Week 3 of the college football season is set to bring a little bit of everything to the table.
We’ve seen the big upset with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets knocking off the No. 12 Clemson Tigers. The SEC opener between the Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers was a classic.
Now, the No. 16 Texas A&M Aggies face the No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Irish beat the Aggies last season. A win for A&M would be one to help its College Football Playoff case should the Aggies successfully navigate their conference schedule. The Irish already have a loss (Miami) and need a statement win since they don’t currently have a ranked team remaining on the schedule.
We’ll be keeping track of all the top moments from the Aggies-Irish showdown:
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Game-day takeaways
Game-day notes
Sandwiched between scoring drives of 76 and 75 yards, Clemson’s offense totaled negative-7 yards on back-to-back three-and-outs after halftime Saturday. Those four series tell the story of the 12th-ranked Tigers’ stale, trick-or-treat offensive showing in a 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech, one that could tank Clemson’s College Football Playoff hopes. Concerns around the Cade Klubnik/Garrett Riley-led offense were already there headed into Week 3 with the Tigers entering Saturday ranked 120th in total offense and 129th in rushing yards nationally, while Klubnik sat 60th in yards per play among Power 4 quarterbacks through two games. Veteran running back Adam Randall (16 carries, 86 yards) injected some energy into the Tigers’ rushing attack, but Klubnik’s turnovers on Clemson’s opening series of each half — including a red zone interception after halftime — were costly, and Riley’s offense ultimately pieced together only three drives of five or more plays across nine total offensive series. The loss, which dropped the Tigers’ playoff odds to 5%, per ESPN Research, is a potential backbreaker for a once-promising season. Klubnik, Riley and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney will have questions to answer about the offense that has now scored the program’s fewest points through three games since 1999.
Georgia Tech, meanwhile, has announced itself as a legitimate playoff contender, helped in part by a favorable schedule the rest of the way. Haynes King‘s barreling, third-quarter touchdown run at the end of a 13-play, 90-yard scoring, followed by a bold “Philly Special” playcall on the subsequent 2-point conversion from offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, flashed the blend of toughness and creativity that can make the Yellow Jackets so dangerous (and so fun). Coach Brent Key is now 12-6 in one-score games at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets were far from perfect Saturday, but they project as favorites in the majority of their games before a Nov. 28 meeting with Georgia. The question has to be asked: Could King, Key and Georgia Tech make a run at a spot in the 12-team playoff field this fall? — Eli Lederman
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