early lead, only to cough it up to the Panthers, only to tie things up with second remaining. Then the Mountaineers capitalized in OT, pulling off the upset and getting Rich Rodriguez a signature win in his first season back in Morgantown.
● North Texas might have announced itself as a G5 CFP contender with their blowout over Washington State. The Mean Green forced 5 turnovers in the first half en route to a 42-3 halftime lead and a 59-10 final. QB Drew Mestemaker, in only his 4th career start, looks like one of the G5’s best quarterbacks. Guess who comes to Denton in early October? South Florida, setting up what could be a fascinating G5 matchup if both teams keep taking care of business.
● Down their starting quarterback due to a foot injury, #17 Ole Miss turned to transfer QB Trinidad Chambliss to sling the rock against Arkansas. Chambliss came from DII Ferris State but looked the part of a crafty P4 veteran in his first FBS start, racking up over 400 yards from scrimmage as his Rebels held on for a wild 41-35 win over the Hogs. Arkansas QB Taylen Green balled out in his own right, but a costly fumble at the end of the game sealed their fate. The Rebs might not play much defense this season but they’re sure fun to watch.
● The Delaware Blue Hens picked up their first win as an FBS program, knocking off UConn on a touchdown with no time remaining. What a way to get your first win at a new level!
Worst of the Weekend
● From preseason #4 to 1-2: #12 Clemson’s goose might be cooked. They’re 0-1 in the ACC after the loss to Georgia Tech, but their struggles go so much deeper than that. The offensive line hasn’t been great and it’s shown so far, leaving the offense on the whole to look sluggish through three games. Sure, they’ve got 7 more ACC games to play and a date with South Carolina to end the year as always, so there’s time to fix things. But do you have any faith in this team’s offense to get things back on track? I don’t anymore.
● It was always going to be a tough transition for UCLA to adapt to the Big Ten, but the struggles they’ve shown after investing in the transfer portal this offseason are stunning. They were completely dominated by New Mexico at home to the tune of a 35-10 defeat, falling to 0-3 on the young season. They’ve lost all of their out of conference games, and they’ve clearly lost the offseason QB trade they made with Tennessee for Nico Iamaleava.
● #11 South Carolina got trounced at home by Vanderbilt to the tune of a 31-7 defeat. Heisman contender LaNorris Sellers was knocked out in the second quarter and the team couldn’t muster anything on offense all night. Credit to Vandy for looking this good early in the season though. Diego Pavia continues to prove every hater wrong.
● Virginia Tech lost to both of the teams mentioned above to begin the season, but those losses weren’t nearly as embarrassing as them getting blown to bits by Old Dominion at Lane Stadium Saturday night. Brent Pry has to have the hottest coaching seat in America right now.
● Speaking of Florida, they’ve allowed two touchdowns all season on defense, and sit at 1-2. Whose seat is hotter, Billy Napier’s or Sam Pittman’s in Arkansas?
Fun Corner
● #13 Oklahoma playing at Temple? #14 Iowa State playing at Arkansas State?? SMU playing at Missouri State in the latter’s third game as an FBS team??? We saw some truly odd road games for Power 4 teams this weekend.
● Thursday night saw a food truck outside of the NC State/Wake Forest game catch fire and hotbox the stadium to begin the game, and Demon Deacons QB Robby Ashford throw a ball into the referee’s junk to end things. Wild times in Winston-Salem.
● Stanford won their first game of the season, a feat I wasn’t sure was going to happen. They got the win on one of the worst offsides penalties you’ll ever see from Boston College. The whole Stanford offensive line had time to look over and say “Huh?” before false starting to draw the penalty.
● Few head coaches in CFB these days have as much fun as Lane Kiffin does.
Week 3 Heisman Standings
1. John Mateer, Oklahoma QB: Another day, another ho-hum 300+ scrimmage yards for Mateer as he led the Sooners to an easy win over Temple.
2. Devon Dampier, Utah QB: How often do you see a QB make a turnover-worthy play and a touchdown play in one snap? Dampier did just that against Wyoming.
3. Carson Beck, Miami QB: 3 touchdowns passes and 360 passing yards later, Carson Beck led his team to an easy win over the hottest G5 team in the country.
4. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU QB: That win over Clemson is still a solid one, but it’s not looking so good after the Tigers’ 1-2 start. Plus, Nuss made some bone-headed throws against Florida, so he drops a few spots on this list.
5. Sawyer Robertson, Baylor QB: Robertson did throw his first two interceptions of the season against FCS Samford, but he’s over 1,000 passing yards on the season. He threw a touch over 3,000 last year in 12 games.