Winner: Missouri’s “Thiccer Kicker”
Another college football week, another upset. Through three weeks, many underdog programs have shined whenever the light was brightest, such as Colorado and Duke upsetting then top-20 teams in TCU and Clemson. Add the Missouri Tigers to the list.
In a showdown against No. 15 Kansas State, the Tigers were only given a 22% chance of winning. However, they flipped the script and turned it into a shootout, trading blows with the Wildcats that led to a 27-27 tie with five minutes to go.
Then, the impossible happened.
With three seconds left, 61 yards to go and anxious Missouri fans ready to explode, senior Tiger kicker Harrison Mevis, aka “Thiccer Kicker,”did the damn thing. He aimed high and true and knocked down the longest field goal in Southeastern Conference history.
Mevis had a bit of a redemption arc, as he had missed a game-winner last season against Auburn, but with a new record under his belt, all is forgiven. With a nickname like “Thiccer Kicker,” you’ve got to make history.
Loser: Alabama’s QB Dilemma
Oh, how have the mighty have fallen. Or at least, they’re about to.
No. 10 Alabama went into South Florida heavily favored and found itself in a rugged dogfight. The Crimson Tide struggled to put up points on the board until the fourth quarter, with all problems stemming from their quarterback room. With the departure of Bryce Young to the NFL, coach Nick Saban has had no replacement for Young’s production yet.
The replacement was supposed to be sophomore Jalen Milroe, but after a two-interception performance in an upset loss to Texas, Saban benched him in favor of sophomore Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner. However, after a slow start of 34 yards and a 35.7% completion rate, Saban had seen enough and benched him for freshman Ty Simpson. Simpson fared a bit better with 73 yards, but a total of 107 passing yards is not a recipe for success. Within a span of two weeks, three quarterbacks have played meaningful minutes and there’s no real answer for the Tide.
Winner: Eli Drinkwitz
In December of 2019, Missouri moved on from Barry Odom at the head coaching position to Eli Drinkwitz. Since then, the Tigers have qualified for a bowl every year, landed the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2022 composite rankings in Luther Burden and currently hold a commitment from the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2024 class, Williams Nwaneri.
This past Saturday, Missouri picked up its biggest win to date in the Drinkwitz era, knocking off No. 15 Kansas State on a last-second field goal. Not only did this game mean a lot to Missouri fans, it meant a lot to the Tigers’ recruiting pitch.
The Tigers are now 3-0 to start the season and are now in good shape to have the best season to date under Drinkwitz. This game on Saturday was a crucial win and one that will keep the recruiting momentum in Columbia, Missouri churning.
Loser: Matt Campbell
It has not been a good past couple of months for Iowa State and its head coach, Matt Campbell. Before the season began, the Cyclones had multiple players caught up in a sports betting scandal, including starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers.
On top of that, the play on the field for Iowa State has not been good. The Cyclones went 4-8 last season and 1-8 in the Big 12, leading to some disappointment from their fans. Unfortunately for them, Campbell does not look like he’s ready to right the ship.
Iowa State lost 10-7 this past week to Ohio after dropping last week’s matchup against rival Iowa. Cyclone fans are not happy, and it doesn’t appear Campbell is very happy either.
Winner: Jayden Daniels
It seems like LSU’s early season woes are fading, with the rising confidence of senior quarterback Jayden Daniels leading them to a statement 41-14 win over Mississippi State this past Saturday.
In the disappointing Week 1 blowout loss to No. 8 Florida State, Daniels struggled to find a rhythm with his receivers, where he completed just 22 of his 37 attempts and threw one interception.
Daniels put on a show in Starkville, Mississippi, totaling four touchdowns for 425 all-purpose yards, two through the air and another two on the ground, while also breaking the completion percentage record for LSU quarterbacks at 88.2%.
The Tigers improved to 2-1 after the victory and return home next week to face Arkansas, who is looking for redemption after falling to unranked BYU by a touchdown.
Loser: Colorado’s Offensive Line
While Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes are still crushing analysts’ early-season predictions, all is far from perfect in the Rocky Mountains. Despite the impressive showing from junior quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the double-overtime win against rival Colorado State, the Colorado offensive line wasn’t dominant in the slightest and couldn’t establish a consistent run game against a defense that ranked outside the top 100 in the nation.
Colorado State churned out four sacks and held the run game to 70 yards, albeit with some personal fouls and a targeting call. Many Buffalo fans believed the late hit on sophomore two-way player Travis Hunter should have made it two targeting penalties, as the hit appeared more excessive than the targeting call Hunter later received against senior defensive lineman Mohamed Kamara that sent him home early.
Next, the Buffalos have a difficult two-game road stretch against No. 10 Oregon and No. 5 USC, where the outcomes will be the determining factor for the course of Deion’s first year as head coach.