The third week of the 2015 NCAA football season has come and gone, but there were quite a few surprises and exciting moments in it. There were a few different upsets throughout the day and quite a few players and teams disappointed and jubilant following their games.
Looking back on yesterday’s action, who are the top five winners and losers from this week of college football?
Judging a winner and loser is different for everyone and there will be quite a few differing ideas of who these teams and players should be. This week has set the stage for an even more intriguing Week 4, although quite a few teams dropped out of the college football playoff race with their performances. That being said, let’s get down to business and see who the winners and losers for Week 3 are.
Loser: Dalvin Cook, Florida State Running Back
Dalvin Cook was on our Heisman Trophy watch this past week heading into Week 3, but there isn’t much of a chance that he will remain on it. Florida State had a very rough game against Boston College and Cook ended up recording 54 yards and no touchdowns on 15 carries. He likely disappeared from the top five for the time being and definitely came up short of his expectations.
Winner: Leonard Fournette, LSU Running Back
Perhaps the best running back in the nation is LSU Tigers running back Leonard Fournette. He powered his team to a huge victory over No. 18 Auburn this afternoon and the Tigers are sure to rise in the standings from their current No. 13 spot. Fournette ended up carrying the football 19 times for 228 yards and three touchdowns yesterday and could very well top the list of Heisman hopeful candidates this week.
Loser: Jeremy Johnson, Auburn Quarterback
Jeremy Johnson has been steadily losing favor at Auburn over the past couple of weeks and didn’t do anything to help his cause this week. He completed 11 of his 19 passing attempts for 100 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while also totaling 41 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The numbers may not look awful, but he still failed to show why the Tigers should stick with him at quarterback.
Winner: Nick Chubb, Georgia Running Back
Another star running back in the nation is Georgia’s Nick Chubb, who padded his Heisman stats with a big performance against South Carolina this week. He carried the football 21 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon for the Bulldogs in a big 52-20 blowout victory. Chubb is going to be a player to watch throughout the rest of the season as a Heisman candidate and could very well end up winning the award.
Loser: Ohio State Buckeyes
Coming into this week, the Ohio State Buckeyes were expected to blow out Northern Illinois and easily improve to 3-0 on the young season. Urban Meyer’s football team was able to improve to 3-0, but defeated their opponents just 20-13. It was an ugly game that exposed quite a few holes in the Buckeyes and there are major concerns moving forward.
Winner: Ole Miss Rebels and Hugh Freeze
The No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels came into last night with high hopes of knocking off the No. 2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide and taking a huge step forward towards the college football playoff. Hugh Freeze has to be proud of the way that his team played this past week and the expectations are high moving forward. Don’t be surprised to see Ole Miss use this win as a springboard and begin playing much better football.
Loser: Missouri Tigers
Missouri was ranked No. 22 and faced off against the UConn Huskies yesterday afternoon. They came through with a very disappointing performance and came away with a 9-6 victory. Winning the game was good news for the Tigers, but there are still major concerns about why they struggled so much offensively at their home stadium.
Winner: Trevone Boykin, TCU Quarterback
Trevone Boykin is one of the top quarterbacks in the nation and TCU pulled out a huge 56-37 win over SMU. He completed 21 of his 30 passing attempts for 454 yards, five touchdowns and an interception, while also picking up 50 yards and another touchdown on the ground. After falling out of top contention for the Heisman last week, he is right back in the race with this type of a performance.
Loser: Alabama Crimson Tide
Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have to be very disappointed about their performance last night against Ole Miss. They were a turnover machine and will fall from the No. 2 ranking that they came into Week 3 with. It will be difficult for them to work their way back up in the rankings, but there is no question that if any team can make the leap it would be the Crimson Tide.
Winner: C.J. Prosise, Notre Dame Running Back
After seeing star quarterback Malik Zaire go down with a season ending broken ankle last week, Notre Dame faced a very tough No. 16 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets squad this week. Running back C.J. Prosise came through with a massive performance to carry the Fighting Irish offense with 198 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries. It was an impressive game and it will be interesting to see whether or not he can keep that type of performance up.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
