College Football Post-Week 3 Stock Watch (2024)

Oklahoma must have heard Alabama and LSU blabbing about their recent wins over top-ranked teams, because on Saturday night, the Sooners went down to Tallahassee and showed the college football world exactly why they are the hunted and the rest of the teams in America are just the hunters.

The Sooners are No. 1 in both polls for a reason, and they certainly proved that tonight.

The Nasty Norman Juggernaut can be diverted at some point, but it’s going to take a team that can handle getting in the ring for all four quarters, which is something Florida State couldn’t handle.

Oklahoma’s huge statement win was the biggest story of the weekend, but there was plenty of other action around the country that deserves attention as well.

Let’s have a look at whose stock went up and whose stock went down after Week 3.

Big Game Bob’s team finally came up big on the road.

Oklahoma went to Tallahassee and outlasted No. 5 Florida State in a tough, hard-hitting game that left the two teams drained both physically and emotionally.

This is the first of many hurdles that the Sooners must clear if they want to go wire to wire.

It’s a nice start, though.

Florida State justcouldn'tget the job done on its home field against No. 1 Oklahoma tonight.

The loss will drop the team in the rankings a bit, probably sliding it out of the Top 10.

Kenny Stills must be searching for the title of No. 1 eligible receiver for the 2013 NFL draft, because after tonight’s performance, it’s hard to think of many sophom*ore receivers who are better.

The talented Oklahoma speedster, who was playing in his first game of the season after a one-game suspension, demonstrated eye-catching ability all night long, including on the game’s most crucial play.

By the looks of things, he’s got the type of total package that will make pro scouts drool for another two years.

Tonight’s stat line: seven catches, 125 yards and one all-important touchdown grab.

There’s no question that Stills has the skills.

You knew that once E.J. Manuel left the game, it was going to be nearly impossible for Florida State to win, and even though freshman backup Clint Trickett threw a nice touchdown pass when Oklahoma safety Javon Harris blew his assignment, it wasn’t nearly enough to overtake the Sooners.

Manuel's injury robbed us of what could have been a much more even fourth quarter.

Now that both teams have made it to 3-0, it sets up a huge matchup between LSU and West Virginia in Morgantown next weekend.

The Tigers kept the Mountaineers offense thoroughly contained in last year’s meeting, but now that Dana Holgorsen is roaming the sidelines, that could change.

West Virginia’s new-look offensive attack is starting to click, and it should be a more cohesive unit than the one LSU faced in Week 1 when it shut down Oregon.

The LSU defensive front seven might just be the scariest in the country, but the Mountaineers always have some tricks up their sleeve when the lights go on in Morgantown.

While the Big East definitely has a chance to make a statement and regain some national credibility next Saturday, you have to wonder if that statement will even matter.

It seems that like the Big 12 conference, the Big East could become a casualty of the superconference shuffle that is about to rip through college football.

Pittsburgh and Syracuse have already been accepted into the ACC, and TCU is now surely questioning the league’s future.

Stay tuned, because the power-poaching has just begun.

There have been a lot of people who have said Kellen Moore will never make it as an NFL quarterback, but I disagree.

Sure, he’s only 6'1" and sure, his arm's not Jay Cutler’s, but is there a quarterback you’ve seen in college, besides Andrew Luck, who is more consistent and efficient than Moore?

No matter what the stage is, the kid shows up and performs, and that’s what you have to love about a quarterback, regardless of his size.

With the exception of one ill-advised pick, Moore was basically flawless on Friday night, throwing for 455 yards and five touchdowns.

Moore may only be the Jimmer Fredette of college football, but even so, there’s no other player in the sport right now who can say he's accomplished the milestones Moore has.

The downward slide begins.

Over the next few weeks, while we’re busy watching grueling SEC battles and Big Tenslugfests, Boise State will have the pleasure of taking on teams like Tulsa, Nevada, Fresno State, Colorado State, Air Force and UNLV before the Broncos get to their big showdown with TCU.

While there are a few somewhat challenging foes mixed in there, as a whole, that schedule isn’t going to blow any pollster away.

Boise got its big win over Georgia on opening weekend, but sadly, the Broncos will now become an afterthought until we get to the middle of November.

Sorry, Vick Ballard.

Sorry, Trent Richardson.

Sorry, Michael Dyer.

South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore has his sights set on the SEC rushing title, and he’s revving up to make a serious run at it over the coming weeks.

Lattimore rushed for 264 yards and three TDs in tonight’s close victory over Navy, raising his season totals to 534 rushing yards and seven TDs.

I hope Marcus has a nice suit for the ceremony.

The nation’s longest winning streak came to an end on Saturday when Clemson exacted revenge for last year’s overtime defeat, beating No. 21 Auburn by a score of 38-24.

It only seemed like a matter of time before Auburn’s inexperience ultimately cost it a game, and the Tigers finally ran out of gas and failed to mount a late comeback to save this one.

Al Golden has been through a tumultuous first few months down in Coral Gables, so he must have felt glad to get his first victory in such a big way on Saturday night.

The Hurricanes gave QB Jacory Harris the offensive reins, and even though there were a few struggles, Harris got the job done and guided Miami to a dominant win over No. 17 Ohio State.

Miami is a program that definitely could have used an injection of some much-needed hope, and luckily the 'Canes got it on Saturday night.

Luke Fickell could only hang his hat on wins over MAC schools for so long before something had to give.

Fickell’s squad looked listless tonight, and he just didn’t have the Buckeyes ready to compete with a roused-up Miami team.

The interim coach will have a chance to redeem himself when Ohio State hosts Colorado next weekend.

Alabama RB Trent Richardson has made the end zone his home away from home this season, as he has already piled up eight scores on the year, adding three on Saturday.

Richardson has handled the role of replacing Mark Ingram without a hitch, and he looks like he’s on his way to rumbling through a lot of SEC defenses this year.

If Alabama keeps its undefeated campaign going, Richardson will have the spotlight to show off his overwhelming combination of speed, strength and power.

If Houston runs the table, there are some who think the Cougars could have an outside shot of making it to a BCS bowl, even though their schedule is far from stellar.

If QB Case Keenum and the rest of the Cougars are actually serious about making that type of run, they’re going to need much better efforts than Saturday night's 35-34 close call against Louisiana Tech.

Take a cue from Boise State: If you’re a non-AQ school, you’ve got to blow out everybody on your schedule just to get on the radar for a BCS bowl.

Remember that LaMichael James guy people were talking so much about in the offseason?

Well, it seems he’s still pretty good.

Even though a lot of the country forgot about James after he failed to impress in the big matchup with LSU on opening weekend, the big-play junior is now on the comeback campaign.

James racked up 204 yards on the ground and scored three touchdowns in Oregon’s blowout victory overMissouriState on Saturday.

The performance should land James back in the Heisman discussion.

Hey BYU, how’s that whole independent thing working out so far?

After escaping with a narrow victory over Ole Miss in Week 1, Bronco Mendenhall’s BYU squad has fallen to BCS opponents in consecutive weeks.

First it was Texas, and then it was Utah.

The Utes dominated the 2011 Holy War, crushing the Cougars 54-10 in front of their home crowd.

QB Jake Heaps had better start getting the offense moving in the right direction.

If you’re talking about the title of best running back in college football, Miami’s Lamar Miller has done enough already to at least be mentioned in the conversation.

Powerful, explosive, playmaker—use whatever term you want. The bottom line is Miller is one of the top backs Miami has had in decades.

Quickly go through the mental list of recent Miami running backs to realize the boldness of such a statement.

Miller is special, and he’s the type of back you ride to victories.

After getting just flat-out attacked by a superior, bigger, meaner and more athletic Alabama defense, you would have expected the Penn State offense to come out and make up for last week’s shortcomings with a big performance against Temple.

Long story short...it didn’t happen.

Fourteen points against Temple doesn’t cut it.

They’re big, they’re fast and they’re the most intimidating crew in college football this year.

They’re LSU’s defensive linemen, and they are starting to get the college football world talking.

Defensive tackle Michael Brockers might be the next Nick Fairley, freshman Anthony Johnson looks like the next Warren Sapp and the defensive end unit is the deepest position group in the country.

This is the type of defensive line that gets you to Atlanta.

I was a big Chris Relf backer before the season, but after Thursday night, I’ve been questioning why I wasted so much time on the Mississippi State quarterback.

Relf made very little impact for the Bulldogs offense and overall played a timid, non-aggressive game.

That’s not the kind of performance you want to see a starting quarterback have in such a crucial spot.

Even though there were a ton of candidates, there was no clear-cut No. 1 cornerback before the season started.

Nebraska's Alfonzo Dennard’s absence has allowed other big-name cornersto step up and make some noise, and the one cornerback prospect who has made the most noise so far this season is LSU’s Morris Claiborne.

Without Patrick Petersonsoakingup the attention, Claiborne has had anopportunityto prove his worth, and so far he’s looked nothing short of sensational.

Claiborne may not be the same caliber of athlete as Peterson, but he’s every bit as good of a cover man as his predecessor.

South Florida is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Big East this year.

After their latest blowout, the Bulls are now 3-0 and averaging 43 points per game.

QB B.J. Daniels finally seems to have matured into not just a playmaker, but a leader as well, which is something his critics have been hounding him about for years.

The Chris Johnson of college football?

I’m still waiting for the YouTube video of a Jeff Demps-Chris Rainey 40-yard race.

Make it happen, Florida.

Where’s Janoris Jenkins when you need him?

Countless pass interferences, holding calls and a number of dropped interceptions sum up the pitiful day the Florida secondary had on Saturday.

I don’t know what Will Muschamp was saying to those officials at halftime, but if he was screaming about too many pass interferences, he was missing his target.

He should have gone into the locker room and screamed at his defensive backfield.

They needed somebody to teach them that there are some rules about grabbing two fistfuls of a receiver's jersey.

I might have to take back what I said about Kenny Stills being the best sophom*ore receiver in the country.

Tennessee’s Da’Rick Rogers is the next big deal in the SEC.

It’s a shame Justin Hunter went down, but his absence will allow Rogers to showcase his talents as the true go-to weapon of the offense.

The 6'3", 215-pound budding star already has 15 catches for 262 yards and four touchdowns in just three games.

Note to Mark Dantonio:

You don’t call a timeout before a fake field goal.

Obviously, it raises a few eyebrows.

They defended Brian Kelly, they defended Notre Dame and their loyalty finally paid off.

They are the Notre Dame loyalists, and they didn’t panic.

When the rest of the sports world was skewering the Irish, they played it cool and weathered the storm, still showing their support.

Now it looks like Notre Dame is back on track and that 0-2 start will be old news soon.

Another game, another batch of turnovers by Notre Dame.

Three more turnovers makes 13 on the season.

Notre Dame still got the win,fortunately,but the Irish will have to be more careful with the ball if they want to build on this game.

Going into the season, some questioned if this Michigan State team was an inflated 11-2 last year.

The Spartans were embarrassed by Alabama in the Capital One Bowl, and they only beat one good team all season: Wisconsin.

Well, it looks like Michigan State still can’t handle the spotlight, as evidenced by the blitzkrieg by Notre Dame today.

Michigan State has a talented roster, but the Spartans have to prove they can handle big moments if they want to compete in the Big Ten Legends division.

The Texas offense seemingly had a rebirth of sorts after tossing dead-weight quarterback Garrett Gilbert to the side.

Colt McCoy’s little brother Case stepped in, tossed two touchdowns, completed 80 percent of his passes and led the Longhorns to a 49-20 victory over UCLA in the Rose Bowl.

That might have just officially slammed the book shut on the Garrett Gilbert chapter at Texas.

I got cute and went with a tougher-than-you-think Pittsburgh team as a three-point road dog at Iowa.

It all looked promising for three quarters, and then Iowa QB James Vandenberg decided to mount a monstrous 17-point fourth-quarter comeback.

Nothing cures an 0-2 start like a visit from Coastal Carolina.

This game allowed ESPN and other sports outlets to run that now tired Coastal Carolina coach clip 7,595 more times, so yay for that, but otherwise this wasn’t a very eventful affair.

I’ll say this: Georgia’s remaining schedule isn’t very rugged.

The Bulldogs avoid crossover games with LSU and Alabama, the conference’s two toughest teams.

Their hardest road game is at Tennessee, so needless to say, Georgia can still make a run.

Did Houston Nutt just stop caring once Jevan Snead left?

Since then, it’s been a downhill slide for Nutt and his Mississippi Rebels team.

I know Vanderbilt’s getting better, but it’s nowhere near OK to lose to the Commodores30-7.

That’s unforgivable.

First Jacksonville State, now Vanderbilt.

I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have Darren McFadden to bail you out anymore.

One new head coach who has really impressed me this season is North Carolina’s Everett Withers.

Withers, the team’s former defensive coordinator, was the last-minute replacement for Butch Davis, and so far he’s done a quality job on the fly.

Withers has led a talented yet somewhat inexperienced North Carolina team to a 3-0 record, and he has the Tar Heels primed to make a run in the ACC Coastal division.

It was hard to explain coming up short in a home opener against a Northwestern team that was without its most important player.

It was a lot tougher to defend getting absolutely thrashed by a better-coached Central Florida team.

But losing to Duke?

At home?

There are no excuses.

That just can’t happen.

This Boston College team should not be 0-3. No way.

Stop the madness. Frank Spaziani deserves to have his headset revoked.

In better coaching news, Jerry Kill got his first-ever win at Minnesota today, and it was a perfectly timed gift.

Kill, who had been hospitalized after suffering a seizure on the sideline duringMinnesota'sWeek 2 loss, returned to see his Gophers edge out Miami (Ohio).

66 points.

768 yards.

Zero reason to pay attention to Kansas this season.

Kenny Shaw’s head took the full force of a nasty sandwich hit that knocked the Florida State receiver unconscious in the end zone.

Shaw was down for over five minutes before being carted off on a stretcher.

Shaw gave the thumbs up heading out, and he was later reportedly moving all extremities and then seen standing on the Florida State sideline.

Good to see Kenny doing all right, because that hit looked absolutely vicious.