Week Three of college football has come and gone, and although fans were mostly looking ahead to the Week Four matchups, the Week Three slate was not without its surprises.
Arguably, the biggest game of the week was between No. 1 Georgia and unranked South Carolina. Georgia has not been the totally dominant team college football fans have been used to for the past two years, and the Gamecocks were looking to capitalize on that.
Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks came out hot, scoring after a 10-play drive on their first possession. That momentum would carry into halftime, with South Carolina heading into the locker room up 14-3.
The Bulldogs would come out in the second half with a chip on their shoulder, as they shut out the Gamecocks for the rest of the game, winning 24-14. Carson Beck went 27-35 for 269 yards passing, and three different Georgia running backs cashed in touchdowns.
Nick Saban and the No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide were another team that had an unexpected performance. After a subpar game against Texas the week prior, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was benched in favor of Tyler Buchner, a transfer from Notre Dame, for the starting job against the South Florida Bulls.
Although this should have been an easy win for the Tide, bad weather conditions in Tampa and less-than-desirable QB play sent them to halftime with a 3-3 tie with the Bulls.
After continuing to struggle for the rest of the game, Alabama managed to put together two touchdown-scoring drives, both led by redshirt freshman QB Ty Simpson. They would win the game 17-3.
What was arguably the most exciting game of the week was between the No. 18 Colorado Buffaloes, led by NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, and the unranked Colorado State Rams. Many fans expected Colorado to put the Rams away easily due to their success in recent weeks, but in true college football fashion, this rivalry game came down to the wire.
There was a lot of talking going on between the teams leading up to the game, so things got very chippy. It seemed players were in each other’s faces for the whole game, and Colorado star wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter had to leave the game after taking what many believed to be a dirty hit from a Rams player.
Neither team was able to pull away convincingly throughout the game, and they were tied 28-28 at the end of regulation, sending the game into overtime. After two completely avoidable penalties from the Rams defense, Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, the son of head coach Deion Sanders, hit tight end Michael Harrison for a touchdown to break the tie.
The Colorado defense could not seal the deal on the next drive, as Colorado State QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi threw a touchdown pass to Tory Horton in response.
The Buffaloes gave themselves another chance to put the game away after Sanders hit Harrison yet again for an 18-yard touchdown reception. Colorado safety Trevor Woods finally put the game away with an interception in the end zone. After double overtime, the final score was 43-35.
Although many thought Week Three would be a dud compared to what matchups were to come in Week Four, the world of college football still delivered on an action-packed slate of games for fans to enjoy.
