College Football 2011: Things We Learned in Week 3

Now that we are in the third week of the college football season we get a clearer picture of what to expect and what not to expect from certain teams around the country.

There have been some surprises to date and we are starting to get the separation between the real contenders and the pretenders.

Here's what Week 3 has shown us so far.

Brian Kelly Made the Wrong Choice

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly had a quarterback battle on his hands before the season began. Throughout camp, he watched both Dane Christ and Tommy Rees battle it out, not making a decision on a starter until the Saturday of the first game.

Kelly clearly made the wrong choice.

Christ didn't last an entire game as the Irish starter as Rees replaced him against South Florida and hasn't looked back since.

Rees was outstanding in Notre Dame's loss at Michigan last week and didn't play badly this week against Michigan State as the Fighting Irish finally found a way into the win column with a 31-13 win over No. 15 Michigan State.

While his numbers didn't exactly jump off the page this week, Rees shows more control of the offense and better all-around decision making.

He's a guy that has a chance to rally Notre Dame the rest of the way and still make something out of the 2011 season.

Rees should have a field day next week as Notre Dame travels to Pittsburgh, where the Panthers boast one of the worst secondaries in the nation, allowing over 300 passing yards per game on the young season.

The Auburn Defense Is Not Very Good

Clemson ran over the defending champs this afternoon, racking up 619 yards of total offense in a 38-24 win over Auburn.

While the Auburn offense has done a decent job after so many key players departed from last season's team, the defense is not coming along as fast.

They've given up 121 points in three games, somehow winning two of them. Even more disturbing if you are an Auburn fan is the 1598 total yards they have allowed through three weeks.

That's an average of 533 yards allowed and 40 points per game. That's not going to get it done.

What we've learned is that the Auburn offense is going to have to score a whole lot of points to win football games.

The Vols Aren't Ready for Primetime

Having Tennessee as a factor in the SEC is a good thing not only for the conference but for college football in general.

That time may come again soon but this isn't likely the year.

Everyone got excited a week after the Vols pounded Cincinnati, but this week it was reality check time for Tennessee.

Now, they shouldn't be written off after the loss. Florida is a good team and The Swamp is a difficult place to play, but the Vols may still be a year or so away from contending in the SEC.

It's Never Easy for the Old Ball Coach

It's a good thing Steve Spurrier and South Carolina have Marcus Lattimore or the Gamecocks certainly wouldn't be a 3-0 football team.

Lattimore carried 37 times and averaged 6.6 yards a carry. The Gamecocks ran 37 plays in the second half, and the sophomore touched the ball on 26 of them.

Quarterback Stephen Garcia again had an off night, but the old ball coach kept feeding his horse and the Gamecocks narrowly avoided the upset against Navy.

In the process, Lattimore may have vaulted to the top of the Heisman Trophy list.

The Garrett Gilbert Era Is Oficcially over

Mack Brown and Longhorns fans have had enough of Garrett Gilbert as the Texas starting quarterback and now it looks like he won't get another chance to frustrate them any longer.

Backups Case McCoy and David Ash led Texas back in the second half last week to beat BYU and the duo combined to lead Texas to a big win over UCLA this week.

McCoy got the most snaps on Saturday and did a solid job, throwing for 167 yards and a pair of scores, while Ash completed all four of his pass attempts helping the Longhorns to a big win.

The Longhorns racked up nearly 500 total yards of offense and for  team that wants to run the ball, (gaining 285 yards on the ground on Saturday) Brown just needs his quarterback to move the chains and not turn the football over.

Russell Wilson Is the Badgers Missing Piece

The Badgers have always been a team that's close, but this year they really could be on the verge of something big.

Here's a Wisconsin team that has always been able to run the football and get it done on the defensive side of the ball.

Yet they were missing one thing, and they may have found it in quarterback Russell Wilson.

Wilson has turned out to be the dynamic playmaker on the offensive side of the ball that the Badgers truly needed.

He's having another big day for the Badgers with over 300 yards in the air and a nice chunk on the ground.

He's able to make plays with both his arm and his legs and has the arm to stretch the field.

His stats are good as he's vaulted himself into the Heisman Trophy race, but perhaps the best number he has at the moment is that he hasn't thrown an interception on the season.

Penn State Is Not a Good Football Team

No wonder the television crews show Joe Paterno in the press box so often. It's better than having to show the team.

After a season-opening win against an undermanned Indiana State team, all the Nittany Lions have shown is that they were outclassed by Alabama and could barely survive Temple.

The Owls aren't really a slouch, having been to bowl games the past couple of seasons, but they are still a team that Penn State should beat handily.

They say when you have two quarterbacks you really don't have one, and that's evident with the Nittany Lions whose offense isn't doing much, and it all starts with the play of Matt McGloin, who was very efficient, and Rob Bolden, who was not.

It's about time that Paterno makes a call on settling with one quarterback and seeing if he can get the Nittany Lions offense in gear.

Dana Holgorsen and WVU Are Dangerous

The offensive genius that is Dana Holgorsen is starting to rub off on the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Holgorsen hasn't found a way to get the Mountaineers going early in games until today, but that wasn't a problem against Maryland.

The Mountaineers started fast behind a career day from quarterback Geno Smith, then struggled to hold on for the victory.

If WVU could figure out how to put together two good halves of football in one game, they could be a very dangerous team for the rest of the season.

Despite not showing up for pretty much an entire half in each of their games, the Mountaineers are averaging 42-points per contest.

Pitt's Pass Defense Could Be One of the Worst in the Country

What happened to the Pitt pass defense?

While not to be confused with a title contender, the Panthers did have at least a decent secondary with mostly all returning starters.

They were a team who ranked near the top in the nation in forcing turnovers the past couple of seasons, but none of that is evident under new head coach Todd Graham.

The Pitt secondary was torched by Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg who threw for 399 yards and three touchdowns in the Hawkeyes comeback 31-27 victory over Pitt.

Pitt led this one 27-3 at one point and once Vandenberg had to start throwing a lot, the Panthers made it relatively easy on him.

To date, Pitt has allowed 1029 passing yards in three games, two of which were against Maine and Buffalo.