College football takeaways, Week 3: Alabama, Oklahoma, Clemson, Ohio State show vulnerabilities

After a slew of upsets to start the season and some near-upsets, is there a clear-cut superteam in college football this year?

The start of the 2021 season looked a lot like the 2020 season and several before with the Alabama Crimson Tide seemingly on a path toward another national championship. The Crimson Tide may still win it all this year, and certainly will at least make the College Football Playoff, but the notion that they are the runaway favorites may not be the case after a close call vs. Florida.

You know things are going well when a two-point win at Florida is cause for concern, but Alabama showed some cracks in their invincibility cloak. The defense was gashed by a Florida offense that entered the game with a quarterback controversy. Gators fans wanted Emory Jones benched for Anthony Richardson but with the latter out with an injury, Jones played the best game of his career.

Of course, it wasn’t enough to beat Alabama, but if the Crimson Tide was vulnerable vs. a quarterback that his own fans don’t want starting, imagine what an offense like Ole Miss could do to this unit.

Nick Saban will use the 31-29 win as a teaching moment. You’ll hear a lot about rat poison this week when Saban stands behind the Coke bottle at his press conferences.

Alabama first-year starting quarterback Bryce Young didn’t hurt his Heisman bid but he didn’t extend his lead either. He did show some nice poise and composure in front of one of the largest crowds at The Swamp, but the Tide offense had to work for every one of those 31 points.

Florida was no Mercer.

Now, let’s not go crazy and think I’m selling Alabama from being a great team, but they aren’t the unstoppable force they were last year when the case can be made for them being one of the all-time great teams in college football history.

This team may win it all, but they won’t be confused for an all-timer.

And that’s the story of college football in the first month of the year.

Oklahoma was thought to be the best challenger to Alabama but they barely got past Tulane at home in Week 1 and couldn’t put away a desperate Nebraska team in Norman in Week 3.

Georgia is likely the only team that can beat Alabama and while their defense is suffocating, their offense can put you to sleep quicker than a shot of Nyquil.

Ohio State got boatraced vs. Alabama in the title game last year and may not even be the best team in the Big Ten East this year. C.J. Stroud has a lot of problems and the Buckeye defense can’t stop anyone.

Iowa has a dominant defense but their offense has bigger issues than Georgia.

Clemson looks like they wish Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne never left campus. Clemson has scored two touchdowns vs. Power Five opponents so far this year. That’s a big yikes.

Texas A&M, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Penn State, Oregon and UCLA are all nice teams but you don’t need the vision of an Air Force pilot to see the flaws with these squads.

There’s nothing wrong with this though. In fact, it’s a welcome sight for a sport that has lacked some parity in the College Football Playoff era. How many of you reading this have been sick and tired of the same teams making the playoff every year? Okay, you can all put your hands down now. I’ve been in that group too and it’s part of the reason an expanded playoff is coming in the next few years.

College football needs a little drama. It’s the best sport in the world but it’s been too predictable. There is unpredictability from week to week but when Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State are penciled in the playoff on an annual basis, it mutes the drama and suspense that can make things even more special.

Could this be the year a two-loss team makes the playoff? Perhaps.

If anything, this will be the year there will be cases to be made for a handful of teams worthy of the No. 4 spot. The season is still young but the ending is shaping up to be one of the craziest we’ve seen since the wacky and wild 2007 season that saw No. 1 teams falling like leaves in autumn.

College football power rankings

Now that I’ve made the argument that there is no superteam in college football, how do the college football power rankings shake out?

1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3. Oklahoma
4. Oregon
5. Iowa
6. Cincinnati
7. Texas A&M
8. Penn State
9. Notre Dame
10. Florida

What’s next for USC football after Clay Helton’s firing?

USC ripped off the band-aid on Tuesday afternoon with the firing of Clay Helton. It was an overdue move that will satiate the USC fanbase’s thirst for blood. It was best to fire him now than delay the inevitable because they can get started on the search for his replacement. USC isn’t a top-five job at the moment. It may not be a top-10 job today, but the right coach can make it so.

The hard part is who is the right coach and can USC identify that coach? At least they’ll have two-plus months to study the field. Throughout that time, you’ll hear coaches like Penn State’s James Franklin say he doesn’t want there to be any distractions while he doesn’t outright refuse to say he’s interested in the job.

For the record, I am interested in the job and it will not be a distraction.

So where does USC go?

It won’t be Urban Meyer and it won’t be Bob Stoops.

Mario Cristobal won’t be leaving Oregon for USC.

P.J. Fleck would love to get a chance and he’d likely be a good choice, but he’s not the best choice.

Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell bombed in his one year at Ohio State when he inherited a mess from Jim Tressel, but he’s been sensational at Cincinnati. Is he ready for the jump?

He’s the smart money pick considering Mike Bohn hired him at Cincinnati. Now that he’s at USC, there could be a reunion.

USC should shoot higher and see if Matt Rhule would leave the Carolina Panthers for a return to the college game where he resurrected Baylor and Temple. I doubt he’d be the type of hire that would have USC football fans ready to have a parade but they didn’t do that when Pete Carroll was hired either.

Early eye on Week 4

The best game of Week 4 is Notre Dame and Wisconsin playing at Soldier Field in Chicago. College GameDay will be there for the FOX broadcast. The only other matchup of ranked teams will be between Texas A&M and Arkansas. If Arkansas can back up their win over Texas with a win over the Aggies, Sam Pittman is going to be able to raid the state of some recruits to come to play for the Hogs.

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