Game of the Year? – On Saturday – Week 3 Recap
Welcome everybody, to the latest edition of On Saturday. If you’re reading this, it’s because another week of college football just took place, so you rightfully came to the best sports content machine on the internet, Talent Alone, to get all the details. Ranked matchups, upsets, shootouts, and last-second wins. Week 3 had all the good stuff. Before we get into all of that, we first need to pause and take a moment to pay respects to the first two coach firings of the season. RIP to UCLA’s Deshaun Foster and VA Tech’s Brent Pry. Foster was let go after a blowout loss at home to New Mexico. His tenure with the Bruins was short, and to be honest, when you look at the series of events, he was set up to fail. As for Pry, he caught the axe after the Hokies got smoked in Blacksburg by the visiting ODU monarchs. The funny part about it, well, not for Brent Pry, is that back in 2022, he also lost his very first game as Tech’s head coach to ODU. Can’t wait to read all the rumours about the coaches those programs are targeting despite having no shot of landing them. With that short eulogy out of the way, let’s take a look back at what happened in the world of College Football on Saturday, September 16th, 2025.
Game Of The Week (of the Year??)
#6 Georgia stuns #15 Tennessee in Knoxville
The last time the Vols defeated Georgia was back in 2016 after a legendary Josh Dobbs to Jauan Jennings Hail Mary. Neyland Stadium was rocking on Saturday as Tennessee fans were hoping to see their losing streak end at eight. There were multiple moments where The Vols had a chance to make that a reality, but in the end, The Bulldogs tore the heart out of Neyland, extending the streak to nine years with a come-from-behind 44-41 victory in overtime..
Vols QB Joey Aguilar came out swinging, throwing three tuddies in the first thirty to give his team the 21-17 lead at half. Aguilar once again stuffed the box score in this one, finishing with 371 yds, averaging 10.3 per pass attempt, and tossing a total of four TDs and adding another on the ground. Three of his passing scores went to junior wideout Chris Brazzell II, who had a monstrous 177-yard outing. The pace of the game continued to ramp up after the break. Between the second half and overtime, we saw seven lead changes. Past the halfway mark of the fourth, the pressure was on first-year starting Bulldog QB Gunner Stockton with his team down eight. This was where we got the first of what would be three moments of heartbreak for Vols fans in attendance and across the nation. The Dawgs made their way downfield before facing 4th and 6 from the Vols’ 28, the clock now whittled down to 2:30. Gunner Stockton’s impact on this team was a question mark going into the season; some felt his role would be more of a game manager, don’t make mistakes, and just keep the train on the tracks. Pundit’s perceptions changed after this fourth down play when Gunner hit London Humphries 28 yards downfield in the end zone, dropping the ball into a bucket with a throw that I personally did not know he had in him.
GUNNER STOCKTON TO LONDON HUMPHREYS!!! pic.twitter.com/i3v3rlmUXy
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) September 13, 2025
After the successful two-point attempt, the Vols operated the two-minute drill down the field to set up kicker Max Gilbert for an attempt at a 43-yard walk-off field goal. As I mentioned, Tennessee had three missed opportunities to win this game. The first was giving up the touchdown and 4th and six. The second one was here when Gilbert’s kick immediately hooked right, never having a chance. This takes us to missed opportunity number three, which was obviously in overtime. The Vols offense went three and out, settling for a field goal of basically the same distance, which was successful. It was now on the shoulders of the defense once again to get a stop. Bulldogs halfback Nat Frazier nearly called the game on the first play of his team’s OT possession when he broke off on a run outside to the left, but was stopped at the four-yard line. It was just formality at that point. Frazier’s RB partner, Josh McCray, ran for three yards on the next play and then picked up the last remaining yard to cross the goal line. Game, match, Dawgs.
Sure, Gilbert missed that kick at the end of regulation, but this loss in no way lies at his feet. No pun intended. There are a couple of factors that contributed to this on both sides of the ball. The defenders in Orange could not get off the field in key moments, as evidenced by Georgia having a 56% success rate on late downs. They also gave up 500 yards of offense, and the Bulldogs finished with an EPA per play of 0.46. This happened despite the Vols’ defense having an impressive 13% Havoc rate, fueled by four sacks, ten TFL, and forcing two turnovers. So why didn’t that translate to fewer points allowed? Despite these teams being close across the board in a majority of offensive metrics, there was one glaring difference. Tennessee had the ball for almost 17 minutes less than Georgia. The Bulldogs ran twenty more plays than the Vols. This defense was gassed. You have to wonder if Josh Heupel is, in hindsight, questioning going at such a high pace and running a play roughly every 18 seconds.
Georgia obviously has a lot to figure out from a defensive standpoint, but luckily, this happened early in the season. Considering the talent on this roster and the fact that their head coach is Kirby Smart, expect to see improvement throughout this year. If this game had happened in week 8 instead of week 3, things would probably have gone differently. Still, the way The Dawgs fought back and made big plays to win this kind of game removes some of the concerns surrounding this team at the start of the year. This team should be considered the favorite to win the SEC, and if they beat Bama in two weeks, there will be no doubt about it.
My Team Lost, But I Can’t Be Biased and Have to Talk About It
#16 Texas A&M Win Shootout In South Bend
For those who may not remember, Notre Dame kicked off their 2024 season by taking a trip to College Station to face Texas A&M. That game was a low-scoring affair that saw the Irish walk away victorious 23-13. This year, the Aggies were on Notre Dame’s turf in South Bend, and the game was the complete opposite of last year. This past Saturday’s meeting turned into a back-and-forth shootout that went down to the wire with A&M coming out on top 41-40. Notre Dame opened the scoring by returning a blocked punt for a TD on the game-opening drive. The Aggies would respond to tie things up on an 86-yard Mario Craver touchdown that was one part Craver magic and one part terrible tackling by Marcus Freeman’s defense.
Mario Craver had the entire defense in a BLENDER pic.twitter.com/ka0jZDpGiJ
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 14, 2025
At that point, it was clear this game would be wild. Both teams kept scoring with The Irish managing to maintain a lead until a costly interception by CJ Carr allowed The Aggies to take a 28-24 lead going into halftime. The second half saw Notre Dame take the lead, only for the Aggies to respond and tie things up. The Irish seemed to put themselves in a great position to win, or worst case scenario, ensure OT, late in the fourth after a Jeremiyah Love touchdown run. That optimism didn’t last long as backup QB Tyler Buchner pulled a Tony Romo, fumbling the hold on the extra point kick attempt, leaving the score 40-34. A&M’s Terry Bussey had appeared to take the ensuing kickoff to the house for a touchdown and the immediate score; however, it was negated by a holding penalty. As a Notre Dame fan, that penalty was a killer because it meant the Irish were going to lose. The Aggies had continually moved the ball on DC Chris Ash’s defense all game. Between A&M having the ball down six points with less than 3 minutes left or the Notre Dame offense having the ball down one, the latter was clearly the better option. Sure enough, QB Marcel Reed marched his team downfield and came up clutch. On fourth and goal, Reed hit tight end Nate Boerkicher for the game-tying tuddy, which was followed by the successful XP and the win.
This was a huge win for A&M and second-year HC Mike Elko, leading to a big jump up to 10th in the AP poll. The biggest question for the Aggies going into the season was their offense, with many thinking it would be run-heavy, with them needing to slow down and grind out games for wins. Instead, after two weeks of big offensive numbers against weak competition, they went on the road, throwing the ball more than running it, and put up nearly 500 yards of offense to defeat a top ten team. Against what was expected to be one of the nation’s toughest defenses, Marcel Reed continued to respond, making big plays with his arm while WR Mario Carver went nuclear for 207 yds. This team is talented, has weapons, havoc-creating defensive players up front, and when you look at their schedule, the path to the playoffs is clear.
As for Freeman and Notre Dame, they now sit at 0-2 with some serious problems. While the NBC camera had fun in between plays by cruelly locking the camera onto Buchner, who had to watch his team lose with his mistake being the difference on the scoreboard, this loss wasn’t his fault. It lies solely on the shoulders of the defense. After the team’s shaky offensive performance in week one against Miami, it is mind-boggling that they lost a game after putting up over 400 yards of offense and 34 points. The loss of last season’s DC Al Golden to Cincinnati is looming large. Despite being winless, voters kept The Golden Domers ranked in the AP Poll at 24. This has upset a lot of people in the CFB community. However, to be fair, they’ve lost two close games to very good teams by a total of four points. Also, that ranking doesn’t help the fact that they failed to win the two biggest games they had on the schedule this year. When you look ahead, as of now, there aren’t too many chances for quality resume-boosting wins. Even if they finish 10-2, Notre Dame is going to need help to make the playoffs through either other teams stumbling or their future opponents ending up being better than they are currently viewed.
Unranked Upsets
#12 Clemson Falls on the Road to Georgia Tech
Just like the USF upset over Florida last week, this is one that really isn’t surprising. All the elements were there to lead to GA Tech’s 24-21 victory over Clemson that was capped off by an impressive 55-yard walk-off, fire drill, field goal by kicker Aidan Birr. Cue the field storming.
cinema. #StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/xkEdGzmXHl
— Georgia Tech Football (@GeorgiaTechFB) September 13, 2025
Clemson came into this game looking shaky and unimpressive. After a lifeless offensive performance led to their season-opening loss to LSU, they came out flat against Troy last week. Trailing at half and being forced to come from behind to avoid disaster. Nothing appeared to be fixed on offense from week 1 to 2. The running game was non-existent, and QB Cade Klubnik continued to struggle. Many people fell into the trap of thinking, “Oh, it’s Clemson and Dabo, they’ll get it together.” Season-long, so they still could at some point, but doing it on the road against a tough in-conference opponent was highly unlikely. The run game actually managed to find some more traction, with Adam Randall averaging five yards on his 15 carries. However, there was still a lack of explosiveness, and Klubnik was once again shaky, going 15/26 for 207 yards and a 1-1 TD to INT ratio. With that said, their offensive game plan that saw Klubnik drop back to pass 29 times compared to keeping it on the ground 35 times was questionable. The main reason is that it plays into the kind of game GA Tech wants to play, slowing the game down. When those kinds of games stay close, things usually come down to two factors. Time of possession, which the Tigers lost by over four minutes, and who has the ball last.
Keeping consistent with the team’s struggles this year, Clemson came out of the gate slow and fell down 13-0. They managed to claw back and go up 14-13, but could not put the Yellow Jackets away, which really shines a light on the error in many people’s preseason thoughts about Clemson. A harsh truth many need to finally accept. Clemson is not the program it once was. They are coming off back-to-back four-loss seasons and have now lost ten games since 2023. Dabo Sweeney has now taken 9 L’s to unranked teams since 2021. You know what happened before the 2021 season? NIL went into effect, and the NCAA changed its transfer rules, no longer forcing players to sit out a year after changing schools, leading to the boom of the transfer portal. Make of that what you will, but it’s clear that the Tigers and Dabo Sweeney are still stuck facing questions of whether or not they can return to the status of an elite program in the current CFB landscape. Meanwhile, Sweeney appears to be crashing out.
Tech HC Brent Key has his team set up nicely to make the ACC title game and the playoffs. They now sit at #18 in the AP Poll, and when you look at their schedule, they will most likely be favored in every game going forward until their rivalry week matchup against Georgia at the end of the season. As long as the Yellow Jackets can avoid a bad loss, they can make the postseason. Even if they lose the game against the Bulldogs. If they make the ACC Title game at 11-1, they’re in, win or lose. They pulled out this win following a game script they are perfectly equipped to follow. Lean on the run, have an efficient mistake-free passing attack, and play good defense, keeping them in the game late. The MVP for the offense was once again Haynes King. The QB is heavily experienced, playing college ball since 2020, and while his NFL prospects aren’t high, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a damn good college QB that fits Key’s offense. King completed 71.4% of his passes with no interceptions, fumbles, or turnover-worthy plays. Meanwhile, he did his expected amount of damage on the ground, totaling 118 yards, averaging over five a carry and picking up seven crucial first downs with his legs. After week 1, I said this team was a low-key dark horse to win the ACC. You can go ahead and remove the “darkhorse” and “low-key” labels, replacing them with the term “legit contender.”
Vandy Takes Down #11 South Carolina in Columbia
The hype for The Game Cocks was high coming into the season, but two weeks in, concerns swirled after the optics of a hard-fought 24-11 win over VA Tech to start the season soured once Vanderbilt went to Blacksburg and dropped 44 on The Hokies. The same Tech team that’s currently 0-3. Red flags were also raised in week 2 after SC’s 38-10 win over South Carolina St. The final score looks fine, but when you actually look at the game, it was clear the team had a problem offensively. 21 of those points were not scored by the offense as they had two punt return TDs and a fumble returned for a score. The numbers also weren’t great as they totaled a measly 253 yards against FCS competition.
It was becoming evident that this Gamecocks offense could not run the ball at all out of a Lanorris Sellers and lacked the skill position players to make explosive plays. The offense this season was clearly going to be all on Sellers’ shoulders, and through two games, he was struggling to carry the load, doing just enough to get his squad their 2-0 start to the season. (Hmm, that all sounds very similar to something a genius visionary wrote when previewing this team back in August.)
Things started well for Shane Beamer’s team in this game; they responded to Vanderbilt’s game-opening touchdown drive with one of their own. However, from that point on, SC’s offense disappeared. Their next three drives in the first half went: interception, punt, missed field goal, and they trailed 14-7 at halftime. Things also went from bad to worse with under two minutes left in the 2nd quarter when Sellers was knocked out of the game. Coach Beamer wouldn’t go into the specifics of his star quarterback’s injury following the game, but it happened when he was hit after he threw and took a shot to the head, which was later ruled targeting. With Sellers out of the game, any chance of the Gamecocks finding a way to put more points on the board died. The Commodores added more points in the second while SC, now led by backup QB Luke Doty, turned the ball over three times. Five if you include failed 4th down attempts, and Vandy pulled off the road upset 31-7.
The Sellers injury was the nail in the coffin, but don’t take anything away from HC Clark Lea and Vanderbilt. They went out and earned this win. Keep in mind, Sellers left the game with under two minutes left in the first half, up to that point he only had 94 yards and one interception, along 6 six yards rushing. This wasn’t a slip on a banana peel upset. Vandy had the Gamecocks bottled up, and they didn’t take their eye off the ball or let up after the QB change. Just like last season, there’s a dangerous moxie to this Vandy team. The schedule isn’t easy from here: Alabama, LSU, Mizzou, Texas, and Tennessee all still on the docket. What Vandy’s win-loss record will be come years’ end is a mystery, but one thing that’s for sure, every team they face better take them seriously.
Red Flag Results
Arch and #7 Texas Booed At Home against UTEP
After the Longhorns’ poor offensive performance in week one against Ohio State, the goal of the next two weeks was to take advantage of their scheduled group five competition and get things humming. Fast forward, and the team was getting booed by their home crowd during an uninspiring 27-10 win over the University of Texas at El Paso.
After the Buckeye loss, I defended Arch Manning, laying out the case for patience and why things will be fine. Last week, I intentionally did not write about the team’s week 2 win over San Jose State, because while Arch put up better numbers, the tape was still riddled with red flags. After week three, there’s really no way to avoid the conversation or make an optimistic take. Things are bad. The legacy QB completed an abysmal 44% of his passes for 114 yards, throwing one pick and averaging only 4.6 yards per attempt. To bundle his performance into a single number, he had a 47.1 passing grade per PFF. Somewhere, Quinn Ewers can’t help but smile with vindication. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian faced questions last week as to whether or not Arch was dealing with an injury, something Sark shut down. In hindsight, he should’ve just said yes, because if he’s not hurt, then how do you explain his throwing mechanics taking an apparent nose dive? This Longhorns wideout group is not the best, but it’s still good enough to get open against the competition they’ve faced the past two weeks, which they have, but STILL Manning has either missed them or hit them late. It never feels good coming down hard on the performance of a college player, but when you consider the hype of the player, the NIL, the commercials, and the way they dominated the media for two years, it’s hard not to.
The frustrating part of the situation is the possibility that Texas is going to waste a defense that is full of studs and among the best in the country. A defense that lost T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy after 2023, then had to deal with Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba heading to the NFL after that season, YET STILL appears to be as dominant as ever. Going into the season, it appeared that the main conference game of concern for the Longhorns would be week 12’s trip to Athens to face Georgia. Now, three weeks into the season, there are multiple games they seem to be in danger of losing because of a failure to score points. This kind of rhetoric would be an overreaction after game one, but after game three, it’s just a lukewarm reaction.
#3 LSU Gets Ugly Win as Florida Offense Implodes
After the final whistle blew Saturday night at Tiger Stadium and LSU defeated Florida 20-10, in an underwhelming game by both teams, the prevailing question was, did anybody really win that game?
The Gators finished with a -0.21 EPA, converted only 6 of their 17 third downs, and averaged roughly three yards per carry on the ground. Even worse than all of that was their five-star QB, DJ Lagway, threw FIVE interceptions. Lagway dropped back a total of 55 times in this game and completed 33 of his 49 pass attempts. Which begs the question, why the hell was DJ Lagway dropping back to throw 55 times in a close, low-scoring game, especially when he seemed to forget what color jersey his team was wearing? Maybe don’t abandon the run. Abandon might be an understatement when you only had 24 carries, less than half the number of times you called a pass play. I know the team collectively didn’t run the ball well, but Jadan Baugh did average 4.6 a carry on his ten attempts after last week, where he was the only effective player on offense against USF. Take some of the load off Lagway and let him breathe. Try to wear down the LSU defensive front, and maybe Baugh could’ve broken off some big runs as the game went on. Not to kick a man while he’s down, but what exactly was Billy Napier’s thought process?
Here’s another question: how was Florida still in this game late? The answer, because the LSU offense too looked rough, putting up an equally bad -0.20 EPA per play. They also went 4/14 on third down, and only picked up 10 first downs in general. The Gators had the ball for over 15 more minutes than the Tigers, something that makes complete sense when you realize LSU averaged only four plays per drive. Even the team’s Heisman hopeful QB Garret Nussmeier struggled, completing just 55% of his passes and throwing an ugly interception. When LSU’s offense scored 17 on Clemson, the prevailing thought was, “Clemson has a top defense.”. After they put up only 23 against LA Tech last week, the excuse was, “Weak competition, they just did what they needed to do to win.” What’s the reason for only scoring 13 offensive points when the other team turned the ball over five times? I’m all for getting a gritty, hard-fought win. Plus, the Tigers’ defense is still playing at an extremely high level, and the team is 3-0. However, there’s now officially a concern over the growing sample size that shows a talented offensive unit not being able to move the ball.
Head Coach Brian Kelly got asked about his team’s offensive problems in his post-game press conference. He didn’t appreciate the question and immediately went on a rant, considering the question out of line and telling the room of reporters they are “spoiled.”
Brian Kelly didn't like my question, maybe he just didn't like it being asked first right out of the gate.
— Michael Cauble (@Cauble) September 14, 2025
I get it, but it needed to be asked. #LSU pic.twitter.com/EYbdnRDPHo
I guess you’re not allowed to ask Kelly questions about where his team looks to be struggling until after those struggles cost them a game. To his credit, he did make a public apology come Monday. The fact remains, however, that LSU still has Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, and Oklahoma on the schedule. All games where the Tigers will most likely need to score more than 20 points to win.
On Saturday: Week 3 Shout-Outs
For this week’s shout-outs, let’s take a look at some teams that, for a multitude of different reasons, got what qualifies as a big dub.
First shout goes to the real top team in Louisiana, the Tulane Green Wave. HC Jon Summerall and his squad hosted Duke and the team’s former QB Darian Mensah. The wave jumped out to an early 24-3 lead and tacked on some extra points in the 2nd half to stifle a Duke comeback en route to a 34-27 win. The Green Wave offense once again did damage in both phases. They ran the ball effectively and had their best passing day of the season when you consider the step up in competition. It was the second week in a row that the Blue Devils’ secondary got picked on, giving up 10.38 yds per dropback. This is Tulane’s second win over a P4 team and has them viewed as the current favorite to represent the G5 in the playoffs.
Next shout-out is for California after getting a nice dub at home this past Saturday over Minnesota. True freshman QB Jaroa-Keawe Sagapolutele once again impressed. JKS went 24-38 for 270 yds and three tuddies with no turnovers against a good, hard-nosed Golden Gophers team. Between the Golden Bears’ breakout passer and their strong defense, they are going to make waves in the ACC this year. When you look at a schedule that currently has no ranked opponents on it, HC Justin Wilcox has a shot to lead his team to a nine, if not ten, win season.
Let’s head back below the Mason-Dixon and give a shout to those Ole Miss Rebels. Lane Kiffin was down his starting QB for the team’s home game against Arkansas. In place of Austin Simmons, Trinidad Chambliss stepped in to handle things behind center. Chambliss, who transferred to Ole Miss after winning a D2 title with Ferris State, ended up stealing the show with his performance. The senior QB completed 21 of his 29 pass attempts for a big-time 353 yds and a tuddy while adding another two TDs with his legs, leading his team to victory in a 41-35 shootout. Simmons appears to be on track to return this week; however, we could have a QB controversy in Oxford if he struggles.
Last shout goes to West Virginia and head coach Rich Rodriguez, whose team got back up after being knocked down. The Mountaineers suffered a rough loss in week two against Ohio. Not Ohio St. The Ohio Wildcats from the MAC. It was an abysmal day offensively. The West VA offense averaged 2.6 yards per carry, didn’t hit 300 yards of total offense, and only mustered up 10 points. Fast forward to this past week, they were hosting Pittsburgh in a rivalry game known as “The Backyard Brawl”. Rich Rod’s squad found themselves down in the fourth quarter, but they weren’t out. Scoring ten points in the final five minutes, The Mountaineer tied the game before going on to win 31-24 in OT. It was clear when Rodriguez made his return to head coach Morgan Town, where he coached from 2001-2007, it would take some time to turn the program around. Fighting back to win games like this gives their fans a source of optimism in the meantime.
