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Rucker: Tom Petty won't back

down. Tennessee won't win in
The Swamp.

What Joe Milton III said

after Tennessee lost at
Florida
Quarterback Joe Milton III came out to face
the music after Tennessee’s 29-16 loss at
Florida on Saturday – here is everything
the quarterback said after the game.

By PATRICK BROWN 0
10 hrs

No-Huddle: Tennessee falls to Florida in The

Swamp — again

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It was not a happy

homecoming for Joe Milton III as the
Tennessee quarterback’s return to his
home state was spoiled in a 29-16 loss at
Florida on Saturday night in The Swamp.
The Pahokee native led an impressive
opening drive ending in a touchdown
pass, but it was all downhill from there for
the Vols in a mistake-filled performance
strewn with squandered opporunities
against the Gators. After having the top
offense in college football during an 11-win
season in 2022, Tennessee has come
down to earth this season having scored
30 points against Austin Peay last week
and just 15 in its SEC opener.

In the loss, Milton completed 20 of 34

passes for 287 yards with two
touchdowns and one interception. He
threw an 11-yard touchdown to Ramel
Keyton to give Tennessee a 7-0 lead, but
the offense didn’t score again until the
third quarter after Florida led 26-7 at
halftime. Milton tossed a 55-yard
touchdown pass to Bru McCoy in the
fourth quarter, but Tennessee’s comeback
attempt was too little too late in a 10th
straight loss in this stadium dating back to
2003.

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Milton was one of three Tennessee

players to speak to the media after the
game and here is everything the
quarterback said after the loss at Florida.

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On Tennessee’s pre-snap penalties:

“Just not us being focused and shooting

ourselves in the foot, man. That’s all it is.”

On how the environment impacted the

pre-snap penalties:

“Not as much, man. When we’re in

environments like this, as a team you’ve
got to come together as a collective and
just got to execute the plays. We didn’t
start off doing that in the beginning of the
first half, so that led up to the score
tonight. It’s all good.”

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On his interception in the second

quarter:

“It happened, man. It happened. I can’t go

back and change what happened. You
only can learn from it. It’s totally on me. I
understand.”

On Florida’s Desmond Watson hitting

him on the interception:

“Yeah, that’s part of the game. It’s what

happens.”

On Watson landing on him:

“I’m good, man.”

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On what him and the team leaders said

after the game in the locker room:

“For sure, man. It’s just all about if we’re

going to come together or we’re going to
separate. These games right here lead
you to the most important things in life.
You look at the game and you’re like, ‘Oh
man, we lost to Florida,’ right? And you go
back in the locker room on Sunday and
you watch the game and you just see all
the mistakes you made as a team,
personally, and you want to just fix those
and go execute the next week.”

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What changed for Tennessee’s offense

after its opening drive ended with a
touchdown:

“Just got to keep executing, man, as an

offense. You’ve just got to keep going, no
matter what. When you score that easily
and things can be easy to score, you just
can’t ride the wave. You’ve got to be able
to execute and attack.”

What the offense said at halftime and

how they adjusted:

“Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. Just keep

going, man. As an offense, as a defense,
as a special teams (unit), you’ve just got to
execute.”

How he’ll know if a team comes together

after a loss like this:

“The only people that will find out that is

us. We’ll find out that within the team,
starting tomorrow. Really starting tonight
on the plane, but really tomorrow morning.
We’ll get in there and we’ll watch it, and
go back Monday, you go execute and get
ready for the following week. Can’t go
back and change anything that happened
in this game.”

On coming back home to Florida and

what it meant to him:

“It means a lot. I had a lot of family here,

but the most important (thing) is just being
able to go out here and execute with my
brothers, man. We all preach that all week,
just get out there and execute. We fell
short, but at the same time, we’ve just got
to go out there and execute no matter
what.”

On the fourth-down play where there

was confusion after an official kicked the
football and had to re-spot it:

“I was pretty confused on what was going

on, just because the ball was moving so
much. I was just confused what was going
on. The ref blew the whistle so in my head
I’m thinking that he’s going to re-spot the
ball so it don’t be too much confusion on
where the snap (was), but they let it roll.
Everything else out of that was out of our
hands. That’s pretty much we’ve got to
control the controllables at that point.”

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If the team comes out of the game

feeling the mistakes were self-inflected:

“Absolutely, absolutely. It’s all self-inflicted

wounds. We look at it and you be like, ‘Oh,
we lost to Florida.’ You go in there and you
see all the self-(inflicted) problems we
made, the self-(inflicted) things that we did
and that you did as yourself that messed
up the play or messed up the drive. Those
small things we can go change, but you’ve
got to keep believing in yourself as a
team. That’s my message to the team:
Keep believing in yourself and go execute.
That’s all that matter.”

Everything Josh Heupel

said after No. 11 Vols' 29-16
loss at Florida
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel spoke with
reporters Saturday after the Vols' 29-16 loss
at Florida, their 10th consecutive defeat at
'The Swamp'

By RYAN CALLAHAN 4
11 hrs

Highlights: No. 11 Tennessee at Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For only the second

time in more than a quarter-century,
Tennessee was favored to win at Florida
going into its SEC opener Saturday night.
But the Vols' latest trip to "The Swamp"
didn't turn out any different from most of
their other games there over the past two
decades.

After taking an early 7-0 lead, No. 11

Tennessee allowed the rival Gators to
score 26 unanswered points before
halftime and never recovered in a 29-16
loss at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. It was the
Vols' 10th consecutive loss at "The
Swamp," where they haven't won since
2003.

Tennessee (2-1) tried to rally in the second

half but never trailed by fewer than 13 the
rest of the way after falling behind by
three scores in the first half. Florida (2-1)
was in control on both sides of the ball for
most of the first half after the Vols scored
on their opening possession, and the
Gators did enough in the second half to
keep Tennessee at arm's length.

Big save on Temu

Temu

Third-year Tennessee coach Josh Heupel

spoke with reporters after Saturday's
game. During his postgame press
conference, he discussed a number of
topics, including the Vols' first-half
struggles and their defense failing to get
off the field. He also fielded questions
about the performance of senior
quarterback Joe Milton III and
Tennessee's offensive line, which again
played without senior center Cooper
Mays.

Here's what Heupel said Saturday night

after the Vols' first loss of the season.

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Opening statement

“Extremely disappointing start to the

football game. First half, not very good in
any sense of the way. Offense had the
one drive, and defense got the one stop.
Other than that, not the way you want to
start. I do appreciate the competitiveness
of the guys coming out (to) compete and
play in the second half. Still didn’t play as
clean we need to, as well as we need to in
a lot of ways, but they did fight. We’ve got
to get a lot better. Hats off to — give credit
to Florida. They did a good job.

Verzenio® (ver-ZEN-ee-oh) is used to treat certain

types of breast cancer known as HR+/HER2–
(hormone receptor positive/human epidermal growth
factor receptor 2 negative) breast cancer.

“But we’ve got to get a lot better. We need

to be cleaner.”

On Tennessee’s defense not getting off

the field on third downs

“Didn’t get off the field. Had them in some

third-and-long situations, applied some
pressure to the quarterback. We didn’t
match out on some things. We’ve got to
be better. We’ve got to get off the field.”

On what went into the decision to take a

timeout in the final seconds and his
reaction to what happened between the
two teams at the end of the game

“Timing of when it was. Chance to try to

push one into the end zone.

“And obviously at the end of it, by the time

of when it happened, you weren’t going to
be able to have a full sequence of plays to
try to get back into the end zone.”

On how Tennessee’s offensive line and

quarterback Joe Milton III played

“We’ll go back and watch it. The first half, I

mean, end of the day, nobody was doing
what they needed to at the level that they
need to. That could be run game. Can be
protection. Can be quarterback play. Can
be wide-receiver play. That’s how it looks
the way that it did after the first drive.

“Listen, it starts with me and our coaching

staff, too. We’re in it together.”

On whether he was surprised by

Tennessee’s pre-snap penalties

“Yeah. A myriad of things that happened

on those sequences. End of the day,
we’ve got to operate. Fully capable of it.
(That is) part of the disappointment.”

On why Tennessee didn’t play with the

tempo it normally has on offense

“I mean, the first half, we didn’t get it

going. I mean, we were behind the chains
the entire time, so you’re not going to see
the tempo at that point.”

On how capable Tennessee’s players are

of playing better than they did Saturday
night

Big save on Temu

Temu

“They are capable of it, absolutely. But

we’ve got to be better.”

On whether the Vols need to regain

some confidence to play better

“We’ve got to go back to work and

continue to grow.”

On cornerback Doneiko Slaughter and

offensive tackle Gerald Mincey not
playing

“Doneiko wasn’t available, and Mincey, we

just made a decision to go with JJ
tonight.”

On how he would assess Tennessee’s

tackling in open field

“Not very good in the first half. Huge part

of the problem. I mean, you can look at
tackling and not getting off the field on
third down defensively.

Big save on Temu

Temu

“And, offensively, you can look at pre-snap

penalties and lack of efficiency and all of
it.”

On Milton’s growth during his time at

Tennessee

“Did some good things down the stretch.

Early in the football game, we as an entire
unit weren’t playing the way that we
needed to, to move the football
consistently. Joe’s done some really good
things. He, like the rest of them, I was
proud of the way that they competed in
the second half. Still not clean enough.
Still not as efficient as we need to be, but
they came out and competed.”

On being optimistic about senior center

Cooper Mays’ availability this week and
why he didn’t play
“Just wasn’t available tonight at the end of
it. Didn’t feel like he was in a position to
play his best football.”

On whether Tennessee’s players weren’t

resetting when things spiraled out of
control during the first half

“I don’t know about resetting. Just

handling all of it, efficiency of it. We’ve got
to put them in better situations. We’ve got
to go execute. We’ve got to move the
football. That’s in the ground game. It’s
protection. It’s winning one-on-ones. It’s all
of it.”

On how Mays not being

available Saturday night affected
Tennessee’s offensive line

“End of the day, man, you line up with the

guys that you’ve got.

Enjoy 90% off on Temu

Temu

“There’s no asterisk at the bottom of the

win or a loss (because of) who was
available, who wasn’t. We’re good enough
to play better than we did tonight.”

On what Tennessee needs to do to play

better on the road in tough
environments

“You’ve got to give yourself a chance early

in the football game. You’ve got to play
efficiently. You’ve got to line up and tackle
on the other side of the football. You’ve
got to play three phases, man. You know
what I mean? Early in the football game,
did not play well enough after that first
drive on both sides of the football.”

On whether defenses are allowed to

make substitutions after a ball is
respotted

“I’m thinking about which one that you’re

talking about there.”

On Florida being allowed to substitute

after the officials respotted the ball
before a fourth-and-1 play

“The fourth down. I guess the official

kicked the ball, moved the ball, then
respotted it. And then they allowed them
to sub on that deal.”

On whether defenses are supposed to

be allowed to substitute in a situation
like that

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an

official kick the ball. We’ve got to go check
the rulebook.”

On whether he will talk to the team

about staying poised at the end of the
game

“That sequence right there, we’re trying to

get the ball back, right? Trying to take a
shot at the end zone. I don’t know if you’re
going to have enough time for an onside
(kick) and maybe get it and get a shot
back. But you’re trying to finish and
compete the right way. He’s dancing
around. Do you want the targeting?
Obviously not. But the guy’s dancing
around, so you’ve got to go tackle the guy,
too. Do we want to be composed in that
situation and all situations? Absolutely.”

Big save on Temu

Temu

On what changed for Tennessee’s

offense after its opening drive

“Eleven guys operating and doing their

job at a really high level. Pre-snap
penalties killed us. We had a busted
protection, turnover. Momentum’s real if
you allow it to be real. You know what I
mean? It’s your job, our job as a
competitor to reset and go play the next
play. Efficiency in the pass game — all of it.
First half, man, you guys saw it. It wasn’t
very good football.”

On what allowed Florida’s offense to be

successful in the run game

“One, when guys were there, we didn’t

tackle very well fundamentally. Two, we
got out-gapped a little bit at times and just
misfit it. Those were the biggest things.”

CFB Overtime: Winners,

losers and more from a
tense Week 3
247Sports' weekly recap column, College
Football Overtime, is back with a loaded
breakdown of a wild Week 3.

By CHRIS HUMMER 0
83 mins

Post Game Reaction: Deion Sanders

Continues To Build Impressive Coaching
Resume

Weeks like this are why there are never

boring weeks of college football. It would
be easy to glance at the Week 3 slate and
decide this is a good week to get some
yard work done or take a quick weekend
trip. There were no ranked versus ranked
matchups, and many teams were eating
their final non-conference cupcake. But
there are no off weeks in college football!

No. 1 Georgia? Down at halftime. No. 2

Michigan? Up by only a possession at
halftime. No. 3 Florida State? Needed a
fourth quarter stop to hold off Boston
College. No. 4 Texas? Tied in the fourth
quarter against Wyoming.

Even Alabama wasn’t safe. South Florida

had the Tide in a 3-3 deadlock midway
through the third quarter.

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month.

Fans have begged for parity in college

football the past few seasons. After three
weeks, it feels like we’ve finally gotten
there. I’m not saying nobody is good in
college football this year. But it sure feels
like everyone is at least beatable. That’s a
welcome change in the curtain call for the
four-team College Football Playoff era.

WINNER: COLORADO BUFFALOES

(Photo: © Lucas Boland/The Coloradoan / USA TODAY NETWORK, USA

TODAY Sports)

The Rocky Mountain Showdown was

unfortunately nasty, with Travis Hunter
sent to the hospital after a late, vicious hit
(the two-way star will be out for a few
weeks, which is a huge shame as
Colorado has Oregon and USC next).
Things weren’t totally clean on Colorado’s
side, either.

With my plea for pregame trash talk to not

compromise player safety out of the way,
let’s get to why we’re here: Deion
Sanders’ Colorado squad is the clear
winner of the college football season so
far, especially again in Week 3.

One-and-eleven in 2022, the Buffaloes

are already 3-0 after a double-overtime,
come-from-behind victory against their top
rivals. Colorado was down 11 points in the
fourth quarter and it sure looked like Jay
Norvell’s Colorado State Rams, pegged as
23.5-point underdogs, had CU’s number.
Clutch play from Heisman candidate
Shedeur Sanders saved the day. Sanders
orchestrated a 98-yard, game-tying drive
late to tie the game with 36 seconds left,
complete with a two-point conversion, and
then tossed two more touchdowns and
another conversion in double-overtime.
Defensive back Trevor Woods’ end-zone
interception won the game a half-frame
later.

Shedeur (more on him in my Heisman

section) finished 38-for-47 with 348 yards,
four touchdowns and an interception.

“This is who he is,” Deion said of Shedeur.

What a night for Deion. His other son on

the team, defensive back Shilo, opened
the scoring with an 80-yard pick-six. The
road is about to get a lot tougher, but all
reasonable Year 1 expectations have been
met and his team is the toast of college
football.

LOSER: PITTSBURGH (AND PAT NARDUZZI)

(Photo: © Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY Sports)

On a night in which Kedon Slovis went on

the road and led BYU to an upset over
Arkansas, there’s a certain irony to West
Virginia smothering Pittsburgh for a 17-6
win. After all, Panthers head coach Pat
Narduzzi threw plenty of shade toward
Slovis this offseason when he entered the
portal, saying, “We knew there was a
chance we were going to lose our
quarterback, we knew there was a chance
we wanted to lose our quarterback.”

I don’t think he should have been so

eager to lose him.

The player Narduzzi replaced Slovis with,

Boston College transfer Phil Jurkovec,
was abysmal Saturday. He finished 8 for
20 with 81 yards and 3 interceptions.
Jurkovec might be the worst QB in the
Power Five right now. He’s played two
games against FBS competition and has
completed just 34% of his passes.

Unsurprisingly, Pitt is now 1-2 with losses

to West Virginia and Cincinnati, a pair of
teams expected to finish near the bottom
of the Big 12.

I’m all for coaches talking. Honestly, I love

nothing more than a coach putting his
chest out a little bit. But you shouldn’t take
shots at outgoing players. And if you are,
you better hope your words have merit.
They haven’t so far, and it’s a big reason
why the Panthers are on the short list of
most disappointing teams in college
football.

WINNER: FLORIDA GATORS

(Photo: James Gilbert, Getty)

Man, that must have felt cathartic in

Gainesville.

Billy Napier took shot after shot in his first

year with Gators. A new-look program
never could seem to get off the ground in
its first 18 months, weighed down by
losses and embarrassing moments on the
recruiting trail and even in the transfer
portal, when the addition of quarterback
Graham Mertz — an underachiever at
Wisconsin — was derided left and
right. This year began with a whimper, a
road loss to a Utah team without its
starting quarterback. But maybe the
conversation will finally shift forward
following Florida’s 29-16 win over No. 11
Tennessee.

Mertz proved his mettle. He finished 19-

for-24 with 166 yards and a TD. Steady.
The defense did the rest, holding the Vols
under 20 points for only the fourth time in
the Josh Heupel era.

On a night in which many of the standouts

from the Gators’ No. 3 overall 2024
recruiting class were on hand, Florida had
a performance for the moment. Down go
the Vols. Maybe here come the Gators?

RELATED: Blue-chip prospects in awe of

The Swamp

It’s hard for me to believe Napier won’t get

things going. That’s the problem with this
era of college football. There’s no
patience. Napier built Louisiana through
evaluations and development. Jumping on
Napier about 5-7 before he had a chance
to really do either always felt short-
sighted.

Perhaps now with a signature win under

his belt (and a very manageable next few
weeks ahead), Napier will be given the
runway needed to build his program in his
own vision. If it’s anything like Saturday, on
a night in which the Gators were the
better, more prepared team, the future is
bright.

LOSER: IOWA STATE CYCLONES

(Photo: © Matt Lunsford-USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY Sports)

There isn’t enough space in this column to

do a dissection of either Iowa State’s 10-7
loss to Ohio or the runway of heartache
that have led to it. The game was boring.
For the big picture, the last few years in
Ames have seen the Cyclones and Matt
Campbell miss a shot-of-a-lifetime
opportunity in 2021 from years past and,
two long years later, have their program
jarred by gambling-based suspensions
that ruined the 2023 season before it ever
began.

Either way, the Cyclones losing to the

Bobcats says everything you need to
know about the status of this program in
the post-Brock Purdy and Breece Hall
era.

This is a low-water mark for a team that

was, not too long ago, the darling of
college football.

Matt Campbell is now 7-8 in non-

conference games against FBS programs.
He’s just 32-31 in conference play. l have
no doubt Campbell is an excellent coach.
If he wasn’t, the 2020 season (a berth in
the Big 12 Championship Game and a
Fiesta Bowl win over Oregon) never
happens. But you can’t also help but feel
Iowa State should have been been — and
should still be — more under Campbell.
With the events of the last few months
along with losses like this one, it’s difficult
to envision the program bouncing back
quickly.

Crazy to think just two years ago Matt

Campbell turned down what CBS Sports
reported was an 8-year deal from the
Detroit Lions. College football comes at
you fast.

WINNER: ALABAMA QB JALEN MILROE

(Photo: Getty)

Wasn't all on the quarterback, huh?

A week after the Alabama fan base

bemoaned the play of Jalen Milroe in a
loss to Texas, Milroe found himself on the
sideline for one of the most embarrassing
games of Nick Saban’s Alabama tenure, a
lifeless, frustrating 17-3 win over South
Florida that was even closer than the final
score showed.

Milroe didn’t play. We've certainly never

given a "winner" tag to a backup to QB in
our years of writing College Football
Overtime, but this feels right for what
happened, or didn't happen, in Milroe's
absence. The other quarterbacks were
underwhelming, to be polite. Notre Dame
transfer Tyler Buchner got the start and
found himself benched after a 5-for-14
performance. Redshirt freshman Ty
Simpson came in next and his first three
drives went a total of 28 yards. Simpson
did rally a bit, helping the Tide score their
first touchdown late in the third quarter,
but his drives were grinding, difficult
affairs.

The end result for Alabama’s QBs: 10-for-

23, 107 yards. That’s against an USF
defense that surrendered 336 yards
passing to Western Kentucky in Week 1.

Milroe was the scapegoat this week. Yes,

he had an awful crippling fourth-quarter
interception against Texas but he also
created opportunities for Alabama the
entire night with his ability to create in off-
schedule situations. Several times he
scampered for a first down vs. the
Longhorns. Several times he used his legs
to move the pocket, keep a play alive and
get the ball downfield. Against South
Florida, Simpson and Buchner combined
for just one play of 20-plus yards (run or
throw). Milroe had 10 such plays last week
against what is an excellent Texas
defense.

Even if he comes with a few squeamish

turnover risks, Milroe is the best fit for this
Alabama offense. The Crimson Tide and
offensive coordinator Tommy Rees have
to go back to him or this will be a
disastrous season. The Tide’s o-line is a
curious problem (it gave up 5 sacks to
South Florida after surrendering a nearly
50% pressure rate against Texas) and
Milroe’s legs keep the offense afloat.
Without that element, this is a stale
offense and a 6-6 or 7-5 team.

LOSER: STANFORD CARDINALD

(Photo: © Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY Sports)

In its final season in the Pac-12 and first

under new coach Troy Taylor, the
Stanford Cardinal paid $625,000 for the
honor of losing 30-23 to FCS Sacramento
State — Taylor’s former team.

Taylor built an absolute monster in

Sacramento State, so we can’t act totally
surprised. And it is a nice proof of concept
for a Cardinal fan base that’s had a
forgettable few seasons and is off to
another one at 1-2.

The loss speaks to Stanford’s continued

fall from grace; the Cardinal is 15-30 since
2019. We put less blame at the feet of
former David Shaw and much more on a
Stanford administration that lost its sense
of alignment with football and struggled
for too long to adapt to the new era of
transfer portal and NIL, an issue made all
the more difficult by Stanford’s strenuous
admissions standards. Shaw gave an
excellent interview on the Ryen Russillo
Podcast this week and seemed hopeful
his former school had figured the portal
and NIL out. But you can’t help but think
had things not taken this dark a turn,
Stanford would be off to the Big Ten with a
few of its former Pac-12 mates and not
gearing up for cross-country flights to
Tobacco Road.

Years of consecutive double-digit seasons

and Heisman-contending running backs
feel so long ago.

HOW WE PEG THE HEISMAN RACE AND THE

TOP 10

(Photo: Bob Drebin/ISI Photos, Getty)

Before we get into comprehensive recaps

of what happened in every Power 5
conference plus the Group of 5 notes you
need to know, we'll give you a 30,000-foot
look at the topics driving the water cooler
discussion come Monday: The race for the
Heisman Trophy, how I'd power-rank the
best teams in college football and the
players who deserve a whale of a helmet
sticker following their Week 3 showings.

RACE FOR THE HEISMAN TROPHY:

No. 1 Caleb Williams, QB, USC - Idle

No. 2 Michael Penix, QB, Washington -

473 yards passing, 4 TDs

No. 3 Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado -

348 yards passing, 4 TDs

No. 4 Jordan Travis, QB, Florida State -

212 yards passing, 2 TDs | 4 carries, 38
yards

No. 5 Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas - 131 yards

passing, 2 TDs | 2 carries, 1 TD

MY TOP 10 TEAMS IN COLLEGE

FOOTBALL

1. Georgia

2. Michigan

3. Florida State

4. Texas

5. Ohio State

6. Washington

7. USC

8. Penn State

9. Oregon

10. LSU

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

(Photo: © Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK, USA

TODAY Sports)

OFFENSE

Trevor Etienne, RB, Florida: There were

some incredible offensive performances
this week, but none came on a bigger
stage than Etienne’s 172 yards and a
touchdown against Tennessee. Etienne
(and the Gators O-line) were the driving
force behind one of the biggest wins of
the week. Etienne averaged a healthy 7.5
yards per carry, pacing an offense that
held the ball for 37 minutes, keeping the
usually explosive Vols off the field.

DEFENSE

Daquan Evans, DB, USF: It may have

come in a loss, but Evans was everywhere
for the Bulls. Evans finished the afternoon
with a team-best four TFLs and three
sacks along with eight total tackles. Evans
was coming off the edge at 5-foot-11 and
destroying Alabama’s tackles with his
speed. He had a heck of a day, and that
doesn’t even include his excellent play in
coverage.

ACC (+ NOTRE DAME) NOTES

(Photo: © Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY Sports)

- If you need a reminder nobody is truly

safe in college football, check out this box
score: No. 3 Florida State 31, Boston
College 29. Without a few injured starters
and seemingly asleep for much of the first
half, the Seminoles were nearly upset by a
team expected to finish near the bottom
of the ACC standings. Well, maybe not if
Thomas Castellanos (305 yards passing,
95 yards rushing) plays the way he did
Saturday all season. The UCF transfer,
who was a legitimate P5 running back
target for some schools, is electric.

- The Chris Tyree slot receiver experiment

seems to be going pretty well for Notre
Dame. The former high-profile running
back recruit led the No. 9 Irish in a 41-17
win over Central Michigan with 88 yards
receiving. Tyree popped off a catch of 65-
plus yards for the second straight week.
He’s the type of weapon in space the Irish
have missed the last few years. It’d be a
big benefit for a somewhat questionable
wide receiver group if Tyree can continue
to grow in the role.

- It’s pretty obvious who Drake Maye’s top

target will be after a 31-13 win by No. 20
North Carolina over Minnesota. That role
belongs to Georgia Tech transfer Nate
McCollum, who’s 15 catches for 165 yards
were the second-most catches by a Tar
Heel receiver in program history. With Tez
Walker sitting out the season due to a
NCAA ruling, McCollum’s presence is
going to be critical.

- Duke did pretty much whatever it

needed to on offense during a 38-14 win
over Northwestern. The No. 21 Blue
Devils (3-0) averaged 11 yards per pass,
6.7 yards per run and did not turn it over.
Riley Leonard (219 yards passing, 97
yards rushing, 2 TDs) should start showing
up on some Heisman lists soon.

- No. 22 Miami did what it should against

Bethune-Cookman, winning in a 48-7 rout.
Tyler Van Dyke and Xavier Restrepo have
become quite the combination, by the
way. Restrepo, who’s career high for
catches is 24, has already caught 17
passes this year on 21 targets.

- In perhaps the most promising game of

the Cade Klubnik era of Clemson football,
the Tigers (2-1) easily dispatched FAU for a
48-14 win. Klubnik accounted for four total
touchdowns in the win.

- Louisville’s offense went dark in the

second half, but its defense did enough to
hold on for a 21-14 win over Indiana. The
Cardinals are now 3-0 for the first time
since 2016, the season Lamar Jackson
won the Heisman.

- Wake Forest (3-0) avoided a difficult non-

conference loss by scaling a 17-0 halftime
deficit to beat Old Dominion. The Demon
Deacons, which won 27-24, held the
Monarchs to 18 yards in the second half.

- Virginia blew a 14-0 lead over Maryland

and ended up being blown out 42-14. The
Cavs (0-3) started true freshman QB
Anthony Colandrea for a second straight
week with starter Tony Muskett injured.
Colandrea started off hot but then threw a
trio of second-half interceptions, all of
which Maryland turned into touchdowns.

- Not the best start for those teams from

Virginia. The Hokies went on the road and
were handled, 35-16, by Rutgers. I’ll
probably bring it up a few times this year,
but a Brent Pry-coached Virginia Tech
team has hit the 30-point barrier on
offense once in 15 games.

- True freshman wide receiver Kevin

Concepcion continues to be the go-to
target for NC State, finishing with a team-
high 7 catches in a 45-7 win over VMI.

- Garrett Shrader had a day, running for

195 yards, passing for 184 and totaling
four touchdowns in a 35-20 win over
Purdue. The Orange are 3-0 for a second
straight season.

- Georgia Tech lost to Ole Miss, 48-23, and

fell to 1-2 overall. But the Yellow Jackets
are clearly better in Year 1 under Brent
Key. Last year, Georgia Tech lost the front
half of this home-and-home matchup 42-0
in Atlanta.

BIG 12 NOTES

(Photo: © Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK,

USA TODAY Sports)

- Texas looked like it might do a … well, a

Texas, locked in a 10-10 game with
Wyoming entering the fourth quarter. Then
the No. 4 Longhorns woke up, scoring 21
straight points to notch a 31-10 victory.
Shockingly, this is the first time Texas is 3-
0 in a season since 2012.

- Kansas State lost on a 61-yard field goal

at the end of regulation to Missouri. The
No. 15 Wildcats went 10 rounds with the
Tigers in a back-and-forth affair that left
both quarterbacks hobbling but came up
short after several missed opportunities.
The Wildcats have to hope they can follow
last year’s script which saw them start 2-1
in non-conference play before winning the
Big 12 title.

- After it was dominant last week, the No.

19 Oklahoma Sooners’ offense returned
for a 66-point outburst in a win over Tulsa.
Dillon Gabriel finished 28-for-31 with 421
yards and 5 touchdowns. Of note, a much-
maligned Oklahoma defense has allowed
just 9.3 points per game thus far against
ho-hum competition (Arkansas State, SMU,
Tulsa).

- TCU (2-1) opened Big 12 play with a

decisive 36-13 win over Houston (1-2). The
Horned Frogs defense seemed to really
settle in after the disaster that was their
opener against Colorado. The Cougars
managed just 4.5 yards per play and
turned the ball over twice. Chandler
Morris had a nice day, too, throwing for
315 yards and 2 TDs.

- It turns out when you have three

quarterbacks who play extensive snaps,
you really have none. That proved to be
the case for Oklahoma State (2-1) in a 33-7
loss to South Alabama. The Cowboys’
three QBs managed just 16-of-35 passing
for 114 yards, fronting an offense that was
hapless against the Jaguars. South
Alabama is very good. Maybe the best
team in the Sun Belt. But this game
showed it could be a long year in
Stillwater.

- Looks like BYU is ready for Big 12 play!

The Cougars went to Fayetteville and beat
Arkansas, 38-31, rallying from a pair of
deficits to secure the victory. My early
catch of the year vote goes to Cougars
receiver Chase Roberts, whose one-
handed touchdown grab in the fourth
quarter proved to be the decisive score.

Cam Mellor
@CamMellor · Follow

Chase Roberts — are you kidding me?!

Watch on Twitter

10:32 PM · Sep 16, 2023

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- I wouldn’t call it convincing, but Baylor

picked up its first win of the season over
FCS Long Island. The Bears won 30-7. Last
year, MAC teams Toledo (37) and Kent
State (53) beat the Sharks by a much
larger margin of victory. This should have
been a dominant win for the Bears … it
wasn’t.

- UCF endured its first week without

starting quarterback John Rhys Plumlee,
who is out with a leg injury, in a 48-14 win
over FCS Villanova. Former USF QB
Timmy McClain got the start in Plumlee’s
stead throwing for 321 yards and 2 TDs.
The Knights (3-0) open up Big 12 play with
a trip to Kansas State.

- Texas Tech notched its first win of the

season, 41-3, over Tarleton State. Malik
Dunlap led the way for the Red Raiders
with two INTs, including a pick-six to open
the game’s scoring.

- Cincinnati saw a 16-game winning streak

over Miami (Ohio) snapped in overtime,
losing 31-24 to the Redhawks (2-1). The
Bearcats (2-1) just couldn’t put the ball in
the end zone. After an opening drive
touchdown, Cincinnati was within Miami’s
10-yard-line on four different occasions
but managed just nine points.

The 2024 Freaks List: Ranking 50

Aug 24 · 247Sports Football Recruiting Podcast

50:56

BIG TEN NOTES

(Photo: © Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK, USA TODAY Sports)

- Michigan treated non-conference play

like the preseason, and that was evident
as it sleepwalked to a 14-6 halftime lead
over Bowling Green. The No. 2
Wolverines won, 31-6, closing out a non-
conference stretch in which it thrice failed
to cover 36-plus point spreads. Not that I
blame Michigan. Stay healthy and get
ready for Big Ten play. Mission
accomplished.

- I don’t know if it was being named the

full-time starter or just the Western
Kentucky defense, but either way,
something got into Kyle McCord this
weekend in a 63-10 win by the No. 6
Buckeyes. McCord finished 19-for-23 with
318 yards and a trio of scores, by far his
best game as Ohio State’s starting QB.

- If No. 7 Penn State’s season hinges on

Drew Allar, its offensive line and
playmakers I still have some questions
after a 30-13 win over Illinois (1-2). But that
Nittany Lions defense? Elite. Penn State
(3-0) forced five turnovers in the win,
holding the Illini to 2.1 yards per carry and
peppering Luke Altmyer with pressure all
afternoon.

- Iowa cleared the 25-point barrier! The

No. 25 Hawkeyes (3-0) beat Western
Michigan, 41-10, scoring 40 points in a
game for the first time since Oct. 1, 2021.
That’s great news for Brian Ferentz, who
needs to average 25 points per game to
keep his job. Right now, the Hawkeyes are
sitting at 28.3 points per game.

- Wisconsin’s 35-14 win over Georgia

Southern is misleading if you just look at
the score. You could argue the Eagles
played better. They had more yards, were
way more efficient on third down and
committed few penalties. The problem?
Six turnovers. Wisconsin (2-1) didn’t
capitalize in the first half leading to a 7-7
tie, but it turned all three of Georgia
Southern’s second-half turnovers into
touchdowns. Still, you’d like to see
Wisconsin’s offense click a little better.

- Rutgers beat Virginia Tech, 35-16, and

moved to 3-0 for a second straight
season. The schedule is brutal, but this
Scarlet Knights team is good enough to
make a bowl. Their defense is legit.

- Maryland isn’t starting well right now, but

the Terps sure are finishing games. After
falling behind by double digits for a
second straight week, Maryland rallied
from a 14-0 deficit to beat Virginia, 42-14.
Taulia Tagovailoa led the way for the
Terps (3-0) with 342 yards and a TD.
Maryland is now 7-0 in games when
Tagovailoa throws for 300-plus yards
without an INT.

- Is the Jeff Sims era of Nebraska football

already over? It’s possible after the
Huskers (1-2) won 35-11 over Northern
Illinois. Heinrich Haarberg got the start
with Sims nursing a leg injury, and he
totaled 256 yards and three touchdowns,
sparking a Huskers offense that hadn’t
scored more than 14 points in a game
during the 2023 season.

- Indiana (1-2) couldn’t quite finish a 21-

point comeback in a 21-14 loss to
Louisville, but Hoosiers fans have to feel
good about the future with quarterback
Tayven Jackson. The Tennessee transfer
threw for 299 yards and completed 70%
of his passes in his second career start.

- Northwestern (1-2) has now lost 13

consecutive true road games after falling,
38-14, to Duke.

- Minnesota is struggling to throw the ball.

The Gophers (2-1) haven’t hit the 200-yard
mark this year, and first-year starter Athan
Kaliakmanis is completing just 51.1% of his
passes.

- It’s been an uneven start for Ryan

Walters at Purdue. The Boilermakers did
get a big road win over Virginia Tech, but
they’ve lost twice at home, including a 35-
20 result against Purdue on Saturday.

PAC-12 NOTES

(Photo: © Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK, USA

TODAY Sports)

- Michael Penix is throwing fireballs early

this season for No. 8 Washington,
finishing a 41-7 road win over Michigan
State (2-1) with 473 yards and four
touchdowns. Penix has cleared the 400-
yard mark in every game this season. His
1,332 yards are the seventh-most by any
passer since 2000 through his team’s first
three games.

- Cameron Rising didn’t play for a third

straight week, but it didn’t matter much as
No. 12 Utah cruised for a 31-7 win over
Weber State. Nate Johnson got the start
under center and threw for 193 yards, ran
for 71 more and totaled 2 TDs.

- DJ Uiagalelei had his worst game as a

Beaver, but it didn’t matter that much as
No. 16 Oregon State closed out non-
conference play with a 26-9 win. After
being nearly perfect through two weeks,
DJU finished just 14-for-30 for 284 yards
with 1 TD vs. an INT. The defense picked
him up, though, holding the Aztecs (2-2) to
2.1 yards per carry.

- Cameron Ward is living right in Ben

Arbuckle’s offense, throwing for 327 yards
and 4 touchdowns on 20-for-26 passing in
a 64-21 win over Northern Colorado. The
No. 23 Cougars have big tests (Oregon
State, UCLA) the next two weeks.

- No. 24 UCLA had no issue shoving aside

NC Central, 59-7, to finish non-conference
play at 3-0. That’s only the second time
Chip Kelly has done so in six years with
the Bruins.

- It was a rough night for Arizona State in a

29-0 loss to Fresno State. Not only was it
the program’s first shutout loss since
2009, but the injuries piled up quickly.
True freshman QB Jaden Rashada missed
the game with an injury and will be out
“four to six weeks,” per Sun Devils head
coach Kenny Dillingham. Then both junior
quarterback Trenton Bourguet (leg) and
sophomore quarterback Drew Pyne
exited early with an injury, too. All and all,
the Sun Devils finished Saturday with
more than a dozen or so players with
injury distinctions. Literal injury to the
insult that was that final score for a 1-2
team.

- By the way, how about the Bulldogs (3-0).

Fresno State exits non-conference play
with two wins over P-5 teams (Purdue,
ASU).

- Jayden de Laura bounced back from an

ugly four-interception effort last week with
a clean 285-yard, 3-touchdown effort as
Arizona, 31-10, over UTEP. The Wildcats (2-
1) play Stanford next week before a stretch
against seven consecutive ranked
opponents.

- Cal flirted with disaster, falling behind 17-

0 to Idaho early in the second quarter. But
the Bears (2-1) managed to rally for a 31-17
win, avoiding their first ever loss to an FCS
team.

SEC NOTES

(Photo: © Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY Sports)

- If you wondered how Georgia would

respond when hit in the face, the answer
is rather well. The No, 1 Bulldogs rallied
from an 11-point halftime deficit to win 24-
14. Georgia responded with back-to-back
touchdowns to open the second half and
wore down the Gamecocks’ offensive line,
holding them to just 129 yards in the
second half. Said Smart postgame: “I was
pretty excited at halftime. I knew we’d find
out what kind of team we have.” That
answer is bad news for the rest of college
football.

- Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers had

historic days in a 41-14 win over Mississippi
State. Daniels set LSU’s school record for
single-game passing accuracy, finishing
30 of 34 with 361 yards and four total
touchdowns. Nabers, for his part, caught
13 passes for 239 yards and two scores as
the No. 14 Tigers cruised. As for
Mississippi State, it’s been a brutal start
thus far despite its 2-1 record. You could
strongly argue the Bulldogs should have
lost to Arizona last week and they looked
lifeless against LSU.

- Georgia Tech made it close early in the

fourth quarter before No. 17 Ole Miss
pulled away for a 48-23 win. Jaxson Dart
led the way for the Rebels, throwing for
251 yards, running for 136 and totaling
three touchdowns.

- Texas A&M needed a get-right game

after a disappointing loss to Miami, and it
sure got one in a 47-3 win over ULM.
Conner Weigman was nearly perfect on
the day, finishing 25-for-29 with 337 yards
and a TD.

- Missouri (3-0) picked up arguably the

biggest win of the Eli Drinkwitz era, 30-27,
over No. 15 Kansas State. Brady Cook
played like a warrior, limping all day and
throwing for 356 yards. Harrison Mevis
deserves all the flowers after hitting a 61-
yard game-winning field goal. But I’d
argue the ascension of Luther Burden (7
catches, 114 yards, 2 TDs) might be the
biggest story for the Tigers. With Burden
on the field, you could argue Missouri will
have the best playmaker on the field
every week, even in SEC play. That’s
huge.

- Payton Thorne passed for 282 yards

and ran for 123 more in a 45-13 Auburn
win over Samford. Thorne is the first
Tigers (3-0) quarterback to throw for 200-
plus yards and run for 100-plus yards in a
game since Nick Marshall in 2014.

- It’s hard to lose a game because of

turnovers on a night when you open the
scoring with a pick-six, but that’s what
Vanderbilt did in a 40-37 loss to UNLV.
The Commodores turned it over four times
which led directly to 20 Rebels points. To
add insult to injury, UNLV threw a pick at
its own 26-yard-line late in the fourth
quarter and Vanderbilt missed a 33-yard
go-ahead field goal with 44 seconds to go.
UNLV would win the game on a field goal
39 seconds later. This is a bad loss for
Vanderbilt, which had legitimate bowl
hopes in 2023. Those now seem unlikely
after a 2-2 start.

- Kentucky had no issue rolling past Akron,

35-3, with Devin Leary accounting for 315
yards and 3 touchdowns in the win.
Running back Ray Davis also had himself
a day, leading the Wildcats in rushing (72
yards, 1 TD) and receiving (3 catches, 97
yards).

G5 NOTES

(Photo: © Hannah Pajewski-USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY Sports)

1. James Madison opened Sun Belt play

with a heck of a statement, going on the
road and beating the defending
champions, Troy, 16-14. The Dukes, who
are still transitioning to the FBS, have
quickly established themselves as one of
the top teams in the G-5.

2. Remember Kaidon Salter? The former

Tennessee Vol is living right with Liberty,
throwing for 344 yards and 5 touchdowns
in a 55-27 win over Buffalo. He also ran
for 66 yards and a score. A former top 50
prospect who had an unceremonious exit
from Tennessee, Salter is a heck of a
building block for Jamey Chadwell in Year
1.

3. For the first time in 36 games, UTSA did

not start Frank Harris, who missed Friday
night’s game with Army with a toe injury. It
did not go well. The Roadrunners lost, 37-
29, to Army on a night in which the Black
Knights had 44 minutes of possession and
did pretty much whatever it wanted
defensively. The back-to-back Conference
USA champion Roadrunners are staring 1-
3 in the fact with a trip to Tennessee next
week before they officially begin AAC
play.

SPINNING IT FORWARD

(Photo: © Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY Sports)

Y’all, the Week 4 schedule is beautiful.

Florida State at Clemson in the morning?
Yes, please. We also get Rutgers at
Michigan and Auburn at Texas A&M in that
window. The afternoon slate is no less
loaded: Ole Miss at Alabama, UCLA at
Utah, Colorado at Oregon. Bangers. The
night slate is similarly full. Texas plays at
Baylor. Ohio State travels to Notre Dame.
Penn State hosts Iowa. There are massive
games in every conference next week. It’s
going to be a great weekend to sit on the
couch and watch ball.

No-Huddle: Tennessee falls

to Florida in The Swamp —
again
GoVols247's Ben McKee and Patrick Brown
react from The Swamp to Tennessee
football's struggles in its loss to Florida.

By BEN MCKEE 0
11 hrs

VIDEO: Texas' chances of landing 3-Star Edge Danny

Okoye | College Football Recruiting Show

GAINESVILLE, Florida — A myriad of

issues led to No. 11 Tennessee's 29-16 loss
to Florida on Saturday night in Gainesville,
as the Volunteers have now lost 10-
straight games in The Swamp, dating back
to 2003.

Tennessee (2-1) jumped out to a 7-0 lead

when it scored on its first drive of the
game on an 11-yard passing touchdown
from Joe Milton III to Ramel Keyton, but
allowed Florida (2-1) to score 20
unanswered points — all in the second
quarter — to go into the locker room at
halftime trailing 26-7.

UT's defense that allowed 281 total yards

in the first half, would regroup to only
allow three points in the second half, but
the offense could not get things figured
out. It only scored nine points despite
multiple opportunities to come back and
be in position to pull off a miracle win.
Committing 1o penalties for 79 yards
played a large role in not being able to.

GoVols247's Ben McKee and Patrick

Brown reacted live from Steve Spurrier
Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium following
the Vols' loss. You can hear their thoughts
and takeaways from the game in the video
below.

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