No.7 Miami 17-42 No.1 Clemson
Clemson flexed their muscles in impressive fashion, sweeping aside one of their main rivals for the ACC title. The Tigers have now won 25 games straight in this conference and shut down Miami quarterback D’Eriq King.
In Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, Clemson have the best quarterback and running back in the country. Lawrence passed for 3 touchdowns and rushed for another while Etienne rushed for 149 yards and racked up another 73 through the air. Three blocked field goals was an odd footnote in a comprehensive win.
No.2 Alabama 63-48 Ole Miss
The game that saw the highest combined points total in SEC history was hard to take your eyes off. Ole Miss’s fast-paced, innovative offense caused Alabama problems. Matt Corral threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns while RB Snoop Conner ran for 128 yards and TE Kenny Yeboah also had a big game, catching seven passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
Unfortunately for Ole Miss, they ran into Alabama with an in-form Mac Jones at the helm. Jones, off a career high 435 yards vs Texas A&M, completed 28 of 32 passes (88%), throwing for 417 yards and two touchdowns. Najee Harris made his first career fumble early on, but recovered to run for a spectacular 206 yards and five touchdowns! Next up for the Tide is Georgia, who bring arguably the best defense in college football to Tuscaloosa.
No.14 Tennessee 21-44 No.3 Georgia
It’s almost like the Bulldogs have been creeping along under radar this season but quietly, Georgia are looking like the biggest threat to the top two. Their record is now 3-0 thanks to a strong defense and the growing confidence of junior quarterback Stetson Bennett, who sounds like he should be the sheriff in a Wild West town. Bennett threw for 238 yards against Tennessee and Georgia will approach this weekend’s game vs. Alabama with real confidence.
Didn’t see that coming…
No.4 Florida 38-41 No.21 Texas A&M
Georgia’s mission to retain the SEC East looks easier after Florida’s upset loss to the Aggies. A&M quarterback Kellen Mond set the record for most passing yards in Aggies history, throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns. Texas A&M have added real grit to their attack this year with a strong run game and Isaiah Spiller rushed for 174 of their 208 total yards on the ground.
Florida running back Malik Davis fumbled the ball with just over a minute left to set up the winning field goal for the Aggies. Gators quarterback Kyle Trask threw for four touchdowns and 312 yards on the field, according to florida.rivals.com, he was named after. Trask’s parents attended Texas A&M in the 1980s and went to watch the Aggies on Kyle Field.
No.22 Texas 45-53 Oklahoma (4OT)
The shootout we were promised certainly delivered in a lesson how not to play defense. Oklahoma outlasted Texas through four periods of overtime. In my preview of this game on Ninety-Nine Yards, I mentioned the grit of Texas QB Sam Ehlinger and he displayed this in bucketloads, almost single-handedly carrying the Longhorns’ offense. Ehlinger passed for 2 TDs, 287 yards and rushed for 112 yards and 4 further TDs. As two separate players, it would have been two decent performances. As one, it was exceptional and reminiscent of Brett Favre’s sheer will to win.
His opposing number on the Sooners’ sideline clearly took notice. Benched after a rocky start, Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler gritted his teeth after being given a second chance, finishing the game with three passing touchdowns and ran for one more. Two missed field goals by two of the most reliable kickers in college football added to the drama. Sooners Head Coach Lincoln Riley added “…what a battle. One of the greatest Red River shootouts in history.”
Mississippi State 2-24 Kentucky
Having posted heroic numbers in their first week, Mississippi State and their quarterback KJ Costello’s season is slipping further downhill by the week. Having thrown for 623 yards in his first game amid whispers of being in contention for the Heisman, Costello threw three interceptions against unfancied Arkansas last week and was benched during this game. Kentucky’s defense were opportunist, making six interceptions against the Bulldogs and pulling off an upset.
Missouri 45-41 No.17 LSU
A real back and forth game highlighting an awful pass defense and a worse running offense for LSU – they only managed 49 yards rushing all game. The post-national championship slump continues and LSU travel to a Florida team next week who will have something to prove after their upset loss to Texas A&M.
Eli Drinkwitz picked up his first win as Missouri head coach and QB Connor Bazelak was impressive, completing 29 of 34 passes for 406 yards and 4 TDs.
Elsewhere…
No.5 Notre Dame moved to 4-0 with four rushing touchdowns easing them to a 42-26 win over ACC rivals Florida State. Also in the ACC, No.8 North Carolina saw off No.19 Virgina Tech 56-45 with running back Michael Carter rushing for 214 yards and two scores. UNC coach Mack Brown said “we’re 3-0 with a lot of things to fix.” No.24 Iowa State built on their upset of Oklahoma with a 31-15 win over Texas Tech and fellow ranked teams No.13 Auburn and No.15 Brigham Young beat Arkansas and UTSA respectively.
Marshall are under the radar having a string start to the season. The storied college football team, featured in a recent article for Ninety-Nine Yards, moved to 3-0 with a 38-14 win over Western Kentucky.
Look out for…
BT Sport/ESPN is showing four games – LSU at Florida, a preview of the SEC championship game in Georgia vs. Alabama, Georgia State vs. Arkansas State and North Carolina-Florida State to finish on Sunday.
Here’s this week’s AP Top 25 to finish:
Rank Team
1 Clemson
2 Alabama
3 Georgia
4 Notre Dame
5 North Carolina
6 Ohio State
7 Oklahoma State
8 Cincinnati
9 Penn State
10 Florida
11 Texas A&M
12 Oregon
13 Miami
14 BYU
15 Auburn
16 Wisconsin
17 SMU
18 Tennessee
19 Michigan
20 Iowa State
21 Louisiana
22 Kansas State
23 Virginia Tech
24 Minnesota
25 USC