College Football Week 3: Tide Roll, Seminoles Done

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Week 3 of college football came and went without a stunner or too many surprises. What we did get was one team showing that the winning tradition still lives on and another who just saw their season go up in smoke. Let’s take a look at the action this past week in college football.

#4 Alabama 42 Wisconsin 10

So, no more Nick Saban, and the question was how good would the Crimson Tide be this year? A season opener saw Alabama (3-0, 1-0) roll Western Kentucky 63-0 followed by a 42-16 rout over a game South Florida football team. This week, it was Wisconsin and what appeared to be a phantom 16-point spread. All week I asked myself what I was missing. Why was Alabama such a huge favorite? I mean, the Badgers always have a good football team and the Tide have yet to answer the question of how good they really are A.S. ( After Saban).

Remember, this is the same Alabama team that some felt was gifted a playoff berth last year over Florida State. The same team that lost that playoff game and then their legendary coach. It was just the kind of scenario heroes are born from.

Against Wisconsin (2-1, 2-1), it all came together. A week after almost losing to USF before pulling away, the Tide put together their best performance of the year when it counted. Head coach Kalen DeBoer put it best when he talked about how “It just takes time.” Bettors on the spread in favor of Wisconsin lost that bet by halftime.

Tide QB, Jalen Milroe was a one-man gang going 12-17 for 196 yards passing with three touchdowns. On the ground, he added 14 carries for 75 yards and two more touchdowns. The Tide did not have a turnover, forced four fumbles, recovered two, and committed just four penalties. With the win and Ohio St off, the Tide will inch closer to that #3 spot in the rankings.

Memphis 20 Florida State 12

Remember last year when Florida St QB Jordan Travis got injured and that cost the team a spot in the playoffs? Well, the Seminoles (0-3, 0-2) sure remembered and were looking to get payback this year, especially with the new 12-team playoff system giving more teams a shot. Well, the Seminoles just shot themselves in the foot and are now looking at a lost season just three weeks in.

At 0-3, the Seminoles watch Memphis (3-0, 1-0) jump out to a 20-3 lead at the half and they never had a chance. The Tigers’ defense was just too much for the Florida St offense and the Seminoles just could not match the Memphis intensity. The hardest thing to do all day was run the ball. The Seminoles got 1.5 yards a pop and that just won’t get you many wins. Add to that the turnover bug that saw the Seminoles give the ball away three times.

So with the win. Memphis can start looking at a map of the 12-team playoff from where they sit. For Florida St, it is the usual what if? What went wrong so fast in a season so full of promise? Head coach Mike Norvell saw his former team take it to his team and the voices of disgruntled Seminoles fans will only get louder. But wait a minute, just a cotton-picking minute. With this being a new 12-team playoff format, what are the chances that this team could pull off a miracle….with some help of course.

In other games:

#6 Missouri 27 #24 Boston College 21

The Bill O’Brien era has gotten off to a nice start for the Eagles of Boston College (2-1, 1-1). A huge opening week win over Florida St followed by a beatdown of Duquesne had the mood in BC high for this one. Their main man, Thomas Castellanos was primed to have a breakout game in the biggest game for BC in some years. What they got was a Missouri (3-0, 3-0) defense that would hold Castellanos to 25 rushing yards on 13 carries.

In the meantime, the Tigers would take advantage of opportunities like an interception they were able to turn into eight points to tie the game at 14-14. A field goal to end the half followed by a second-half opening touchdown drive put the game at 24-14 Missouri.

Given the opportunity to answer, BC would punt twice in the third and then Castellanos threw a pick to start the fourth and the air was officially out of the BC balloon. The team managed just 49 yards on the ground after getting over 300 last week.

#16 LSU 36 South Carolina 33

This game did not look to be Game of the Week material but WOW did it deliver. South Carolina came in a six-point dig and played nothing like that. By the time Raheim Sanders ran it in from 10 at the 12:19 mark of the first, it was already 17-0 Gamecocks. Drives of 7 plays for 75 yards and 13 plays for 65 yards saw SC dominate the first quarter.

LSU would put up a fight and with a touchdown and a field goal got it back to 17-10. But another Gamecocks touchdown on a 75-yard LaNorris Sellers run seemed to take the air out of LSU. But they would answer before the end of the half and the teams went into the locker room with SC ahead 24-16.

With just under for minutes left, LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier threw an interception at the goal one that looked to cost LSU the game. It was one of many mistakes by the LSU offense on the day. His response was the drive of the game. An eight-play 55-yard drive capped by a Josh Williams two-yard rush for a score with 1:12 left to give LSU ta 36-33 lead.

SC was able to move the football within field goal range but Alex Herrera’s 49- yd FG missed as time expired.