After week three, the makeup of the best teams in the Border 8 is starting to shake out. With a lot of upsets and impressive wins, there is a lot to talk about just outside of Missouri.
Nebraska had a matchup against FCS Northern Iowa and despite the slow start just being ahead 7-3 after the first half, the Huskers kicked it into gear the rest of the game and outscored the Panthers 27-0. The Huskers put up over 420 total yards and found the endzone four times in the evening. Defensively, Nebraska held Northern Iowa to just barely over 300 yards and never let them score. They also picked off quarterback Aiden Dunne on their first drive of the second half. Dylan Raiola threw a pick as well, but being up 27-3 in the fourth quarter, it was a mute point and Nebraska ended up winning 34-3.
After a disappointing loss to rival Iowa State, Iowa hosted 0-2 Troy out of the Sun Belt Conference and were absolutely put to the test in a game that was much closer than the final 38-21 score indicated. After a quick score by Iowa, Trojans quarterback Matthew Caldwell found Devonte Ross for a 63-yard touchdown. Iowa kicked a field goal and then about five minutes later punted the ball away. The Hawkeyes most famous play did not work at all for them as Ross made life even more difficult for Iowa and returned the punt back 77 yards for the touchdown. Iowa found the endzone two more times and while Troy was able to get it back within three, a 14-0 fourth quarter gave Iowa the 17-point win and gave them their winning record back.
After an upset of Kansas who was ranked #19 when they played, Illinois was looking to continue their win streak and was able to keep Central Michigan at bay with a 30-9 win. While it was just 13-6 at halftime, a 17-3 second half put the Chippewas away handedly. Luke Altmyer carried most of the load for the Illini with 248 total yards and two touchdowns while the rest of the team just had 131 and one touchdown. While the defense was not a complete steel curtain, allowing a bit over 300 yards, they never let Central Michigan into the endzone holding them to three field goals. This victory pushed Illinois into the Top 25 before their matchup against Nebraska to kick off Big 10 play.
After a disappointing double overtime loss to Duke last weekend, Northwestern had the opportunity to take their aggression out on an FCS opponent. After an early tie 7-7, the Wildcats put the hurt on the Panthers with a 24-0 run to close the game out. Northwestern put on an offensive clinic in this tune up game with a clean 450 total yards and four touchdowns on the day. Most of that workload went to sophomore quarterback Jack Lausch who made himself known in his first start. He put up 234 total yards as well as two touchdowns in the air. The defense did a great job assisting him as well holding the Panthers to just 207 total yards and one touchdown. They also picked off quarterback Pierce Holley once and sacked him three times.
Louisville had the week off to prepare for their ACC opener against Georgia Tech.
Despite not managing to find the endzone at all, Kentucky gave the #1 team in the country much more than they had probably bargained for. In a good old fashioned barn burner, Kentucky forced Georgia to punt on their first four drives of the evening and while Kentucky couldn’t produce much on offense either, but by the time the clock hit triple zeroes in the first half, Kentucky had the lead up 6-3. In the second half, Kentucky kept their same game plan hitting just one field goal per quarter, but late in the third quarter, Branson Robinson made his longest rush of the night and ran the ball three yards and took a 13-9 lead that Georgia never conceded. Kentucky would kick one more field goal, but with about six minutes left in the game, the Wildcats drove down the field. Starting at their own 16, they managed to make it 37 yards in about three minutes, but after that, it almost seemed as if the Wildcats threw up the white flag. With a 2nd and 8, the Wildcats threw the ball twice with no gain, and on 4th and 8, inside enemy territory, they punted the ball away. Georgia ate up most of the clock and punted back to Kentucky with nine seconds left, but at that point, it was too little too late and the Bulldogs escaped with the one-point victory.
Tennessee had another tune up game against Kent State and made sure to leave absolutely no doubt of a victory. After starting 30-0 in the first half, Tennessee converted an onside kick that led to another touchdown. The Volunteers put up another 28 points in the second quarter and would go into halftime up 65-0. The second half was much more uneventful with Tennessee only scoring six, but after nine touchdowns in the first half, it allowed the backup players to get some much needed playing time en route to a 71-0 victory. Offensively, Tennessee ended the day with a murderous 740 yards of total offense, 456 of them on the ground. Defensively, they held Kent State to just 112 yards and scored a safety.
In a matchup between Vanderbilt and Georgia State, neither team seemed to want to win the game. The teams traded punches for a while, but with two and a half minutes left in the game, Georgia State looked like the victory was sealed up 29-17, but Vanderbilt scored two touchdowns in a minute and 15 seconds to take their first lead of the night 32-29. In classic Vanderbilt fashion though, they allowed Georgia State to storm down the field in 59 seconds and take the lead back with 15 ticks left on the clock. Vanderbilt had barely any time to work with and ended up losing 36-32.
A week after beating Oklahoma State in just about every facet except for points, UAB gave the Razorbacks all that they could handle. UAB came out swinging, going up 17-3 in the first 16 minutes of the game. Jacob Zeno was able to sling two touchdown passes early and made it look like the Blazers were going to run away from the Hogs. Arkansas went on a 27-3 scoring run to go up 30-20. Zeno got another touchdown pass to bring it within three points, but a quick response from Taylen Green and the Arkansas offense closed out the game for Arkansas and got them to 2-1 on the year with a 37-27 victory.
Down in Norman, Oklahoma was nearly a two touchdown favorite against Tulane, and early on, it looked like the Sooners would roll over the Green Waves. Scoring 21 unanswered in the first half, and looked as good as advertised, but Tulane slowly chipped their way back and early in the fourth quarter, Tyler Grubbs picked off Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold and ran it all the way back in the other direction to bring the game within five. Oklahoma was able to respond quickly though and score 10 more points in the last five minutes and got out with the 34-19 win.
Over in the Big 12, Oklahoma State had a matchup against instate opponent Tulsa, and it was over about as fast as it began as Tulsa did not manage to get on the board until the Cowboys were already up 45 points. Alan Bowman put up incredible offensive numbers going 24/31 with five touchdowns and 396 yards letting Ollie Gordon and the run game have a calmer day with just 129 yards. While the defense did allow 352 total yards, the Golden Hurricanes could not capitalize at all until late in the game and by the time they got 10 points on the board, it was almost pointless and the Cowboys won it 45-10.
Up in Kansas, Kansas State had a strange game against Arizona on Friday. Despite being from the same conference, it was listed as a non conference game as it was scheduled before Arizona made the move to the new conference. That ended up being ultimately a good thing for Zona, as they got demolished by Avery Johnson and the K State offense. Kansas State was able to notch three offensive touchdowns as well as a punt return. Arizona could not even close to keep up as they only scored one time and star quarterback Noah Fifita never found the endzone, and when he got close, he was picked off by Keenan Garber. Kansas State would go on to win in blowout fashion 31-7.
Across the state at the same time on Friday, but did not put up the performance that their rivals did. Hosting UNLV, the Jayhawks were in a grudge match with the Rebels the entire game, but didn’t concede the lead for 58 minutes. In the last two minutes though, Kylin James found the endzone and put Kansas away 23-20. The offense for the rebels was not even that strong as Matthew Sluka went for just 86 yards and completed just seven passes. The defense for the Rebels was a completely different story though. While Jalon Daniels had two rushing touchdowns for the Hawks, going just 12/24 and being picked off twice, the Rebels were able to completely shut him down. The Rebels were able to notch their second win against a Big 12 opponent this season and start 3-0 for the first time in 40 years.
Iowa State and Northern Illinois were both on bye weeks.
Down in the CUSA, MTSU hosted Western Kentucky in the 100 Miles of Hate rivalry, a fitting name for a game that felt like it featured 100 miles of total offense. The two teams combined for an astounding 1,145 total yards of total offense. For the Blue Raiders, Nicholas Vattiato had the most single yards in the game at 477 by himself, but he did not have a touchdown until the second half. Caden Veltkamp decided to come out and be the MVP of the game and put up an absolutely magnificent stat line. Completing 90% of his passes for 398 yards and five touchdowns as well as a rushing touchdown to cap things off, he was truly unstoppable leading the Hilltoppers to a huge 49-21 rivalry game win.
Memphis went on the road as nearly a touchdown underdog to a struggling Florida State team in their first matchup against the Seminoles since Mike Norvell left Tennessee to go to Tallahassee. The Tigers were out for blood and did not seem to care about the score in their quest for a win against their former head coach. Memphis put their foot on the gas immediately and outscored Florida State 20-3 through the first 38 minutes. Florida State outscored Memphis 9-0 to end the game, but it did not matter, it was far too late and Memphis went on to win 20-12 for their first win against Florida State since 1976.
Finally in the Sun Belt, Arkansas State played against Michigan in the Big House in a game that while not as close as it looked, was still relatively competitive. The secondary for the Red Wolves stepped up strong only allowing 134 yards, and picking off Davis Warren three times before he was benched for Alex Orji. The rushing defense for Arkansas State was not nearly as good though, allowing 301 yards and three touchdowns on the afternoon. The offense also struggled heavily as 15 of their 18 points did not come until late in the fourth quarter and they lost the game 28-18.
Oklahoma State (3-0) (2-0)
Illinois (3-0) (1-0)
Iowa State (2-0) (1-0)
Nebraska (3-0) (0-0)
Tennessee (3-0) (0-0)
Oklahoma (3-0) (0-0)
Kansas State (3-0) (0-0)
Memphis (3-0) (0-0)
Louisville (2-0) (0-0)
Northern Illinois (2-0) (0-0)
Western Kentucky (2-1) (1-0)
Arkansas State (2-1) (1-0)
Vanderbilt (2-1) (0-0)
Northwestern (2-1) (0-0)
Iowa (2-1) (0-1)
Arkansas (2-1) (0-1)
Kentucky (1-2) (0-0)
MTSU (1-2) (0-1)
Kansas (1-2) (0-1)
Tulsa (1-2) (0-2)