7:45 AM ET ESPN staff The White Out Game in Happy Valley reminded us that fans make a difference, demonstrated the depth of the Big Ten and showed how problematic officiating can be. But there was more than just one game in Week 3. Here is what our reporters took away from this week in
NCAAF
2:19 PM ET Associated Press Clemson and Ohio State slipped to the back of the top 10 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday and Penn State jumped four spots to No. 6 after another weekend in which lots of ranked teams had issues. Even No. 1 Alabama. The defending national champion Crimson Tide
1:44 PM ET Associated Press MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin running back Antwan Roberts has entered the transfer portal less than three weeks after getting suspended from the team. Roberts, a freshman, hadn’t played in either of the Badgers’ first two games. Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst suspended Roberts and dismissed fellow freshman running back Loyal Crawford
9:06 PM ET ESPN staff Week 3’s biggest games lived up to the hype, and yet no team in the top 10 lost. The No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide looked mortal in their trip to the Swamp as the Florida Gators pushed them all the way to the final seconds, but the defending champion —
11:20 PM ET There were multiple officiating mistakes made on Memphis’ 94-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Tigers‘ 31-29 win over Mississippi State, the SEC said in a statement Saturday night. With 5:58 left, Mississippi State punted the ball from its own 47-yard line. The ball went past the
11:47 PM ET Alabama is mortal. This makes sense intuitively, because Nick Saban is human and his players (except maybe Evan Neal) are human. But throughout the final three quarters of that 31-29 showdown in the Swamp, Alabama wasn’t just theoretically mortal. Instead, its flaws were visible. The ground game ran into its share of
9:43 PM ET GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Dan Mullen hopes Florida builds off its 31-29 loss to Alabama on Saturday … enough so the Gators get a rematch against the Crimson Tide in the SEC championship game. The last two seasons, the Gators have come close to knocking off the No. 1 team in
9:22 PM ET STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — An apparent officiating mix-up by an SEC crew cost Penn State a down on an offensive series during the first half of Saturday’s game against Auburn. Trailing 10-7 early in the second quarter, Penn State punted to Auburn after referee James Carter ruled it was fourth-and-11. The Nittany
9:53 PM ET After seeing two games of defensive mistakes and a lack of significant change, Ohio State coach Ryan Day handed play-calling duties over to secondary coach Matt Barnes on Saturday against Tulsa. Kerry Coombs, the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator, had been calling plays from the sideline to start the season, but after the 41-20
8:37 PM ET Alabama coach Nick Saban was happy to leave the Swamp with a 31-29 win over No. 11 Florida on Saturday, but he couldn’t overlook the performance of his defense, which struggled to stop the run and get off the field on third down. The Gators racked up 258 rushing yards against the