NCAA Football 2019 Week 3 results

We had our first "Upset Saturday" as 11 games were upsets or near upsets.  The Big 10, Pac-12, and ACC were the most frequent victims of this slew of upsets, as I will detail in the Big Ten and Upset reports.  The upsets cost several Top 25 teams their rankings, and others fell due to the shockers.

Top 25 [Last week's position]
1. Clemson Tigers (3-0) [1]
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0) [2]
3. Wisconsin Badgers (2-0) [3]
4. Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0) [5]
5. LSU Tigers (3-0) [4]
6. Georgia Bulldogs (3-0)  [8]
7. Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0) [6]
8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-0) [10]
9. Oklahoma Sooners (3-0) [11]
10. Auburn Tigers (3-0) [17]
11. Washington State Cougars (3-0) [7]
12. Texas Longhorns (2-1) [14]
13. Utah Utes (3-0) [13]
14. Iowa Hawkeyes (3-0) [9]
15. Oregon Ducks (2-1) [15]
16. UCF Golden Knights (3-0) [19]
17. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-0) [16]
18. Kansas State Wildcats (3-0) [NR]
19. Washington Huskies (2-0) [NR]
20. Michigan State Spartans (2-1) [12]
21. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-0) [NR]
22.Michigan Wolverines (2-0) [22]
23. Navy Midshipmen (2-0) [NR]
24. Virginia Cavaliers (3-0) [NR]
25. Baylor Bears (2-0) [25]

Dropped off: Maryland Terrapins [#18], Colorado Buffaloes [#20], NC State Wolf Pack [#21], Kentucky Wildcats [#23], USC Trojans [#24]

On the Edge: Arizona State Sun Devils (3-0), TCU Horned Frogs (2-0), Florida Gators (3-0), Boise State Broncos (3-0), Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-1), Maryland Terrapins (2-1), Kentucky Wildcats (2-1), Air Force Falcons (2-0), Cal Golden Bears (3-0), Memphis Tigers (3-0)

Big Ten Report
Not such a good week for the conference.  The only teams who really shined were Ohio State, Nebraska, and Northwestern.  Purdue was expected to lose, but they struggled much more than expected.  The other teams faced tough battles.  Penn State's wasn't quite as surprising.  Their rivalry with Pitt is often a bitter and hard-fought affair, and this one perhaps being the last one really made them want to end with a win.  They did not, but they stayed close to the Nittany Lions.

Other games were not so expected.  Minnesota barely escaped losing to Georgia Southern.  Iowa State often plays Iowa tough, but the Hawkeyes offense really couldn't do much in this game.  Illinois allowed Eastern Michigan to run all over them, and the unknown Temple defense stymied the vaulted Maryland offense.  Maryland was really exposed as a one-dimensional offense in this game.  Shut down their running game and they have no ammunition.  The Spartans defense continued to dominate, but mental mistakes and penalties kept Arizona State in play, especially since the Spartans couldn't do anything offensively.

So, what do I think of the teams as the rest of the conference enters conference play this coming week? First of all, Wisconsin owns the West division.  All of the other teams have shown flaws, even in victories.  The Badgers are the ONLY team in FBS who have not allowed ANY points against them.  Many national analysts have them losing their game against Michigan this week, but that's because they bought into the Michigan preseason hype and won't admit they were fooled.  The West is Wisconsin's to win.

The East is more interesting.  Certainly the Ohio State offense is the most intense, but they have slacked off sometimes this season.  If they stay sharp and intense, they should win.  Michigan still makes too many mistakes. Maryland is one-dimensional.  Michigan State has a powerful defense but the offense sputters.  Penn State has power, but they give up big plays too often.

Upset Watch
I've already discussed the upsets that best the Big Ten.  The Pac-12 and ACC were also subject to upsets.  In fact, the ACC started it on Friday night.  Boston College fell, and fell hard, to perennial doormat Kansas.  Washington State nearly lost in a game where they dominated all of the statistics, but also exceeded Houston in turnovers and penalties. 

Saturday wasn't kinder to the two conferences.  Ranked NC State fell to West Virginia, and Georgia Tech lost to FCS The Citadel in overtime.  Out west, Colorado was run over by Air Force and USC was shocked by BYU.  Both of those losses cost those teams their Top 25 ranking.