Power 5 week three Recap: a real college football sighting
By: The Waco Kid
Photo: Kevin Jairaj, USA Today Sports
Finally, what we have all been waiting for, the start of SEC football along with some pretty interesting matchups across the nation. Oklahoma and LSU saw their first losses of the season, while Texas barely squeaked by Texas Tech in a Wild West shootout in Lubbock. With the Big 12’s top teams struggling to win, will the conference have to take a turn down a dark alley off Bourbon street and rely on Baylor to keep them in the playoff discussion?
Oklahoma started the day off promising as they took a 21-7 lead into the locker room at halftime but that slithery little snake, Spencer Rattler, decided to hide under a rock for the second half. Rattler did pass for 387 yards and 4 touchdowns but coupled that with 3 picks. If you ever watched the series, QB1, you would know just how good Rattler is at trash talking everyone, including his own teammates. We now know he is also well versed at throwing the ball to the wrong team. It’s almost as if he could not see defenders over his O-line. He should call Kyler Murray for advice on that subject. The loss wasn’t all Oklahoma’s fault, Kansas State’s Skylar Thompson looked like a Heisman candidate playing a Big 12 defense, throwing for 334 yards and a score and rushing for three more. Kansas State took the lead after a Blake Lynch field goal with 4:32 left on the clock, and Spencer Rattler did the rest, throwing his last interception to end the game. For now, Lincoln Riley will be put in the corner for timeout by the Playoff Committee.
Texas and Texas Tech played a wild game in this Lonestar match-up, but both defenses seemed to take a Beast Mode attitude, “I’m just here so I won’t get fined”. Texas QB Sam Ehlinger saved the Horns, throwing for 262 yards, 5 touchdowns, and only one interception, while Tech quarterback Alan Bowman passed for 325 yards, 5 touchdowns, and three interceptions. After ending regulation in a tie, 56-56, Texas was able to score once in overtime and hold Tech to end the game. Texas will head back to Austin with another win, and will have their heads filled with talks of national championships and Heisman trophies. I think it’s safe to say after this performance, Texas is baaaaaaaaack.
Photo: Barstool Sports
Tech QB Alan Bowman didn’t win the game but he did get to do this cool gesture.
Southeast of Lubbock things were a Brewering down in Waco. Baylor hosted Kansas, in what many were expecting to be the game of the week in the Big 12. It was not. Returning Bears quarterback Charlie Brewer looked mediocre in his debut passing for only 142 yards and a touchdown, stats which typically aren’t as low in the Big 12. But Brewer did not have to do much as the special teams and running backs did the rest. Baylor’s Trestan Ebner had to be the player of the week in the Big 12, rushing for one touchdown, catching another, and returning TWO kickoffs for touchdowns. Dave Aranda had his Bears looking like a competitive team in their return to football, but I think to be safe Aranda and Lane Kiffin should switch jobs and return things to normal in college football. My take away from these two games: Texans, if you plan on traveling between Austin and Waco via I-35 these next few weeks, expect heavy traffic and massive delays due to all the bandwagoners trying to figure out where to settle down for the 2020 season.
Elsewhere in the ACC, Miami continues to bring in Ws week after week. D’Eriq King looks like he can do no wrong, throwing for 267 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 65 yards, in only three quarters, during a 52-10 Miami vice boat race of Florida State. Meanwhile teammate and quarterback friend, Tate Martell, is taking the season off to prepare to go undrafted.
We’re putting this on a t-shirt.
The Virginia Tech Hokies started their season hosting North Carolina State. Virginia Tech running back Khalil Herbert looked like a beast, rushing for 104 yards and a score on only 6 carries. Starting Hokies quarterback Braxton Burmeister played like a turkey with its head cut off and was benched for backup Quincy Patterson II. Patterson threw for two touchdowns and rushed for one more, bringing home a 45-24 win. Finally, after two weeks of calling Pittsburgh irrelevant they showed up and shoved the Louisville Cardinals back in their cage. Panther quarterback Kenny Pickett threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-20 win. Pittsburgh remains undefeated and at the top of the ACC standings, when was the last time you heard that?
And now to the irrelevants, I will write about them but know I am not happy about it. In the Big 12, Oklahoma State beat West Virginia 27-13 and Iowa State beat TCU 37-34. There, a full wrap up of the conference that no one wants to hear about - how Chuba Hubbard was like Bill Clinton when Hillary is around, nowhere to be found, or how Iowa State bounced back after their loss to Louisiana Lafayette. Let me say that again, they lost to Louisiana Lafayette, as far as I’m concerned they can win eight games and still be irrelevant. In the ACC, Virginia beat Duke 38-20 and Syracuse downed Georgia Tech 37-20. There’s not much more that I can criticize Duke’s Chase Brice about, I mean it is not like he threw 4 INTs in a loss to Virginia. Georgia Tech’s Jeff Sims also threw 4 interceptions, showing that the bottom tier ACC teams might (should) be in the market for new quarterback coaches, while Florida State should scour the transfer portal for an entirely new roster.
As for the SEC, there were a few impressive wins that should be mentioned. Mississippi State and Mike Leach rolled into Baton Rouge and locked the Tigers in a shed so that they could think about the mistakes they made on the football field and to stop listening to their fat little girlfriends. The Air Raid looked impressive against a hurt and reloading LSU defense, and in the end was too much as the Bulldogs went on to win, 44-34. Florida looked like a team that will be competing for a national championship. Kyle Trask threw for 6 TDs and over 400 yards. They did play a defense that looked like it was constructed by an offensive mind, Lane Kiffin; still teams should not sleep on Florida unless they are looking to be Gator bait. Tennessee played a great game at South Carolina. Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano threw for 259 yards and the tie-breaking touchdown, leading the Vols back to Knoxville with a 31-27 victory. Will Muschamp’s ass must be burning after being in the hot seat for the better part of four years.
SEC football is BACK!
See you on the couch next week.