Dan Mullen unveils new Top-10 following Week 3
All of the new rankings are dropping following the third full weekend of the college football season. Now, ESPN’s Dan Mullen has released his own personal list after evaluating all of the matchups this weekend.
Mullen shared his list on Twitter on Sunday evening. His top four included the usual suspects of Georgia, Michigan, Florida State, and Texas with Washington coming in to round out the top five.
His Top-10 is Pac-12 and Big Ten dominant with over half of his picks coming from that pair of leagues. That left one spot apiece for the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 as well as one spot for Notre Dame.
1. Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia did not look like the top dog to start their game against South Carolina this weekend. In their first real matchup of the year, the ‘Dawgs went into the locker room down 14-3 due to touchdowns to start and end the half from the Gamecocks and another slow offensive start for the defending champs.
However, that script flipped hard over the course of the second half in Athens. Georgia scored twice and forced a three-and-out in the first three drives of the third quarter. Add in three turnovers that they forced from South Carolina on their final possessions and the Bulldogs maintained their top spot with a 24-14 win.
2. Michigan Wolverines
Michigan also did not look its best in their 31-6 victory over Bowling Green. That’s in large part due to the play of JJ McCarthy as the Wolverine QB threw a career-high three interceptions to the Falcons.
Still, the home team overmatched their third opponent of the season in almost every other way, especially with RB Black Corum going for 101 yards and two touchdowns on a dozen touches. It wasn’t the prettiest but it was enough to remain right near the top of Mullen’s rankings.
3. Florida State Seminoles
Florida State had its own issues over the course of its close call at Boston College. Neither side of the ball really got going as the Seminole offense went 2-10 on third and fourth down while losing two fumbles and their defense allowed 457 yards from the Eagles.
Even so, FSU was saved in part from 18 penalties by BC that totaled up to 131 yards lost. That was enough to help them escape Chestnut Hill with a 31-29 win before their major ACC clash with Clemson next weekend.
4. Texas Longhorns
Texas landed at No. 4 for Mullen and is also the fourth consecutive team to not show their best in week three. After their 34-24 win at Alabama the week before, the Longhorns returned to Austin and headed to the fourth quarter in a 10-10 tie with Wyoming, a team that already knocked off Texas Tech in their opener earlier in the season.
Texas corrected it all in the fourth quarter though. They scored two offensive touchdowns in the fourth quarter before sealing their 31-10 win over the Cowboys with a pick-six from Jerrin Thompson.
5. Washington Huskies
Washington made a statement with their 41-7 win over Michigan State. The Spartans have been reeling this week following the news surrounding Mel Tucker but that didn’t stop the Huskies from handling their business in East Lansing.
You can take your pick as to what was more impressive from Washington on Saturday. On offense, Michael Penix popped off again for 473 yards and four scores on a 77.1% completion rate. Then, on defense, they pitched a shutout until the final drive of the game by MSU. Either way, it was enough for them to find themselves in Mullen’s top-five, and as the top team in the Pac-12 for him, following week three.
6. USC Trojans
USC was off on bye this weekend after demolishing Stanford last weekend by a score of 56-10.
Through three weeks, the Trojans’ average margin of victory sits at 42 points per game considering their offense has gone for 56 or more points in all three games and their defense has shored up as the beginning of their year has gone on by allowing only 17.3 a contest. It will only get tougher for Lincoln Riley, Caleb Williams, and USC from here but, through three games, that’s the start they were looking for.
7. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State finally hit the ignition on their offense in their win over Western Kentucky this weekend. After improving from week one to week two and a total of 58 points in two wins, the Buckeyes went for 63 total in their 53-point win over the Hilltoppers.
QB Kyle Mccord, the rushing duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Chip Trayanum, and the receiving duo of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka helped OSU put up 562 yards of offense in a win that has Columbus feeling better ahead of their road trip to South Bend next Saturday.
8. Utah Utes
Utah continued to roll with the third win of their season in their first non-Power Five game of the year.
They remained in Mullen’s Top-10 with their 23-point win over Weber State that came from a big outing from QB Nate Johnson as he put up 264 yards of offense and two total touchdowns. They’ll now enter Pac-12 play with the first ranked matchup of their slate against UCLA.
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame kept things rolling with their fourth win of the season over Central Michigan. Their offense, on the way to 40-plus points again, attacked through the air and on the ground with 330 yards and three touchdowns from QB Sam Hartman and 176 more yards and another score from RB Audric Estime.
Now, with both coming in undefeated, two of Mullen’s Top-10 teams and two of the best in the nation will compete next weekend when Ohio State comes to play the Fighting Irish.
10. Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State passed their first conference and road tests of the season with a 30-13 win over Illinois. QB Drew Allar took a slight step back against the Illini but his run game with Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen provided two scores while the Nittany Lion defense forced five turnovers with four interceptions and a fumble recovery.
They’ll now get their first ranked trial next on the schedule with Iowa coming to Beaver Stadium next weekend.
We saw several top teams sweat it out in different fashions over the course of week three. However, these are the 10 that remained at the top, at least in Mullen’s opinion, as we head into the season’s fourth week.