Trending Up/Down in College Football after Week 3
By Matt Hetzler and Tyler Smith 9/20/16
Matt's Trending Up
Cal
Cal upset Texas in a wild game on Saturday night. Cal’s only loss was a close loss to San Diego State. Davis Webb is playing very well for the Bears. Cal gets another chance this weekend for a key win at Arizona State.
Nebraska
Tommy Armstrong carried the Nebraska Huskers to a big win over Oregon. Nebraska was already a favorite to win the B1G West but this win is meaningful to the fan base. The defense still struggled at times but made the stops when needed. Nebraska opens B1G play at Northwestern.
Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech was a winner over Vanderbilt last Saturday. It’s not the best win of the weekend but the way GT shut down Vandy was impressive. GT is now off to a 3-0 start and QB Justin Thomas is playing well. GT hosts Clemson this Thursday.
Cal upset Texas in a wild game on Saturday night. Cal’s only loss was a close loss to San Diego State. Davis Webb is playing very well for the Bears. Cal gets another chance this weekend for a key win at Arizona State.
Nebraska
Tommy Armstrong carried the Nebraska Huskers to a big win over Oregon. Nebraska was already a favorite to win the B1G West but this win is meaningful to the fan base. The defense still struggled at times but made the stops when needed. Nebraska opens B1G play at Northwestern.
Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech was a winner over Vanderbilt last Saturday. It’s not the best win of the weekend but the way GT shut down Vandy was impressive. GT is now off to a 3-0 start and QB Justin Thomas is playing well. GT hosts Clemson this Thursday.
Tyler's Trending Up
Louisville
The Cards made a statement not only to the ACC but the whole country. Lamar Jackson continues to be the frontrunner for the Heisman trophy in what looks like his to lose at this point. Let’s give some credit to Bobby Petrino too. He has Louisville football rolling again. The man is a college football coach through and through. The defense on Saturday? The ‘Noles offense totaled just 113 yards through the air and Dalvin Cook had 54 yards rushing.
North Dakota St
6 straight wins over power 5 opponents. The big 12 might want to consider the Bison? Ok, they won’t but still this team wins year after year. Iowa came into the season with hopes to win the Big Ten well, they can still do that, but the playoffs are gone. The Bison have won 32 conference titles in their history, they are like Kansas basketball of the Big 12, they just win year in and year out. Sadly schools have caught on and the next power 5 opponent they play won't be until 2020. Unless, ya know, the Big 12 or another conference comes calling. Here’s to the Bison making the top 25 in my poll!
Troy
So in the Sun Belt preview, I mention how this is the season for Troy to bounce back. Well they made had that bounce back game in week three. The Trojans took down CUSA favorite Southern Miss. Teams now have RB Jordan Chunn on their radar after posting two games this season over 150 yards. They start Sun Belt play next week vs. NM State who has made some noise this season so far too.
The Cards made a statement not only to the ACC but the whole country. Lamar Jackson continues to be the frontrunner for the Heisman trophy in what looks like his to lose at this point. Let’s give some credit to Bobby Petrino too. He has Louisville football rolling again. The man is a college football coach through and through. The defense on Saturday? The ‘Noles offense totaled just 113 yards through the air and Dalvin Cook had 54 yards rushing.
North Dakota St
6 straight wins over power 5 opponents. The big 12 might want to consider the Bison? Ok, they won’t but still this team wins year after year. Iowa came into the season with hopes to win the Big Ten well, they can still do that, but the playoffs are gone. The Bison have won 32 conference titles in their history, they are like Kansas basketball of the Big 12, they just win year in and year out. Sadly schools have caught on and the next power 5 opponent they play won't be until 2020. Unless, ya know, the Big 12 or another conference comes calling. Here’s to the Bison making the top 25 in my poll!
Troy
So in the Sun Belt preview, I mention how this is the season for Troy to bounce back. Well they made had that bounce back game in week three. The Trojans took down CUSA favorite Southern Miss. Teams now have RB Jordan Chunn on their radar after posting two games this season over 150 yards. They start Sun Belt play next week vs. NM State who has made some noise this season so far too.
Matt's Trending Down
Texas
All the talk after the ND win was that Texas was back. The performance against Cal was typical Texas. The Longhorns played little defense and came up short at the end. Buechele wasn’t great but the running attack was solid behind Warren and Foreman. Texas tumbled in the polls and all the way out my rankings.
Marshall
The Thundering Herd were in control after the first quarter against Akron leading 21-7. Then the wheels came off the bus and Akron ended up winning 65-38. Turnovers derailed the Herd and poor defense never gave them a chance to catch up. Marshall now hosts #3 Louisville. If Akron scored 65, imagine what Louisville could do.
Iowa
Losing to North Dakota State isn’t a bad loss for most D-1 teams. When you are ranked #13 and the reigning B1G West Champion you are expected to win. Iowa managed only 231 total yards and a pathetic 34 rushing yards. Iowa’s OL was dominated by the Bison. To be fair, a win against NDSU would’ve been the best win by Iowa in a couple of years. Iowa opens up B1G play at Rutgers this weekend.
All the talk after the ND win was that Texas was back. The performance against Cal was typical Texas. The Longhorns played little defense and came up short at the end. Buechele wasn’t great but the running attack was solid behind Warren and Foreman. Texas tumbled in the polls and all the way out my rankings.
Marshall
The Thundering Herd were in control after the first quarter against Akron leading 21-7. Then the wheels came off the bus and Akron ended up winning 65-38. Turnovers derailed the Herd and poor defense never gave them a chance to catch up. Marshall now hosts #3 Louisville. If Akron scored 65, imagine what Louisville could do.
Iowa
Losing to North Dakota State isn’t a bad loss for most D-1 teams. When you are ranked #13 and the reigning B1G West Champion you are expected to win. Iowa managed only 231 total yards and a pathetic 34 rushing yards. Iowa’s OL was dominated by the Bison. To be fair, a win against NDSU would’ve been the best win by Iowa in a couple of years. Iowa opens up B1G play at Rutgers this weekend.
Tyler's Trending Down
Kansas
So this was Kansas chance to say hey we aren’t going to go defeated again this season in conference play. Well they went down to Ohio and last week Memphis. It is over already. They scored 7 points vs. Memphis and had 6 turnovers. So they were near the bottom and now they have sunk to the bottom of the tank never to be seen on the trending down list again. Bye Kansas.
Notre Dame
Well Notre Dame has hit the two loss mark three games into the season. Didn’t help that Texas lost to Cal this week too. Playoffs are out of the picture now. They have a stretch of must wins games if they want to have a shot at a new year's six bowl game. The game vs. Stanford will be the tell all for how this Notre Dame season will continue.
USC
Maybe, I came into the season with too high of expectations. I probably did. But this offense has looked pitiful despite bringing back 9 starters and having a former five star QB Max Browne start as a junior. Browne hasn’t done much to wow you through the first three games. He hasn’t passed for more than 200 yards in a game and comes in with just two touchdowns, two interceptions. Sam Darnold will start against the Utes this week.
So this was Kansas chance to say hey we aren’t going to go defeated again this season in conference play. Well they went down to Ohio and last week Memphis. It is over already. They scored 7 points vs. Memphis and had 6 turnovers. So they were near the bottom and now they have sunk to the bottom of the tank never to be seen on the trending down list again. Bye Kansas.
Notre Dame
Well Notre Dame has hit the two loss mark three games into the season. Didn’t help that Texas lost to Cal this week too. Playoffs are out of the picture now. They have a stretch of must wins games if they want to have a shot at a new year's six bowl game. The game vs. Stanford will be the tell all for how this Notre Dame season will continue.
USC
Maybe, I came into the season with too high of expectations. I probably did. But this offense has looked pitiful despite bringing back 9 starters and having a former five star QB Max Browne start as a junior. Browne hasn’t done much to wow you through the first three games. He hasn’t passed for more than 200 yards in a game and comes in with just two touchdowns, two interceptions. Sam Darnold will start against the Utes this week.