An Arch-tastic Debut, Georgia Survives, RUN FORWARD
In what was widely billed as a weak slate of college football games, Week 3 still delivered several exciting finishes and interesting storylines. While Saturday evening work prohibited me from sitting on the couch all day, watching every game and consuming my body weight in Cheez-It’s, I was thankfully able to catch several good matchups.
With no plan for whether this will be a weekly, semi-weekly or whenever-I-feel-like-it series, here are some of my Saturday Snippets from around the country:
Arch to Victory
Imagine a slice of strawberry cheesecake in your fridge. It’s 7:00 p.m. and you need to eat dinner so it can fill you up, but you can’t stop thinking about how that lush, creamy, delicious cheesecake is going to taste.
That’s sort of like the Texas quarterback situation. Quinn Ewers is the dinner — he may throw some interceptions now and then or be less accurate than Longhorn fans would like, but he gives Texas the best chance it has had at a national title in 15 years by far, i.e. filling you up. Arch Manning — known more by his last name than his play on the field before today — is the cheesecake.
The No. 1 overall high school recruit in the 2023 class and member of football’s royal family is largely a black box. He could be the next Manning in line to win a Super Bowl, or become a first overall NFL draft pick. He could be the first Heisman winner from Austin since Ricky Williams, or even lead the Longhorns to the National Championship like Vince Young.
All of this is putting the cart before the horse. The bottom line is that Manning had thrown 11 collegiate passes entering the weekend. But on Saturday, Texas fans got a taste of the cheesecake, and it was quite sweet.
The immediate play after Quinn Ewers left today’s game vs UTSA due to what appeared to be a throwing hand injury (but was called an abdomen strain), Manning found a receiver for a touchdown on a read option bootleg pass. On the next drive, he did this:
Those genes must’ve skipped Peyton and Eli.
Manning finished 9-for-12 with 223 passing yards and five total touchdowns in a 56-7 win over the Roadrunners. His last two throws were things of beauty:
The redshirt freshman definitely has the “it” factor. Between the arm strength, accuracy and mobility, it’s easy to see the tools that the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning can build on in order to be successful.
John Madden once said, “If you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none.” If Ewers remains healthy, he should unquestionably be the starter. But now that Texas fans have had a taste of that cheesecake, will they start to call for Manning if Ewers struggles?
Thinking about J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones today for no reason.
Kentucky Cowardice
It takes a lot to make Georgia look bad. The Bulldogs looked BAD on Saturday.
The No. 1 team in the country, facing a 1-1 Kentucky unit that got smoked by South Carolina last week, was outgained in total yards and had 10 less minutes of possession than its SEC counterpart. Georgia managed a measly three points in the first half, and even after finally scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter, the Bulldog offense still didn’t click.
Kentucky had them on the ropes. And yet, down by one in enemy territory at home with just three minutes to go, the Wildcats literally punted on their hopes of a historic upset.
(Photo Creds: @PickSixPreviews on Twitter)
With the ball at the Georgia 47-yard line and a kicker who was 4-for-4 on the night (including a 55-yarder and 51-yarder), there was absolutely no reason for Kentucky to give the ball back to a far superior team with hopes that they could stop them once again. And even if the Wildcats did stop the Bulldogs and earn one last possession, they still trailed and would have little to no time to drive down the field on one of the best teams in the nation and score. (NOTE: This is exactly what happened — they had nine seconds left and made it only 12 yards.)
If Kentucky makes the 4th & 8, it likely wins the game and posts its first win against a No. 1 team since 2007. If Kentucky doesn’t make it, they allow either a field goal or touchdown and get one last possession down four or eight with a chance to tie or take the lead. Regardless, it’s a risk that you simply have to take late in the game, and Mark Stoops did not.
Apple (Un)intelligence
The first non-conference Apple Cup game came down to the wire, and the déjà vu hit me so hard that I felt physically in pain.
On 4th & Goal from the 1-yard line, with Washington needing a touchdown to take down its rival, Washington State:
Watching this play live, I felt absolute disbelief that, with one single yard to gain, the playcaller would dial up a speed option where a quarterback who is not known for rushing essentially runs parallel to the end zone.
It always frustrates me when playcallers try to get cute in short yardage situations, when they should be instead be relying on the big guys up front to drive their legs forward and their running back to put his foot in the dirt and go right up the gut of the defense. That, my friends, is good, old-fashioned, tough American football. A passing play also would’ve worked in that scenario, but the point I’m trying to make certainly stands.
This play especially resonates with me because I watched Northwestern, my alma mater and favorite team, lose almost the exact same way last week:
Duke’s defense was exhausted and Cam Porter was averaging nearly six yards per rush (34 yards on six carries) between the two overtime periods. One bad playcall can (and did) cost you a win!
Week 4 Games to Watch
No. 11 USC @ No. 17 Michigan — 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS
No. 12 Utah @ No. 13 Oklahoma State — 3:00 p.m. CT on FOX
No. 7 Tennessee @ No. 15 Oklahoma — 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC