Appreciating College Football's Week 3 Season-Ruiners
The true value of an upset often goes unappreciated. A team, typically ranked, inexplicably loses to another squad perceived to be inferior in some form, and thus the unexpected knocks on our front door without warning.
While assessing how such carnage was created, we rarely appreciate those who lift the hammer. Instead, we put the emphasis on how [insert much more quality team here] came undone in a game that it had no business coming undone. Credit is lost along the way.
Not this time, though. Not in a week that was given the pinata treatment over the course of six days for lacking interest and quality matchups. Heading into Saturday, Week 3 was more about what it wasn’t rather than what it was.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
It was supposed to be lackluster. It was supposed to follow the instructions handed out prior to kickoff. Then the destruction came, and teams—quality teams—began dropping like flies. And, adding to the intrigue, the destruction came from a wide variety of underdogs, from hopeless ACC bottom-feeders to power programs left for dead.
Week 3 did not follow the syllabus.
For those of us tuning in, it made for delightful entertainment. For those being torn to pieces without warning, the emotions were far different. But this isn’t about those who came up short; this is, for once, about the teams that poured gasoline on our plans when we least expected it.
Virginia
The Cavaliers' wreckage nearly came a few weeks ago, when Virginia had UCLA backed in a corner in Week 1. Three defensive scores for the Bruins changed this plan, however, and Virginia had to settle for a spirited showing rather than a monumental victory.
Against Louisville in Week 3, however, that all changed. Mike London’s team upset the No. 21-ranked Cardinals 23-21 thanks to solid defense, which seems to be the formula for this team at home.
Virginia limited Louisville to just 282 yards overall and forced four turnovers. The offense wasn’t all that productive, but it didn’t have to be. Not Saturday, at least. And that’s all that matters.
As we try to sort through the hierarchy of the ACC after Florida State and Clemson, Virginia helped make a cluttered picture slightly more complicated. It wasn’t pretty, but it was good enough. Style points don't matter here.
East Carolina
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, the scenario for an upset in the East Carolina vs. Virginia Tech matchup met all the criteria, mainly the possibility of a letdown following an enormous road victory for the ranked team in Week 2.
The Hokies checked in at No. 17 in the AP poll following their victory at Ohio State last week, although this stay was short-lived thanks to the Pirates’ 28-21 win. (It actually could have been much more lopsided, too.)
ECU had chances—lots and lots of chances—but it could not put Virginia Tech away after jumping out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
Offensive miscues and special teams woes made this a game for much longer than it looked like it would be. In the end, however, the Pirates finished with 502 yards of offense against one of the nation’s best defenses, in one of the tougher football environments.
After a game effort at South Carolina in Week 2, East Carolina did one better Saturday.
South Carolina
South Carolina, at least in recent years, is not a program many would classify as a "spoiler." Under Steve Spurrier, the program has developed into a staple SEC East contender. The "good story" moments are long gone, although this was a slightly different situation.
After being manhandled by Texas A&M at home in Week 1—and looking better but still shaky at times against ECU—it was assumed that Georgia and Todd Gurley would run right over the Gamecocks in a building that has not been kind to Georgia over the past few decades. That was not to be.
South Carolina took down a team many were tossing into College Football Playoff projections with a late 4th-and-inches conversion that prompted this magnificent Spurrier reaction:
For the Gamecocks, this upset means much more than some of the other teams mentioned here. For starters, it puts them back in the thick of the SEC East, which didn’t seem feasible 48 hours ago. It plugged holes—even if some still exist—and it also proved that the Ol’ Ball Coach is still capable of magic every now and then.
Boston College
If I told you going into the USC vs. Boston College game that one team would run for 452 yards and the other team would run for just 20 yards—better known as two first downs—you probably would have understood and accepted the outcome.
The difference, however, is that you wouldn’t have anticipated Boston College would be on the positive side. Well, surprise! This was, without question, the biggest upset of the weekend and the most significant one of the young season.
Yes, USC just came off a physical win over Stanford and had to take a long plane ride. But don’t let that serve as an excuse as to why Boston College dominated the No. 9 team in the country from the start and finished with a 37-31 win.
USC linebacker Hayes Pullard summed it up perfectly:
"#USC linebacker Hayes Pullard: ``They had the stadium and the emotion. We got hit in the mouth early.''
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) September 14, 2014"
Eagles quarterback back Tyler Murphy ran for 191 yards against one of the best defenses in the Pac-12, and BC averaged 8.4 yards per carry for the game. Perhaps more jarring than what Boston College was able to do was that it pulled off the upset by completing just five passes on 14 attempts for 54 yards.
This was a blueprint for how you draw up an upset against a top-10 team: Run the ball, stop the other team from running it, take advantage of your home environment and see what happens.
In the instance of USC—along with three more ranked teams that took a tumble—Week 3 brought a season-altering loss that no one expected for a variety of reasons. The ranked teams that fell will undoubtedly have better days, perhaps as early as next week.
But for the teams that did the upsetting, particularly the ones that are often left out of the national conversation, this Saturday was all about them seizing the moment and making the most of it.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
