On the heels of a truly thrilling Saturday in college football last week that was punctuated by Texas upending Alabama, Week 3 looked like a lackluster slate that could feature a lot of Top 25 teams in the college football rankings blowing out inferior competition. Instead, we got a slate of games where ranked teams looked completely disinterested in playing this week.
Whether it was Georgia, Alabama or Florida State flirting with disaster, Kansas State getting upset by Missouri, Tennessee continuing its futility in Gainesville, or even teams like Michigan and Texas just going through the motions, it was an ugly display from numerous teams in the Top 25, even teams near the top of the rankings.
With the dust now settled, though, let's take a look at what those performances could mean for the AP Top 25 college football rankings in Week 4 when they come out on Sunday with our projected rankings.
Dropped out of Top 25 rankings: Tennessee (11), Iowa (25)
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 3: No. 25-21
25. Clemson Tigers
It was the right call after Clemson struggled for a half against Charleston Southern to drop the Tigers out of the Top 25. But even though it was only against FAU, it feels more like Cade Klubnik and Garrett Riley might've started clicking after halftime of last week. Dabo Swinney's team put an absolute hurting on the Owls this week, going up by five scores in a shutout before halftime and cruising to a win. That raises the drama levels for next week as they host Florida State.
24. Kansas State Wildcats
Will Howard and the Kansas State offense weren't overly impressive on Saturday in the eventual walk-off loss to Missouri, but that was against one of the more underrated Power-Five defenses in college football. The bigger concern for Chris Kleiman's team might well be their own defense that allowed a suspect Mizzou offense to move the ball consistently. That'll have to be cleaned up if they want to have a bid to repeat as Big 12 champs.
23. Missouri Tigers
Am I still dubious of Missouri's offense under Brady Cook whenever the Tigers get into SEC play? Absolutely. But what Mizzou did on Saturday was wholly impressive. Going against a well-coached and tricky offense to defend, the Tigers defense more than held its own, even if giving up 27 points might not seem like it. More importantly, though, Cook and the offense took advantage of a defense where they could, particularly with Luther Burden III and now move to 3-0 with a Top 25 win to their credit.
22. UCLA Bruins
Welcoming NC Central to Los Angeles was not going to be a difficult task for UCLA in any world. In fact, Chip Kelly took this opportunity to get a look at Collin Schlee and let some of his guys down the depth chart play some more in the 59-7 win. On the heels of beating up on San Diego State on the road last week, however, the Bruins look like they are set to cause all kinds of trouble for other top teams in the Pac-12.
21. Washington State Cougars
Not that we expected anything different when facing Northern Colorado, but Washington State looked fully deserving of a Top 25 ranking in their Week 3 win. Cam Ward was dynamite with 327 yards and five total touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) in the first half before he got to take a seat as the Cougs sailed into the dock and a 64-21 victory. They'll be tested further soon enough (Oregon State looms large next week), but it's been a hot start in Pullman that has demanded our attention.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 3: No. 20-16
20. Miami Hurricanes
Coming off of the hard-fought win over Texas A&M last week, you had to expect some sort of letdown from Miami, even if it would always be hard to notice against Bethune-Cookman. Indeed that was the case, though, as the Canes ran out to a ho-hum 48-7 win on Thursday night. The good news for The U is that Tyler Van Dyke looks reborn and this offense appears capable of matching the uber-talented Miami defense.
19. Duke Blue Devils
The battle of academia was on deck for Durham on Saturday afternoon with Northwestern visiting Duke. On the gridiron, though, the Wildcats were truly no match for the Blue Devils in this game. There was nothing too spectacular from Riley Leonard or any part of Duke in this one except for maybe the run game looking near unstoppable. But Duke continues to make winnable games look simple and they have the win over Clemson in their back pockets.
18. North Carolina Tar Heels
Even though Minnesota isn't the most formidable opponent, you have to think that UNC answered some big questions this week with a 31-13 victory over the Golden Gophers. After flirting with disaster against App State last week, Drake Maye wasn't perfect with two picks, but the Tar Heels as a whole looked dominant against a Power-Five opponent. That's a good sign as they'll go on the road to face Pitt and begin ACC play next week.
17. Oklahoma Sooners
Though Tulsa certainly might have some real troubles throughout this entire season, there is at least one big positive that you could take away from Oklahoma beating the Golden Hurricane 66-17 this week. Washington only put up 43 points on Tulsa, which the Sooners bested by a wide margin. This offense seems to be starting to click, but then again, you have to wonder how the defense will hold up against Big 12 competition.
16. Ole Miss Rebels
Lane Kiffin had Ole Miss in a tricky spot this week, facing a better-than-you-think Georgia Tech team in Oxford sandwiched between the tough trip to Tulane and the trip to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama next week. Though Jaxson Dart looked pedestrian, the Rebels still handled business against the Yellow Jackets, building a 24-3 lead early in the second half and, even when GT fought back, they pulled away again for the win.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 3: No. 15-11
15. Colorado Buffaloes (Playing vs. Colorado State)
If Colorado goes from upsetting to TCU to beating the brakes off of Nebraska to then losing to a pretty bad Colorado State team, it'd be one of the biggest shocks that we'll see in college football this season. That, however, should not remotely be the case. The Buffs offense has been humming behind Shedeur Sanders and some real talent at the skill positions, headlined by Travis Hunter, of course. But the real test starts next week with a trip to Eugene to face Oregon.
14. Oregon State Beavers
If not for by far the worst performance we've seen yet from DJ Uiagalelei with the Beavs, Oregon State would've more than run away with Saturday's game against San Diego State. The end result was still a quite emphatic 26-9 win over the Aztecs, even with DJU's two picks. The Beavers defense continues to look stout and, if mistakes are limited, Jonathan Smith's team is extremely difficult to get out of its highly effective gameplan.
13. Alabama Crimson Tide
Even with a win over USF, Alabama drops from No. 10 in last week's AP Top 25. They simply have to. Nick Saban benched Jalen Milroe for this game and gave run to both Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson. The results were worrisome at best for the Crimson Tide as they could not get anything going consistently. Bama's offensive line is a shocking issue and SEC play looms large for this team very clearly still trying to figure itself out.
12. LSU Tigers
There was the potential for a sneaky big test for LSU this week as they were forced to go on the road to face Mississippi State in their SEC opener. Jayden Daniels and the Tigers made it look easy, though. The QB tallied four total touchdowns while Malik Nabers had a 239-yard, two-score day at the office. Granted, the Bulldogs might not be great this season, but it was a big statement to open conference play for LSU.
11. Oregon Ducks
Speaking of lopsided results that might not mean too much, Hawaii has not looked good this season and Oregon didn't change that on Saturday night. Bo Nix continued to tally up numbers with 247 yards passing and three scores, but the Rainbow Warriors truly had no answers for anything. The Ducks defense will be tested much further next week when they welcome the upstart Buffaloes from Colorado to Eugene.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 3: No. 10-9
10. Utah Utes
Given how mediocre the results in the past two weeks have been for Utah – a 20-13 win over Baylor and a 31-7 win over Weber State aren't needle-movers – it's weird to have the Utes in the Top 10. When you then consider the situation, however, it starts to seem like this could possibly be the favorite to win the Pac-12 yet again this season.
Utah has started the season at 3-0 with wins over two Power-Five opponents, one of which just upset Tennessee in Week 3. They've also been able to do this with Cam Rising still having not taken a snap as he makes his way back from a torn ACL suffered at the end of last season.
It does appear that Rising is good to go soon, but Kyle Whittingham didn't want to risk it against Weber State. That makes perfect sense but, if the Utes hit another gear once the QB returns, the rest of college football should look out.
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Even though Central Michigan did not have Bert Emanuel Jr. for this matchup against the Fighting Irish, Notre Dame avoided any worries in a lookahead spot as they used several big plays from Sam Hartman to pull out in front and then just kept the Chippewas at bay for the rest of the contest.
With the matchup against Ohio State in South Bend looming for next week, Marcus Freeman clearly didn't want to put too much on tape and, more importantly, wanted to get out of this game healthy with a win. Mission accomplished, and it doesn't hurt that the Irish accomplished that goal with a 24-point victory that felt even more comfortable than that.
It's still TBD on just how high Notre Dame can climb this season. But a win against Ohio State next week would go a long way in terms of raising the ceiling for the Irish.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 3: No. 8-7
8. Washington Huskies
There were some people questioning the Washington Huskies after they beat up on Boise State and Tulsa in the first two weeks of the season. Specifically, plenty of people were curious if the Huskies defense would be able to hold up against Power-Five competition as they went on the road this week to East Lansing. Sure, Michigan State has some obvious turmoil, but the offense had still looked solid behind Noah Kim prior to Saturday.
Washington's defense made a big statement on the road, however. While Michael Penix Jr. continued to lead one of the country's most prolific and explosive attacks, the Huskies held Michigan State to just 261 total yards (Washington put up 713). This team still needs to clean some things up, perhaps most notably the 11 penalties for 110 yards on Saturday, but it's clear this team is going to make big noise on a national stage.
7. Penn State Nittany Lions
Drew Allar got his first road test in the Big Ten on Saturday, heading to Champaign to face the Fighting Illini. If we're just looking at the young quarterback, there are certainly some lingering questions. Allar went just 16-of-33 for 208 yards and no scores in this game, even against a secondary that had been diced up in previous weeks.
The good news for Allar is that the Penn State roster is good enough to live with that as long as there are no back-breaking mistakes. The Nittany Lions forced five turnovers from the Illini on Saturday while the ground game continued to be a force behind Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton.
Having said that, the big, high-end hopes for James Franklin's team lie in Allar elevating the offense to new heights. He'll have to be better throughout conference play for that to come to fruition.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 3: No. 6-5
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
Congratulations, Ohio State. You finally delivered a performance in the 2023 season that warrants some real, legitimate praise.
Because of their lackluster showings against Indiana and even Youngstown State, I spent most of the week yelling that the Buckeyes could be in for more of a fight against Western Kentucky than you might've realized. I was dead wrong.
Kyle McCord looked by far the most comfortable he has at the helm of this offense, going 19-of-23 for 318 yards and three touchdowns, while TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams and the defense more than did their part too.
Notre Dame is a whole different beast in terms of level of competition. Even still, we hadn't seen anything close to this from Ohio State in the first two weeks. If they start rounding into form, we know how dangerous this team could be.
5. USC Trojans
Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans had the week off after playing in Week 0 this year and after a dominant 3-0 start. Of course, that has come in three home games against San Jose State, Nevada, and Stanford, but a win's a win and the Trojans haven't scored fewer than 56 points in a game this season – even with the reigning Heisman winner still not seeing the fourth quarter.
USC will play its first road game of the year next week as they go on the road to face Arizona State. The Sun Devils are fighting through it right now, so that won't be a test. However, USC needs to take advantage of this week off and even the trip to Tempe with trips to Colorado and Notre Dame looming in two of the three weeks after visiting ASU.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 3: No. 4-3
4. Texas Longhorns
Texas having a letdown game was all but inevitable after the ultimate high of knocking off Alabama last week, even if they were playing Wyoming this week. Indeed, that looked to be coming true. Quinn Ewers looked anything but sharp and the playmakers simply weren't making plays. If not for the defense showing up, Texas could've been looking like the second victim of the Cowboys this season from the Big 12 – in fact, they almost were as it was 10-10 entering the fourth quarter.
But credit to Texas for turning it on when they needed to. The fourth quarter began with a monster screen play to Xavier Worthy that went to the house and the Longhorns turned it on from there, scoring 21 unanswered points in the final frame to get the 31-0 win.
That has to be the letdown game for the Longhorns, though. They begin Big 12 play next week, starting on the road in Waco against Baylor.
3. Florida State Seminoles
If not for Texas messing around with Wyoming, I was fully prepared to have the Longhorns leap Florida State for the No. 3 spot in the college football rankings. That's because FSU went up to Chestnut Hill and messed around in their own right, and it almost got the Noles clipped by a Boston College team that has looked awful to start the 2023 season.
It was a sloppy effort from Mike Norvell's team. There were special teams miscues, bad turnovers late, and even some mindless and costly penalties to boot. They were lucky to end up escaping with the 31-29 win against the Eagles, which is crazy to say given that they led 31-10 with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The good news is that the scare still has Florida State unscathed. And after they were clearly looking ahead to Clemson next week, we should expect the Seminoles to give the Tigers their full attention and a much better effort than what we saw on Saturday.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 3: No. 2-1
2. Michigan Wolverines
In the final game of Jim Harbaugh's suspension, Michigan looked like they needed their head coach back. Bowling Green has a chance to be one of the worst FBS teams in college football this season, and the Wolverines let them hang around far too closely in this one. And one big – albeit wholly surprising – reason for that was the early shortcoming of quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
McCarthy only threw the ball 13 times in this game but still ended up with more interceptions (3) than touchdown passes (2) in the eventual 31-6 win for Michigan. He was careless, far from sharp and not looking good. Of course, it didn't wholly matter as the Wolverines ran the ball at will and completely suffocated the Bowling Green offense throughout the night. Even still, the hope should very much be that this team shows a leveling up once Harbaugh gets back to the sidelines.
1. Georgia Bulldogs
Given how North Carolina dominated the South Carolina offensive line in Week 1, everyone was expecting carnage on Saturday in Athens as the Gamecocks came to town. Instead, Shane Beamer's team hit Kirby Smart's Dawgs right in the mouth early and put a legitimate scare into the back-to-back defending national champions. Georgia went into halftime trailing 14-3 and staring down the barrel of a humiliating upset.
Instead, the Bulldogs found their stride on both sides of the ball in the second half. Not only did they put the clamps on Spencer Rattler and the offense, but Mike Bobo finally remembered to run the ball and the Dawgs did so extremely effectively. Carson Beck also finally came out of his shell a bit and showed a ton of promise in leading his team to the comeback 24-14 victory.
It wasn't the dominant showing that we expected from UGA, but when they essentially put their own backs against the wall, you have to be encouraged by how the team responded.
