College football spent Week 3 delivering the kind of chaos that keeps the sport wired into every Saturday, even without a giant upset to hang the weekend on. The games still came with plenty of juice, plenty of drama, and one heavyweight matchup that actually lived up to the billing. That sets the stage for the biggest overreactions coming out of the weekend - and, in the case of Oxford, for a little reality check after the celebration.
Trinidad Chambliss did not win the Heisman Trophy
He certainly looked the part in one of the weekend’s most eye-catching performances. Chambliss handled the spotlight against LSU, beating the Tigers with both his arm and his legs while sending former coach Lane Kiffin to a loss. He threw for 363 yards and two touchdowns, then finished off the fourth-quarter game-winning drive with a run for a secore.
That’s the kind of night that sticks with voters. But the calendar still says September, and the season is barely into its first quarter. The Heisman is not handed out this early, no matter how loud the moment feels.
USC is not in the clear yet
The Trojans got the result they wanted in their Big Ten opener at Rutgers, but the trip to Piscataway was anything but tidy. USC left with a win, yet the Scarlet Knights still put up 35 points and 460 total yards. That’s the same Rutgers team that Massachusetts pushed around on that same field just two weeks earlier.
There’s no need to sound the alarm just because of one sloppy road outing. USC may have walked into this game with an eye on what’s coming next, and the schedule certainly doesn’t get softer.
Still, the Lincoln Riley era has already built a reputation for explosive offense and not much resistance on the other side of the ball. Five of the Trojans’ next six opponents are in the US LBM Coaches Poll Top 25, so the real answer on USC won’t take long to show up.
Ole Miss and Louisville may end up boosting each other
Week 1 already gave us a pair of SEC-ACC showdowns, and the more time passes, the more it looks like one of them may have been undervalued. Last week, the argument was that LSU may have received too much credit for blasting Clemson. This time, the case is that Ole Miss might not have gotten enough for surviving Louisville.
That result matters because the Cardinals backed it up in Week 3 by beating SMU, one of the more important wins of the weekend. Louisville’s offense, with Lincoln Kienholz at the controls, looks like it could hang around with early ACC favorite Miami (Fla.) in the race for conference supremacy. If the Cardinals keep stacking wins, that Week 1 loss could age very well for Ole Miss.
The Big 12 picture is starting to narrow fast
If the current polls hold, the league title game might already have its outline. Texas Tech got past Houston thanks to a late stop on a two-point conversion attempt, and the Red Raiders do not have another ranked opponent left on the schedule. They won’t see either Brigham Young or Utah in the regular season.
Those two teams are set to meet in the “Holy War” on Nov. 7, and the winner would then be positioned to face Texas Tech for the championship. That’s obviously a lot to assume this early, and the rest of the conference still has every chance to disrupt the script. Even so, Texas Tech, BYU and Utah have clearly separated themselves for now.
North Dakota State is in the playoff conversation
The path is open in a way it simply wasn’t before. In June, the NCAA Division I cabinet voted to remove the two-year waiting period for teams moving up to the Bowl Subdivision, which makes North Dakota State eligible right away in its first FBS season. That means the Bison can play for the Mountain West title, and yes, they can even reach the College Football Playoff.
They’ve already made a strong start, too, going 4-0 and winning their first conference game at Air Force. That gives the longtime FCS power a chance to reach the playoff field even faster than James Madison.
Of course, there’s still work to do. Even if NDSU runs the table in its new league, it would still need to finish as the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of Six.
And the road ahead is no joke, with trips to New Mexico, UNLV and Hawaii still waiting. For now, the Bison get a week off and a little time to imagine how far this could go.
In Other News...
USC Got An Unexpected Boost At Exactly The Right Time
USC picked up a pair of timely individual honors after its win over Rutgers, with kicker Caden Chittenden earning Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week and running back Riley Wormley landing Big Ten Freshman of the Week. It was the first Big Ten weekly recognition of both players USC careers, and it came on a day when the Trojans needed clean, efficient production in key spots.
Chittenden accounted for 10 points with two field goals and four PATs, giving USC steady work in the kicking game. Wormley added a spark out of the backfield, scoring two touchdowns and finishing with 54 yards from scrimmage, the kind of contribution that can matter most as the season starts to tighten up. [Read more 🡒]
USC Won Its Big Ten Opener But A Real Concern Followed
USC opened Big Ten play with a tight win over Rutgers, moving to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play, but the result came with plenty to digest beyond the final score. The Trojans got a huge lift from turnovers, including a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by safety Prophet Brown, and those splash plays proved decisive in a game that otherwise leaned far too heavily on the offense and opportunistic moments.
The concern for Lincoln Rileys team is hard to miss after Rutgers piled up 460 yards and reached the end zone five times, exposing a defense that still has work to do. Riley pointed to the defensive issues and penalties as areas that need cleaning up, and while USC has the record it wanted entering conference play, the way it won left little doubt that better tests are ahead. [Read more 🡒]
USC Heads Into Oregon With A Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Week 3 mostly went the way Big Ten powers wanted, with a slate of comfortable wins over lesser opposition and a few performances that turned heads, including Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. throwing four touchdown passes and Nebraska running back Jamal Rule piling up 119 yards and two scores. Against that backdrop, USCs narrow escape against Rutgers in its conference opener stood out for a very different reason, especially for a team trying to settle in quickly after joining a league where every week seems to sharpen the pressure.
The Trojans got the result they needed, but the defensive issues that showed up again against Rutgers are hard to brush aside with Oregon next on the schedule. Other Big Ten contenders such as UCLA and Iowa took care of business, and the updated power rankings reflect that separation beginning to form. For USC, the concern is no longer just winning games, but whether the defense can travel well enough to survive a much tougher stretch ahead. [Read more 🡒]