College football Week 3 heroes and zeroes: Pac-12 up, Auburn down bad – Sports Illustrated

Week 3 of the college football schedule is in the books and with it came its share of upsets and surprises, especially on the West Coast.
A pair of Pac-12 teams made a statement in non-conference wins in a step towards rehabilitating the conference's reputation.
Who were the big winners and losers after this Saturday's slate of games? Let's take a look at this week's heroes and zeroes across college football.
A good day for the Pac-12
Oregon. First impressions from that Georgia loss aside, the Ducks have rebounded well in the 2 games since, including a statement 41-20 win over No. 12 BYU at home. Bo Nix was a crisp 13 for 18 passing with 2 TDs in the air and 3 more on the ground. The Ducks played relentless, physical defense all day and have a stable of very capable backs to help balance things out. Oregon has won 21 straight at home and faces potentially 6 straight winnable games to put itself in the Pac-12 title chase.
Washington. Coming into this week, there were questions about whether the Huskies were the real deal offensively. UW had 2 good showings against overmatched teams, but Michael Penix looked equally confident against 11th ranked Michigan State, throwing for almost 400 yards with 4 TDs while the Huskies racked up over 500 total and held Sparty to under 50 rushing.
Kansas. Yes, really. Don't look now, but the Jayhawks are a perfect 3-0 on the year (for the first time since 2009) after upsetting former AAC hopeful Houston on the road, and it wasn't close. Coming into the season, you had a sense that Lance Leipold may be on the verge of something. We saw a hint of it on Saturday: Jalon Daniels looked good with 3 TD passes and the Jayhawks were over 250 yards rushing for 3 more. This is a legit offense through 3 games.
App State. The Mountaineers came into this week on a high after beating Texas A&M on the road last Saturday, and had College GameDay on campus. It looked like Troy was about to ruin the fun until Chase Brice hit Christian Horn on a stunning 53-yard Hail Mary to win it. Now 2-1, the Appies are arguably top 25 poll material.
Bad times at Auburn
Auburn. It wasn't a secret that Bryan Harsin was already on thin ice in Year 2 after the 6-win debut and an attempted coup by AU boosters this offseason. Then came an ugly loss at home to Penn State, which forced 4 turnovers, held Tank Bigsby to 39 yards, and racked up 245 on the ground with 5 scores. Completely outmatched at the line, Auburn has dropped 5 straight to Power 5 teams. The pressure on Harsin is monumental now.
Miami. Pump the brakes on the Hurricanes being back after going into A&M and not getting in the end zone despite Tyler Van Dyke throwing the ball 41 times. Miami is the 1st team since 2000 to have 27-plus first downs and no TDs while dropping its 8th straight against non-conference Power 5 teams.
Nebraska. This may not be breaking news, but the Cornhuskers program appears to be in complete disarray. Just a generation removed from the end of the Osborne era, this team has a major leadership vacuum and faces an existential decision at head coach soon. OU, a program breaking in a new coach of its own, but on considerably sounder footing, dragged the Huskers defense around like a chew toy in a 49-14 rout.
South Carolina. Losing to Georgia is something probably every team on its schedule will do, but you can't look that bad if you're an SEC program on the make. Spencer Rattler didn't have much time to work behind a line getting crunched by the Bulldogs, but he made too many mistakes on his own and needs to improve his timing and footwork drastically if the Gamecocks are to preserve any of the gains they've made under Shane Beamer.
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