Week 3 marked the last big week of non-conference games, coinciding with the start of conference play across multiple leagues. While the Big Ten saw a couple of its teams get tested, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, and even Ohio State, which pulled away from Ohio in the third quarter, the SEC dove headfirst into league play, while the ACC and Big 12 began their own conference schedules. Here is my recap of all the action around the country.
Highlights From The Nonconference Games
The noon slate featured multiple quality matchups, but there
was also some intrigue surrounding Oklahoma’s visit to a Temple team that had started the season with dominant wins over UMass and Howard. However, John Mateer and the Sooners quieted Evan Simon and the Owls in Philadelphia, dominating on both sides of the ball with a 42-3 win at Lincoln Financial Field.
The current members of the PAC-12 conference are not off to a great start. North Texas defeated Washington State 59-10, while Oregon State is 0-3 following a 45-14 thumping by #17 Texas Tech. However, the most embarrassing result of the day came from Virginia Tech, which suffered a 45-26 loss to Old Dominion. The Monarchs led 31-0 and 38-7 before the Hokies made the score look somewhat respectable in the fourth quarter.
Both UCLA and Virginia Tech have fired their head coaches in DeShaun Foster and Brent Pry following their 0-3 starts to the 2025 season, with the New Mexico and Old Dominion losses serving as the breaking points for both administrations. Not only did each school lose at home to a subpar Group of Five opponent, but both were blown out after losing their previous two contests as well.
One of the most anticipated games of the week saw South Florida travel to Miami in a battle of ranked teams looking for state supremacy. After USF took down Florida, the Bulls looked to knock off the Hurricanes in a bid to move into the top ten, maybe even the top five in the latest AP rankings. However, Miami proved to be too much for South Florida, jumping out to a 14-3 lead before a lengthy rain delay. Once play resumed, the Canes continued to pour it on, extending their lead to 35-6 and winning the game 49-12.
Miami put up 576 total yards of offense in the dominant victory and improved to #4 in the AP poll, while South Florida fell out despite winning two of three ranked games to start the season. Miami has two more in-state showdowns on tap, with the Gators heading to Hard Rock Stadium next week, followed by a likely top-ten clash against the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee.
In primetime, Notre Dame looked to bounce back from their season-opening loss at Miami with a huge home opener against Texas A&M. However, the Aggies got their revenge for last year’s home loss to the Fighting Irish, winning in a 41-40 shootout. The teams traded scores in the first half, with TAMU taking a 28-24 lead into the locker room at halftime. The trend continued in the second half, with the Aggies tying the game at 34 with a field goal from Randy Bond.
Jeremiyah Love ran in a touchdown with under three minutes, but Notre Dame failed on their two-point pass attempt, which ended up being a critical mistake. Texas A&M marched down the field and sealed the game with a game-winning touchdown from Marcel Reed to Nate Boerkircher with thirteen seconds left. Bond made the extra point, and that ended up being the difference in the game. The Aggies moved up to #10 with the win, while the Fighting Irish dropped to #24 after falling in back-to-back games against tough opponents.
Arch Manning continued to struggle in a 27-10 Longhorns win over UTEP, throwing just 11-25 with 114 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Texas fans let Manning hear their frustrations, with the highly-touted quarterback throwing ten straight incompletions at one point in the first half. Despite the struggles, the Longhorns rank eighth in the latest AP poll.
In the latest installment of the Backyard Brawl, West Virginia took down Pittsburgh in a come-from-behind victory. After the Mountaineers took a 14-3 lead in the third quarter, Pitt scored the next 21 points to go up 24-14 with about nine minutes in the fourth quarter. Yet it was WVU who rallied with a field goal before scoring a game-tying touchdown with 11 seconds left. Tye Edwards scored a one-yard touchdown, and Pitt failed to answer, giving the Mountaineers a much-needed win after falling to Ohio on the road the week before.
The final nonconference game of note was Tulane taking down Duke in a homecoming for Darian Mensah. Although Mensah threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns with an interception, the Green Wave were in control the entire night, going up 34-16 early in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils cut the Tulane lead to seven, but it was too little, too late. Jake Retzlaff went 15-23 for 245 passing yards, but showed his mobility with 111 yards on 17 carries and four rushing touchdowns on the evening. The Green Wave picked up its second Power Four victory after defeating Northwestern 23-3 in the season opener.
Conference Play Begins In the ACC and Big 12
For all the nonconference games in Week 3, the first week of conference play was front and center across the SEC, with matchups in the ACC and Big 12 sprinkled in. Thursday night saw NC State overcome a slow start to defeat Wake Forest 34-24, in a game that saw smoke fill the air after a food truck malfunction.
In the late-night slate, Stanford got their first victory of the season, taking down Boston College 30-20 behind running back Micah Ford, who rushed for a career-high 157 yards and a touchdown. BC fell to 1-2 after losing a double-overtime thriller against Michigan State, while the Cardinal improved to 1-2 after falling to Hawaii and getting blown out by BYU to start the season.
However, the biggest ACC game saw Georgia Tech stun then #12 Clemson Tigers for the first time since 2014. The Yellow Jackets scored the first 13 points of the contest before Clemson answered back to take a 14-13 lead in the third quarter. Haynes King ran in a one-yard touchdown to put GT up 21-13, with the Jackets converting their two-point try. Although the Tigers answered back, Georgia Tech marched down the field with Aidan Burr converting a 55-yard field goal as time expired.
Georgia Tech fans stormed the field and took down the goalposts, with Haynes King going an efficient 20-28 through the air along with 103 rushing yards and a touchdown. With the standout win, Georgia Tech moved up to #18 in the AP poll and established itself as an ACC and CFP contender. A weak conference schedule should cement the Jackets well before an in-state showdown with #5 Georgia on Thanksgiving weekend concludes their regular season.
In what was technically a non-conference game, Kansas State met Arizona in Tucson on Friday night. The slide continued for KSU, with Rutgers’ 2024 bowl opponent falling to 1-3 after falling to the other Wildcats. Arizona was led by Noah Fifita’s two touchdown runs, as well as running back Ismail Mahadi, who went off for 189 yards.
Meanwhile, Colorado fell to 1-2 on the season, falling to the Houston Cougars, who made a statement in the Big 12 with their third straight victory. Connor Weigman, who used to play for Texas A&M, threw for 222 yards and ran for 83 yards and two touchdowns, leading Houston over the Buffaloes for a 36-20 victory on Friday night.
First Big Week Of SEC Play Takes Center Stage
For all the other action around the country, the SEC provided national college football fans with their first buffet of the year, with the league beginning to separate its contenders from its pretenders. The game of the week came between Georgia and Tennessee, which currently rank fifth and fifteenth in the latest AP poll.
After Joey Aguilar gave the Volunteers an early 21-7 lead, including a 72-yard touchdown pass to Chris Brazell, Georgia roared back with 20 straight points over the course of the second and third quarters. Aguilar delivered a deep touchdown to Brazell once again to put Tennessee up 28-27 as time wound down in the third quarter.
The two teams were back and forth the rest of the way out, with Gunnar Stockton throwing a touchdown pass to London Humphreys on a critical fourth down and Zachariah Branch catching the two-point try to tie the game at 38 late in the fourth quarter. In the overtime period, the Vols were forced to settle for a field goal, which proved costly as the Dawgs answered with a game-winning touchdown run from Josh McCray. Georgia edged out Tennessee 44-41 in an early-season showdown, but both teams proved to be conference and national contenders.
The evening slate featured multiple SEC showdowns, including Arkansas battling current #13 Ole Miss. The game proved to be a shootout, with the Rebels’ backup quarterback Trinidad Chambliss stealing the show by throwing for over 350 yards and rushing for two touchdowns. Former Nittany Lions wide receiver Harrison Wallace III had 92 yards and came down with Chambliss’ one passing touchdown.
Taylen Green has looked like the real deal for the Razorbacks, throwing for 305 yards and rushing for 115 yards while scoring one touchdown through the air and one on the ground. It was not enough for the Hogs to keep up in Mississippi, with both teams going score for score until Ole Miss pulled ahead by 13 late in the fourth quarter. Arkansas answered with a touchdown, but was unable to get closer and suffered their first loss of the season.
Florida looked to bounce back from a humbling loss to USF in Death Valley, but #3 LSU was ready for them. After the Gators took an initial 3-0 lead, LSU went up 13-10 at halftime and a pick-six by Dashawn Spears sealed the game for the Tigers in the fourth quarter. DJ Lagway threw five interceptions for Florida, while Garrett Nussmeier had 220 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception of his own. Reporters seemed critical of the Tigers due to the nature of the win, causing Brian Kelly to snap at his press conference in defense of the team.
In the other big SEC game of the night, Vanderbilt headed to South Carolina to battle the Gamecocks, who were ranked eleventh after two opening wins. After the Commodores built a 14-7 lead early in the contest, a high hit by Langston Patterson knocked South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers out of the contest. Sellers was 6 for 7 with 94 yards and an interception before backup Luke Doty struggled, going 18-27 for 148 yards and an interception.
Vanderbilt took advantage, scoring the game’s final 17 points in the second half while keeping South Carolina scoreless. Although we do not know how the game would have played out had Sellers stayed in the game, the ‘Dores looked dominant on both sides of the ball in a hostile environment, and earned themselves the #20 spot in the AP poll. They are also my National Star Of The Week.
Looking Ahead To Week 4
Week 4 will be the first heavy week of conference play around the country, although it will still feature some high-profile nonconference showdowns. Tulane will look to take down its third Power Four opponent, but this time it will go on the road to battle #13 Ole Miss, while Arkansas hosts another top American Conference program in Memphis. Florida will battle #4 Miami at Hard Rock Stadium, which is where College GameDay will be as well.
The Big 12 will have a big-time showdown on this week’s Big Noon Kickoff, with #17 Texas Tech battling #16 Utah. Both are among the top teams in the conference and may see each other later in the season at the Big 12 Championship if they continue their solid starts. West Virginia and Kansas will meet, while Arizona State will clash with Baylor. All four teams have identical 2-1 records and are looking to overcome frusturating losses.
In the ACC, 1-2 Clemson will look to bounce back from last week’s loss to Georgia Tech by hosting 2-1 Syracuse, while SMU will square off with Big 12 rival TCU in Forth Worth, with the Mustangs sitting on a tough loss to Baylor. North Carolina-UCF and Georgia Tech-Temple feature a couple of high-profile teams going against nonconference opponents, while NC State-Duke and Stanford-Virginia are other games that could be worth keeping tabs on.
The SEC will see #22 Auburn head to Norman to battle the #11 Sooners, while South Carolina will look to recover from its humbling loss when it takes on #23 Missouri. In the Big Ten, Rutgers and Iowa fans will have their free Saturday to keep tabs on the rest of the conference. Maryland-Wisconsin is in the early window, followed by #21 Michigan at Nebraska and Purdue at #24 Notre Dame in the 3:30 timeslot. Oregon State will head to Autzen to take on the sixth-ranked Ducks at the same time.
The evening timeslot has an absolute treat for college football fans, with #9 Illinois and #19 Indiana squaring off at 7:30 on NBC. The game could end up playing a huge role in which of these teams gets into the College Football Playoff later in the year. Washington will also be in action against Washington State in Pullman, while Michigan State has a late nightcap on the East Coast, with their game against USC not kicking off until 11 Eastern. Rutgers fans will remember a late night when their game against the Trojans kicked off at the same time.
Of course, Rutgers will play in the premier game on Friday night, taking on the Iowa Hawkeyes at 8 PM on FOX. The game will be also be broadcast on the airwaves at WFAN and WRSU-FM, while myself and Andrew Rice will have live updates from SHI Stadium through the On The Banks X account and at onthebanks.com.
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