Week 3 College Football Risers and Fallers: NCAAF Stock Watch

Week 3 of college football turned out to be a lot more fun than anticipated, as many glazed over the slate while looking ahead at Week 4’s loaded matchups that could generate some all-time great games. The noon games started with a 61-yard field goal bomb to give Missouri a huge win over Kansas State, Florida State narrowly defeating a major upset in Boston, and Penn State looking the part of a top-five team in the nation.

The day continued on as two traditional SEC powerhouses, Alabama and Georgia, struggled to get moving and squeaked by against USF and South Carolina, respectively. Drake Maye looked the part against a loaded Minnesota defense, Brian Ferentz ran the score up on Western Michigan, and Ohio State finally steamrolled an opponent.

Michael Penix Jr. and the Washington Huskies continued their high-flying start to the season, Florida dismantled a ranked Tennessee team, Oklahoma State fell apart against South Alabama, and of course, Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes had an amazing late-night come-from-behind win over Colorado State. Who’s on the rise, and what stock is falling heading into Week 4?

Stock Up

Ryan Day, Ohio State

Despite having a 48-6 career record, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has been placed on the hot seat by Buckeye fans after losing back-to-back games to Michigan. With OSU not blowing out lesser opponents through the first two weeks of the season to the degree that they typically do, fans started to talk.

Day listened. He was fiery on Saturday against Western Kentucky, opting to go for it on fourth down on the opening drive and continuing to run the score up all the way to a 63-10 final. The Buckeyes are back, and Day’s squad looked like a team that could go into South Bend next Saturday night and escape with a victory.

Manny Diaz, Penn State

Much of the hype around Penn State throughout the first two weeks was centered around their young quarterback Drew Allar, but it was the defense that carried them on Saturday against Illinois with five takeaways. Manny Diaz is resurging his career after flopping as the head coach at Miami, and the Nittany Lions appear to have a complete team with very minimal holes.

They take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday night in Happy Valley in what should be a defensive battle, although maybe not as defensive as their 2004 matchup.

Iowa and Penn State play a football game (2004) pic.twitter.com/FSDPZUP0KU

— crazy ass moments in college football history (@CFBCrazyMoments) July 30, 2022

Missouri Tigers

How about those Missouri Tigers?! Missouri has not had a winning season since 2018 when they went 8-5, but that very well could change this year after knocking off the defending Big 12 champs with an electric 61-yard field goal at the end of regulation.

61 YARD GAME WINNING FIELD GOAL FOR MISSOURI!!!!!

pic.twitter.com/pmndIG6IjS

— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 16, 2023

Quarterback Brady Cook is throwing to a very talented receiving corps headlined by Luther Burden, a former five-star recruit, and transfers Theo Wease and Mookie Cooper. The Tigers played Georgia down to the wire last season - could they compete again when they go to Athens on November 4th?

Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington

Michael Penix Jr. repeated last season’s performance against Michigan State on Saturday, throwing for 473 yards and four touchdowns. His receiving trio of Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan, and Ja’Lynn Polk is one of the best if not the best in the nation, and Penix may have cemented himself as the Heisman favorite with his incredible performance on Saturday.

Washington eases into Pac-12 play with California and Arizona over the next two weeks and then gets a bye before a huge matchup against Oregon. This is the deepest conference in college football - can Penix and the Huskies keep the stock rising?

Malik Nabers, WR, LSU

LSU receiver Malik Nabers had a shaky start to his season against Florida State, but put aside any doubts about his ability with his elite performance on Saturday in LSU’s blowout win over Mississippi State.

Malik Nabers is having an insane first half for LSU! 🔥

10 receptions
188 yards
2 TDs

Once again it’s still the 1st half 🤯

pic.twitter.com/plUNPfFOMW

— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) September 16, 2023

Nabers had 10 receptions for 188 yards and two touchdowns at halftime, finishing the game with a ridiculous 13-239-2 line. If he continues to play the way he did on Saturday, there will be no doubts about him being a first-round draft pick come April.

Stock Down

Joe Milton, QB, Tennessee

Joe Milton and the Volunteers offense could not get much going against the Florida Gators on Saturday night, silencing the offseason hype that surrounded the 6-5 senior. 

Milton ended the game 20-34 through the air for 287 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. He added on six rushing yards, leading the team to just 16 points scored. Milton was receiving offseason hype as a potential NFL prospect due to his size and arm strength but has struggled so far this season to capitalize on his physical tools. The Vols play a hard-fighting UTSA team this week in an underrated matchup on a busy slate.

Matt Campbell, Iowa State

Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell’s stock is plummeting. While many were watching the Kansas State-Missouri thriller, Iowa State was busy losing in a MAC stadium to the Ohio Bobcats with a final score of 10-7. 

A few years ago Matt Campbell could have had almost any open job in college football, with tens of millions in guaranteed money.

Now he’s trying to fight guys in the parking lot… #IowaState

pic.twitter.com/MtwpivyHMY

— Friend of the Program (@TheFOTP) September 16, 2023

While the Cyclones program took a hit losing starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers and starting running back Jirehl Brock among others to gambling suspensions, losing to a MAC team is never a good look. Campbell was getting looks from some of the best jobs on the market a few seasons ago, but now his seat may be getting warm in Ames.

Michigan State Spartans

The Michigan State football program is in shambles. Coach Mel Tucker was fired amidst a harassment scandal, and just days later they got thwomped 41-7 by Washington on their home turf. This was a great Washington team, but the Spartans just got bullied in every aspect of the game.

Michigan State has announced it has begun the process of firing coach Mel Tucker for cause. pic.twitter.com/FTYpTMvDhW

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 18, 2023

Where does Michigan State go from here? Their stock is rock bottom right now and can only improve, but it may be a long rebuilding phase for the program and most definitely will be a long rest of the season.

Colorado Buffaloes

Colorado stock down? What? Didn’t Coach Prime and Shedeur just lead an insane comeback on Saturday night? Pump the breaks. Colorado was a 24-point favorite over a lesser Colorado State team, and just barely managed to squeak past. They lost star two-way player Travis Hunter in the game, and Sanders announced that Hunter will be out for three weeks.

The stock is falling with the Buffs being 20-point dogs this week on the road against the Oregon Ducks. Does Colorado go into Eugene and come out with a win, or do the Ducks trounce them and drop the stock further?

Stanford Cardinal

In one of the most overlooked games on the Week 3 slate, the Stanford Cardinal lost to Sacramento State, an FCS-level program. This is a program that was the class of the Pac 12 not too long ago, winning double-digit games in every season but one from 2010-2016. 

The mighty fall quickly, and the Cardinal are now in a similar position as Colorado was a season ago. This has been one of the worst teams at the Power 5 level over the past few seasons and very easily could be a bottom-five FBS program following a brutal FCS loss. First-year head coach Troy Taylor has his hands full trying to turn this program around.

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