Tony Barnhart
By Tony Barnhart
So what did we learn during Week 3 of the college football season? A lot, as it turns out.
1—There are a lot of really good quarterbacks in the SEC.
And Gunner Stockton is one of them.
Lest any doubters remain, Georgia proved on Saturday that it was more than capable of going on the road and beating a quality team like Tennessee.
Georgia trailed five different times at Neyland Stadium and every time the Bulldogs fought back and took the lead and eventually won, 44-41, in overtime. It was quite a display of mental and physical toughness.
“I am so proud of these kids,” Coach Kirby Smart told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “They never quit.”
And don’t tell me that Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton can’t throw the deep ball. That 28-yard back-shoulder fade for a touchdown, which got the Bulldogs into overtime, was a perfectly thrown ball. He then threw a two-point conversion pass that tied the game at 38 with 2:32 left. Stockton threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns.
“He played his tail off,” Smart said of Stockton.
Georgia gets this Saturday off before hosting Alabama on Sept. 27
2—You can sugarcoat it all you want, but Notre Dame is not going to the College Football Playoff.
The Irish (0-2) have opened with two tough losses to Miami (24-21) and Texas A&M (41-40) and I just don’t see a path to the CFP for Marcus Freeman and his team which reached the national championship game last season.
Sure, Notre Dame could finish 10-2 but without a conference championship to play for, the only way the Irish can get there is to be picked by the Selection Committee. This is the downside of Notre Dame’s independent stats.
3—Brent Key got his signature win at Georgia Tech by beating Clemson. Since Key, the former player and assistant coach under George O’Leary, took the job in 2022 there have been thoughts he was building something meaningful on North Avenue in Atlanta. He had won a bunch games as an underdog but was waiting on that signature victory that proves the program is now a serious contender to win the ACC championship.
It came on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium as kicker Aidan Birr kicked a 55-yard field goal as time expired to beat Clemson, 24-21. The rest of the schedule looks favorable as the Jackets do not play Miami, Fla. in the regular season. They also have a quarterback, Haynes King, who is one of the toughest players in college football.
4—Don’t sleep on the Aggies. Texas A&M didn’t get a whole lot of love in the preseason and wins over UTSA (42-24) and Utah State (44-22) didn’t get fans overly excited. But Saturday night in South Bend Aggie quarterback Marcel Reed drove his team 74 yards on 13 plays to beat No. 8 Notre Dame, 41-40. It was Texas A&M’s first road victory over a Top 10 team in its last 13 tries.
Reed ended the night with 360 yards passing and two touchdowns.
This is the Aggies brightest spotlight since the days of Johnny Manziel, with the schedule looking manageable if Reed can stay healthy. They take this week off and then play home games in College Station on successive Saturdays against Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida before going on the road.
5—Vandy is the real deal. Before Vanderbilt’s game at South Carolina last Saturday I asked if these Commodores could be better than the team that beat Alabama last season. That score, in case you missed it, was Vanderbilt 31, South Carolina 7 at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Yes, South Carolina lost its quarterback, LaNorris Sellers, to a head injury with 1:52 left in the first half. South Carolina trailed 14-7 and was outscored 24-0 in the second half. But right now Vanderbilt (3-0) looks like a team that can do more than the 7-6 season of 2024
“Don’t sleep on us,” fifth-year edge Miles Capers told the Associated Press. “We’re coming for everybody right now. Just get ready.”
Vanderbilt (3-0) plays home games against Georgia State and Utah State before going to Alabama on Oct. 4.
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