The Farrell Awards: Surprising performances across the country
The 2021 college football season is in full swing! Here are Mike Farrell's biggest takeaways from Week 3.
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STING FACTOR: Valen Erickson's flip from Nebraska to Missouri
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PAC-12 POO
Almost as quickly as the season began, the Pac-12 is already down to one undefeated team. As has been the norm in recent years, it is up to Oregon again to try to salvage the season for the conference after both UCLA and Arizona State stumbled late last night. While the Sun Devils lost to a ranked BYU team on the road, the Bruins were the bigger disappointment with a home loss to Fresno State. Add to that a home shutout loss by Colorado to Minnesota, a second consecutive loss by Utah and the weekly disastrous performance by Arizona at home to previously winless FCS Northern Arizona, and the Pac-12 is once again dusting itself off on this Sunday morning.
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BOBO BLUNDER
On 4th and Goal from the two, down eight with three minutes left, Auburn threw a slot fade to Kobe Hudson, who was covered by Jaquan Brisker, the Nittany Lions' best DB. It fell incomplete and that was basically the game. You have to question what Mike Bobo was thinking there - that's at best a 50-50 play if everything breaks right, and at that juncture in the game, you'd expect something with more options for Bo Nix.
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DOUBLE TAKE
There is usually a score that stops you in your tracks. This week it was likely Clemson’s 14-8 victory at home against Georgia Tech. The Tigers’ offense led by quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei seemed lethargic, and despite two touchdowns by true freshman running back Will Shipley, there is some concern in Death Valley.
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GET WORRIED
So should Clemson fans be worried? Yes. In the Tigers' Week 1 loss to Georgia, Clemson only put up three points, but we chalked that up to the Dawgs' dominant defense. Against a much lesser opponent from the Peach State, Clemson again struggled to move the ball only accruing 284 yards (and giving up 309) in their 14-8 victory over Georgia Tech. They just don't seem to be in sync at all and are clearly struggling on the offensive line, averaging less than four yards per carry.
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BIG DAY BIG 12
While Oklahoma’s performance against Nebraska was far from inspiring, it was part of an undefeated and overall impressive performance for the conference. West Virginia came away with a win against ranked Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State went on the road and won at Boise State, Kansas State dominated a tough Nevada team, while Texas Tech and Baylor remained undefeated with easy wins.
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BIG TIME BACKUP
With Mohamed Ibrahim out for the season, Treyson Potts is now in as the lead back for Minnesota, and he had another big game rushing for three touchdowns and 126 yards against a Colorado team that bottled up Texas A&M last week. As a team, the Gophers ran for 277 on their way to an easy 30-0 win at Folsom Field.
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THROWING DARTS
When Kedon Slovis went down in the first quarter against Washington State, four star true freshman Jaxson Dart stepped in and after a tough couple drives, which included a minor knee injury, the true freshman stepped up in a big way. He finished with 391 yards and four touchdowns and even had the classic USC quarterback look with the long, flowing hair. Could we have a quarterback controversy in Los Angeles?
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SAFETY DANCE
For the third consecutive week, Iowa's defense was putting up points, this time kicking off the game with a safety against Kent State. Coming into the week, Iowa's defense was outscoring four FBS teams' offenses, and their streak of turning defense into offense continued.
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SUPERSTAR VIBES
Freshman TreVeyon Henderson has clearly established himself as Ohio State's best weapon out of the backfield, and his touches will absolutely keep going up as the season goes along. He ran the ball 24 times for 277 yards and three scores against Tulsa this week and looks to be one of the top freshmen in the country at any position.
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HOG HEAVING
After dominating Texas with their run game last week, Arkansas decided to air it out against Georgia Southern with KJ Jefferson throwing for 366 yards and three scores. The Razorbacks finished with 633 total yards and are looking better by the week.
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C’MON ZEBRAS
The referees in the Memphis-Mississippi State game made one of the most egregious errors in a long time and it might have cost the Bulldogs the game. On a punt that was clearly downed by Mississippi State at the 6-yard line, the back judge started to blow it dead and wave his hands, but Calvin Austin picked up the ball for Memphis and took it to the house. Besides the fact that the ball was clearly dead, Austin wasn't the only Memphis player wearing No. 4 on the field for the play, which should have been a penalty for the Tigers as well. Just a debacle all around. Oh, and in the Penn State-Auburn game the refs gave the Nittany Lions just three downs on one possession.
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ICE THAT ARM
In that Memphis-Mississippi State game, Will Rogers tied the SEC record with 67 passing attempts and broke the conference record with 50 completions. The Air Raid is alive in Starkville.
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BACK BIG TIME
After missing last week's game against UAB, JT Daniels returned to the lineup and lit up South Carolina. He was 23 for 31 for 303 yards and three touchdowns in the Dawgs' blowout win over the Gamecocks, and connected with eight different receivers on the night.
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WIN IN A LOSS?
While Florida wasn't able to pull off the big upset over Alabama in the Swamp, the Gators showed a ton of fight against the Crimson Tide and also showed that their defense has made some big strides. They held Alabama to 31 points (which is a feat in and of itself), and had a rousing comeback in the second half with a chance to tie it on a two point conversion late. There are no moral victories in college football, but this is about as close to one as they come.
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PORTAL POWERED
In Michigan State's big victory over Miami, both teams were led by big portal pickups. Kenneth Walker III (formerly of Wake Forest) had 189 total yards and a score for the Spartans, while former Oklahoma Sooner Charleston Rambo paced the Hurricanes with 12 catches for 156 yards and a touchdown.
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HANGOVER CITY
After their big win at Tennessee last week, Pitt returned home to face Western Michigan in what should have been an easy win. However, the Broncos had other ideas and won a back-and-forth game 44-41 on the back of 356 yards passing and three touchdowns from quarterback Kaleb Eleby. Pitt wasted a banner day from Kenny Pickett, who had six passing touchdowns and 382 yards in the loss.
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GROUND AND POUND
For the second straight week, Michigan's run game was dominant, this time racking up 373 yards and eight touchdowns on the way to an absolute beat down of Northern Illinois.
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BOUNCEBACK
SEC East teams Tennessee and Missouri both lost tough games last week, and took out their frustrations on FCS opponents with a combined score of 115-28. Connor Bazelak had 346 yards and three scores for the Tigers, while Hendon Hooker paced the Vols with four total touchdowns.
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DEUCES
Once again, Deuce Vaughn was the man for Kansas State in its big win over Nevada, with 143 total yards and a score. K-State was awesome in the fourth quarter, paced by Vaugh and backup quarterback Will Howard, who was filling in for an injured Skyler Thompson.
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HOME COOKIN
West Virginia welcomed Virginia Tech to Morgantown for the first time since 2005, ran out to an early lead and were able to hold on to it on the back of Leddie Brown. The senior tailback ran for 161 yards and a score, and added another 35 yards receiving, accounting for more than half the Mountaineers' total yards on the day.
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MERCY RULE
Army was up 42-0 on UConn at halftime, and the Huskies couldn’t do a darn thing on offense or to stop the Cadets ground attack. UConn added some points in the second half and actually covered but needs to seriously consider dropping down to FCS, because they can’t compete with anyone at the FBS level.
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KICKING THE BUCKET
Nebraska’s kicking game this season was no great shakes coming into their showdown with Oklahoma, with reigning Big Ten Kicker of the Year Connor Culp having missed two extra points and three field goal attempts on the year. After drilling a 51 yarder, he missed two field goals and then when Frost brought in the backup for a PAT, it was blocked and returned to the house. Had they converted all three of those kicks, the Huskers would have won the game.
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INJURY TO INSULT
After throwing a backbreaking pick six that ended up being the game winning score against Louisville, UCF’s Dillon Gabriel broke his clavicle on the final play while trying to block. Not a great way to end what would have been a really nice win for Gus Malzahn and UCF.
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INDEPENDENT ISSUES
With Zach Wilson moving onto the NFL, expectations were rather limited for BYU this season. The Cougars have responded by starting 3-0, all against the Pac-12, including consecutive victories against ranked Utah and Arizona State squads. However, with no remaining games against current AP Top 25 teams on the schedule, how high can BYU move up in the rankings? They need future opponents like USC, Boise State, Baylor and Virginia to continue to win if they really want to make an impact in the polls.
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MEL TUCKER COMING
Heading into their game against Miami yesterday, there were still some questions regarding Michigan State. There are less questions this morning after the Spartans dominated the Canes on the road, led by the play of quarterback Payton Thorne and transfer running back Kenneth Walker. The road won’t be easy for the Spartans, with games against Indiana and Michigan in October and then closing the season against Ohio State and Penn State, but their early season play has definitely put them on the radar as a team to watch.
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CANES QUANDARY
And while Michigan State seemed to establish itself yesterday as a team to watch, what is next for Miami after their disappointing performance? The Canes are now 1-2 and have more questions than answered. With the ACC as a whole being less than dominant in the early stages there is still an opportunity for Miami to right the ship, but once again this does not seem as though it will be the rebound season that many in Coral Gables were hoping for.
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BUT SERIOUSLY, WHAT NOW?
If Miami is at a crossroads, then Florida State is broken down at a busy intersection. The Seminoles moved to 0-3 after a lethargic 35-14 loss at Wake Forest. While Wake is now undefeated and likely deserves some more attention, the performance by Florida State was still inexcusable.