Another big week of college football is in the books, so it’s time to shine a light on those teams and individuals who distinguished themselves on the gridiron:
Leonard Fournette: Silly Auburn, who boasted through the week in the media that they wouldn’t have any trouble dealing with Fournette, the giant man-mountain in Louisiana State’s backfield.
Well, turns out that poking the bear with such inflammatory comments was a bad idea. Fournette was scarcely touched all day, running rampant in Death Valley, notching 228 yards and three scores. It was as powerful a display of running as we’ve seen this season, and Auburn were powerless to stop him. LSU’s dominant 45-21 victory announces their arrival as serious contenders this year.
Ole Miss: Prior to tonight, the Rebels had never beaten Alabama two years in a row, but that duck has been broken in resounding manner. It’s one thing to beat the Crimson Tide at home, but another to go into Bryant-Denny Stadium and absolutely dominate. You don’t see it often against Nick Saban-coached teams, but Hugh Freeze’s squad, despite a few worrying moments, managed to come out on top.
The Rebels forced errors, made yards, got a little lucky at times, got really lucky at other times, played disciplined football for the most part, and recorded a 43-37 memorable victory for their school. Surely, it’s about the biggest ever. At least, the biggest in recent memory, but not without a nice little heart-attack moment for Ole Miss fans. The last ten minutes were as insane as college football gets. And it was wonderful!
California: the Golden Bears have started 3-0 for the first time since 2011, thanks to a 45-44 thriller over Texas in Austin. The Bears let Texas score twenty unanswered points in the fourth quarter, and were lucky to win, needing a Longhorn PAT attempt to sail wide of the posts in order to escape Austin as victors. They won despite being comprehensively out-gained by Texas, 651-546. As you can probably tell from that total yardage comparison, there wasn't much defense played in this one!
Marshall Koehn: the Iowa kicker connected on a mammoth 57-yard field goal to beat Pittsburgh 27-24 in Iowa City. The long-range game-winner ensured the Hawkeyes start 3-0 for the first time in six years.
Baker Mayfield: the Oklahoma quarterback, fresh off of some last-gasp heroics last week in the Sooners’ comeback win over Tennessee, was responsible for 572 total yards of offense in a 52-38 win over in-state opponent Tulsa. He threw four touchdown passes and added three on the ground. His total yardage saw him pass Landry Jones’ 554-yard effort against West Virginia in 2012. The Sooners have themselves a good one!
Stanford: Not many gave Stanford a chance coming into the Coliseum against USC, but the Cardinal utilised a strong running game and a defense that made just enough stops to record a famous 41-31 win. As much as it’s hard for me, a big Trojan fan, to write, Stanford were the better team from the first quarter onward, and deserve their big victory.
Jerrod Heard: the do-everything Texas quarterback accounted fior 527 yards of total offense against Cal, which is the most by any player in the rich and long history of Texas Longhorn football. When you consider the superstars that have gone through Austin, it’s a remarkable achievement.
Notre Dame: A freshman quarterback and a stable of mostly-untested running backs are doing amazing things in South Bend, defying the logic that with so many experienced skilled position players out – Malik Zaire, Tarean Folston and Durham Smythe, amongst a long list of others – the Irish should be imploding.
They’re doing the opposite, still winning, and on Saturday they took care of Georgia Tech behind great defense, and a huge performance out of the backfield by C.J. Prosise, who had 22 touches and amassed 198 yards and three touchdowns. His 91-yard dash from the shadows of his own goal line for a score in the fourth quarter extended the Irish lead to 30-7 and iced the game. Notre Dame eventually won 30-22.
Connor Cook: the Michigan State quarterback threw four touchdowns as the Spartans got past Air Force 35-21.
Georgia: the ‘Dawgs, at home between the hedges, put the cleaners through South Carolina and pretty well signalled that they’ll be a serious contender in the SEC. Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert set a school record with twenty consecutive completions, on his way to a very big day. He was 24-25 passing for 330 yards and three touchdowns. Lambert was criticised in some quarters after a fairly pedestrian effort against Vanderbilt last week, and this was the perfect bounce-back effort. He was surgical.
It wasn't just the passing attack that looked good. Georgia’s three-headed running back monster – Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and Keith Marshall – contributed 246 rushing yards and the Bulldogs won 52-20. It was an ominous performance by Georgia.
North Dakota State: the four-time defending FCS National Champion Bison took on in-state rival North Dakota in the Fargodome, and it was a triumphant day for the NDSU defense, who held North Dakota to just 61 total yards in a 34-9 victory that saw QB Carson Wentz throw for four touchdowns. After a first-up loss to Montana, the Bison have their mojo back.
Northwestern: After a huge win against Stanford to open their season, Pat Fitzgerald’s men continue on their winning ways, and are 3-0 after a hard-fought 19-10 victory on the road over Duke. The Wildcat defense forced three turnovers to cover for a misfiring offense, and special teams contributed a 98-yard kick-off return. It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win.
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