2024-25 NCAA Football (Week 3)

Games I saw (some of):

(1) Georgia 13-12 Kentucky

WTF was that? UGA really kinda sucked in this game, they finally got RB Etienne going in the 2nd half (well, a little bit) and at least he secured them the TD they needed to win. But, man, the Bulldog defense didn't stop the run or the pass--UK is not exactly a barn burning offense--and the Bulldog offense mostly sputtered and I thought QB Beck played maybe the worst game of his collegiate career. So is Kentucky better than we thought? Well, they can't be as bad as they looked the prior week at home to South Carolina. But, I don't think that was it. I think I have recounted this memory on here before but here goes again: back in the Nick Saban days when Alabama was murdering everyone (right before Georgia started murdering everyone), the Tide rolled into Lexington and dropped a 51-3 ass whoopin' on the Wildcats. It's easy to look at the score and say 'Alabama is really good and Kentucky really sucks' and most of the time that would be the proper takeaway. But, no. What happened was the Tide brought their A-game because they were afraid of Kentucky; they could've put forth no effort at all and won 27-10 and no one would've thought anything of it, but Saban wanted to send a message and the message was 'that Kentucky squad is gettin' kinda good and I don't wanna fuckin' lose to them!' So Saban pulled out all the stops and embarrassed the Cats. So when UGA comes in and plays the worst game they've played in a decade, they're saying 'Kentucky sucks so bad they can't possibly hang with us', which, again, most of the time would be correct. But, UGA kinda got lucky here. They were not the better team for most of this match and, yes, one good drive is all it took to secure the victory...but....one good drive is all they had against a team they clearly had zero respect for. Now, I understand their attitude, I had already completely given up on this Kentucky squad and now I'm forced to kinda take them seriously again (for a while). But instead I think I'll just look sideways at the Bulldogs and keep an eye on their upcoming games: @Alabama, @Texas, @Ole Miss, Tennessee at home and, hell, Georgia Tech to close the season might not be the biscuit they thought it would be. Just sayin': keep an eye on Georgia, they don't look like they're into it this year. 

(4) Alabama 42-10 Wisconsin

Only kinda vaguely paying attention to this one because every time I looked up the Bama running game was gashing the Badgers and putting up TD's. Not a vintage Wisconsin side, but an impressive thumping by the Tide. (Speaking of vintage: they retired Ron Dayne's number before the game and my man showed up in shorts and a t-shirt; I'm not exactly a dapper dressed myself but that ain't a good look for a Heisman winner)

(16) Louisiana State 36-33 South Carolina

South Carolina made big plays and kept the Tigers off balance, but when LSU finally settled down and played, they really were the better team. I've watched LSU a coupla times and I've generally been impressed but they also feel schizophrenic, like they can win or lose just about any time anywhere. As for South Carolina, that nice win in Lexington felt like the start of something big, but the 2nd half of this game reminded us that the Gamecocks are middle of the pack.  

Top 25

Handled their business

(2) Texas, (4) Alabama, (5) Mississippi, (6) Missouri, (7) Tennessee, (9) Oregon, (10) Miami, (12) Utah, (13) Oklahoma State, (14) Kansas State, (15) Oklahoma, (16) Louisiana State, (18) Notre Dame, (23) Nebraska

Won but did not impress

(1) Georgia. WTF? UK's D-line had some nice moments and UK's running game did, too. But the Bulldogs never should've let this game stay in jeopardy for so long. 

(17) Michigan. Didn't exactly dominate Arkansas State at home, kinda fell apart in the 4th quarter! Not saying the Wolverines aren't good, they've still got plenty of talent on the defensive side, but this title defense is not gonna be easy and they clearly do not have the offense to go too far.

Bad beat

(20) Arizona. I watched a bit of Arizona the previous week not exactly lighting it up against Northern Arizona and I can't say I was shocked to see that Kansas State handled them rather easily. I'm putting this as a bad beat but it is also quite possible that Arizona just isn't as good as they were last season.  

(24) Boston College. BC is kinda spunky but so is Missouri, so going on the road and hanging with an SEC powerhouse (-ish) is not a bad showing. This is not a bad L.  

Next week's intriguing matches:

(24) Illinois @ (22) Nebraska (I dunno, man, Nebraska back in the top 25? I'll believe it when I see it--and the Illini ain't exactly appointment viewing either, this may be the peak for both of these squads this year)

North Carolina State @ (21) Clemson (The Wolfpack won't roll over to the Tigers, this is a good test for Clemson to see if they're for real)

(11) Southern Cal @ (18) Michigan (a conference game? Uh....okay, should be fun)

(12) Utah @ (14) Oklahoma State (two blue collar, lunch pail squads going at it, we'll see who earns the W)

(6) Tennessee @ (15) Oklahoma (another conference game? The Vols are looking pretty good and though the Sooners haven't really gotten going yet, I got a feeling they might blow up in this game; curious to see who shines out in this one)