And now, 20 Final Thoughts from college football’s Week 3, in which we got to watch two instant classics, Georgia-Tennessee and Texas A&M-Notre Dame, while also watching a whole bunch of coaches who seem to be trying to lose their jobs.
1. In 2024, Notre Dame finally earned some national respect with its run to the final night of the season. And Marcus Freeman successfully recast himself from the over-his-head young coach who lost to teams such as Marshall and Northern Illinois to the cool cucumber who took down guys such as Kirby Smart and James Franklin.
It only took the 2025 Irish two games to unravel both narratives.
2. An 0-2 start was not on anyone’s bingo card for the preseason No. 6 team in the country. Maybe Notre Dame would lose a tough opener at Miami, but no way the Irish would lose at home to Texas A&M, right? An A&M program that hadn’t beaten a ranked opponent on the road in 11 years? That the Irish beat in College Station only a year earlier?
Only these were not remotely the same teams that met at Kyle Field in 2024. Promising quarterback Marcel Reed wasn’t even the Aggies’ guy yet, and Texas A&M had not yet gone on last winter’s wide receiver shopping spree. And as we’re learning in real-time, Notre Dame’s long-stingy defense is suddenly littered with holes.
The result: Reed threw for 360 yards, capped by an 11-yard touchdown to tight end Nate Boerkircher on fourth-and-goal with 13 seconds left, to lift No. 19 A&M to a signature 41-40 upset.
3. Reed first announced his presence last year as a redshirt freshman when he entered a late-October game against LSU in the third quarter and led the Aggies to four straight touchdowns in a 38-23 win. He did it, however, while attempting only two passes and running for three touchdowns. He threw for at least 200 yards in four of his five starts down the stretch, but the running-QB tag stuck.
But Reed last year didn’t have a pair of field-stretching receivers like Mario Craver (Mississippi State transfer) and KC Concepcion (NC State transfer). On Saturday night in South Bend, Craver had seven catches for 207 yards (139 after the catch) and Concepcion had four for 82. Both were essentially decoys on fourth-and-ballgame when Reed pumped and fired to the left side of the end zone, where Boerkircher was alone with linebacker Drayk Bowen in coverage.
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash will not be a popular man in South Bend this week.
4. I don’t think Notre Dame is a bad team by any means. The Irish lost two down-to-the-wire games against high-quality opponents. They may well have won Saturday if former starting QB-turned-holder Tyler Buchner hadn’t botched the PAT snap after Notre Dame’s last touchdown. But the Irish now have zero margin for error. Simply put, they have to win out to make the College Football Playoff. And they may have to do it by beating people 45-40.
Meanwhile, Texas A&M asserted itself as a legit contender. It’s about to play three straight winnable SEC home games against Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida. We’ll know head coach Mike Elko is truly different than his recent predecessors if A&M actually wins the games it’s supposed to win.
5. Tennessee fans brought some of their finest smack talk to the “College GameDay” set, holding signs such as “UGA = U Got Arrested” and “Georgia spends its NIL on bail.” Then the game began, and it looked like they’d soon be minting quarterback Joey Aguilar as the new Peyton Manning, with the No. 15 Vols jumping out to a 21-7 lead on their rivals. The Bulldogs eventually went up 27-21 in the third quarter, but no worries, Aguilar immediately hit Chris Brazzell II for a 56-yard TD, and later Braylon Staley for a 32-yard TD. It was 38-30 Vols with less than three minutes remaining.
But despite Josh Heupel finally cracking Kirby Smart’s defense, the day ended in familiar heartbreak for Vols fans. No. 6 Georgia rallied to win 44-41 in overtime, Tennessee’s ninth straight loss in the series. It was a blown opportunity for a program that has come so far under Heupel but can’t quite climb the last rung.
6. In the end, oft-doubted Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton (23 of 31, 304 yards, two TDs, no INTs) one-upped Aguilar (24 of 36, 371 yards, four TDs, two INTs). On fourth-and-6 with 2:32 left, he threw a stunning 28-yard touchdown to London Humphreys, then converted a game-tying two-point conversion. Tennessee still looked like it would win when Max Gilbert lined up for a game-winning 43-yard field goal attempt. No dice. Overtime. The Dawgs’ defense and running backs Nate Frazier and Josh McCray took it from there.
Georgia doesn’t appear to have a vintage Smart defense, as some inexperienced DBs got exposed by Aguilar and his receivers. But the big question for the Bulldogs coming into the season was their quarterback. Question answered.
7. Elsewhere in the SEC on Saturday, QBs we spent all summer expecting to shine did anything but. See Florida sophomore DJ Lagway.
A week after struggling in the Gators’ (1-2) inexplicable loss to USF, the former five-star threw five interceptions in Florida’s 20-10 loss at No. 3 LSU. The Tigers’ (3-0) defense got after Lagway much like it did Clemson’s Cade Klubnik in the season opener. Sophomore linebacker Davhon Keys (14 tackles) was everywhere, and sophomore safety Dashawn Spears notched two of those picks. Defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s unit looks absolutely loaded.
Conversely, LSU’s offense was disappointing. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, whose reputation continues to outpace his production, was a modest 15 of 27 for 220 yards. Just don’t characterize it that way to Brian Kelly. He might rip your head off.
Brian Kelly went off when the first question he got tonight was about LSU’s offensive issues. pic.twitter.com/eMTWQthgeR
— Wilson Alexander (@whalexander_) September 14, 2025
8. I’m mostly nitpicking Nussmeier. Texas’s Arch Manning is another story. Either he truly is playing hurt, contrary to what Steve Sarkisian says, or literally every recruiting and NFL Draft evaluator in the country got sucked in by the last name.
Against UTEP — yes, UTEP — Manning missed on 10 straight passes in the first half, one of them an interception. He finished the day 11 of 25 for 114 yards, with 59 yards rushing, in an underwhelming 27-10 Longhorns win. Through three games, he is completing 55 percent of his passes and averaging just 6.7 yards per attempt. That latter number would have tied for 98th in the country over a full season last year.
Like Nussmeier, Manning benefits from playing for a team with a great defense. But Nussmeier is a third-year starter who has proven himself in clutch moments. Manning is a five-game starter who has mostly proven why quarterback evaluations are extremely imperfect.
9. Now let’s turn our attention to the ACC, where it feels like Georgia Tech gets labeled a “sleeper” every year. No one should be sleeping on the 3-0 Jackets anymore.
Brent Key, in his third full season as head coach, is now 7-1 against ranked ACC opponents following Saturday’s 24-21 upset of 12th-ranked Clemson, decided by kicker Aidan Birr’s 55-yard field goal with the clock about to hit zeroes. It’s time to start putting Tech QB Haynes King (20 of 28 for 211 yards; 25 rushes for 103 yards) on Heisman lists.
Conversely, Clemson’s Klubnik is off to a disappointing start, perhaps held back by top receiver Antonio Williams’ continued absence. Like Notre Dame, 1-2 Clemson is by no means “bad.” Both of its losses were close. But contrary to preseason predictions, Dabo Swinney is showing no signs of an imminent return to national title contention.
Georgia Tech is off to a 3-0 start and shouldn’t be slept on anymore. (Brett Davis / Imagn Images)
10. Georgia Tech last won an ACC championship in 2009. As long ago as that was, it’s still more recent than Miami’s in … well, never. But if the Canes don’t play for one this year, something went terribly wrong.
No. 5 Miami (3-0) cooled off Group of 5 darling No. 18 USF (2-1) with a rain-delayed 49-12 rout. Mario Cristobal’s defense did a nice job neutralizing Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown as a running threat, while Miami counterpart Carson Beck (23 of 28, 340 yards, three TDs, two INTs) connected with true freshman receiver Joshua Moore on two touchdowns.
ESPN announced on Saturday that “GameDay” is headed to Miami’s home game next week against … Florida. The show may prove more interesting than the game.
11. Two weeks after its debacle in Tallahassee, No. 19 Alabama (2-1) did its best 2023 Washington impression in a 38-14 rout of Wisconsin (2-1). This looked much more like a Kalen DeBoer/Ryan Grubb offense, with QB Ty Simpson (24 of 29, 382 yards, four TDs, no INTs) and star receiver Ryan Williams (five catches, 165 yards, two TDs) doing their best Michael Penix-to-Rome Odunze impersonation. Grubb broke out a flea flicker screen pass to open the second half, which Williams broke for a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
It was a complete 180 from Week 1, but let’s not throw a party for the Tide just yet. I have a sneaking suspicion Wisconsin is going to be a 4-8-type team.
12. Rich Rodriguez waited 18 years to get revenge on Pitt for ruining his 2007 West Virginia team’s national championship hopes. He got it in his third game back at the helm. His rebuilding Mountaineers were down 24-14 early in the fourth quarter when Rodriguez brought back starting quarterback Nicco Marchiol, whom he’d benched to start the second half. WVU (2-1) promptly rallied to win 31-24 in overtime, the program’s fourth straight Backyard Brawl win in Morgantown. It’s a biggie as Rich Rod looks to reestablish an identity the Mountaineers have been missing for most of their 14-year era in the Big 12.
Conversely, that’s a bitter loss for Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi, who may have assumed the Panthers’ offense was trending upward. Pitt (2-1) managed just 46 rushing yards on the day.
13. Love him or hate him, you’ve got to admit that Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin knows what he’s doing with quarterbacks. While starter Austin Simmons was available for Saturday’s Arkansas game, he was limited by an ankle injury suffered in last week’s win over Kentucky. So Kiffin gave the start to little-known Trinidad Chambliss, a transfer from Division II Ferris State. All Chambliss did was throw for 353 yards and run for 62 in the 17th-ranked Rebels’ 41-35 home win over the Razorbacks.
Simmons came in for a few plays in the second quarter and threw a touchdown, but Kiffin indicated he got hurt again, so Ole Miss (3-0) may be riding its D-II savior for the time being.
14. Vanderbilt (3-0) knocking off the No. 11 team in the country 31-7 would have seemed unthinkable for most of the last 50 years or so, but the way its win over South Carolina (2-1) played out felt kind of icky. Commodores linebacker Langston Patterson knocked out Gamecocks star LaNorris Sellers in the second quarter on a helmet-to-helmet hit that merited a targeting ejection. South Carolina had to turn to backup Luke Doty, who last played meaningful snaps at quarterback in 2022. It did not go well.
But credit to Diego Pavia and the Vandy offense for wearing down South Carolina in the second half. Clearly, Clark Lea’s team was not a one-year wonder.
15. Virginia Tech lost to South Carolina and Vandy in its first two games, but that was small potatoes compared to what happened Saturday, when the Hokies lost 45-26 to in-state Sun Belt foe Old Dominion. This will surely be the end of the road for fourth-year Hokies coach Brent Pry, who entered the season already on the hot seat only to start 0-3 before even getting to conference play.
It’s sad how far that program has fallen since Frank Beamer left town a decade ago. You could at least say Justin Fuente’s teams were mediocre. Pry takes the early lead for the first Power 4 coach to get fired, though he may have competition from …
16. College football’s most iconic stadium, the Rose Bowl, may be the most depressing home venue in college football right now. On Friday night, in front of about 60,000 empty seats, UCLA fell to 0-3 by losing 35-10 to … New Mexico, whose first-year coach, Jason Eck (Idaho), had to build a roster practically from scratch (73 new players, many of them culled from the FCS ranks). Behind transfer running backs Damon Bankston (Weber State), D.J. McKinney (Sam Houston State) and Scottre Humphrey (Montana State), New Mexico racked up 298 rushing yards.
DeShaun Foster’s UCLA program is a disaster. The school joined the Big Ten to be able to pay its bills, but a potential 0-12 football team isn’t going to help fill the coffers. And a first-time head coach coupled with an apathetic fan base and minimal name, image and likeness support is not a winning formula. Foster’s first team did finish 4-2 after a 1-5 start, but it didn’t lose to consecutive Mountain West foes. (The Bruins lost 30-23 at UNLV last week.)
It’s gotten so bad that even their old conference is trolling the Bruins.
https://t.co/vifhEJ1UEb pic.twitter.com/YDiVCexT8v
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 13, 2025
17. Not that things are going better for the Pac-2. In fact, it’s a fierce battle to see which program, Oregon State or Washington State, has fallen further, faster.
No. 21 Texas Tech (3-0) dropped the Beavers to 0-3 in a 45-14 rout, with the Red Raiders’ third-year starting quarterback Behren Morton throwing for a career-high 442 yards and four TDs. It was a nice tune-up for Tech’s Big 12 opener next week at No. 20 Utah.
But the Oregon State result was at least expected, as opposed to Wazzu (2-1) going to North Texas, falling behind 42-3 at halftime and losing 59-10, the program’s worst loss since 2008. Both programs and their proud histories feel like they got locked in an attic when the rest of their conference moved out.
18. Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is singlehandedly turning the After Dark window into must-see TV. The Hawaii native went 24 of 38 for 279 yards, three TDs and no picks in Cal’s 27-14 win over Minnesota. Sagapolutele shares the same hometown (‘Ewa Beach) as fellow lefty Tua Tagovailoa, and I’m not exaggerating when I say his throws remind me of when Tua burst on the scene at Alabama. They’re absolute dimes. He has injected life into Justin Wilcox’s Cal program right as it seemed to be losing steam.
19. After trudging its way through a 6-7 season in 2024, NC State is off to a promising 3-0 start following its 34-24 win over Wake Forest on Thursday. The game served as a showcase for third-year sophomore running back Hollywood Smothers (24 carries, 164 yards), who began his career at Oklahoma, and second-year QB CJ Bailey (23 of 32 for 201 yards and three TDs).
But Wake (2-1) has a standout playmaker of its own in redshirt freshman wide receiver Chris Barnes, who followed coach Jake Dickert from Washington State. He’s averaging 20.7 yards on 12 catches and brought the game’s opening kickoff back for a touchdown.
20. Finally, a fond salute to Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who broke Woody Hayes’ Big Ten career wins record by notching No. 206 with a 47-7 rout of UMass (0-3). While I, like many others, have been known to mock his team’s recent offenses, there is no questioning the magnitude of that accomplishment. Think of all the Hall of Fame coaches to come through that conference since it came into existence more than a century ago. Ferentz, now in his 27th season, has won more games at the helm of a league member than any of them.
Hopefully, the Big Ten will give him a deserving present to commemorate the occasion. May I suggest a quarterback?
(Top photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
