By Luke Brumm
Winners
Michigan
The Michigan Wolverines are huge winners this week. They greatly needed this win as this would have been their second home loss and it’s not even October yet. They started Alex Orji and, even though they could not throw at all, they were still able to score 27 points and secure the win.
The Wolverine defense looked really good as they held USC in check and Will Johnson was able to get another pick-six. Kalel Mullings exploded onto the scene with 17 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner.
Tennessee
Josh Heupel and his Vols rolled into Norman and beat the Sooners in their SEC debut. The score was much closer than the game actually was, and Oklahoma has a lot to figure out on offense. Tennessee looked pretty good on both sides of the ball and they even took their foot off the gas and ran the ball a lot in that second half.
I know revenge was sweet for Heupel after how his coaching career at OU ended, not to mention he played quarterback there. Tennessee still has Georgia and Alabama on their schedule, so they will need to be on their A game.
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Clemson
Clemson has really bounced back since their opening week loss to Georgia as they have been on a roll. They have beaten App State 66-20 and now NC State 59-35. They look like Miami’s biggest test in the ACC. Cade Klubnik has also really improved and now looks capable of leading this offense. He has had some real help at wide receiver for the first time in his career as well. I like the Tigers and what Dabo Swinney has been doing since week one.
James Madison
James Madison shocked everyone this week by blowing out North Carolina and the game was over from the jump. JMU was up 11 after the first quarter and 33 points at the half. They went on to put up 70 – a dominant performance for an offense that had been struggling earlier. The Dukes sit at 3-0 and could be a sleeper for the Group of Five auto bid CFP spot.
Losers
Oklahoma
The Sooners got a rude introduction to the SEC in their home loss vs Tennessee. They struggled a lot on offense and Jackson Arnold‘s play was not up to standard. The defense played decent and kept them somewhat in the game. Freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. came in and played better and look to be the choice at QB moving forward. It’s really tough that they had so much faith in Arnold that they essentially let Dillon Gabriel go that has backfired.
North Carolina
UNC was a joke this weekend. They got blown out of the water from the start and were never in this one. The Tar Heels were down 53-21 at halftime and trailed by as many as 36 points with five turnovers. Mack Brown even offered to resign after the game because it was so bad. I feel like North Carolina isn’t as bad as they looked, but I’m not sure how good they will be the rest of the way. This one was just plain ugly.
Nebraska
Nebraska had a Friday primetime game vs a ranked team for their 400th straight sellout of Memorial Stadium. They had one every 50th and 100th game on that 400-game streak. They fought hard, but ultimately came up short vs a suprisingly good Illinois team.
The Cornhuskers are more losers due to the magnitude of the game and not really their play on the field. They had chances to win the game in regulation and overtime butcouldn’t get it done. Still, I like this team and am optimistic for them moving forward.
Kansas State
Kansas State was the late game on Saturday and they were in Utah to face BYU. The Cougars matched up very well with Kansas State and it showed. BYU won 38-9 and shut down Avery Johnson and that good offense they have in Manhattan.
BYU was obviously underrated headed into this year and they are now finally ranked. Kansas State has another ranked game this week as they host Oklahoma State, but I think they will have much more success this time around.
