What We Learned From CFB’s Week 3: Arch Manning and Other QB News; Let’s Enjoy Trash Talk
It’s a weekly challenge for football fans: Let’s not make sweeping statements after one game. It’s even more challenging when the quarterback position is at the center of the conversation. It’s the most important position in a game and the trajectory of a program. Looking across the country, fans are on either side of overreaction or underreaction in different situations.
The biggest story of the weekend was Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers’ abdominal injury and Arch Manning’s relief duty, which included five touchdowns in a 56-7 win over UTSA. Of course, when an injury occurs and a highly touted backup shines, some are going to raise thoughts and questions about what could be done with the backup. But that would be an overreaction.
Ewers likely won’t play this weekend, but his injury doesn’t sound serious, which is great news for Texas. There’s never been any internal controversy over the quarterback conversation, and with three weeks until the Oklahoma game, it seems like Manning will be steering the ship until Ewers returns. If Manning continues to shine, that’s great. Texas fans can take a peek into the future, knowing that a quarterback who can win a national championship this year is coming back soon.
Texas’ in-state rival, Texas A&M, is in a different situation. Manning shared SEC Freshman of the Week honors with Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed, who replaced late-announcement starter Conner Weigman and had a three-touchdown performance against Florida. Weigman, talented but not always available, is a mixed bag early in the season. Reed has sparked the offense through the air and on the ground and could raise the offense’s ceiling because of that ability.
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Weigman, like Ewers, is considered week-to-week, and while he has more program equity than Reed, Weigman is far less established than Ewers. The Aggies play Bowling Green and Arkansas for Missouri on Oct. 5. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Aggies.
More quarterback news broke Monday morning when it was announced that Michigan would be moving to Alex Orji for Davis Warren, who had a rough day against Arkansas State. One way to respond: Michigan’s offense doesn’t have a chance this season. Or this is the player who should have started from the start. Elsewhere, NC State will continue to start C.J. Bailey in place of the injured Grayson McCall, and Auburn is rolling with Hank Brown again this week in place of Payton Thorne. It’s only Week 4 and college football is unpredictable, so we’ll keep an eye on it.
Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed had three touchdowns in the Aggies’ win over Florida on Saturday. (Matt Pendleton/USA Today)
Here are five more things we overreact to, underreact to, and perfectly react to, all aspects that are equally necessary in the discourse of our great sport.
We’re exaggerating on… nonsense.
In the latest thread of conversation regarding Shedeur Sanders, the Colorado quarterback went viral for his postgame exchange with Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, in which Sanders refused a hug. Many who only saw that exchange were quick to write Sanders off as disrespectful, continuing his criticism from a week ago when he left the field early against Nebraska. But there are two sides to a story, and Sanders’ reaction was warranted.
Shedeur Sanders and Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi full exchange😱
FULL VIDEO: https://t.co/uRuUSXtcVE@deionsandersjr photo.twitter.com/mraNKbAKXu
— GUCCE🦬🐦⬛ (@gucceCU) September 15, 2024
This is part of what Fowler-Nicolosi said before the game: “The hype, the media train only goes so far at the end of the day. You’ve got 11 guys lined up against our 11 guys, and we’ll see who wants it more. And we’ll see how far Instagram followers take them.”
“We should have killed those guys…we’re coming for revenge”
“We’ll see how far Instagram followers take them”
Here’s what CSU’s Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and Tory Horton had to say about last year’s Rocky Mountain Showdown and the upcoming game against CU: photo.twitter.com/51ZBPyigpf
— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) September 12, 2024
Sanders won and can react as he pleases. And Fowler-Nicolosi’s comments were fine too. It’s a competition! No personal boundaries were crossed, no foul play on the field. Good old-fashioned trash talk (within limits) is good for the game, and rivalries like this are good too.
We don’t respond enough to… how good the Group of 5 has been.
In the old era, there wasn’t much room for Group of 5 conversations within the national championship landscape, but we can have those conversations with the expanded College Football Playoff field, as at least one Group of 5 team steps in each year. With that, it’s a call to pay attention all season long, because good play is in store.
GALLING DEEPER
Group of 5 schools plays – and wins – more high-stakes games: CFP Bubble Watch
Mountain West team UNLV is 2-0 against the Big 12 with wins over Houston and Kansas. Within the same conference, Boise State took Oregon to the brink and has a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate in running back Ashton Jeanty. The MAC may have the biggest story of the season: Northern Illinois is up after its win over Notre Dame, but Toledo also just went down to Mississippi State for a dominant win, and Bowling Green took Penn State to the finish in Week 2.
And then there’s Liberty, who represented the Group of 5 in last year’s New Year’s Six, and are 3-0.
Memphis made its last big statement with a win over Florida State, while it doesn’t carry as much weight as it did in the preseason, it’s still an important win. That win, regardless of how FSU looks at the end of the year, will help Memphis’ playoff case if it takes care of business.
Gone are the days of keeping an eye on one undefeated team that needs every chance to make it to the Playoffs. Now, it’s a layered, multi-conference conversation that will happen every year. Let’s dive into it all.
We’re exaggerating on… Georgia’s away game against Kentucky.
If you read last week’s edition, you know we talked about overreacting to top 10 teams that struggled early in the year as heavy favorites. This week’s victim of overreaction: Georgia, which escaped Kentucky with a 13-12 win.
GALLING DEEPER
After another slow start, Georgia’s need for a better attack is becoming increasingly apparent
Let’s start with some respect for Kentucky. Georgia has gone under 20 points on foreign soil three times in the last five years: 2020 at Kentucky, 2022 at Kentucky, and 2024 at Kentucky. Some teams, in certain spots, just make for good matchups. Plus, Kentucky has had eight consecutive bowl-eligible seasons. There’s no denying that Georgia was slow, but other top teams have surely struggled against teams that are inferior to Kentucky.
Over the course of 40+ consecutive regular season wins, some are going to be uglier than others, but great teams find a way. Georgia found a way and extended a historic streak, and that should be enough to keep service in the rankings. But now there’s a new No. 1 team.
Texas has been the most impressive team week after week to start the season, but it’s fair to say that Georgia’s three wins (Clemson, Tennessee Tech, Kentucky) are better than Texas’ three wins (Colorado State, Michigan, UTSA). The good thing is that these teams meet in October to settle it on the field (at least until we reach the Playoff).
As for Georgia, maybe it’s the wake-up call that’s needed. It better be, because Alabama is next on September 28th in Tuscaloosa.
We’re not reacting enough to…Iowa’s offensive improvement.
One of the most intriguing subplots of last season was Iowa’s drive for 325 points under offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. The offense fell far short (216 points), being held to under 10 points five times before Ferentz was fired.
Add new coordinator Tim Lester. Add a lot more yards and a lot more points.
Iowa’s offense, which ranked 132nd (of 133) in points per game and 133rd in yards per game in 2023, ranks 58th in points per game (32.3) and 54th in yards per game (418) this season. The Hawkeyes boast the leading rusher in all of college football in Kaleb Johnson. As a result, no team in the country has more 30-yard rushes than Iowa (six). Even though the Hawkeyes have only played three games, it’s an incredible start to a turnaround.
Some will point out that Iowa has played Illinois State, Iowa State, and Troy, and that’s true, but Iowa topped 400 yards once last season. In 2022, the FCS team defeated South Dakota State 7-3 with two safeties. The level of competition wasn’t a factor in mocking the offense before, so it shouldn’t be a factor in giving credit now. There are still questions and the level of competition is about to increase, but we have to acknowledge that this is the best (early season) unit turnaround in college football.
We are responding perfectly to… the demise of Florida State.
Many knew it was over after Week 2, but a few still held out hope for the Seminoles after their bye week. The verdict is in: the 2024 Florida State Seminoles are done. It was clear from the second play of their game on Saturday: a fumble recovered by Memphis en route to the Seminoles’ 20-12 home loss. Mistakes continued to plague Florida State throughout the day, meaning the program has suffered four straight losses after starting 13-0 last year.
FSU fumbles on the second play of the game
Just a garbage fire in Tallahassee photo.twitter.com/GSqpXEjkub
— College Football Headlines (@CFBHeadlines) September 14, 2024
There’s still intrigue, especially about what’s going to happen at quarterback. For now, DJ Uiagalelei is the starter, but that could change. What’s undeniable is the need for some kind of spark after a rough few weeks. Mike Norvell’s job security is not in question, but the program needs a culture reset. Unfortunately, it’s going to take a long few months to get that process going.
(Top photo: Scott Wachter/USA Today)
