College football Week 3 overreactions: Texas won’t reach double-digit wins, put Vandy in CFP conversation

Dabo Swinney’s dynasty at Clemson has been on life support for some time now. The Tigers spiked a bit last season when they won the ACC again and returned to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020. 

Turns out 2024 was just a blip on the radar. It might be the closest that Clemson gets to a national title for the remainder of Swinney’s tenure. 

Clemson dropped to 1-2 and hit a new low amid an abysmal start to the 2025 season by losing 24-21 to unranked Georgia Tech Saturday. It was the Tigers’ eighth loss against a ranked opponent since 2021. Clemson lost just twice to opponents outside the top 25 from 2012-20. 

It’s a far cry from the Clemson program that could hardly fathom two losses at all — let alone in the regular season — while it ran the ACC and hovered around the top of the sport from 2015-20. If Clemson’s not going to make any noise this year, when it started as a preseason top-5 team and boasts one of the most experienced rosters in the sport, it’s hard to see the Tigers making further improvements under Swinney. 

Clemson is much closer to mediocrity than it is to championship glory these days. 

The Tigers weren’t the only high-profile program to struggle during a chaotic Week 3 slate. 

Texas won’t reach double-digit wins

It naturally follows that Texas will not make the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns have some serious issues, almost all of which are on the offensive side of the ball. The most pressing cause for concern is the fact that ballyhooed quarterback Arch Manning is not panning out. 

He’s shown flashes of living up to his hallowed last name, but his play-to-play consistency is severely lacking and some of his decisions are entirely questionable. Accuracy is a particular struggled for Manning. His 11-of-25 passing performance in Saturday’s sleepy win against UTEP marked the second time this season that he completed less than 60% of his passes. He also has yet to log at least 20 completions in a single game. 

It doesn’t all fall on Manning. Texas’ wide receivers have been virtually non-existent through three games outside of a handful of plays from Parker Livingstone and the offensive line could barely get any push against a UTEP defensive front that should have been entirely overmatched. 

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Shehan Jeyarajah

The offense is rotten to the core this season, and if it can’t impress against UTEP, it’s hard to believe it will find its footing as SEC play begins. The Longhorns have three currently ranked teams left on the schedule, and that’s not counting a Vanderbilt team that will almost certainly climb into the AP Top 25 poll Sunday. They’ve also got road tests against Florida — a tough environment regardless of how bad the Gators are — and a Mississippi State squad that already has one top-12 win under its belt. This is shaping up to be a bitterly disappointing season in Austin. 

Dante Moore is QB1

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore wasn’t on anybody’s NFL Draft radar entering the 2025 season. His lone year as a part-time starter during his true freshman season at UCLA in 2023 left a lot to be desired, and few knew what to expect when he took control of the Ducks’ offense. 

He looks like the best draft-eligible quarterback in college football through the first few weeks of the year. Oregon’s light early season schedule has allowed Moore to ease into his new role. He had an efficient 16-completion performance in the Ducks’ Week 3 win against Northwestern and, though he did throw his first interception of the season while trying to force the ball downfield, he displayed his strong arm by throwing for 178 yards. 

He averaged just under nine yards per attempt. He’s got the ability to layer the ball to every level of the field. He’s also taken tremendous strides as a decision maker — Northwestern interception aside. He knows when to put touch on a ball and when to rope it to a receiver. 

Expect Moore’s name to continue climbing draft boards all the way to No. 1 pick territory as Oregon navigates a manageable schedule. 

Vanderbilt belongs in the CFP conversation 

Vanderbilt has gone on the road in night games and won its last two games against Power Four competition by a combined score of 75-27. That alone is an impressive stat without even considering the fact that Vanderbilt’s Week 3 win came against No. 11 South Carolina. 

This is the first time that the Commodores have opened a season with three straight wins of at least 20 points since 1930. Saturday also marked their first road win against an AP-ranked team 2007 and it snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Gamecocks. 

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Brad Crawford

Quarterback Diego Pavia is delivering on his bold offseason promises. The defense has played up to a higher level, as well. The Commodores effectively nullified South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers‘ rushing ability and held him to just 94 yards through the air with one interception before he exited late in the first half with an apparent head injury. 

Vanderbilt has a tough road ahead. The Commodores play six ranked teams in their final seven games. But there’s a good chance that they’re 5-0 headed into a massive road trip against No. 19 Alabama on Oct. 4, and we all remember how that game went last year. The sky is the limit for Clark Lea’s ‘Dores right now. 

Wisconsin needs to move on 

It’s pretty clear that Luke Fickell just isn’t going to work at Wisconsin. Truth be told, it’s been that way for a while, but Saturday’s 38-14 loss to Alabama served as a stark reminder of the yawning gap between the Badgers and capable college football programs. 

Fickell dropped to 0-7 against ranked opponents and his overall record declined to a paltry 15-14 over his four years in Madison. Those aren’t the results that you would expect from someone that makes more money than Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham. 

Fickell’s buyout is the only good reason not to fire him at this point. The Badgers would owe him $25 million if they make a move before December, which would be the highest buyout in Big Ten history. Sometimes a program just has to bite — or buy — the bullet, especially since it’s clear that Wisconsin is going nowhere fast with Fickell leading the feckless charge. 

Making an early move would allow Wisconsin to spend an entire season evaluating its options and, hopefully, getting the hire right this time.