The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

College football 2017: Week 3 villains

The Texas Longhorns in college football (Image: Supplied)
Roar Guru
19th September, 2017
2

Another week of college football is in the books and while here were plenty of teams and individuals who got it done on the college gridiron, there were just as many who didn’t.

Here are a few teams and individuals who could’ve and probably should’ve done better, my Week 3 villains.

Lamar Jackson
This was it – the chance Lamar Jackson had to show us all we were wrong. Good against weak defences, ineffective against good ones. That was the knock on Jackson, and he had a golden opportunity at home in front of a loud and parochial crowd to stake his claim for back-to-back Heisman trophies.

Instead, it was a night of disappointment. Yes, he threw for 317 yards and ran for another 64, but that’s nothing near the output he’s had against Purdue and North Carolina to open the season.

Clemson’s defence kept him mostly in check, and the Cardinals lost 47-21. Safe to say, Jackson’s Heisman chances have fallen by the wayside. A disappointing night.

Tanner Lee
The Nebraska quarterback has thrown seven interceptions in his last two games and was completely ineffectual against Northern Illinois on Saturday. Lee had two turnovers in the first quarter that were returned by the Huskies for touchdowns.

His third pick of the game was on his final throw, facing a fourth and 14 situation. Lee was super-hyped in Lincoln in the pre-season, but has been vastly underwhelming through three games.

Louisiana State
The Tigers lost 37-7 to unranked Mississippi State in Starkville. Quarterback Danny Etling was 13-29 for 137 yards. Running back Derrius Guice never got going. The defence were like traffic cones, particularly in the run game, where the Bulldogs went at 5.9 yards per carry.

Advertisement

As a team, the Tigers committed 111 yards of penalties. Ed Orgeron was thoroughly out-classed and out-coached. This was a bad loss.

Baylor
The Bears lost 34-20 to Duke on Saturday, backing up losses to Liberty and UTSA and exit non-conference play with a 0-3 record. And it will get worse: Baylor have Oklahoma next week, Kansas State following that and then Oklahoma.

Barring a significant miracle, the Bears will be 0-6, then have Texas and West Virginia. Neither seem winnable, and the way things are going, Baylor might not even start favourite against lowly Kansas on November 4.

Michigan’s offense
Yes, the Wolverines beat Air Force 29-13, but they were far from convincing at the Big House, and the fact that they remain undefeated is really wallpapering over the offensive cracks. All told in 2017, the Wolverine offense has had twenty drives that reach into the red zone, and have scored just one touchdown.

A bunch of field goals and a 79-yard punt return from Donovan Peoples-Jones was the difference between an ugly win and an embarrassing loss.

Josh Allen
Remember the Wyoming quarterback? He was touted pre-season as being one of the top NFL prospects. Fast forward through two high-profile games – Iowa to open the season and Oregon this week – and Allen hasn’t looked great.

Against the Ducks, he was a miserable 9-24 for 64 yards, an interception and a rushing touchdown. Wyoming lost 49-13 at home to Oregon, and you can bet that Allen’s draft stock took (another) pummelling.

Advertisement

UCLA
Lost on the road to Memphis in a 48-45 shootout despite 463 yards and four touchdowns from quarterback Josh Rosen. More so than the Texas A and M comeback, this game might give us the best indication of where the Bruins are this year: they gave up nearly 560 total yards of offense.

Remember how bad they were defensively early on against the Aggies before the Aggies forgot to play in the fourth quarter? Yep, that same porous defensive unit was back on show in Memphis and it was ugly.

Tennessee
Lost to rivals Florida on a last-second Hail Mary touchdown. Sports-talk radio in Knoxville is going to be pretty willing this week. That hot seat head-coach Butch Jones was on heading into this game is now absolutely on fire. A brutal loss after the Vols tied it up late.

Illinois and South Florida
Talk about unwatchable games: this was brutal. The teams combined for 31 penalties, 26 of which came in the first half. It’ll take a lot for this contest to not win Ugliest Game of the Year.

Boise State’s offense
In ten years of watching Bronco football, I haven’t seen the offense struggle like it’s struggled this season. It’s started with the offensive line, which has folded like a cheap tent on multiple occasions, leading to starting quarterback Brett Rypien sustaining a concussion last week.

Back-up Montell Cozart was, save for one or two plays, mostly ineffective Thursday night in a scrappy 28-14 win over New Mexico in front of one of the smallest crowds in a decade.

Boise managed just one first down the entire third quarter, and, overall, the run game wasn’t a factor (Alexander Mattison has been disappointing, after we all thought he was the heir apparent to Jeremy McNichols), star wide receiver Cedric Wilson, who torched New Mexico a year ago, was rarely targeted, two good tight ends are being underutilised, basic skill errors, and bad penalties extinguishing promising drives. It was a win, but far from an
encouraging one.

Advertisement

With Rypien expected back next weekend, the Broncos can get back on track. They’ll need to, with a tricky Mountain West schedule to come, and tilts with Virginia and Brigham Young, too. Luckily for the offense, their defensive brothers have been brilliant all season.

Missouri
The Tigers were flattened 35-3 at home against Purdue. Yep, you read that right. Quarterback Drew Lock, who set a school record for touchdown passes in the opening game, had just 133 passing yards and two interceptions. It’s looking like being a long year in Colombia.

close