CFB Wrap-Up: Takeaways from Week 3's biggest games

College Football Wrap-Up recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines the significance of them moving forward.

Explosive new era of Washington football

In the 20 games before Washington hired Kalen DeBoer as head coach and Michael Penix transferred from Indiana, the Huskies topped the 300-yard passing mark just twice. That duo has now surpassed that mark in all three matchups since arriving in Seattle en route to a perfect 3-0 start to the season. The latest performance saw Penix throw for 397 yards and four touchdowns in the Huskies' 39-28 victory over Michigan State on Saturday.

Washington ranked 107th nationally last year in scoring at 21.5 points per game. The Huskies are averaging 45.3 points per contest through three outings this season, with Penix throwing for 1,079 yards and 10 touchdowns against just one interception.

It's early in the 2022 campaign, but the immediate turnaround of the Huskies' offense should have DeBoer on everybody's list for coach of the year.

Texas A&M bends but doesn't break vs. Miami

While Appalachian State's shocking win at Texas A&M last week took some shine off Miami's trip to College Station, the Hurricanes and Aggies contest was still among the biggest of the day. However, it was certainly not among the most entertaining games we saw in Week 3.

The Hurricanes actually moved the ball significantly better than the Aggies, ending up with 27 first downs and almost 400 yards of total offense. Unfortunately for Mario Cristobal, the offense struggled to finish drives and settled for just three field goals in the 17-9 loss. According to Matt Brown of The Athletic, Miami's 27 first downs is the most by a team that didn't score a touchdown since at least the 2000 season.

Miami's lack of perimeter playmakers severely limited talented quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, as the projected NFL passer threw the ball 41 times but registered just 217 yards. Unless a receiver steps up for Miami, the ceiling is low on what the offense can do in Cristobal's first season.

While the Aggies will be pleased to bounce back from last week's loss, the problems on offense are far from fixed for Texas A&M. Max Johnson started in place of Haynes King at quarterback, but he completed just 10 passes for 140 yards. With the next three games against Arkansas, Mississippi State and Alabama, Jimbo Fisher needs to find some answers on offense quickly to keep the program afloat in the SEC West race.

Oklahoma's offense doesn't miss

Lincoln Riley may have departed Oklahoma, but he apparently left the blueprint to a high-powered offense as a parting gift. Despite losing star quarterback Caleb Williams and receivers Mario Williams and Jadon Haselwood, the Sooners' offense has ridden the brilliant play of UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel this season to keep putting up video game numbers.

That trend continued on Saturday in the team's first game against Power 5 competition as Oklahoma absolutely crushed the beleaguered Nebraska defense for a 49-14 win. Gabriel threw for 230 yards and two scores while adding a 61-yard touchdown scamper. He's now averaging 253 passing yards a contest with seven touchdowns against zero interceptions.

Many expected Brent Venables to bring his trademark stout defense over from Clemson, but the offensive unit was questionable once Riley left for the West Coast. Consider that question answered in a big way through three weeks.

Brian Kelly puts his stamp on LSU

Poke fun at his fake southern accent, his weird dances with recruits, or his prickliness with the media all you want, but it's undeniable that Brian Kelly is among the best football coaches in the country. It didn't take the former Notre Dame bench boss to get his first signature win with LSU as the Tigers knocked off Mississippi State on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

It's rarely pretty with Kelly's teams, but his brand of football has proven to be effective over the years. That was the case on Saturday, with LSU relying on Jayden Daniels to carry the offense. The Arizona State transfer threw for 210 yards and rushed for 93, supplying two touchdowns total. The defense held the Mississippi State Air Raid offense in check, limiting Will Rogers to just 214 yards.

The opening loss to Florida State was rough, but there's a very good chance LSU enters Week 6 hosting Tennessee with a 4-1 record - undefeated in the SEC.

Basketball schools branch out

Earlier this season, Kentucky's Mark Stoops and John Calipari had a heated debate about whether the SEC institution was a basketball or football school. It may not just be the Wildcats undergoing an identity crisis in 2022: Traditional basketball powerhouses Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina, Duke, Syracuse, and Indiana are all perfect to start the year.

The most surprising of that list certainly has to be Kansas, who knocked off Houston on the road Saturday to win its third game of the campaign. Going back to last season, the Jayhawks are now 3-1 in their last few road contests - Lance Leipold has made a massive improvement over the previous couple regimes in Lawrence.

Get ready for plenty of basketball-heavy content heading into next week, as the Jayhawks host Duke on Saturday.

Brock Bowers highlights Georgia's dominance

There are plenty of ways we could highlight just how outrageously dominant Georgia has been to start the campaign. We could point to the hilarious 130-10 combined scoreline through three games this season or the Bulldogs' defense not allowing a touchdown until the 179-minute mark of game action. The brilliant first-team offense's 14 touchdowns and four field goals on 21 drives so far would be another angle to analyze. However, today is all about Brock Bowers.

The star tight end started things with a five-yard rushing touchdown early in Saturday's contest against South Carolina. He then provided the latest glimpse at his elite talent with an incredible toe-tapping touchdown in the corner of the end zone. He saved his best for last, completing the hat trick with an electric 78-yard catch-and-run score early in the second half.

According to On3.com's Matt Zenitz, Bowers has now played 17 games in his Georgia career and has produced the following:

• nine games with at least one touchdown
• six games with at least two touchdowns
• two games with at least three touchdowns

A tight end hasn't won the Heisman since 1949, but Bowers reminded the college football world again on Saturday that he deserves some consideration.

Put some respect on Oregon

Turns out Oregon's opening-week blowout loss to Georgia might have been more about how incredible the defending champions are, not how poor the Ducks could be. After rebounding with a 70-14 thumping of Eastern Washington in Week 2, Oregon hammered No. 12 BYU 41-20 at home on Saturday to improve to 2-1 on the campaign.

Bo Nix threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns while also finding the end zone three times on the ground as the Ducks piled up 439 total yards of offense. Oregon put the game to bed early - the 21-point spread looks flattering to BYU thanks to its two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

Week 1 showed that the Ducks clearly aren't up to the Bulldogs' caliber, but that appears to be the case for 128 other FBS programs as well. Oregon proved Saturday that the team will be a force in the Pac-12 this season.

Penn State makes BIG statement

Penn State made a huge statement for the Big Ten on Saturday, absolutely wrecking Auburn 41-12 on its home field. The Nittany Lions ran all over the Tigers, putting up a whopping 245 rushing yards and five touchdowns in the win. Nicholas Singleton continued his breakout season for Penn State with 10 carries for 124 yards in the win. The Nittany Lions' defense swarmed Auburn all afternoon, forcing four key turnovers and holding Tank Bigsby to just 39 yards rushing.

Most pundits view the Big Ten East as a two-horse race between Ohio State and Michigan, but James Franklin's outfit showed Saturday that it is not to be counted out in arguably college football's toughest division.

Michigan's 50-plus offense

Two things are true about Michigan through three weeks this season: The Wolverines have played one of the easiest schedules in the country, and they've also kicked the tar out of anyone stepping foot on the same field as them. With a 1-7 record entering Saturday, Colorado State, Hawaii, and UConn aren't exactly a murderer's row, but Michigan has left no doubt about its dominance in each game.

With J.J. McCarthy now firmly entrenched as starting quarterback, the Michigan offense threw up its third 50-burger of the campaign with a 59-0 win over the Huskies. It marks the first time the program has scored 50-plus in each of the first three games of the year in its 133-season history.

After a home date with Maryland next week, Jim Harbaugh's side will face its first big test from a defensive standout as the Wolverines visit Iowa on Oct. 1.

Scorching hot seats at Georgia Tech, Auburn

Geoff Collins and Bryan Harsin might want to start pricing out moving companies in Atlanta and Auburn, respectively. Both coaches entered Saturday already sitting on a very hot seat in terms of job status, and neither did anything to cool that with their team's performances.

The Collins experiment at Georgia Tech seems just about done after a 42-0 blowout by Ole Miss. Collins has never won more than three games in a season with the Yellow Jackets, and the total lack of progress through the first three weeks of his fourth campaign suggests that won't be changing this year. While there are problems all over the field, the offense has been particularly poor during Collins' tenure - the Yellow Jackets have never ranked better than 95th nationally in scoring under his watch.

The boosters at Auburn tried their hardest to get Harsin fired in the offseason, and despite a 2-0 start to the season, they might succeed by the end of 2022. Penn State absolutely hammered the Tigers at home, with the stands largely emptying before the start of the fourth quarter at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The 29-point defeat is the Tigers' worst home non-conference loss since 1982. With the athletic director who hired Harsin now gone, it appears it's only a matter of time before he's next out the door on the Plains.