Real Kato Blog: College Football 2014: Week 3 Recap

Michigan and N.C. State both win handily.

Michigan 34, Miami OH 10
This looked a little worrisome early on, as Michigan only led 17-10 at the half. This was largely the result of some flukey turnovers, though. The Michigan defense was utterly dominating save for one NFL-caliber completion that Miami made. On offense, there were a couple of missed assignments here and there, but overall this ended up being just what Michigan needed: a stodgy win against an inferior opponent.

Grades: Offense B-, Defense A.
Heroes: Defensive line, Offensive line (!).
Next: vs. Utah

N.C. State 49, South Florida 17.
Okay, I have to admit that when I made my rushed prediction last week, I was thinking Central Florida, not South Florida. Even if I had gotten the team right I might have been swayed by the successes of the USF team from a couple of years ago. This was not that team, and N.C. State dominated them from start to finish.

So, as much as State has struggled early, they're sitting at 3-0 with Presbyterian coming up next. Then comes the #1 Florida State and #22 Clemson, though, and the rest of the schedule is no picnic either. But still, a 7-5 or 8-4 season and a bowl trip is looking like a reasonable possibility.

Notable Games
#4 Oklahoma crushed Tennessee 34-10. Tennessee's struggles mirror Michigan's in some ways; they're a storied program that has flashes of glory but hasn't quite returned to greatness.

#24 South Carolina upset #6 Georgia 38-35. This is a blow to Georgia's national title hopes, obviously... they were a fashionable pre-season pick.

Boston College shocked #6 USC 37-31. What the heck? USC just got done beating Stanford and now this? Looks like USC has some work to do on defense; BC ran up 452 yards rushing on them.

#12 UCLA barely got by Texas 20-17, with backup UCLA quarterback Jerry Neuheisel leading the team after star quarterback Brett Hundley was injured in the first quarter.

East Carolina beat #17 Virginia Tech 28-21. With VT having beaten Ohio State last week, does that mean OSU is even worse than we thought, or is VT just that erratic?

Virginia beat #21 Louisville 23-21.

West Virginia narrowly defeated Maryland 40-37. Hard to tell how good Maryland is yet.

Bowling Green beat Indiana 45-42. Easy to tell how bad Indiana is.

Iowa State beat Iowa 20-17. Iowa fans are disgruntled to say the least.

TCU beat Minnesota 30-7. Minnesota's 7 points only came against TCU backups in the fourth quarter.

Washington crushed Illinois 44-19.

Penn State narrowly beat Rutgers 13-10. I'm still not seeing Penn State as a major force; their offensive problems look severe.

Georgia Tech squeaked by Georgia Southern 42-38. Perhaps Georgia Southern is legit, and N.C. State's escape against them should be looked at in a better light.

Florida needed three overtimes to get by Kentucky 36-30.

Arizona beat Nevada 35-28. Arizona had 507 yards of offense.

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