Week 3 of the college football season has come and gone, and there’s been plenty of action and shift in the rankings.
Some of the biggest games with the most impact were the matchup between Georgia and Kentucky that ended in a scare for the top team in the country, South Carolina nearly forcing overtime against LSU and Arch Manning making a statement against UTSA.
Related: What we learned from Arch Manning’s electric performance
Here’s a look into five things we took away with Week 4 up next on the horizon:
1. Arch Manning is everything we thought he could be
It seems as though people have almost forgotten that Quinn Ewers was considered one of the top quarterbacks in college football just a week ago. But if there’s anything we’ve learned since Ewers was forced to leave the UTSA game, it’s that Texas should have just as much confidence in its backup quarterback as it does in its starter. Paul Finebaum is among those who share that notion, commenting in a recent Sportscenter appearance that he believes Texas’ chances of winning a national title don’t change whether it is Ewers or Arch Manning taking the snaps because both are just as capable of leading the team.
There’s no speculation that Ewers is in danger of losing the starting gig, but Texas is in good hands under Manning when he departs for the 2025 NFL Draft. Manning completed 9-of-12 passing attempts for 223 yards and four touchdowns in the 56-7 win over the UTSA Roadrunners. He also had one touchdown on the ground, clocking a speed of some 20.7 mph.
2. Georgia may be the best team in college football, but it’s more debatable than it was
Georgia is no longer the No. 1 team in college football. That title now belongs to Texas. It wouldn’t be surprising in the least to watch the two teams go back and forth in the rankings as the season goes on, or for one or the other to completely take the upper hand and cement itself at the top.
The Bulldogs didn’t look quite like the fortress they were perceived to be before the season, accumulating just 262 yards of total offense. It wasn’t pretty, but the team still managed to do just enough in the final minutes of the game to squeak out the 13-12 victory.
How these two teams manage the rest of their schedule will be a major storyline to watch throughout the remainder of the season.
Related: Week 4 college football rankings
3. Florida State is toasted
It wasn’t long ago that many were justifying Florida State’s place in the College Football Playoff, even after Georgia did blow them out,
Between horrendous quarterback play, bad coaching, a poor offensive line, inconsistencies on both sides of the ball and a seeming lack of energy, it seems that just about everything is wrong with FSU. Despite some key plays made by the defense, which seemed to show improvement in the 20-12 loss to Memphis, the offense failed to capitalize.
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Head coach Mike Norvell spoke to what he believes needs to chance within the program after the game.
“I believe in who we have, I believe in what they can do, but we got to be able to transition the positive things we see out there on the practice field has got to translate on to gameday,” Norvell said. “That is going to be a lot of evaluation and a continued evaluation coming off the bye week.”
4. South Carolina was far overlooked in the offseason
South Carolina didn’t get the W over LSU this weekend, but it came quite close. No one expected Shane Beamer’s team to be able to even hand with the Tigers, much less completely clobber SEC competition to way it did against Kentucky. The Gamecocks put the Wildcats to shame with a 31-6 victory in Lexington.
While there were mistakes that kept them from winning the game and a missed field goal on the Gamecocks’ end that prevented the game against the Tigers from going to overtime, th negative that seemed to make the most difference for South Carolina is the loss of starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers and the switch that had to be made to backup Robby Ashford.
Looking at the season as a whole to this point, the fact South Carolina throttled the same Kentucky team that nearly beat Georgia makes the whole SEC picture that much more interesting — especially where the Gamecocks are concerned.
5. No one may be on a hotter seat than Billy Napier
At this point, it feels like we enter every week asking the question of if Napier will have a job anymore by the time the next game on the Florida schedule rolls around. Saturday’s game against Texas A&M was deemed a must-win for Napier’s future with the team, but the team only continued to struggle in the 33-20 fall to the Aggies.
There are no excuses for Napier after signing one of the top recruiting classes in the nation and with the standard Florida football has been held to historically as one of the nation’s most dominant football programs. He’s won just one game in his past eight.
Crissy Froyd covers college football for Sportsnaut.com. Follow on X @crissy_froyd