By: Luke Brumm
Winners
Florida
The Gators were kind of laughed at after week one, same with their quarterback, Graham Mertz. They silenced those trolls this past weekend by beating a ranked Tennessee team 29-16 in primetime. The game was never close, and now Florida sits within the top 25. They are the biggest winner this week.
Missouri
Staying in the SEC East, Missouri was another unranked team that upset a ranked opponent. Mizzou kicker, Harrison Mevis, drilled a sixty-one-yard field goal as time expired to beat fifteenth-ranked Kansas State. Tigers’ star WR Luther Burden III, also looked great, racking up 114 yards and two scores on seven receptions.
https://twitter.com/TSV__1/status/1703128943296172386
Washington
Michael Penix Jr. and Washington just keep rolling. After their first few blowout wins, they followed it up with a 41-7 smacking of Michigan State on the road. Penix looked amazing again and is one of the early frontrunners for the Heisman. Washington has ranked matchups against Oregon, USC, Utah, Oregon State, and Washington State coming up, but dismantling a B1G team on the road makes them a week three winner.
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BYU
The Cougars are one of the four newcomers in the Big 12, and they are off to a good start to the season. They are 3-0 and just went on the road to SEC country and beat Arkansas 38-31. Kedon Slovis is having a successful season at his third school with nine total touchdowns to one interception. He was previously at Pitt, and at USC prior to that. BYU has another road game coming up this week against fellow undefeated Kansas.
LSU
The Tigers were expected to beat Mississippi State last weekend, but it was the way they did it that puts them on the list. LSU went into Starkville for an 11:00 local time kickoff and won 41-14. Bayou Bengal quarterback, Jayden Daniels, went off for 361 yards and two touchdowns on 30-34 passing. The Tigers were playoff contenders to many before the season started, and this might be the first step in them getting back there.
Losers
Michigan State
The Spartans lost on and off the field this past weekend. It was announced that they would be firing HC Mel Tucker due to the Sexual Harassment accusations, and then to top it off, they lost to Washington by thirty-four points at home. Not much more can be said, the situation speaks for itself.
Tennessee
The Vols had a reality check on Saturday night. They thought that they were better than they are, and I especially think Tennessee fans thought Joe Milton was better than he really is. He was very bad at Michigan, and although he looks better, he still doesn’t look anything near an elite all-around quarterback like Hendon Hooker was. The defense, especially in the tackling department, still look poor. Josh Heupel and company have a lot of work to do if they want to find any meaningful success in 2023.
62 YARDS TO THE HOUSE!!! pic.twitter.com/XbTDv4NYQO
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 16, 2023
Iowa State, Oklahoma State, & Cincinnati
What is with the Big 12 losing to significantly inferior opponents?? Oklahoma State lost to South Alabama at home 33-7, Miami (OH) went and beat Cincinnati by seven in OT, and Iowa State scored a whopping seven points in their three-point loss to the Ohio Bobcats.
What is going on? The downfall of OSU is wild, they were a top-ten team at one point last season. Matt Campbell was seen as the top coaching candidate at one point and now he’s on the hot seat (which he was reminded of postgame by a fan). Cincinnati was in the Playoffs two seasons ago and won sixteen straight vs. the Redhawks. Not a good look for these schools or the Big 12 conference as a whole.
Don’t tell Matt Campbell he’s on the hot seat
pic.twitter.com/xNevUaK2vS— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 16, 2023
