2023-24 NCAA Football (Week 3)

Games I saw (some of):

South Carolina 14-24 (1) Georgia

Yes, South Carolina was up 14-3 and Georgia really looked lame in the 1st half. But in the 2nd half, UGA did their thing and pretty well stomped the Cocks. Not an overwhelming performance--indeed, kinda crappy for long stretches--but they got the job done on an SEC field and that's still pretty impressive. Not an inspiring performance but they can't all be classics; I've still got my eye on QB Rattler, curious to see if he sneaks back into that 1st round grade he had so long ago.

(3) Florida State 31-29 Boston College

Look, the score isn't awe-inspiring and it isn't exactly as if the Seminoles ran roughshod over BC, but I watched most of this game and it never felt to me like the Seminoles were going to lose. The score you see is because Florida State basically stopped playing in the 4th quarter (not a good habit to get into) and BC made a furious run at piling up some points on the way out. Again, never felt to me like BC even had a chance to win this game, though the score looks they might have. Impressive win for Seminoles? Well, no, but not scary either, just a lazy 4th quarter. 

(10) Alabama 17-3 South Florida

This game was a frustrating watch on TV. The weather was horrendous in the 1st half and the cameras were all static and made for weird switching between angles (WTF? Seriously, what was going on there? Did all the cameramen leave at halftime?). And in the 1st half, Alabama couldn't get any offense going at all and it really did feel like they might be in some trouble. But after half time, they only kinda sucked and South Florida never got much going either, so the result was never really in much doubt. But Alabama's first QB was pretty awful and then their 2nd QB was, too. Boy, the days of going from Jones to Hurts to Tua seem long gone, don't they? Alabama is still gonna be a good squad and a tough out but they clearly do not have the QB play nor the overall offensive performance that they've featured for the last decade or so. Throw in that Clemson looks like an emperor without clothes and UGA's ascendance appears to be complete. 

Top 25

Handled their business

(1) Georgia, (2) Michigan, (3) Florida State, (4) Texas, (5) Ohio State, (7) Penn State, (8) Washington, (9) Notre Dame, (12) Utah, (13) Oregon, (14) Louisiana State, (16) Oregon State, (17) Mississippi, (19) Oklahoma, (20) North Carolina, (21) Duke, (22) Miami, (23) Washington State, (24) UCLA, (25) Iowa

Won but did not impress

(10) Alabama. Easy to blame the lack of scoring on the torrential downpour in the 1st half and the lackluster quality of the field itself; but I watched the Tide trot out two QB's--TWO!--that sucked and that hasn't happened in decades. So the Tide escaped with a W on the road, good for them, but they've got real problems, the kind of problems they haven't seen in eons. 

(18) Colorado. Yeah, yeah, big rivalry game, both coaches were squawking all week, I get that this was a grudge match and everyone played hard. But Colorado has already put up a coupla nice W's, got good looking talent all over the field, if they were as good as we think they are, they would've mushed Colorado State into a fine thin paste and it does not appear that that happened.  

Bad beat

(Should Kansas State go here? Or Tennessee?  I don't think so)

Not so good

(11) Tennessee. Gotta win at Florida if you want to win the SEC. I thought this was a W for the Vols and they didn't collect. 

(15) Kansas State. Missouri has their moments but I don't think this year is one of their moments, not saying the Tigers on the road are a pushover but if the Wildcats had actual top 20 pretensions then they should've taken this one. 

Next week's intriguing matches

(4) Florida State @ Clemson (all right, 'Noles, this is your chance to really put the knife in and twist it, let's see how good Florida State really is)

(19) Colorado @ (10) Oregon (I'm telling ya: as good as Colorado has been so far, they can't be really be that good and the day will come when they hit the windshield like a fat mosquito; on the other hand, they clearly have enough talent to be a problem for good teams; so who gets what happening to them this Saturday? I'll be tuning in)

(22) UCLA @ (11) Utah (I suspect UCLA isn't actually that good, but Utah might not be either, so gotta keep an eye on this one)

(15) Mississippi @ (13) Alabama (is Alabama ready to smack down a team they routinely smack down or will their spotty QB play doom them?)

(14) Oregon State @ (21) Washington State (who knows? I suspect they've both overrated)

(6) Ohio State @ (9) Notre Dame (wow, had to go 6 games deep to get to the true marquis match? Sorry, about criticizing last week's soft slate, NCAA, you definitely made up for it this week)

(24) Iowa @ (7) Penn State (If the Nittany Lions are as good as we think, they should probably torch the Hawkeyes, but perhaps that's an unfair jinx....but still, they should roll the Hawkeyes)