Around the CFB World: Week Three

Headlines

1. Miles Mania.

Only three weeks into the inaugural Les Miles Era and Kansas has its first big Miles moment, with the Jayhawks opening Week 3 with a 48-28 beatdown at Boston College. KU took over in the second half, outscoring the Eagles 20-0. Pooka Williams and Khalil Herbert combined for over three hundred yards rushing, with each also recording a score.

2. That Cat Khalil.

Entering 2018, many saw Arizona’s Khalil Tate as one of the favorites to win the Heisman trophy. Those estimates did not come to fruition. Saturday saw the Wildcat passer show off the form that landed him the hype two years ago. In a win over Texas Tech, Tate finished with 185 yards passing, a passing touchdown, 129 yards rushing and a rushing score, which included an 84 yard TD run.

3. Fields Day.

Yes, it has been against mostly irrelevant competition, but Justin Fields appears to be as advertised so far through three games at Ohio State. His latest feat came in the Buckeyes 51-10 win victory over Indiana with 199 yards passing and four total scores.

Taillines

1. El Classico El Assico.

This years El Assico was all kinds of fun including a weather delay in which the student section stormed the field. The game would ultimately result in a 18-17 Iowa win after Iowa State muffed a punt which would have given the Cyclones the ball with 1:29 left in the game.

2. Yeah, it’s a rebuild.

One of the handful of almost certain guarantees this year would be Georgia Tech struggling moving away from the option offense. Saturday saw what appeared to be rock bottom for the Jackets, as they lost to the Citadel 27-24 in overtime, at home. Making matters worse was the fact that Citadel runs a similar option offense which Tech is looking to depart from.

3. No guts, certainly no glory

Pittsburgh was a 17 point underdog to Penn State, yet found themselves on the Penn State one yard line down seven, late in the fourth quarter. Pitts first three attempts to reach the endzone were unsuccessful. This prompted Pat Narduzzi to go for the field goal instead of making one last effort to punch the ball in. Wouldn’t you know it, the field goal was missed and the Panthers lost 17-10.

• Clay Helton’s standing continues to be on shaky ground at USC, made worse by a 30-27 overtime loss to BYU and the resignation of Lynn Swann earlier in the week. Despite out-gaining BYU and winning the time of possession the Trojans lost the turnover battle with passer Kedon Slovis tossing three interceptions, including the game ending pick in overtime.
• One of the wildest games of the weekend occurred in Lexington, where Florida topped Kentucky 29-21 after scoring 19 unanswered fourth quarter points. However, it was just a 22-21 Florida lead when Kentucky missed a go-ahead 35 yard field goal late in the fourth quarter only to see Florida put the game away on a 76 yd TD run the following possession. The mood was not great post-game as the Gators found out they lost Felipe Franks for the season with a dislocated ankle.
• Michigan State-Arizona State had its share of special teams fun as well with the Spartans failing to hit a field goal as time expired, giving ASU the 10-7 win.
• The Jayhawks were not the only team from the state of Kansas with a big weekend. K-State went down to Starkville and topped the Bulldogs 31-24.
• Good weekend for the service academies as Army, Navy, and Air Force all had victories, with the Falcons topping Colorado in overtime. Through three games the three schools are a combined 6-1.