This past weekend didn't have an overwhelming amount of projected quality games and ranked-on-ranked matchups.
But, hey, college football, man.
Northern Illinois stunned Notre Dame, and in the process it showed again that Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish are not remotely consistent enough, do not yet have an offensive identity in 2024 and oftentimes seem not to handle prosperity nor close out would-be victims.
Consider: In 29 games atop the Notre Dame program, Freeman has nine losses and travels this week to in-state rival Purdue. In four of Freeman's nine losses, the Irish have blown fourth-quarter leads at home.
They held fourth-quarter advantages in 2022 against both Marshall and Stanford; held a final-minute lead last year at home against Ohio State and led in the fourth quarter of Saturday's come-from-ahead, 16-14 loss to Thomas Hammock and NIU.
Kudos to Hammock & Co., that's now three wins against Power foes since 2021, all on the road. The Huskies have toppled Georgia Tech (2021), Boston College (2023) and now Notre Dame (2024).
If it seems especially gratifying for Hammock, it is; he's an NIU alum.
Elsewhere, Tennessee looks poised to not just be a College Football Playoff team but one that can go places.
"I rank teams in three tiers," FootballScoop columnist Zach Barnett says. "And I rank Tennessee as a team that looks capable of not just making the College Football Playoff, but of making noise and making a run in the Playoffs."
The Vols aren't just riding the electric arm of quarterback Nico Iamaleava or the running of Dylan Sampson; their defense is legit.
This stat perhaps best sums up Saturday's dominance in their 51-10 dismantling of Dave Doeren's North Carolina State crew: Tennessee's defense amassed 13 tackles for losses but allowed a scant 10 total first downs to the Pack.
Meanwhile, Nebraska and Matt Rhule thwarted Deion Sanders and Colorado in the Buffs' attempt to have a first-ever four-game winning streak in the border series.
Moreover, Rhule termed this game essentially over at halftime -- when Big Red led, 28-0.
He was right. Colorado still cannot protect Shedeur Sanders, and it still has no running game -- despite having added the talented Dallan Hayden out of the NCAA Transfer Portal from Ohio State.
In a pivotal year for Shane Beamer at South Carolina, he got an early-season semi-signature win Saturday at Kentucky. The Gamecocks dominated both sides of the ball, LaNorris Sellers grew in his command of the USC offense and Beamer, presumably sunglasses affixed, laughed last over Mark Stoops and Kentucky.
The Wildcats have major problems, especially as Stoops has plummeted to an 2-8 mark in his last 10 SEC home games. HOME GAMES!
But hey Koal Kats, there's good news: No. 1-ranked Georgia visits the synthetic bluegrass inside the Big Grocery Cart Saturday night at 7:30 in a nationally televised affair (ABC), and it's only been 15 years since you last won in this series.
Moreover, Georgia won last year's contest 51-13; Big Blue has scored just 52 total points combined in its last six meetings against Kirby Smart's Bulldogs.
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