MY KICKER GOES BIRRRRRR! WEEK 3 RECAP + WEEK 4 LOOKAHEAD
- sidelinebeef
- Sep 16
- 9 min read
Quick Notes
- Colorado is in trouble. They don’t have a QB and they don’t have a defense. Houston is better than most people expected and Weigman is reviving his image. He had a decent day in the air and rushed for 80+ with 2 TDs.
- Kansas State has fallen off a cliff. Something is terribly wrong there.
- Bo Jackson Jr. is here. He didn’t find the end zone but rushed for 109 on just 9 carries against Ohio. He may earn some more carries as the season continues but he’s definitely bolstered depth in the Ohio State RB room that lost Henderson and Judkins.
- Texas is having what they hope are “growing pains” to start their season. If they can’t work the kinks out before conference play begins, they might be in trouble.
- Either Wisconsin is THAT BAD or I’m dead wrong about Ty Simpson being Alabama’s QB. Stay tuned.
- It took Sherrone Moore’s suspension to kick in for Michigan to remember Bryce Underwood has legs…very fast ones at that.
- The Backyard Brawl never disappoints.
- Virginia Tech gets spanked by ODU and Brent Pry is fired.
- I took UCLA’s under win total one season too early. DeShaun Foster fired.
Big Games Recap
Florida 10 @ #3 LSU 20
There weren’t many bright spots in this game besides the defenses. Neither offense could get things going, DJ Lagway threw 5 INTs and they outgained LSU in total yards! It was a sloppy defensive game that was going to award itself to the team with less mistakes. Lagway finished the day 33/49 with 287 yds 1 TD and 5 INTs. Nussmeier wasn’t anything special either finishing 15/27 with 220 yds 1 TD and 1 INT. Neither offense was able to get the ground game going both finished with under 105 rush yards. Jayden Baugh was a bright spot for the Gators and seemed to be making plays out of nothing. While Lagway did not look good at all, I want to say I’m impressed with his confidence to keep firing. Florida is just strapping in for a rollercoaster of a schedule that starts with a trip to Miami this Saturday. Meanwhile LSU will get to face SE Louisiana before beginning SEC play against Ole Miss.
While this wasn’t the game I was hoping it would be, it helped tell us a lot about these two teams. This USF team still has A LOT to play for as far as their season is concerned. Ultimately, they couldn’t win on the line of scrimmage against Miami. On offense USF struggled to run the ball and only tallied 40 yards on the ground. They also finished the day 7/19 on 3rd down. Rain or not, the offense wasn’t able to ward off that Miami DL enough to score. Meanwhile Miami dominated in the TOP category and worked their offense down field. Miami had 36 minutes in Time of Possession to USF’s 24. Miami’s offense is firing on all cylinders and their WRs look DANGEROUS. Given it’s history Miami often drops a “whoopsie” here but after seeing this one, I’m expecting Miami to be in the ACC Championship.
Welcome to the party Gunner Stockton! I couldn’t have been more wrong about a game. In fact I’d venture to say Josh Heupel reads the blog because the passing game felt deliberate. Tennessee did come out and throw the ball all over the yard. Chris Brazzell finished the day with 177 yards and 3 TDs on 6 receptions. On the other side Stockton spread the ball well throughout the offense and they racked up 198 and 3 TDs on the ground with 304 and 2 TDs through the air. I must admit both of these teams are better than I thought. Georgia may have won this one in overtime but if they met again in the post season it could surely go either way. In fact Tennessee nearly had the game won, they just missed the FG as college kickers tend to do from time to time. I think it’s safe to say both of these teams can compete for the SEC title.
Now this is one I saw coming. It’s good that Notre Dame woke up and started running the ball again but they couldn’t outrun the Aggies in this boat race. Jeremiyah Love had 23 carries for 94 yds 1 TD and 4 rec for 53 yds with 1 rec TD. Price accounted for the other 2 TDs on the ground. CJ Carr played pretty well but this one came down to who had the ball last and costly mistakes. Unfortunately Tyler Buechner fumbled the snap leading to the missed PAT and it really cost them. Notre Dame’s schedule makes it difficult for them to have a real shot at the post season but anything is possible in today’s college football. This A&M team might have a shot at competing for the SEC title. This was the first time since the 70’s that the Aggies got a win on the road against an AP-ranked team. Marcel Reed still has some things to work on, but when he’s on…he’s on. That’s due in large part to his WRs Mario Craver and KC Concepcion. Craver was ELECTRIC with 207 yards and 1 TD on 7 receptions. Le’Veon Moss also bullied his way in the end zone 3 times. This Aggie offense is now multi-dimensional and if their defense resembles any of Elko’s defenses in the past, they’re going to be a threat.
#12 Clemson 21 @ Georgia Tech 24
I saw a meme of at Batman symbol in the sky but it read “Tyler From Spartanburg” and that’s all I can think about when it comes to Clemson. This team had everyone fooled in August. Cade Klubnik is a gloried RB. He finished the day 15/26 for 207 with 1 TD 1 INT. He also rushed 17 times for 62 yards a goal line TD and lost a fumble. Outside of Wesco (who is very good) not one other received eclipsed 35 yards or 3 receptions. Randall was okay on the ground but at the end of the day they struggled mightily moving the ball. Meanwhile Brent Key advances to 7-1 against ranked ACC competition and put on a masterclass in coaching. I can’t give enough credit to Key for being able to run that fire drill field goal unit on the field to win the game. Extra shoutout goes to Aidan Birr for being ICE COLD and hitting his career long on that game winner! Haynes King was awesome again finished 19/27 with 213 yards and 24 carries for 104 yards and 1 TD. This Georgia Tech team just looked like they wanted it more than Clemson. The Tigers will have a get right game this weekend at home vs Syracuse while Georgia Tech will face a Temple team coming off a beating from Oklahoma.
Week 4 Lookahead
12PM FOX
Every week there’s a new potential conference favorite in the BIG12. At this point throw a dart and have that be your winner. Texas Tech enters this game as the #1 scoring offense in the BIG12 after games against Ark-Pine Bluff, Kent State and Oregon State. They’re 3-0 with a 174-35 point differential. Red Raider QB Behren Morton is completing 70% of his passes for 923 yards 11 TDs and 1 INT. They’ll certainly have their hands full against this stout Utah defense. Utah currently ranks second in scoring defense in the BIG12 after games against UCLA, Cal Poly, and a feisty Wyoming. The rubber is going to meet the road here and only one side is going to win… will it be the Red Raider offense or that Utah defense?
SMU @ TCU
12PM ESPN2
SMU entered the season ranked #16 but since their lost to Baylor has dropped out of the Top 25. TCU started off the season with all eyes on them as they bludgeoned UNC 48-14. They’ve only played 2 games where as most teams have played 3 but their QB Hoover looks good. He’s completing 76% of his passes for 621 yards 6 TDs and 1 INT. Meanwhile RB Kevorian Barnes is averaging 7.4 yards per carry! The TCU offense is yet to score less than 40 in their 2 outings. This may spell trouble for an SMU team that was already boat raced by a BIG12 team with a good QB.
3:30PM ABC
I’d have to assume this is going to be the game of the week. Ex Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold is has Auburn ranked #22 after a strong Week 1 win at Baylor followed by wins against Ball State and S. Alabama. Arnold has been decent with his arm but has excelled with his legs in the ground game. Currently Auburn ranks 3rd in the SEC with 242 rush ypg and 10 rushing TDs! Arnold looks to stick it to his old team that’s very happy under new transfer QB John Mateer. Mateer has the Sooners humming after a win over #15 Michigan in Week 2. This OU team has a gauntlet of a schedule ahead of them and there’s no time to slow down. Can Venables get the best of his old QB? or will Hugh Freeze show the Sooners they’ve been using Arnold wrong all this time?
#21 Michigan @ Nebraska
3:30PM CBS
Big update here is that Sherrone Moore will be serving part of his suspension during this game. If that isn’t bulletin board material for Nebraska, I don’t know what is. You heard Rhule’s halftime speech up 33-0 against Akron! They’re not going to let Sherrone Moore publicly choose their game to be suspended during as if it’s not a worry for him. All signs point to year 3 Matt Rhule teams having a huge uptick and we’ve seen the Cornhuskers trending that way so far. This will be their first true test against conference competition how will they respond? On the otherside Biff Pogi realized Bryce Underwood can run and that’s been added to their game. I’m honestly keep an eye out here for the team performing better under Pogi than Moore! Michigan’s defense will need to be ready to take on Raiola company. I don’t think Michigan will have too hard a time getting points on the board so they key here is shutting down the Nebraska offense.
South Carolina @ #23 Missouri
7PM ESPN
South Carolina dropped a bad one to Vandy and has come back down to Earth. Before the season started I thought they were a bit overrated to begin with, I was just waiting for the shoe to drop. Now you’re going to hear a ton about how Sellers is injured, but they were losing handily before he came out. The real question mark is will the Gamecocks get Sellers back for this week or will Doty lead them into battle against Missouri? Beau Pribula and this Mizzou offense are scoring at will ranking 2nd in the SEC in scoring offense with 51.7 ppg. SC is their first conference test before one final step down in competition against UMass. Missouri has been tuning itself up in the first 3 games to be a well oiled machine come conference play. Meanwhile this SC team just got beaten up at home and their lost their star QB to injury. Just remember these things don’t always play out as you think.
Florida @ #4 Miami
7:30PM ABC
I almost want to say “Poor Florida”. I mean this is just tough. They start the season with a 55-0 win over LIU only to lose at home to USF and travel to Death Valley for a 20-10 loss the following week. Now they have to go to Miami after DJ Lagway just threw 5 INTs in Death Valley? I fear for these Gators because this is not the Miami we’re used to seeing and last week proved it. Carson Beck and company score efficiently and can do it in the air or on the ground. The defense is physical and can get after the QB. I mean like I said before these things don’t always play out as you think by I’m covering my eyes for this one. Rather than bet this game, I’d look for a line on Billy Napier to be fired before Tuesday.
7:30PM NBC
This is a sneaky BIG10 matchup most people are not talking about. The public eye has been wildly consumed with the SEC and for good reason but also teams like Michigan, Ohio State and Clemson. Even though both Illinois and Indiana are in the BIG10 I feel they often get treated as pretenders. This will be a good fundamental football game. It may not be the most exciting styles of football here but there will be head banging and there will be dramatics. You can always count on Cignetti to spice things up a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a viral quote from him before Friday.
Arizona State @ Baylor
7:30PM FOX
Arizona State took a tough loss against at Mississippi State in Week 2. Since they’ve bounced back getting a clean win 34-15 over Texas State but they’ve lost their rank. This Sun Devil defense knows they have to be on point against Sawyer Robertson and this speedy Baylor offense. As I mentioned earlier might as well throw a dart at the BIG12 and see where it lands because all of these teams are capable of beating each other up. I think there will be a ton of points and highlight plays in this one.
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