At this point in the season, we can mostly tell which teams have and have not lived up to the hype. We can tell which teams exceeded expectations, and who is nowhere near them. After this week’s slate of games, I feel confident enough to say who is meeting expectations and who is not.

Who has surpassed expectations

Kentucky

The saying “good teams find ways to win” was made for this Kentucky team (actually probably Michigan State in 2015, but Kentucky is a close second). Kentucky went on an 84 hard game winning drive against Missouri to eventually win the game 15-14 on an untimed down due to a Missouri penalty (I actually agree with the pass interference call here). Kentucky’s defense buckled down in the second half and did not allow a single first down against a solid Missouri offense. Benny Snell did not have the best day running the ball, but quarterback Terry Wilson had his best game of the season throwing the ball. Wilson completed 71% of his passes and threw for 267 yards and a game winning touchdown. Lynn Bowden had a very good day at receiver with 166 receiving yards. On defense, Josh Allen continues to be a beast as he had 11 total tackles and two sacks on the day. This team has far exceeded expectations as they sit at 7-1, and have a showdown against Georgia next week that will likely decide the SEC East.

LSU

While this may be a bit too soon with big games looming, I think LSU has at least done much better than I had anticipated. Before the season, I believed they would probably go 7-5 or 8-4 and Ed Orgeron would be fired. LSU is now 7-1 with an impressive win over Georgia under their belt. Regardless of what happens with Alabama, this team is clearly elite. Their defense is absolutely loaded, and good luck ever trying to throw the ball on them. LSU has at least one interception in every game, and two or more in four games. Their offense may not be overwhelming, but they can do enough to get wins, and take advantage of good field position when it arises. Their game against Alabama will be interesting this coming Saturday.

Washington State

After going through a bit of attrition on offense, and losing their defensive coordinator, it appeared as though Washington State was due for a 6-6 season. The Cougars currently sit at 7-1 and are on the inside track to winning the Pac 12 North. Gardner Minshew has gone from just being a stopgap at quarterback, to making big plays and winning games for Washington State. Minshew threw for 438 yards and started the second half with 19 straight completions on the way to a 41-38 win over Stanford. Minshew led a very good last two drives for Washington State, and I would be remiss if i did not bring up Jamire Calvin’s absolutely clutch grab on the final drive to keep the hopes of winning alive for the Cougars. Washington State also has five different receivers capable of making a big play at any point. Their defense may not be elite, but they will make stops when needed. This team will be dangerous for the rest of the season, and definitely can win the Pac 12.

Virginia

After a victory over North Carolina on Saturday, Virginia moves to 6-2 on the season and controls their own destiny in the ACC Coastal division. Quarterback Bryce Perkins has emerged as he accounted for all four of Virginia’s touchdowns with 217 passing yards and 112 yards on the ground as well. Olamide Zacchaeus has become a reliable offensive weapon both running the ball and as a receiver as he had 108 receiving yards against North Carolina. Their defense is very solid as well, only allowing over 30 points once in conference play. Their next game against Pittsburgh will be huge, as it likely will decide the winner of the ACC Coastal (just as everyone expected before the season).

Notre Dame

Notre Dame is sitting at 8-0 after a win over Navy on Saturday night. Ian Book at quarterback has been a revelation for Notre Dame this season. Book had an amazing performance completing 82% of his passes and had 10 yards per attempt in their last game. Dexter Williams has ran wild, as he had 142 rushing yards against Navy. The talent on their offense in unquestioned, and there is a threat of any player having a big game. Defensively, linebackers Te’Von Coney and Drue Tranquill (who’s injury looks to be minor) lead the way at linebacker, along with Julian Love at corner. Jerry Tillery and Daelin Hayes lead a very good defensive line. This team is the most battle tested team in the country. Their win over Michigan is about as good as any win any team has this season, and their wins against Stanford and at Virginia Tech are impressive as well. It is pretty likely this team finishes off the season undefeated.

Syracuse

One team that is good that nobody seems to talk about is Syracuse. After winning a 51-41 shootout over North Carolina State, Syracuse is bowl eligible for the first time since 2013. Syracuse is 6-2, and their two losses are by a combined eight points to Clemson and Pittsburgh. Eric Dungey leads the offense at quarterback, who threw for 411 yards on Saturday, and 1844 yards on the season. In the game against North Carolina State, they had four players with at least 80 yards receiving. Defensively, they stifled North Carolina State’s rushing attack, allowing just 71 rushing yards and holding the team to 2.5 yards per attempt. This team has a high powered offense that averages 43 points per game, and a defense that can get the stops it needs to. The remaining schedule is pretty tough for Syracuse, but regardless, they have exceeded expectations.

Texas

(My diehard Texas fandom will be on full display at some points here) So I will first get the bad stuff out of the way and say that Texas losing on Saturday to Oklahoma State was rough. Having three starters suspended for the first quarter for being late to a team function definitely hurt Texas’s on field performance(I stand by Tom Herman’s decision to do it though). Texas had a downright horrible first half on the defensive side of the ball, as they saw Oklahoma State quarterback Taylor Cornelius (or corndog as Mike Gundy called him) throw for 321 yards on Saturday. Receiver Tylan Wallace absolutely burned the Texas secondary with 222 receiving yards. Texas pulled it all together in the second half, but it was just too little too late. There were two downright terrible calls during this game that went against Texas. Those two calls were not calling holding on two different Oklahoma State players during Oklahoma State’s last touchdown or not calling illegal motion pre snap on Oklahoma State’s punt that drew an offsides from Texas and gave Oklahoma State a fresh set of downs. That being said, Texas was 21 points more talented than Oklahoma State and should not have been in that position to begin with. Despite this loss, Texas is 6-2, tied for first in the Big 12, and won the Red River Shootout. Before the season started (or especially after the Tulsa game) I would be pleasantly surprised with all of those things being the case after week nine. Sam Ehlinger has massively improved at running back, Texas is developing an offensive identity, and their young secondary has a bright future with Caden Sterns and BJ Foster. This loss was rough but Texas is on the right track.

Who has not lived up to expectations

Auburn

Auburn sits at 5-3 right now with the hardest part of their schedule still looming. Their season started off well with a win over Washington, and even their early loss to LSU could be overlooked. What caused concern was when they struggled to beat a 2-5 Southern Miss team, then lost to Mississippi State and Tennessee right after. Their offensive line is bad, and coupling that with their struggle to find a game breaking running back after Kerryon Johnson left (JaTarvious Whitlow probably will be in the future) and the offense has to solely rely on Jarrett Stidham, who has not performed as well as expected this season. Auburn is in danger of a 6-6 season, and has just been an all around disappointment this season.

Wisconsin

After Wisconsin lost at home to BYU, I thought that it was just a complete fluke and they would bounce back. After they lost to Michigan, I thought Michigan was just very good. With their most recent loss to Northwestern, I really can not think up any excuses for Wisconsin anymore. Without Alex Hornibrook at quarterback against Northwestern, (not that they rely on Hornibrook that much for this either) they did not trust their backup quarterback to throw the ball downfield at all, and were forced to use him more than they wanted after falling behind. Jonathan Taylor had three fumbles on just 11 carries for 46 yards in just a complete flop of a performance. Their defense has fallen off from last year as well, and can be punished by talented offenses. Wisconsin has played a fairly tough schedule in an improved Big 10 West, but it is still hard to excuse two of their three losses (I still think Michigan is very good). Luckily for Badger fans, I think this team is just in a down year, and there are better days to come. I have faith in head coach Paul Chryst.

TCU

After losing five out of their last six games, things are looking worrisome for TCU. TCU now has to win three of their last four games if they want to avoid missing a bowl for the first time since 2013. This team has had their fair share of struggles at the quarterback position, both with Shawn Robinson and now Michael Collins after Robinson was injured. This most recent loss against is just an exclamation point on a tailspin this team is on (I learned this in 2016). Their offense is struggling, having yet to score more than 27 points in a conference game. They do not really have any weapons on offense, especially after KaVontae Turpin was kicked off the team this week. This team just does not have the talent most TCU teams have had and it shows. That being said, I also think this is just a down year. I firmly believe Gary Patterson is one of the best coaches in the country and will right this ship.

Washington

At 6-3, Washington is still a good team. Their chances of winning the Pac 12, which seemed to be a formality to most before season, have grown very slim. With this most recent loss at California, Washington will need to win out the rest of the season, and hope Oregon drops another game in order to win the Pac 12 North. This loss to California saw their offense do absolutely nothing, to the extent that four year starter at quarterback, Jake Browning was benched in the third quarter. That proved to be a bad call, as his backup threw a pick six to California linebacker Evan Weaver that permanently put California in the lead. Their defense allowed six points in this game, and Washington still lost. The absence of running back Myles Gaskin was definitely felt. Washington struggled on the ground and only gained 2.7 yards per carry without Gaskin. Washington has also missed that star receiver they have had the last couple seasons like John Ross or Dante Pettis. Their defense is still elite, but they just lack the offensive firepower they have had in previous season. With all that said, this team is still good, and Chris Petersen should be trusted to keep improving them.

Florida State

After they lost 59-10 at home to Clemson, everybody had to know Florida State was going to be on here. Florida State is 4-4 on the season, and has to split their last four games against North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Boston College, and Florida to be bowl eligible (because I might not get to say this again, they should not have been last year). They were downright embarrassed by Clemson on Saturday. They played it close at first, leaving it tied 0-0 after the first quarter, but they completely collapsed after that. Clemson had five sacks on the day, and held Deondre Francois to five yards per attempt. Florida State had four rushing yards on the day with 33 rushing attempts. Their offense got cooked in every facet of the game, and were lucky to score a garbage time touchdown. They also showed a lack of discipline having three players ejected. Head coach Willie Taggart said after the game that he saw player on his team quit during the game (kind of like what Taggart did at Oregon) and I have to agree with him. I am not sure if Willie Taggart is the answer here for Florida State. This team needs a fix up, and sooner rather than later.

Miami

After their loss to LSU, that does look better now than when it happened, Miami still seemed to be on the right track. This general thought was erased after Miami has dropped their last two games to Virginia and Boston College. Against Boston College, their defense got ground up by AJ Dillon who had 149 rushing yards. Their offensive woes continue as they are yet again unsure of who to start at quarterback. While both are bad, I think they should go with N’Kosi Perry as you should always go with the younger player if both options are around equally as good. After the unfortunate, career ending injury of Ahmmon Richards, Miami has lacked any consistent playmakers on offense, and it has shown in their last two games. With a weak offense, their defense needs to be elite, and their defense is not god enough to be relied upon to be elite consistently. I think Miami is still in a better place than they were under Al Golden. I also appear to be one of the only people who believes in Mark Richt, so I think this team can turn it around.

Virginia Tech

While Virginia Tech’s 4-3 record is not horrible, the way they have been losing has been concerning. With longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster, Virginia Tech has been able to pride itself on having a good (lunch pail and blue collar as well) defense. In their three losses, they have given up 45 points to Notre Dame, and 49 points to Old Dominion and Georgia Tech. Even without quarterback Josh Jackson, Virginia Tech’s offense has been able to put up points and keep them in games. Having defensive ineptitude is a new concept for the Hokies. In their most recent loss on Saturday, Georgia Tech scored 49 points without completing a pass. Virginia Tech is also in danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since 1992. They need to split their last four games that consist of Boston College, Pittsburgh, Miami, and Virginia. While none of those games should pose a major challenge, none of them are guaranteed wins. Luckily, I think this team has a good coaching staff and is just in the middle of a down year.

Some Random Thoughts

1. West Virginia looks to be back in form with a dominant 58-14 win over Baylor. Will Grier three for 353 yards and 13 yards per attempt. This performance has me worried for when they play Texas this coming week.

2. It was a good day for Georgia schools that run the triple option as Georgia Southern beat Appalachian State 34-14, gaining the inside track to a Sun Belt East Title. This game is also a very underrated rivalry, as they rose to the Sun Belt from the FCS together. I just felt like I needed to also share that when these teams played at Appalachian State in 2003, Appalachian State got an upset win. Fans tore down the goal posts and impaled them through the door of Georgia Southern’s bus, delaying their departure. When pizzas were ordered to the Georgia Southern locker room, Appalachian State fans snatched them on the way to the locker room and stomped on them. If that is not some crazy fandom I do not know what is.

3. Minnesota’s Hail Mary in the last two minutes of the game to beat Indiana was exciting. The road to bowl eligibility is still a rough one for the Golden Gophers though.

4. Utah is leading the Pac 12 South after their win over UCLA. Unfortunately for the Utes, their dreaded November is coming, as they always seem to do poorly this month.

5. FAU has been pretty disappointing as they are now 3-5. I guess Lane Kiffin can not jump ship quite yet.

6. Wake Forest exploded on offense for a 56-35 win over Louisville. It was also cool to see Matt Colburn run for 243 yards on Louisville after they pulled his scholarship 48 hours before national signing day in 2015.

7. Texas Tech and Iowa State played a secretly exciting game. As a Texas fan, I am a bit scared to play both of these teams.

8. The big hit then fumble recovery by Michigan State’s Tyriq Thompson against Purdue in the fourth quarter was one of the best defensive plays I have seen this season.

9. We can all agree not that Lamar Jackson is the single reason Bobby Petrino still has a job.

10. This fan from the Florida vs Georgia game deserves a mention.

11. After playing them close seemingly every year, Kansas finally actually wins over TCU in a tightly contested game 27-26. It is always cool to see Kansas get a win (unless it is against Texas in 2016). Kansas running back Pooka Williams Jr is the real deal.

12. Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm redeemed himself after many people called for his benching after his 240 passing yards and three touchdowns were a key factor in Georgia’s 36-17 win over Florida. Their game against Kentucky next week will likely decide the SEC East winner.

13. After being down 31-3 in the third quarter, Oregon State came back and beat Colorado 41-34 in overtime. Colorado needs Laviska Shenault back as soon as possible.

14. D’Eriq King had over 500 yards of offense and accounted for seven touchdowns as Houston took down previously undefeated South Florida 57-36. The AAC is pretty too heavy this year I have to say.

15. Penn State took down Iowa in a much needed win. Iowa also scores 24 points that consisted of two safeties and one offensive touchdown which is interesting.

16. Pittsburgh has a very good rushing attack that was on full display in their 54-45 win over Duke. Qadree Ollison has 149 rushing yards while V’Lique Carter had 137. Also Pittsburgh is 4-4 and somehow controls their destiny in the ACC Coastal.

17. Kyler Murray completed 79% of his passes and had four total touchdowns in Oklahoma’s 51-14 win over Kansas State. Murray is very good and should be no worse than second in the Heisman race right now.

18. Nick Fitzgerald has a surprisingly good day throwing the ball in Mississippi State’s 28-13 win over Texas A&M. Fitzgerald also was the leading rusher for the Bulldogs, and accounted for all four of their touchdowns.

19. The dancing and energetic antics of Northwestern’s strength coach during their game against Wisconsin were a thing to behold.

20. Mark Stoops crowd surfed in Kentucky’s locker room after they beat Missouri, which is awesome.

21. Oregon did not rebound from their loss to Washington State last week well as they were thrashed by Arizona 44-15. Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate showed flashes of what he was like last season. Arizona running back JJ Taylor ran for 212 yards on the day as well.

22. Syracuse’s strength coach was wearing a kilt during their last game, and I feel required to talk about it.

23. N’Keal Harry’s one handed catch as he was falling down against USC was unbelievable and probably the catch of the year so far.

24. Defensive lineman Christian Wilkins had a touchdown run for Clemson against Florida State which is awesome and so disrespectful.

25. Fresno State had a kick six to end the first half in their win against Hawaii. This one was slightly less high stakes than the one in the Iron Bowl, but still entertaining.

26. North Carolina State’s Ryan Finley and Kelvin Harmon’s performances against Syracuse need to be brought up even though they lost. Finley threw for 473 yards on just 44 attempts, and Harmon had 247 receiving yards.

27. The end of the game pandemonium with Texas and Oklahoma State was dumb from all sides. Breckyn Hager should not have continued pushing the Oklahoma State offensive lineman after the whistle, especially when Oklahoma State was taking a knee. Mike Gundy should not have gone on the field, and Tom Herman should not have either. I do not get why Tom Herman was so mad either, I expect better critical reasoning from someone who mentions they are a MENSA member in every interview.

28. So not only is it funny that this Florida State fan is just casually reading a book and not wearing a shirt while Florida State is losing to Clemson, but this guy is a professor at Florida State as well.

29. This week’s cool uniform award goes to Virginia, Iowa State, Utah, and South Carolina.

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