Let’s Look Back On Week 3 Of College Football And Unveil Our First Top 10

What’s better than some doofus giving a ranking of college football teams that mean absolutely nothing, but are still ripe for ridicule? That is a very bad way of saying that each week, this column is going to begin with a ranking and brief explanation of my Top 10 teams in America. These are probably wrong, but whatever.

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. USC
5. Penn State
6. Oklahoma State
7. Washington
8. Wisconsin
9. Ohio State
10. Florida State

The gap between Clemson and Alabama is really, really small, while the gap between Alabama and Oklahoma is somewhat comfortable. That’s not to say I don’t think Oklahoma (or any team in the 3-6 range) cannot beat the Tigers or Crimson Tide, just right now, the two best teams in the country are pretty well-defined.

The race for the third and fourth playoff spots look like they’re going to be fascinating. The Big 12 is a two-horse race between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, but if one wins Bedlam and the other wins the conference title game, the conference risks getting shut out again. Of course, if the same team wins both games, I’d probably argue they should be in, even if there’s a loss somewhere on the resume.

We’re in a similar situation with USC and Washington in that they’re the two-best teams in their conference, although they’d only meet in the Pac-12 title game. Still, what’re the odds both teams get to that point unscathed? The Trojans have a dreaded road night game against Washington State and a trip to Notre Dame on their schedule, while the Huskies end the season with UCLA, Oregon, at Stanford, Utah, and Washington State.

The Big Ten is a mess. Penn State is the best team right now, but it hasn’t played anyone too terribly threatening, even if it has looked dominant at times during the non-con. Ohio State may be the best team by the end of the season, but it got run off of its own field by the Sooners and really needs to find some semblance of a consistent passing attack.

Michigan’s defense is insane, but its offense’s inability to move the ball for prolonged stretches will waste at least one monstrous defensive performance this year. Wisconsin is Wisconsin, and it is the overwhelming favorite to march through the Big Ten West, but can it beat a more talented side in either the Nittany Lions or the Buckeyes in the conference title game?

Lastly, do not count out Florida State. Yes, it lost to Alabama and Deondre Francois is out for the year. But the Seminoles haven’t played a game since the loss to the Crimson Tide due to Hurricane Irma and Jimbo Fisher — whose ability to coach quarterbacks is second to none — has had three weeks to get a new signal caller (four-star true freshman James Blackman) ready to go.

The other 21 starters are still talented, and it is possible to overcome an early loss. While Florida State’s schedule is difficult, featuring trips to Clemson and Florida, this team could play spoiler if a few things go right. I don’t think they’re going to be this year’s version of Ohio State in 2014, but there’s a (very difficult) path for that to happen.

Anyway, let’s get to the fun stuff.

Best Game: USC 27, Texas 24 (2 OT)

I am in my mid-20s. My guess is that for a lot of people my age, the game that led to them becoming enamored with the sport was the 2006 Rose Bowl between USC and Texas. Reggie Bush is the best college football player of my lifetime. Vince Young decided one day he was going to be unstoppable (until, of course, he ran into Jeff Fisher in Tennessee). Matt Leinart was the defending Heisman Trophy winner who was unable to defend the trophy because his running back (Bush) won it. Said running back was backed up by a guy in Lendale White who had — italics very necessary here — 1,521 yards from scrimmage and 26 touchdowns in a season as a backup. Both teams were loaded with NFL talent all over the field.

Watching that game, namely the singular brilliance of Young to orchestrate a 12-point comeback over the game’s final 6:42, was spellbinding. It all happened at the Rose Bowl, a stadium where games just feel bigger solely because they are taking place in that building. It was the perfect college football game, and it will be the platonic ideal of a college football game until the sun explodes and consumes the earth.

So basically, when USC and Texas played for the first time since then on Saturday, it had a really high bar to live up to. In no way, shape, or form was it anywhere near as good as the Rose Bowl matchup, but it was still a great game. The Trojans are awesome, while Tom Herman apparently turns into the greatest coach of all time when he’s coaching an underdog.

And the crazy thing was, it looked like Herman was going to do it again, as Sam Ehlinger found Armanti Foreman for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 45 seconds remaining to give the Longhorns a 17-14 lead.

However, giving Sam Darnold any time is dangerous, and he marched the Trojans down the field for a game-tying field goal. Both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime, Texas got the ball to start the second overtime, fumbled, and USC kicked a field goal to win. Oh, and this happened after the Trojans scored in the first overtime.

Sometimes, the littlest things in college football are the ones that make you the happiest. Professional employed person Matt Leinart letting his love for his USC family come through and dapping up Deontay Burnett is one of those things.

Player of the Week: Mason Rudolph

Hot damn is Mason Rudolph awesome. Oklahoma State’s gunslinger threw the ball all over Pitt’s secondary during the Cowboys’ 59-21 win on Saturday afternoon, going 23-for-32 with 497 yards, five touchdowns, and an interception. We’ll talk more about his receivers a little later in the column, but Rudolph was unreal. He’s been playing out of his mind all season, and against a Panther defense that had to play its second big play offense in as many weeks, he showed what makes him so special.

Here are all five of his touchdown passes on Saturday. Notice how they all came in the first half.

That second one is probably my favorite, as it highlights the most delightful trait about Rudolph. Even when he’s facing serious pressure and looks like he’s in trouble, he’s always going to keep his eyes downfield and try to make a big play in the passing game. Watching him go up against Baker Mayfield during Bedlam this year is going to be the single most fun game of the year.

Biggest Surprise: Mississippi State

Raise your hand if you predicted Mississippi State absolutely throttling LSU, 37-7, dominating the game on both sides of the ball and staking the Bulldogs as the most dangerous non-Alabama team in the SEC West.

[Exactly no one, including myself, raises their hand]

This is the kind of game that you expect to play against a lesser FBS opponent, not the team ranked 13th in America. Mississippi State dominated the time of possession (35:55 to 24:05), outgained the Tigers by a whole bunch (465 yards to 270), and just generally looked like the far better team. Time of possession is maybe the most overrated stat in football, but the Bulldogs showed that when you can basically play keep away, not make any major mistakes, and quickly get the ball back when your defense is on the field, you are going to be in a great position to win the game.

SB Nation’s Bill Connelly also pointed out that Mississippi State basically bullied LSU and put the Tigers in a position where they aren’t built to succeed. Long story short, the Bulldogs executed their gameplan to perfection. While it’s probably way too early to predict that Dan Mullen can get this team to a point where they can win the SEC West (ok, it’s definitely way too early to predict that), Mississippi State showed on Saturday that it’s dangerous.

Best Moment: Stephen F. Austin’s Walk-Off Pick-6

So here’s the thing: I did not watch a second of this game. Odd are you did not either. But oh my god, look at how it ended.

This rules so much. I think my favorite part, aside from the hurdle and the general hilarity that comes from a quarterback throwing a ball that was so obviously going to get picked, was the two guys calling the game for Stephen F. Austin. They did not, under any circumstance, want to jinx the play, so they just kept calling it normally until it was a touchdown, at which point they just exploded.

I’m all about walk-off wins, so this is great stuff. And on that note …

Best Play: Feleipe Franks

There was nothing redeemable about the Florida-Tennessee game until the two teams flipped a switch on offense and made things fun. The Vols scored late to make it seem like overtime was coming, and Florida more or less needed something crazy to happen to avoid that due to some rough clock management by Jim McElwain.

That’s when Franks threw up a prayer. Fortunately for Gators fans everywhere, Tyrie Cleveland answered it.

This is an absolutely insane throw by Franks. It’s like a through ball in soccer — you’re not really trying to find a man as much as you’re putting it to a spot and hoping someone can get there. Fortunately for Franks, Cleveland was able to blow past the Volunteer secondary and end up in the perfect spot. And man, it was pretty. When you think of hail marys, you don’t think of stuff like this, you think of teams bombing everyone forward and a quarterback throwing a jump ball.

Instead, Florida looked like it was going to run a play with the hopes of getting into field goal territory, a bunch of dudes improvised, and in the end, it won. Florida should exclusively throw the ball 60-plus yards down the field on offense.

Best Performance: Memphis’ Offense

Really, Oklahoma State’s offense or Mississippi State’s everything should go here, but I want to give some love to the Tigers, which hosted UCLA and won a shootout in dramatic fashion. The Tigers are led by head coach Mike Norvell, who is an offensive savant and was put on earth to turn football games into shootouts. His quarterback is Riley Ferguson, a former Tennessee quarterback with a strong arm and absolutely no conscience.

So as you can guess, those two things came together to turn the game against the Bruins into something wildly entertaining. Ferguson went 23-for-38 with 398 yards, six touchdowns, and an interception. Basically every four passes he completed made it into the end zone, which rules. Darrell Henderson also ran the ball 14 times for 105 yards.

And while Memphis got outgained, 632-579, it was way more efficient, as it ran 79 plays to UCLA’s 93. This game was incredibly silly and I would like it if every game involving Memphis was like this.

Biggest Disappointment: The Refs in Iowa/North Texas

I am probably like you in that I watched exactly one play from this game: Akrum Wadley’s 74-yard touchdown reception in which he absolutely cooked a dude with a wheel route, caught the ball, and bolted into the end zone. The issue was he started high stepping at the six-yard line, which got him a flag.

Now, I am the worst person to have a take on this, because I think if you score a touchdown you should be allowed to do whatever you want to celebrate. If you want to stop the game and have the band come on the field and celebrate your touchdown by going through the first act of Les Misérables, you should be allowed to do that. Whatever.

So basically, throwing a flag for this is completely insane. He’s barely doing anything! The far more disrespectful thing in this play is making another college football player look foolish by blowing past him on a wheel route and breaking away from him in a footrace. This is the silliest unsportsmanlike conduct penalty since that time LSU punter Brad Wing had the gall to, uh, extend his arms.

Hilarious Box Score of the Week: Oklahoma State’s Four Receivers

This legitimately made me laugh out loud. Oklahoma State has the best group of receivers in the nation, and no one is especially close at No. 2. Here is what they did against Pitt’s secondary (which, in fairness, is without its best player in do-everything safety Jordan Whitehead):

The Panthers did a pretty solid job against Penn State’s high-powered offense last week (although you can argue much of that was because the Nittany Lions barely had the ball), but this weekend, the Cowboys and their receivers just ruined Pitt. There’s no shame in that, though, as Jalen McCleskey, James Washington, Marcell Ateman, and Dillon Stoner are capable of doing that against anyone.