It's the third week of the college football season. What are the first hottest shots?



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Texas A & M Kellen Mond quarterback (Sam Craft / Associated Press)

Even many relatively unprepared fans know better than to put a lot of stock in a single week of a college football season.
But what about two weeks? Hoo-boy, take it away Tom!

via GIPHY

Yes, it's time to "jump to conclusions" around the sport. It is time to evaluate some possible reactions before the mid-point of September.

Herm Edwards has already done it at Arizona State. Sit down a bit. The Sun Devils (2-0) deserve to be rewarded for their 16-13 win over Michigan. And Arizona State's defense against the race is off to a great start, which is always welcome. At the same time, these are just two games. Let's see how things go when traveling to San Diego State and Washington.

Michigan State has been overrated. With the loss to Arizona State (which included a 13-3 lead in the fourth quarter) and a first game against Utah State, the inclination is to say that's probably true. The Spartans will probably end up with eight or nine wins.

Dan Mullen is sentenced to Florida. Come on, man has always won at Mississippi State, which was not a trivial matter when three schools in SEC West (Alabama, Auburn and Louisiana State) played for national titles. There was nothing good to lose in Kentucky for the first time since 1986, but it still took time to fix the problems in Gainesville.

Willie Taggart is sentenced to the state of Florida. The Seminole gift for Samford was not very good. In addition, in a sentence that has never been pronounced before, the vulnerable defense of the State of Florida will undergo a serious test in Syracuse Saturday. But like his predecessor Jimbo Fisher, Taggart must correct an offensive line that has been erratic for a few years. Solve that (and it probably will not happen this year), and the Seminoles could be a new team very quickly.

Kevin Sumlin is sentenced to Arizona. This could actually be true. At the very least, the Wildcats' lifeless start (0-2) and quarterback Khalil Tate's inefficiency did not serve Sumlin – especially with Edwards, which is provoking enthusiasm elsewhere in the state.

Scott Frost's honeymoon in Nebraska is over. Not at all. After years of four seasons of loss with a scowl coach followed by a lack of traction in three seasons under one of the most beautiful people in the sport, Frost arrived in Lincoln with the benefit: ) to be a Nebraska alumni and an undefeated season last year.

The Cornhuskers let go last weekend against Colorado, no question. But Nebraska was not going to jump to the top of Big Ten West this year. In addition, it could be worse. …

Purdue has not made another leap forward this season. If the Boilermakers continue to spin the ball, it certainly will not happen. They are under-4 in this category (tie at 121st nationally) after losing to Northwestern (understandable) and East Michigan (minus), and the back half of their fourth season at home (against Missouri and Boston College). do not forgive. Other troubling rankings: Only 109th in the red zone and 119th in yards per game.

Texas is stuck in neutral. A quick glance at the Longhorn numbers reveals that they are not outstanding at all – tied for 22nd in the red zone, 29th in third against the conversion. They lost their first win against Maryland, before getting rid of Tulsa. A final decision on Texas will come sooner than the other teams; he will face Southern Cal, TCU, Kansas State and Oklahoma over the next four weeks.

Kellen Mond is for real. Of course, it seems, is not it? The second year of Texas A & M played 430 yards and three touchdowns in the 28-26 loss to Clemson last week. For comparison, here is the complete list of quarterbacks before Mond who throw 350 yards against Clemson since defensive coordinator Brent Venables arrived in 2012.

QB Team Yds., TDs Result Draft copy
Mike Glennon State N.C., 2012 493, 5 L, 62-48 73rd in total (2013)
Jameis Winston Florida St., 2013 444, 3 W, 51-14 1st overall (2015)
E.J. Manuel Florida St., 2012 380, 2 W, 49-37 16th in total (2013)

These are three good college shifts. The development story of the quarterbacks of head coach Aggies, Jimbo Fisher, and things are going well for Mond.

Chad Morris needs time in Arkansas. Affirmative, but it seemed obvious before the season, let alone before last week's loss at Colorado State. Whether it needs time or not, a three-game match against Auburn, Texas A & M and Alabama starts on Sept. 22, and it will probably not be fun for the Razorbacks.

The last undefeated team of the AAC could be … Cincinnati? It's a championship game with Central Florida, Houston and South Florida, but it's not impossible considering the Bearcats' defense and their schedule. Cincinnati collected 17 points at UCLA and then closed Miami from Ohio and his team until the end of October – Alabama A & M, Ohio, Connecticut, Tulane, Temple and SMU – stands out from the top AAC teams.

Of course, an attack ranked 121st in terms of distance from work requires work, but the greatly improved defense suggests that the Bearcats will overtake their total victory last year (four) in mid-October, or even earlier.

Five games to watch

No. 5 Oklahoma at Iowa State (Saturday, noon, ABC): The Sooners suffered their only loss in the regular season last season against Iowa State, their first in the series since 1990. The Cyclones have not won two consecutive games against Oklahoma since 1960-61. Oh, and the Sooners seemed exceptional the first two weeks of the season. Of course, no one saw the victory of Iowa State either last year.

No. 17 State of Boise in the State of Oklahoma No. 24 (Saturday, 15:30, ESPN): The visiting Broncos (2-0) crushed Troy on the road and humiliated Connecticut, 62-7, on the famous blue turf. This week's trip to Stillwater is arguably the biggest hurdle between Boise State and an undefeated regular season. This is the first real test for the Cowboys (2-0) after crushing the state of Missouri and southern Alabama to open the year.

No. 12 LSU at No. 7 Auburn (Saturday, 3:30 pm, CBS): The home team have won five straight wins and eight of the last nine in this SEC West tiger trap. The last time they met on the Plains, an 18-13 victory in Auburn preceded the long-term dismissal of coach Miles. For this year's goals, both teams recorded wins at the neutral site in the first week (Auburn on Washington, LSU on Miami), and this week's winner should be Alabama's biggest divisional threat.

No. 4 Ohio State vs. TCU # 15 in Arlington, Texas (Saturday, 8 pm, ABC): The Buckeyes did not miss the suspended coach Urban Meyer against Oregon State or Rutgers. Maybe that will change with this trip to JerryWorld to face a much bigger group of Horned Frogs. Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins completed 42 of 53 passes for 546 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception in his first two career starts.

No. 10 Washington, Utah (Saturday, 22 hours, ESPN): It's not an easy start to the season for the Pac-12 Huskies, who dropped to Auburn in the first week and then led the North Dakota school 14 points 20 minutes out of last week. Utah (2-0), a longtime defensive team, could have answers for Jake Browning, Myles Gaskin & Co.

Read more:

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