CFB Week 3 Recap

 

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College Football Week 3 Recap: Chaos Takes Over

Week 3 of the college football season delivered just about everything fans could ask for: ranked teams rolling, major upsets, wild finishes, and a few teams beginning to separate themselves from the pack.

With conference play starting to ramp up across the country, Saturday gave us our first real look at which teams are contenders and which teams still have plenty to figure out.

Here are the biggest takeaways from Week 3.

Kentucky Stuns Texas A&M

One of the biggest surprises of the weekend came in College Station, where Kentucky walked into Kyle Field and knocked off No. 9 Texas A&M 31-21.

The Wildcats fell behind early but responded by scoring 28 consecutive points. Quarterback Kenny Minchey, a Notre Dame transfer, was excellent, completing 14 of 18 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns. Former Texas running back CJ Baxter added two rushing touchdowns.

For Texas A&M, this is a brutal loss. The Aggies entered the season with major expectations, and now they have to regroup quickly with a difficult SEC schedule ahead.

Kentucky, meanwhile, leaves College Station with one of the biggest wins of the season so far.

LSU-Ole Miss Delivers

The biggest game of the night lived up to the hype.

No. 8 Ole Miss defeated No. 7 LSU 32-24, handing the Tigers their first loss of the season.

The game carried plenty of attention because of Lane Kiffin's return to Oxford, but once the ball was kicked off, the focus shifted to the field.

Ole Miss made the plays it needed late, while LSU couldn't quite finish its comeback attempt.

With both teams entering the night ranked inside the top 10, this game could have major implications for the SEC race and the College Football Playoff picture.

Alabama Survives Florida State

Alabama found itself in another stressful game against Florida State, but this time the Crimson Tide came out on top.

No. 10 Alabama defeated Florida State 50-36 in Tuscaloosa.

After Florida State jumped out aggressively, Alabama's offense eventually took over. The Crimson Tide's ability to score consistently kept the Seminoles from completing another upset.

Considering what happened when these teams met last season, this was an important response from Alabama.

Notre Dame Keeps Rolling

Notre Dame continues to look like one of the most complete teams in the country.

The No. 3 Fighting Irish defeated Michigan State 27-10 at Notre Dame Stadium, improving to 3-0.

After putting up huge offensive numbers in its first two games, Notre Dame showed that it can win a different type of game. The Irish defense controlled the second half, while the offense did enough to pull away.

Notre Dame now heads into the next portion of its schedule undefeated and with plenty of momentum.

Georgia Handles Business

No. 2 Georgia continued its strong start with a convincing 45-17 victory over Arkansas.

The Bulldogs controlled the game from the beginning and never allowed Arkansas to seriously threaten the result.

Georgia's offense once again showed why the Bulldogs entered the season among the nation's top contenders. At 3-0, Georgia remains firmly in the national championship conversation.

Ohio State Makes a Statement

Ohio State had absolutely no trouble with Kent State.

The Buckeyes cruised to a 59-3 victory, dominating from the opening whistle.

One of the biggest individual storylines came from wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who broke Ohio State's all-time receiving-yards record during the game. He accomplished the feat during his junior season, adding another major accomplishment to an already impressive career.

Louisville Takes Down SMU

The ACC had one of its biggest games of the weekend when No. 23 Louisville hosted No. 16 SMU.

Louisville came away with a 41-31 victory.

The Cardinals entered the game looking to establish themselves as a legitimate ACC contender, and beating a ranked SMU team gives them a major boost.

With Miami also sitting at 3-0, the ACC race is starting to become one of the more interesting conference races to watch.

Vanderbilt's Wild Finish

Then there was Vanderbilt.

The Commodores defeated NC State 35-31 in one of the craziest finishes you'll see all season.

NC State appeared to have the game won with six seconds remaining, but Vanderbilt forced a fumble in the end zone and recovered it for the game-winning touchdown.

Vanderbilt improved to 3-0, while NC State dropped to 1-2.

It was an unbelievable ending and one that will be replayed for a long time.

Oregon Runs Wild

Oregon bounced back in a major way following its drop in the rankings.

The Ducks absolutely destroyed Portland State 84-0, putting together one of the most dominant performances of the weekend.

Oregon finished with 726 yards of total offense while holding Portland State to just 103 yards.

Obviously, the competition level needs to be considered, but the Ducks accomplished exactly what they needed to accomplish.

Week 3 Takeaways

After three weeks, the College Football Playoff picture is beginning to take shape, but there is still plenty of football left to play.

Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, Texas, Miami and Oregon all remain teams worth keeping a close eye on as conference play continues.

At the same time, teams like Texas A&M have already suffered a major setback, while Kentucky and Louisville picked up wins that could completely change the trajectory of their seasons.

And if Week 3 taught us anything, it's that no lead is completely safe and no Saturday is predictable.

That's what makes college football so great.

Week 4 is next , CFB Top 25 Out Soon.