Another Round of Upsets in Week 3 of College Football

Every year in college football, we have upsets. We need look back no further than last week for proof of that when we saw a pair of teams in the top six go down in flames. While Ohio State and Oregon rebounded from their defeats last week, other teams weren’t as fortunate in week 3 of the college football slate.

All told, five ranked teams ended up falling this week. While three were inevitable as they were involved in matchups of ranked foes, the other two were a surprise. Two teams ranked in the top 10 crashed and burned while a couple other ranked teams were fortunate to escape with wins. Let’s take a look at what went down.

Ole Miss Wins the Kiffin Bowl, Downs LSU

Fans in Oxford had yesterday circled in blood after Lane Kiffin took the job at LSU, not to mention several key contributors from Ole Miss. However, it was the #8 Rebels that earned the last laugh as they downed the #7 Tigers 32-24 Saturday night.

Ole Miss led 24-7 at the half only to see LSU rally to tie the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter. The Rebels took the lead for good on a 14-yard touchdown run by Trinidad Chambliss with 6:14 remaining. They converted the two-point conversion to take an eight-point advantage. LSU had one final drive and got as far as the Rebels’ five-yard line. Sam Leavitt was picked off on fourth-and-goal from the six and Ole Miss ran out the clock.

Texas A&M Crashes and Burns in College Station

Texas A&M was the other top 10 team in the nation that ended up falling Saturday and they lost at home. The #9 Aggies were downed 31-21 by Kentucky, giving Will Stein his first career road victory as head coach. Texas A&M lost for the third time in their last five games dating back to the end of last season.

The game was tied at seven at the half before the wheels fell off for the Aggies. Kentucky outscored Texas A&M 21-0 in the third quarter, scoring on drives of 75, 83 and 33 yards. That gave the Wildcats a 28-7 advantage and the Aggies never got closer than 10 the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Marcel Reed threw a pair of interceptions. That offset the fact that he threw for 236 yards with a score while adding 80 yards and a score on the ground.

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Other Ranked Teams to Fall

In the two matchups of ranked foes, #13 Texas Tech held off #22 Houston 28-26 Friday night at home. The Cougars had a chance to tie with 49 seconds remaining. Conner Weigman ended up inches short of the potential game-tying two-point conversion and that ended Houston’s hopes. Weigman was 27 of 38 for 282 yards and three scores in a losing effort. Meanwhile, Will Hammond was 17 of 27 for 257 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Red Raiders.

In an ACC clash, #23 Louisville outgunned #16 SMU 41-31 at home Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs led 17-14 at the half and the teams continued to trade scores in the second half. There were five lead changes in the second half. Louisville took the lead for good on Keyjuan Brown’s 53-yard touchdown run with 10:02 remaining. He finished with 163 yards and two scores on 10 carries for the Cardinals. Meanwhile, Kendrick Raphael had 24 carries for 197 yards and three scores for the Mustangs.

Elsewhere, it was #25 Virginia falling at home 38-27 to West Virginia in a non-conference tilt. The Cavaliers led 14-7 after the opening quarter, trailed 21-14 at the half and tied the game midway through the third quarter. Things crumbled from there for Virginia, however, as they gave up the next 17 points to trail 38-21. They didn’t score again until just 21 seconds remained in the contest. Virginia’s defense was unable to slow down West Virginia as the Mountaineers racked up 437 yards of offense in the contest.

Ranked Teams That Escaped With Wins

There were a couple ranked teams that have to consider themselves fortunate to escape with wins this week. One example was #12 USC, who was favored by three touchdowns over a Rutgers squad that is subpar at best. After all, this was a Scarlet Knights squad that was walloped by UMass in their season opener at home. This should have been a blowout yet USC couldn’t put Rutgers away. USC never led by more than 14 in the game and saw Rutgers cut the margin to seven with 4:24 to play. However, the Trojans managed to run out the clock and secure the 42-35 victory.

Elsewhere, #24 Oklahoma was favored by 21.5 points over New Mexico at home Saturday. The Sooners struggled to get out of neutral in the contest. Oklahoma finished with just 299 yards of offense and turned the ball over three times. In addition, Tate Sandell missed a 40-yard field goal right before the half. Fortunately for the Sooners, their defense held the Lobos in check, limiting them to two field goals. The final score was 14-6 and left Oklahoma fans grumbling when all was said and done. They have plenty to clean up with conference play looming.

It’s been a wild first few weeks of the season. We’ll see what the final weekend of September brings next week to the college football landscape.