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Three-Point Stance: Worst P5 league; surprise unbeatens; overreactions

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here with thoughts on the horrible ACC, some surprise 3-0 teams and some random overreactions after three weeks of the college football season.

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1. After Clemson, the ACC is a disaster

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The Citadel beat Georgia Tech on Saturday.
The Citadel beat Georgia Tech on Saturday. (AP)

A few weeks ago, I talked about how I felt the SEC was overrated as a conference and a few things still make me think that to be true. It’s a top heavy conference with only a few real teams – Alabama, Georgia and LSU (no I don’t believe in Florida yet) – and the rest of the conference loaded with mediocrity.

But the SEC is a Ferrari when compared to the clunker that is the ACC. Here’s a good question for you – who is the second-best team in the ACC behind Clemson? I guess the easy answer is Virginia at 3-0 overall, but their wins are over William & Mary and two horrible ACC teams in Pitt and Florida State.

Miami is 0-2 and look like a disaster, North Carolina was showing promise but lost to Wake Forest and other teams expected to be pretty good this season like Boston College and Syracuse are coming off some really bad beats.

And the bottom of the conference is awful as well with Georgia Tech losing to Citadel, Virginia Tech’s team giving up on Justin Fuente and Louisville being far from a good team.

Clemson could very well win the national title again, but what other team will even have a good victory the rest of the season? The ACC is 2-7 out of conference already and there’s no way teams like Virginia and Wake Forest will stay undefeated.

It’s clear the ACC is the worst of the Power Five conferences from top to bottom and that’s saying something when you consider how bad the Pac-12 is. Recruiting will be effected as well soon enough as the conference continues to struggle as the teams that can recruit on a national level (aside from Clemson) like Miami and Florida State continue to struggle. If you think Clemson is already so much better than the rest of the conference, it could be scary how big the gap is in a few years.

2. Giving love to some surprising 3-0 teams

Skylar Thompson has Kansas State at 3-0.
Skylar Thompson has Kansas State at 3-0. (AP)

OK, let’s move onto some positivity, shall we? How about some teams that are 3-0 that are a bit of a surprise this season…

Wake Forest – Wake hasn’t really beaten anyone, but the UNC win could be considered a solid win since the Heels were undefeated heading into the non-conference battle (don’t get me started on that). A lot of people expected UNC to be the 3-0 team coming out of that game.

Kansas State – The Wildcats haven’t beaten a who’s who of talent either, but a win at Mississippi State was unexpected and impressive. Chris Klieman has done a good job so far.

Oklahoma State – Texas s next up on the schedule, so one being undefeated will end soon enough, but Mike Gundy continues to show what a good coach he is. Yes they’ve beaten no one – Oregon State, McNeese and Tulsa – but with a new quarterback and some key losses from last year, the Cowboys are still off to a good start.

Minnesota – OK, it’s been an ugly road to 3-0 against some bad teams, but undefeated is undefeated and P.J. Fleck will take it. Purdue, one of this season’s most disappointing teams, is next on the schedule followed by Illinois, so could Minnesota be 5-0? It could happen.

Iowa – I’m putting Iowa on here not because it’s a surprise that they are undefeated but because they actually had to play a real opponent to get there. Miami (Ohio) and Rutgers were easy but beating Iowa State is a big deal as the Cyclones are a very good football team. The game at Michigan on Oct. 5 is going to be a good one.

Cal – How about the Bears? The upset win at Washington is a big deal and was very unexpected and Cal is now one of six Pac-12 teams ranked in the top 25. Justin Wilcox has some things rolling right now.

Arizona State – How about everyone apologize to Herm Edwards as I have been doing? I made fun of this hire when it happened because Edwards had been so far removed from college football, but he’s now 3-0 with a big win at Michigan State and has his team in the top 25. Take that haters.

Auburn – Some expected a loss to Oregon to start the season, especially with a true freshman quarterback, but Gus has the bus rolling as they hit the SEC schedule.

LSU – Why are the Tigers on here? Texas is no joke as an opponent and a win on the road against a Top 10 program is impressive and surprising to some who question Ed Orgeron. I could be apologizing to him like I am to Edwards very soon as LSU looks to be one of six teams that can win the national title this year.

3. Which of these overreactions are ... overreactions?

Najee Harris had 123 total yards and two touchdowns against South Carolina.
Najee Harris had 123 total yards and two touchdowns against South Carolina. (AP)

Here are some Tuesday overreactions after another great week of college football….

Trevor Lawrence was overrated heading into the season – DISAGREE – Lawrence hasn’t lit the world on fire when it comes to numbers but the Clemson quarterback is still the most talented QB in college football and shows it on a weekly basis even when making mistakes. The numbers will improve as the season wears on.

Kentucky offensive coordinator Eddie Gran blew the game against Florida – AGREE – The first half was a thing of beauty as Gran called a great half and had Kentucky rolling. But he turned conservative in the second half and became very predictable, allowing Florida to come back and win a game they had no business winning with a backup quarterback. Gran and the offense gave the game away, although the defense didn’t help.

Najee Harris is ready to break out – AGREE –Harris, who was a No. 1 overall recruit like Lawrence, had a huge game running and catching the ball against South Carolina and it could be his breakout performance. Alabama doesn’t feed one back like they did for Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry in their Heisman years, but Harris will start to emerge as one of the top three or four most talented running backs in the country.

Stanford is heading towards a disastrous season – AGREE – The talent is there but they’ve lost to a freshman quarterback against USC and were dominated by UCF. Left tackle Walker Little is done for the year and he’s arguably their best player and the defense looks bad. David Shaw is not in any kind of trouble or on any hot seat, but this won’t be a pretty year for the Cardinal and recruiting could take a hit.

Pat Narduzzi is an awful coach – DISAGREE – Yes he screwed up against Penn State by attempting a field goal down 17-10 on fourth and goal from the 1-yard-line with under five minutes left, but let’s not confuse things. This is a coach who led his team to the ACC divisional title last year and he knows his stuff. The fact that the field goal was missed makes his decision making look awful, but let’s not overreact here.

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