College football winners and losers: Washington’s QB play won the week, and Miami’s game management lost it

Week 3 of the faculty soccer season was highlighted extra by the happenings off the sphere than the video games that occurred on the sphere. Arizona State and Nebraska are each searching for new head coaches, and School Gameday lastly got here into Boone, North Carolina (seemed like a spectacular time by the way in which, I’m positively going to Boone for a sport).

Nonetheless, we had faculty soccer on Saturday, which implies we have now extra winners and losers from across the nation. Let’s break them down right here.

Winner: Michael Penix Jr.

Have a day, Michael Penix Jr.! The switch from Indiana threw for 397 yards and 4 touchdowns because the Washington Huskies knocked off the Michigan State Spartans 39-28. Penix carved the Spartan protection from within the pocket and out of doors the pocket, together with this strike that gave the Huskies a 29-8 lead.

Loser: Mario Cristobal’s sport administration

Miami and Texas A&M performed what folks name a “soccer sport” on Saturday in School Station, a 17-9 Aggie victory. Miami was spectacular, however for all of the improper causes. They in some way: out-gained the Aggies in whole yardage, had extra yards per carry, and but nonetheless misplaced.

Essentially the most staggering a part of this was Hurricanes’ head coach Mario Cristobal and his questionable clock administration. Cristobal settled for subject targets within the purple zone typically, probably the most egregious of which coming within the 4th quarter with eight minutes left, turning a two possession sport…right into a two possession sport. The Hurricane offense struggled mightily, with the receivers notching six drops, however Cristobal wanted to know that he may not have gotten one other probability like that to attain a landing for the remainder of the sport.

Naturally, Cristobal’s administration got here into query on Twitter:

Cristobal has at all times been this fashion as a coach, which makes what he did towards the Aggies disappointing, however not shocking. Miami needs to be advantageous; they didn’t have main receiver Xavier Restrepo in School Station, and 6 drops could not occur once more. Nonetheless, Cristobal’s sport administration needs to be worrisome for followers.

Winner: Brock Bowers and wherever they make different Brock Bowers

Wherever Georgia discovered Brock Bowers, no matter lab they created him in, no matter tremendous soldier serum they gave him: they should make it open to the general public as a result of Brock Bowers will not be actual.

Bowers had 5 catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and in addition ran for a TD within the Bulldogs 45-7 demolition of South Carolina. It wasn’t simply Bowers dominating, it was how he did it that makes him particular. The primary landing was an finish round, a mere two performs after Georgia ran a jet sweep with him. Reminder: HE IS A TIGHT END AND HE OUTRAN A DB TO THE ENDZONE!

The second landing was a fade route the place Bowers is just too giant of a human being to defend that move. You possibly can strive, however you’ll completely fail.

The ultimate landing might need been the funniest one. Bowers is left vast open by the Gamecock protection and he rumbles into the endzone. Two defenders tried to sort out him, and each ended up on a TikTok someplace, a disgrace actually:

Folks name him “Child Gronk” however in actuality he jogs my memory quite a lot of Travis Kelce or peak Greg Olsen. Folks shouldn’t have the ability to transfer like he does at his dimension, and but he makes these performs on the conventional. He received’t be draft eligible till 2024, however he’s already solidified himself as the very best TE within the nation.

Loser: Purdue’s late sport technique

If Purdue wished to play each single sport on loss of life defying mode like combating Tree Sentinel in Elden Ring, I respect it. Nonetheless, you may’t shoot your self within the foot in these video games. Towards Syracuse, the Boilermakers placed on a masterclass in lose a soccer sport.

Let’s set the scene: Purdue scores with beneath a minute to play within the sport, then commits not one, however TWO unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, forcing them to kick off from their very own ten yard line. It did create this stunning visible, nonetheless:

On high of that, when the Orange received the ball dedicated holding and move interference on two separate third and tens earlier than Syracuse QB Garrett Shrader threw the sport successful TD.

Total, the Boilermakers dedicated 13 penalties for 138 yards, however 4 within the closing minute of a soccer sport is absurd.

Winner: Marty Smith

I aspire to be Marty Smith. Having enjoyable wherever he’s at, speaking to residents of Boone, North Carolina about beer or leaping right into a lake carrying a go well with.

He merely deserves the world.

Loser: The Auburn booster membership

Offered out crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

A ranked, however very beatable Penn State group coming into city.

What does a Bryan Harsin-led group do?

They exit and die. A kind of gradual, painful deaths.

The Nittany Lions embarrassed the Auburn Tigers 41-12 in a sport the place Auburn seemed overmatched, and that falls on the pinnacle coach.

Harsin is meant to be an offensive man. Nicely, the offense certain was offensive, solely giving star RB Tank Bigsby 9 whole carries, whereas platooning on the QB place simply made issues worse. To be honest, you might put Cam Newton behind that offensive line and with that teaching workers and he wouldn’t succeed.

Defensively, the Tigers had been totally dominated up entrance. What was alleged to be a energy for the Tigers shortly grew to become a weak point; Penn State had their approach up entrance en path to 245 dashing yards and 5 TDs on the bottom.

The rationale this loser is the Auburn booster membership and never Bryan Harsin is that Harsin will most likely find yourself properly off. His buyout is within the $18 million vary and he can go do coaches rehab at Alabama earlier than taking some job in California later.

The Auburn booster membership tried to fireplace Harsin within the offseason. The investigation into alleged mistreatment of gamers and the rumor on social media that Harsin had an affair was all a option to attempt to fireplace him for trigger, so that they wouldn’t pay the buyout. Why wouldn’t they wish to pay the buyout? As a result of they’re paying Gus Malzahn $21.7 million in buyout cash. The investigation was, in a phrase, a shitshow, and Harsin saved his job amongst literal chaos on the Plains. Oh, and the athletic director who employed Harsin was fired mere weeks earlier than the season.

Auburn dug themselves into this gap. The issues you see on the sphere are a mirrored image of poor administration on the high. Administration by the boosters who don’t know what they need in a coach, setting the Tigers again and touchdown them within the doldrums of the SEC.