Week 3 shook up the AP Top 25, and a handful of ranked teams came out of it looking more fragile than the poll suggests.
Five ranked teams fell over the weekend, and the chaos included unranked Kentucky going into College Station and pounding Texas A&M, plus West Virginia handling Virginia over the final three quarters on the way to a double-digit road win. Even some of the heavy favorites had to sweat, with Miami, BYU and USC all getting pushed harder than expected.
That backdrop makes the overrated conversation pretty easy to start with Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are 3-0 and still carrying the sting of last year’s College Football Playoff snub, but the résumé is light.
Against Michigan State on Saturday, Notre Dame controlled the ball for 37:02 to 22:58 and more than doubled the Spartans in total yards, 395-167, yet the final margin was only 27-10 despite being favored by more than four touchdowns. The defense has been sharp enough, giving up just 23 points through three games, but the run game has been a real issue.
Notre Dame is averaging 3.6 yards per carry and hasn’t produced a run longer than 17 yards. The Irish are fine as a top-10 team, but Ole Miss probably belongs ahead of them right now.
Three of Notre Dame’s next four games are on the road, though a true scare may not arrive until the October trip to BYU.
Alabama’s jump after beating Florida State 50-36 is harder to justify. The Crimson Tide moved up two spots, and the game itself was strange from the start.
Florida State raced to a 21-6 lead, then the delay hit again, and Alabama flipped the whole thing with three touchdowns in a little more than three minutes to seize control by halftime. The Tide never gave it back.
Still, the Seminoles did enough on offense to at least make people blink. They posted a season-high 36 points and 471 yards, and Ashton Daniels threw for 377 yards after failing to reach that number in FSU’s first two games combined.
The attack looks explosive, but the defense has to be rebuilt with a brutal run ahead: five straight games against ranked opponents.
USC also comes out of Week 3 looking shaky. The Trojans were already on notice after a 49-30 win over Louisiana, and the alarm bells only got louder in a 42-35 escape against Rutgers.
The Scarlet Knights have been one of the country’s most disappointing teams, but they hung around for four quarters and cut the lead to one score three different times in the second half, including inside the final five minutes. Rutgers had managed only 21 points in losses to UMass and Boston College, so the fact that it pushed USC this hard says plenty.
The Trojans gave up 460 total yards, and the schedule is about to get much tougher. USC has four ranked opponents in its next six games, beginning with a home date against No.
20 Oregon.
Missouri is another team that didn’t exactly inspire confidence. The Tigers beat Troy 27-17, but it was anything but smooth.
Troy jumped ahead 10-0 in the first quarter before Missouri cashed in on a punt return and two Troy turnovers to score all three of its touchdowns in the second quarter. After that burst, the offense went quiet.
Missouri managed just 3 points the rest of the way, punted seven times, produced only 230 yards, went 2-for-11 on third down and committed nine penalties. Troy also won the possession battle, 37:23 to 22:37.
Quarterback Austin Simmons finished 10 of 19 for 91 yards, a season low after throwing for at least 250 yards against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Kansas. The road only gets rougher from here, with six of Missouri’s next seven games against ranked teams and the next four coming in a row.
The Tigers head to Mississippi State on Saturday night with upset alert already flashing.
In Other News...
Jadarian Price Just Gave Notre Dame Fans The NIL Answer They Wanted
Jadarian Prices decision to stay at Notre Dame last year said as much about the programs pull as it did about his own priorities. Texas Tech came after him with a bigger role and more NIL money, but Price valued the relationships he had built in South Bend and the place he already held in the Irish offense, a choice that resonated in a recruiting era where money often feels like the loudest voice in the room.
Now, with Price off to a fast start in the NFL after going in the first round of the 2026 draft to Seattle, the move looks even better in hindsight. He has opened his Seahawks career leading the team in rushing yards and yards per carry, a tidy reminder that Notre Dame did not lose him to the highest bidder and still got the kind of player whose value carries well beyond college. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Fans Wont Like This BYU Defense Take
A week or two out from the October 17 matchup, the conversation around Notre Dames defense has already turned into one of those debates fans love to argue over. Pro Football Network analyst Cam Mellor stirred the pot by saying BYU has more talent across all 11 starters on defense than the Irish do, even as the numbers have Notre Dame sitting ahead of the Cougars in several key defensive categories. It is the kind of comparison that invites immediate pushback, especially when both teams have looked sturdy enough to give their supporters reasons for confidence.
For Notre Dame followers, the frustration is not just the opinion itself, but the idea that roster talent and on-field results are being weighed in different ways. The Irish have earned better defensive rankings so far, while BYUs case leans more on what Mellor sees on film and across the depth chart. With the matchup still ahead, the larger question is whether the Irish can turn those statistical edges into something more concrete once the teams finally meet, because this one already has the feel of a game that will settle a few arguments. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame's Champ Monds Faces One Big Question Before South Bend
Champ Monds arrival in South Bend has already taken a detour, even before he has put on a Notre Dame helmet. The Irish commit underwent surgery on a dislocated left shoulder after the injury happened twice, ending his final high school season early and forcing a sudden pause in what had been building into a key part of the programs future plans.
Notre Dame still expects the reclassified 2027 prospect to be healed in time to enroll early and join spring practice, which keeps the long-term outlook intact. Even so, his rehab will be worth watching closely, because the shoulder is now the one issue hovering over a commitment the Irish beat out Florida State and Ohio State to land. [Read more 🡒]