With two road wins against Power Five competition through three weeks, No. 23 Penn State has taken care of business in September and set a course for nine or more wins during the regular season.
Saturday's 41-12 win at Auburn even included beauty points. To start with, winning by 29 points against an SEC opponent even as downtrodden as the Tigers speaks for itself.
Add in an offense that gained 477 yards, averaged 6.3 yards per carry and 10.1 yards per pass attempt. Two freshmen running backs with extreme potential, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, combined for 176 yards and four touchdowns — one, Singleton's 54-yard score in the fourth quarter, put a dent in the concept of SEC speed.
Defensively, PSU forced four turnovers, hassled Auburn quarterback T.J. Finley and held the Tigers' running game to just 119 yards on 36 carries.
More so than the narrow season-opening win at Purdue, the victory validates the Nittany Lions' place in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and hints at the increasing possibility that PSU could land in the New Year's Six.
To get into one of these major bowl games, the Nittany Lions have to avoid stumbling against the third and fourth tiers of the Big Ten — Northwestern, Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers — and earn a split in the four games that will determine whether they earn any sort of national respect: Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State and Michigan State.
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After two middling seasons under James Franklin, the win at least ensures that PSU deserves to be included among the best teams in the conference. For Auburn, there's only one way this thing is going to end: in a coaching change.
The Nittany Lions, Tigers and others lead the list of winners and losers from Week 3 of the 2022 season:
Winners
Oregon
No. 24 Oregon will regain some credibility and earn a place near the top of the Pac-12 power rankings after handing No. 14 Brigham Young a 41-20 loss. Bo Nix and the Ducks' offense had 439 yards, 24 first downs and 11.4 yards per pass attempt, delivering the second very strong performance in two weeks after beginning the year with a blowout loss to Georgia. While that defeat may linger in the minds of some voters, topping the Cougars by three touchdowns should reinforce Oregon's place as one of the teams to beat in the conference race.
Alabama, Georgia, etc.
Another weekend of games against overmatched competition resulted in a series of lopsided wins for the best of the best in the FBS. Four of the top teams in action Saturday afternoon — No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Oklahoma — won by a combined score of 219-28. One week after struggling to put away Texas, the Crimson Tide had three non-offensive touchdowns in a 63-7 win against Louisiana-Monroe.
Appalachian State
On the same day the school played host to ESPN's "College GameDay," the Mountaineers pulled off the most incredible finish of the season's opening month. With his team trailing Sun Belt rival Troy 28-26 with two seconds left and the ball near midfield, Appalachian State quarterback Chase Brice's desperation heave was tipped by a group of Troy defenders and deflected into the arms of wide receiver Christan Horn, who caught the ball around the 7-yard line and weaved around the right side to complete the improbable win. It's been a memorable week for the Mountaineers, who upset Texas A&M last Saturday.
Losers
Auburn
Auburn coach Bryan Harsin is the next Power Five coach facing extremely dire job security after the Tigers' ugly loss at home. While the first loss of Auburn's season, the performance Saturday comes just seven days after the Tigers struggled to put away San Jose State and just as the team turns to SEC play. Auburn takes on Missouri next weekend in a must-have game before facing LSU, Georgia and Mississippi.
Notre Dame
The first win of the Marcus Freeman era very nearly wasn't: Notre Dame was able to sneak past California 24-17 after knocking down the Golden Bears' possible game-tying heave into the end zone as time expired. While the win should relieve some pressure amid a very poor start to the year, issues on offense remain a major concern. The Fighting Irish gained just 297 yards on 64 plays against an opponent that ranked 50th nationally in yards allowed per play despite facing UC Davis and UNLV to open the year.
Brigham Young
Beating Oregon would've given BYU two wins against teams that may end up winning a Power Five championship, joining last week's double-overtime victory against No. 19 Baylor. That would've sent the Cougars rising up the Coaches Poll and in position to crash the College Football Playoff with an unbeaten regular season, especially with high-profile games still to come against Notre Dame and Arkansas. While still in range of a nine-win season, BYU won't be a factor in the race for the top four.
Nebraska
With interim coach Mickey Joseph on the sidelines in place of Scott Frost, Nebraska scored the first and last points in a non-conference rivalry game against No. 6 Oklahoma. Unfortunately, those two touchdowns merely sandwiched a 49-point scoring barrage that represents the latest low point for this stumbling program. Led by another 100-yard game from running back Eric Gray, the Sooners put up 580 yards of total offense and had 31 first downs while holding Nebraska to just 4.3 yards per play.
Georgia's defense
Well, the Bulldogs gave up a touchdown. It took until the final moments of the fourth quarter of the blowout of South Carolina and involved the backups to the backups defense, snapping Georgia's run of touchdown-free play to start the year at 179 minutes and 7 seconds. The Bulldogs have now given up 10 points in three games. How embarrassing, right?
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