Three And Out: The Biggest SEC Game Of The Year, Notre Dame-Navy And The

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PublishedOctober 23, 2024 1:58 PM EDT|UpdatedOctober 23, 2024 1:58 PM EDT

The final weekend of October is upon us, and this is where the rubber meets the road.

Conference title races heat up when the leaves begin to fall, and that is true all across the country as several key matchups dot the schedule. Plus, there are lingering issues from last weekend that have consistently driven the weekly news cycle.

What is going on the college football world? Let’s take a spin around the country in this week’s edition of Three and Out.

The Biggest SEC Game Of The Year

Georgia at Alabama? Nah. Georgia at Texas? Already old news. The biggest game of the season in the SEC will take place this week in College Station as Texas A&M will host LSU – just as we all expected after both teams lost non-conference games in Week 1, right?

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 25: Le’Veon Moss #8 of the Texas A&M Aggies runs with the ball during the first half against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on November 25, 2023 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Well, here we are.

LSU has done exactly what it needed to do in order to contend after last season’s defensive debacle. It has only allowed more than 400 yards once since the opener and is fifth in the SEC in points per game in the month of October. That’s a far cry from last year when it gave up 416.6 yards per game and 28 points per game (13th in the SEC in both categories. The offense was bound to take a drop off in the post-Jayden Daniels era, but the defense just can’t be horrendous. It has succeeded in that goal and that has made a world of difference.

Texas A&M running back Le’Veon Moss has been a touchdown machine with five scores over the last two games which, not coincidentally, were the first two games quarterback Conner Weigman has played since an injury that knocked him out of three straight.

Both teams are peaking at the right time and, honestly, it would be a massive shock if the winner of this game doesn’t make the SEC Championship Game.

Don’t Sleep On Notre Dame And Navy

The Fighting Irish and Midshipmen have flown under the radar a bit, but that will change on Saturday when the two teams square off at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

ATLANTA, GA OCTOBER 05: Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) runs the ball during the college football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on October 19th, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

I saw Notre Dame play last week against Georgia Tech and – I say this with the utmost admiration – the Fighting Irish are the best boring team I’ve ever seen. Quarterback Riley Leonard casually goes about his business through the air and on the ground, the offensive line consistently moves the line of scrimmage up two or three yards every play and the defense barely bends and doesn’t break often. A win would give them a solid bullet point to put on their College Football Playoff resume, which is desperately needed based on a schedule that won’t provide many more matchups against ranked opponents.

Navy’s offense has been a nightmare considering it has added just a few new-school wrinkles to its traditional triple-option offense. A win over a team as prestigious as Notre Dame will transform its successful season from a nice story to one that is borderline historic.

The Trash Test

We all saw the unfortunate incident last weekend when Texas fans littered the field with trash after a horrible pass interference call on a pass that was picked off by the Longhorns. The officials got it right by overturning the call, but did so after a massive delay so the field could be cleared.

That sets a bad precedent, and that will be tested this weekend. What will happen if there’s a blatantly bad call. Will a bunch of college young men and women with a few Jack and Cokes in their systems take things into their own hands? After all, it worked last week.

I hope not. The discussion around the Texas game has lingered all week, and it will be bad for the sport if this becomes a weekly thing.