Three-Point Stance: Saturday Shine and Shame, QB changes
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here with Saturday Shine and Saturday Shame from the weekend, as well as a look at teams that should make a change at quarterback.
MORE WEEK 4: College Fantasy Football in review | Sunshine State strangeness | Woody Wommack's weekly takeaways
1. SATURDAY SHINE
Here's a look at the teams, units and players that should feel good following their performance in Week 4.
Stanford – The Cardinal never gave up, fought until the end and found a way to pull a victory from the jaws of defeat. Stanford does this a lot and deserves kudos for the toughness.
Texas – Maryland, what? This is a different team of late, one playing with confidence and efficiency. The win over TCU was a huge one.
Sam Ehlinger, Texas – He’s been very solid since the Maryland loss and is starting to show the leadership at the quarterback position this team needs. It doesn’t hurt that he has some very talented receivers.
Caden Sterns, Texas – This kid is a star in the making and will go down as one of the best defensive backs in the program’s history. That’s heady stuff but just watch.
Alabama – What can you say? When your head coach is begging the media to write negative things about your team to keep them focused, you know you’re on a roll.
Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama – The Heisman leader right now? It’s a toss-up between Tagovailoa and Dwayne Haskins to me. He’s playing the game at a different level than any recent Alabama quarterback I can remember.
Mecole Hardman, Georgia – He was on my potential five-star bust list at the beginning of the season and has just scored touchdown after touchdown since. He’s one of the most dangerous wide receivers in the SEC.
Trevor Lawrence, Clemson – It’s his time as he just has so much talent for a true freshman it’s scary.
N’Kosi Perry, Miami – We’ve heard the hype for a while now and it’s good to finally see it on the field. It’s his time as well.
Ian Book, Notre Dame – A huge game passing and running the ball and playing efficient football, he’s the new man at Notre Dame for sure.
Kenneth Murray, Oklahoma – He had what seemed like 100 tackles in the tough win against Army and was all over the field.
Old Dominion – The biggest upset this year with the win over the Virginia Tech Hokies and the biggest win in program history.
Ohio State – The Buckeyes just keep rolling on, even with a new coach on the sidelines (that’s a bit of a joke, funny huh?). This looks like a simply dominant football team.
Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State – Heisman talk is becoming more and more real and there is no one more fun to watch when he throws one of those darts, dimes or whatever you want to call his laser beam passes.
Texas Tech – A huge win for Kliff Kingsbury and company over what was supposed to be a Big 12 challenger. Oklahoma State had no chance in this game.
J.J. Taylor, Arizona – He rushed for nearly 300 yards and two scores and was one of the best running backs in the country for at least a week.
Benny Snell, Kentucky – Could he be the best running back around? He doesn’t get that kind of attention but he should as he was key in the win over Mississippi State.
Rondale Moore, Purdue – I could have gone with David Blough here but Moore is such a difference maker that defenses need to scheme for him every play. And he’s just a freshman.
Michigan – After the Notre Dame loss the offense (and offensive line) looks much better, the defense is playing as expected and the Wolverines are getting things done on special teams as well.
Wisconsin – Bouncing back from a tough loss, the Badgers won in a tough place and handled a very hard-nosed Iowa team for a huge victory.
Will Grier to David Sills, West Virginia – This combination can’t be stopped it seems. Sills didn’t have a ton of yards against Kansas State, but three touchdowns is something you can’t sneeze at.
Auburn – A big rout following a tough loss to LSU, this was a key bounce back game for the Tigers.
Washington – The Huskies aren’t blowing teams away but they are doing enough to win Pac-12 games and that’s all they need to do.
Michigan State – Indiana is not a bad football team so this was a big win for the Spartans who have not looked that great this season.
Florida – A much needed offensive showing from the Gators and Feleipe Franks as they took Tennessee to the woodshed.
2. SATURDAY SHAME
Here's a look at the teams, units and players that should be feeling some heat following their performance in Week 4.
Virginia Tech – What a horrible loss and a national embarrassment. The Hokies are too proud of a program to lose to Old Dominion.
Oregon – Talk about blowing a game, Oregon had a 99-percent chance of winning before that snap sailed over Justin Herbert’s head. The Ducks had to really try to lose this one.
Oklahoma – The Black Knights play hard but they should be a 30-plus point win for a team as talented as Oklahoma, not a team that takes you into overtime.
Missouri's defense – Some say the defense wasn’t the problem but it didn’t help in the loss to Georgia as there were blown coverages and missed tackles.
Oklahoma State – What a stinker of a game. Credit Texas Tech but also shame on Oklahoma State for being flat throughout.
Boston College – Ranked for the first time in a decade, Boston College laid an egg and couldn’t get anything going against a winless Purdue team.
Nebraska – I’m not really sure what to say here. This game was a joke and could have been much worse. This could be a much longer rebuilding job than some expected.
Iowa – Undefeated and with Wisconsin reeling a bit, the Hawkeyes could have made a statement in the West against the Badgers but blew it.
Tennessee – The Vols weren’t in this game at all and the culture change needed in Knoxville is a long way away from happening it seems.
3. IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE
It’s time. It’s time for a quarterback change at three major programs. One has already happened it appears, as Ian Book is clearly the guy at Notre Dame after his performance against Wake Forest and Brandon Wimbush steps into the shadows. But now it’s time for Miami and Clemson to do the same.
Clemson? What? Why fix it if it ain’t broke right? After all, the Kelly Bryant-Trevor Lawrence two quarterback system is working well for the Tigers. My reasoning is simple: It’s clear that Lawrence is the more talented of the two quarterbacks and, as the games get tougher, his skills will be needed. No, he can’t run as well as Bryant but he does everything else better and that’s become clear. So Dabo Swinney, make the call.
As for Miami, N’Kosi Perry looked good this past weekend and the Malik Rosier era has some nice wins but he’s clearly limited as a quarterback and as a leader. It’s time for Mark Richt to make the move and start the more talented Perry to take the team to the next level. We’ve seen Rosier on the big stage and at times it’s not pretty, so it’s time for a change.
Notre Dame and Clemson are still in the national title picture and Miami is in the ACC picture at least so it’s time to make these moves before any of that changes. Kudos to Brian Kelly for making his change already, now Swinney and Richt must follow suit.