The third full week of the 2017 college football season is fully complete, and here are my seven biggest observations from the week that was, or my "Seven Points".
Point One: Oklahoma State Is Still Very Much For Real
The Cowboys scored 49 points by the half against Pitt on the road, and went on to roll to a 59-21 win over the Panthers. The Cowboys scored TDs on seven of their first eight possessions, and Oklahoma State was the first team to ever have four different receivers go for 100 yards. The Cowboys were our top ranked team in our Power Rated Sports rankings last week, and likely will finish there again according to the point system.
Point Two: Clemson's Funeral Was Very Much Premature
The Tigers were thought to be a team that nobody believed could get near repeating what they had done over the last two seasons. We all may have been very much wrong, as Clemson is now 3-0, and took care of their biggest challenges of the early season, games with Auburn and Louisville, with relative ease, and with the win over Louisville, and Florida State being down Deondre Francois, it's hard to see who could possibly beat Clemson for the ACC title at this point.
Point Three: The Highest Rated Passer in the SEC Is...
It is none other than Vanderbilt's Kyle Shurmer, who has a passer rating of 194.85, a full 13 points ahead of Shea Patterson of Ole Miss. When have we ever been able to point to the highest rated passer in the league belonging to Vanderbilt? Shurmer has eight TD passes to zero INTs, and is completing 71% of his passes on the season, and he is helping the Commodores to be one of the early bird surprises in college football this season. Of course, Alabama is next on the schedule. Vanderbilt also, on defense, boasts the two leading Tackle For Loss guys in the SEC as well.
Point Four: Shawn Eichorst May Be the Dumbest AD In America
Eichorst delivered the second extension for coach Mike Riley in the last nine months, and Riley rewarded him with a loss at home to Northern Illinois this weekend. Eichorst pushed hard for extension number two, and now he may have tied his fate to that of Riley after the NIU loss. One has to question the merits in which Eichorst used to sell the extension to his bosses, and one has to question why it was so important to do so, coming off of a near loss to Arkansas State two weeks ago, and an embarrassing trip to Oregon last week where the Huskers found themselves down 42-14 at the half before a late rally came up short. I can understand it if Riley was in big demand, but that wasn't even true when Eichorst hired him away from Oregon State, where the program was tanking, and has continued to tank since his departure under Gary Anderson. Nobody in the world is trying to poach a coach over the age of 60 who is clearly circling the drain. This was just absolute stupidity, and it will come back to bite Eichorst in the ass.
Point Five: Speaking of Oklahoma State Earlier, Mason Rudolph Is a Top 3 For Heisman
There are only five QBs in the nation after three weeks with a QBR of over 200, and two of them play in the State of Oklahoma. Baker Mayfield has been getting a ton of press, but entering the Heisman contention sweepstakes will be Mason Rudolph after this week. Mayfield may still have the edge overall, but Rudolph is closing in quickly. He is passing for 378.3 yards per game, has 11 TD passes to just one INT, and is completing 72.3% of his passes. In my book, he has cleared Sam Darnold and Lamar Jackson now, and may be in a derby with Mayfield for the remainder of the season.
Point Six: San Diego State Will Have a Better PAC-12 Record Than Some PAC-12 Teams
The Aztecs may have put everyone on notice for the next round of expansion in the power conferences by finishing their non con run against PAC-12 schools at 2-0. After having beaten Arizona State last week, something I figured would happen, they took on a Stanford team hubgry to erase their fortunes against USC last week. Rashaad Penny and his Aztec buddies would have none of it, as Penny, the nations leading rusher at this point with 588 yards and 196 yards per game, had yet another spectacular game, and the Aztecs came back late for a 20-17 win over the Cardinal, which essentially ended anyone taking Stanford seriously moving forward. The Aztecs almost moved into the Big East before that conference fell apart, and when the Big East was still a serious player. I am guessing that the Aztecs are going to be a serious target when the Power Five begins another round of expansion and their final breakaway from the rest of the current FBS structure.
Point Seven: The FCS Curse Lives Another Week
When will some teams ever learn? These easy weeks against FCS cupcakes has now become the biggest landmine in football. Several teams have lost to FCS teams this season, and two more followed suit this week, as Big Sky bottom feeder Idaho State knocked off Nevada in Reno, and North Carolina A&T, a contender in the MEAC, knocked off Charlotte, who, as in the case with U Mass, hardly qualifies as an FBS football program. In the case of this week, I actually picked NC A&T to beat Charlotte, so there's that...
Next Up: FBS, FCS, D2 PRS Rankings, PASS/FAIL Reports
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