"Week 3 Recap”
Written by Wendi
Well, that was a fun Saturday, wasn’t it? With only three weeks into the season, there has already been two head coaches fired. UCLA and Virginia Tech. Both teams are 0-3. UCLA has Tennessee transfer QB Nico Iamaleava who has lost to both UNLV and New Mexico. Ouch. Maybe they should have stayed in the "Pac 2”. Thanks to David, he gave us an easy pick with the Alabama and Wisconsin game. Well for some reason Mike M. was not as confident. After holding the Badgers scoreless on the first half 21-0, Wisconsin made a "small” statement by running a kickoff back for a touchdown. It was a moral victory. Bama forced two turnovers and held the Badgers to only 209 total yards. No one shuts out Wisky. Bama rolls 38-14.
Let’s just say Clemson had no business being ranked #4 in the preseason rankings. Clemson finally got some points on the board after Georgia Tech took a 13-0 lead. Clemson sputtered on offense at times and committed two turnovers. Clemson tied the game late in the fourth quarter but Tech had other plans. They marched down the field quickly and in a thrilling ending, they kicked a 55 yard (which was a record for their kicker) walk off field goal to win 24-21. They also walked off with the goal post. Georgia Tech is now 3-0 and Clemson 1-2. Realistically, Clemson should be 0-3. They struggled with Troy the week prior but Troy shot themselves in the foot in the second half.
Remember when the SEC use to boast about its defense? Ahhh, those were the days of old. Racking up a total of 998 total yard between the two, this was a shootout I saw coming. Joey Aguilar has shined at QB for Tennessee and I’m sure all the Vols fans are thanking UCLA for the swap. UCLA just fired their head coach. Poor Nico. I am sure he and his dad are regretting this mistake. For those wondering, supposedly his dad thought he could make more money elsewhere. Joke’s on him. Georgia did not take their first lead until the third quarter but Tennessee would answer their score every time. Georgia was able to tie the game but left enough time for the Vols to march downfield to attempt a field goal. They did get downfield and seemingly had the game in hand but shanked the kick and missed. In overtime, Tennessee got on board first with a field goal and Georgia was able to score the touchdown for the win. 44-41.
West Virginia lost to Ohio last week and I think a lot of us thought that it would be an easy win for Pittsburg. Or so we thought. By all accounts, WVU was the better team statistically on Saturday. Pittsburg took their lead in the 3rd quarter but was overwhelmed with the West Virginia offense late in the fourth quarter and was able to tie the game to take into to overtime and that is where the Panthers just fell apart. Penalty after penalty pushed them further back to where it was 4th and very long and they were unable to convert after WVU scored their touchdown. WVU won 31-24.
The North Texas and Washington State game was over just as quick as it started. After five turnovers in the first half, the Cougars were only able to score 3 points while the Mean Green had 42 to end the half. The final was 59-10. Yikes. Long flight home for the Cougars. Let’s go "PAC 2” hehehe. Speaking of – anyone heard from any of the Meggers? Oregon State?
After a long two and a half hour weather day in South Florida, the FIU and FAU game got underway in a back and forth match. FIU got the win 38-28 for the first time since 2016 with the help of a few FAU mistakes that they were unable to recover from.
Ole Miss hosted Arkansas in a 41-35 shootout. There was a total of 45 points scored in the second quarter alone. Ole Miss was able to pull away in the second quarter to get the win and now sits 3-0 and will host Tulane this weekend in an interesting matchup (Tulane is 3-0 and is looking pretty good).
Notre Dame is another team ranked too high in the preseason polls. Both Notre Dame and Texas A&M came into the match ranked in the top 16. Texas A&M has been capitalizing off of the transfer portal and with a 41-40 win over Notre Dame this past weekend, they’re sitting comfortable at 3-0. Notre Dame has dropped its first two games and they may be already out of the college football playoff conversation. A&M still has a tough schedule ahead of them.
It didn’t help that the South Carolina starting quarterback got knocked out of the game in the second quarter with a hit to the head and Vanderbilt forced four turnovers during the game and capitalized from it in their dominant win 31-7. Believe it or not, it’s possible for Vandy to go 5-0 to start the season. They are 3-0 and their next two games are against Utah State and Georgia State. As for the Gamecocks, it’s only one loss. If they can get Sellers back at QB and continue to play well, they can still contend for playoffs.
And Duke, how do you poach Tulane’s quarterback and still lose to Tulane? Tulane shot up to a quick 24-9 lead at the half. Unlike the five turnovers Duke had last week, they only had one this week. Although they were able to have a cleaner game, they could not handle the Green Wave. Tulane won 34-27. Manny Diaz and the Blue Devils are now 1-2 and Tulane remains undefeated.
On to Pick em’s…
As David soaked up the sun on a hot day in Tuscaloosa watching the Wisconsin and Bama game, little did he know how bad his day was about to be. While he sat there grinning ear to ear with Bama leading big, he was confident going 10 on Bama to win. It’s anyone’s guess if he was looking at his phone for score updates for the Clemson/Georgia Tech game. If he was paying attention, he was squirming. He probably thought, "well, it’s one game and a lot of people have high points”. Let’s just say he lost the next five games before he got his second win with the Ole Miss pick. Then somehow, he lost the rest. How is it that Mom (Evelyn) scored 8 points a couple of weeks ago and she is still beating you? But 2026 will be better, right? Suuuureeee…
Sam is off to a hot start this year. Surely he can’t keep it going, can he? After being robbed the last couple of weeks, he finally got some cash and has yet to determine what he wants to spend it on.
As far as Mike H., talk about a fall from grace. From second to sixth place. I guess it was a good thing Bama won. If not, you were sitting with 3 points for the day. The same could be said for Mike M. I bet he’s thinking "I should have put 10 on Bama, not 4”.
Although Evelyn scored the highest last week, she is struggling to move up in the rankings. Finishing fourth from the bottom didn’t help her this week.
Chris D. and Adam are still hanging on at the top but one of them is bound to break, just like Mike H. Maybe it’ll be both? Time will tell.
I can’t seem to get out of 5th place no matter how I finish each week. Maybe I can make a move up this week. I haven’t seen the picks yet, but I overheard David and Samuel picking them out last night. All I know is Michigan is on it and I’m not happy.
In previous years, Cindy has always been conservative and typically in the top five each year. Not sure what is going on this year but she is struggling to place higher than 7th place.
Sean has been flatlined like me on the chart and has stayed in fourth place each week. Will his next move be down or up? <looks back at last year’s results> I am guessing down. I know it’s still early in the season but from top to bottom is a whole week’s difference (55 points). Its possible but it makes it so much harder trying to gain on first place.
Noah has climbed from the cellar with Mike M. taking his place. Remember years back when the kids would all be in the bottom spots? The roles have reversed. Speaking of Noah, he has a birthday this week. Happy Birthday Noah!!!
Most points for the week: Sam won $10 by only missing one game and nailing 47 points. How? He is on a roll this year. Someone needs to kick him out of the group.
Least points for the week: If your name is Mike, you were at the bottom this week with 13 measly points. Just to be clear, both Mike H. and Mike M. tied for last place. To quote Jim Harbaugh "Who’s got it better than us?”
Best pick of the week: Samuel, Rick M., and Mike H. picking Texas A&M over Notre Dame. Samuel, Chris, and Mike H. picking Vandy over South Carolina.
Worst pick of the week: For those who went high on Clemson to beat Georgia Tech – "for shame”
Letters to the Editor:
How do you see Notre Dame’s season going after dropping two games?
Well, it does not look good especially with Arkansas, NC State, USC, and Syracuse on their schedule.
Is David going to win more than two games this week? <Editors Note: Ok, who asked that question?>
I hope not.
Who is the most overrated quarterback right now?
Arch Manning, too early to tell on Bryce Underwood or Nico Iamaleava.
Is there a father/son duo trying to take down the Hall Family Pick’ems?
It’s looking like it so far but I have a feeling it wont last long. One or both will crack under the pressure.
So, is Kalen Deboer still on the hot seat because it looks like Bama is back?
Wisconsin went 5-7 last year and their two wins this season are against Miami OH and MTSU – not very impressive, so the jury is still out.
Here are the rankings after Week 3:
1. Sam – 123 points
2. Adam – 113 points
3. Chris D. – 101 points
4. Sean – 99 points
5. Wendi – 96 points
6. Mike H. – 92 points
7. Rick – 92 points
8. Cindie – 87 points
9. Kim – 82 points
10. Marc – 80 points
11. Noah – 78 points
12. Evelyn – 74 points
13. David – 73 points
14. Mike M. – 68 points
55 points separate first and last place!
