Overview:

The beginning of the season has been crucial for many teams, facing tougher non-conference opponents. Most got their first true tests of the season, while some responded well, others cracked under the first signs of pressure. Here are some scores and recaps of the most important and surprising games so far:

Appalachian State vs (6)Texas A&M – Final: 17-14

Coming off of a tough shootout loss to North Carolina by a score of 63-61 in week 1, in which 2 consecutive 2-point conversion attempts failed, the Mountaineers were faced with a tough road trip to play in College Station. They responded to the very hostile environment by Aggies fans, keeping the game tied 14-14 headed into the 4th quarter. A 9 minute methodical drive at the beginning of the 4th quarter led to an App State field goal with just a few minutes remaining. Texas A&M then missed a 47 yd field goal with just 3 minutes left to play. After picking up a first down, Chase Brice was able to take a knee and the Mountaineers stunned the No. 6 Aggies in College Station. 

To add to the insult of losing at home, A&M paid $1.5 million to get App State to play against them. While neither team played particularly well, the Mountaineer defense definitely played a big role in the win. The keys that ensured a win for App State were the 2 forced turnovers, out gaining the Aggies by over 150 yards, and double the time of possession. After originally being scheduled to be College Station for Texas A&M vs Miami, College Gameday was in Boone, North Carolina on September 17th to cover App State vs Troy.

(1)Alabama vs Texas – Final: 20-19

The well favored Crimson Tide found themselves in for a challenge this Saturday. The underdog Longhorns gave them a run for their money in a thrilling final quarter of the game. Bryce Young proved to us once again why he won the Heisman, silencing any doubters in the process. What seemed like an electric start for Texas with the newly acquired Quinn Ewers ended in tragedy. He suffered a clavicle injury and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Fortunately, backup QB Hudson Card was able to step up and put up good enough stats to hang around with The Tide. He passed for 158 yards and seemingly exposed the Alabama secondary with a couple of large connections with Casey Cain to get them into field goal range.

Another large part of the final score being so close was the lack of discipline of The Tide. A record number of 15 penalties throughout the game gave the Longhorns a huge advantage. However this was not enough to stop the Crimson tide offense. Bryce Young reminded us all why he was the Heisman, scrambling late in the fourth, picking up a crucial first down. This first down ended up setting up an easy field goal to win the game for the tide, letting us all down in the process with a final score of 20-19. Likely if Ewers were to not get hurt, the Tide’s secondary would have continued to be exposed, resulting in a win for the Longhorns.

This game leaves Texas looking as if they could make some real noise in the Big 12 later on in the season. It also raises more questions about Alabama for the rest of the season and their chances at another SEC Title.

Marshall at (8)Notre Dame – Final: 26-21

After what seemed like a valiant effort on the road in the shoe, Notre Dame not only lost their playoff hopes, but $1.25 million to the abyss, better known as the Sun Belt. So how did this happen? Marshall can score. 26 points on the same defense that held Ohio State to just 21 points, including 14 points in the fourth quarter. Marshall quarterback Henry Colombi put up mediocre numbers at best, only passing for 145 yards.On the other hand, Khalan Laborn tore up the field for Notre Dame, with a substantial 160 rushing yards and touchdown. With a fourth quarter injury resulting in Tyler Buchner being out the rest of the game, the final drive was ended with a touchdown, from backup quarterback Drew Pyne. It was too little too late from Notre Dame, after not recovering the onside kick, the game was over.

Yet again, another team went on the road and pulled out a hard-fought victory, leading to a third top-10 loss in week 2. Marshall also made over $1 million to play Notre Dame at their stadium, resulting in both a big payday and a huge win for the program. Meanwhile, new Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has yet to win a game in his head coaching role, going 0-3 to this point including this season and last year’s bowl game.

(20)Kentucky vs (12)Florida – Final: 26-16

Going into The Swamp, Kentucky was looking for a tough road win against a team that historically they have very little success against. Anthony Richardson, looking to build his case as a Heisman hopeful, had high expectations coming into this game. Florida had an early lead before the half, which was cut to just 3 by a Will Levis QB sneak for the touchdown. Coming out of half time the game looked to be close and as if both teams had a chance to win. But right out of the half it was all Kentucky, scoring 10 unanswered points and securing a tough win. 

Anthony Richardson had an abysmal performance, dashing any sliver of a chance of the Heisman. Time of possession and yards gained by both teams were very similar but turnovers and being unable to convert on 3rd down hurt Florida’s

chances to win significantly. The Kentucky defense also played very well and was a large part in contributing to this big win for the Wildcats. Mark Stoops, coach at Kentucky was very pleased with the win stating that he was, “really proud of our football team.” Both teams should have easy games in week 3 to prepare for the tougher remaining conference games later in the season.

(21)BYU vs (9)Baylor – Final: 26-20 (2OT)

After being ranked in the top 10 to start the season, Baylor looked to pick up a quality road win at BYU. The game began very back and forth, with BYU holding just a slight lead by a score of 10-6 at halftime. A touchdown early in the fourth quarter by Baylor tied the game, but after a missed field goal by BYU with just 2 minutes left, it seemed that overtime was inevitable. Baylor decided not to try for the 2 minute drill and just to chew the clock to finish out regulation.

In overtime, both teams had difficulty moving the ball and neither one was able to convert on their field goal attempts. In the second overtime, BYU was able to score after a big 20 yard pass from Jaren Hall set up a short rush by Lopini Katoa for the score. They were not able to convert the 2-point attempt and so were only up 6 points. Baylor responded by quickly gaining 2 first downs and making it to the 4 yard line. After false start penalties before both 2nd and 3rd down, Baylor was faced with 4th & 11. They were unable to score, giving BYU the win.

Baylor did not look great in this game, making their hopes at the Big 12 title seem nonexistent. BYU was able to pick up a great win, giving them a quality win early in the season.

Syracuse vs Purdue – Final: 32 – 29

While at first glance this may not look to be a noteworthy game, if you like offense this was a great one. Both of these teams coming in looked to be mid-level in their respective conferences which made for a great match up. Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell passed for over 400 yards and completing nearly 40 passes. He is now top-10 in all of FBS football with over 1,000 passing yards in just 3 games. While Syracuse did not put up the same quality of offensive yards, they still combined for over 300 all together.

The 4th quarter of this game was exciting, with a combined 42 point from the 2 teams, including 2 touchdowns, one by each team, in the final minute of the game. While the Orange were not as explosive on offense as Purdue in this game, they managed to capitalize on just about every opportunity handed to them, one of which was a key pick-6 by Caleb Okechukwu in the 4th quarter.

This game may not have turned many heads in the scope of college football, however it could prove to be a sign of things to come for both teams. Purdue could utilize that explosive passing offense to pick up many more wins than their current 1-2 record suggests. Syracuse could also prove to be a tough opponent for ACC foes, as playing good football with few errors is always a great indicator of a successful team.

Washington vs (11)Michigan State – Final: 39 – 28

This game was the largest upset of week 3, however many signs pointed to this game ending the way it did. One of the first, was the success of Michael Penix Jr. so far this season. After departing from Indiana through the transfer portal following an injury that ended the season early for him last year, Penix has produced well for the Huskies’ offense. He passed for over 1,000 yards in his first 3 games, putting him in 2nd in the FBS in that statisitic. Washington had also been dominant in their 2 previous games, being very efficient and putting up big numbers on offense. Washington also led by 21 points at half time, due to their dominant offense early on in this game.

Michigan state, looked much better in the 2nd half, but was never able to cut the deficit enough to get back into this game. Michael Penix Jr. passed for just under 400 yards in this contest and fueled the Huskies’ offense to a dominating performance. Washington could definitely look to make some noise in the PAC-12 later on this season, showing many great qualities throughout their team. Michigan State cannot be completely written off yet, as they were a very good team last season and returned quarterback Payton Thome, who was crucial to their success last season.

Final Notes:

Overall, the start of the 2022 season has been very exciting, making for some great upsets and clearly establishing the teams at the top who will look to be vying for a championship in the College Football Playoff. At the time of publication of this article Week 4 is on the way with some exciting games. Ohio State has the nightcap game against Wisconsin, Clemson and Wake Forest should be a close game, and Florida and Tennessee should prove to be an exciting quarterback match up.