The 13 FBS programs in the Lone Star State combined for a 10-2 record over Week 3. The only losses were UTEP’s on the road against the Longhorns and Texas State’s defeat at Arizona State late on Saturday night. The 13 programs are a combined 26-12 overall through three weeks. Every team outside of TCU has played at least three games and 10 of the 13 possess winning records as we peak ahead to Week 4. 

Before we turn the page on the weekend of action, here are my 10 thoughts from Week 3. 

Not the same old Aggies 

The last head coach at Texas A&M to beat a ranked non-conference opponent on the road was Tom Wilson in 1979. Jackie Sherrill and R.C. Slocum never did it. Neither did Dennis Franchione, Mike Sherman, Kevin Sumlin, or Jimbo Fisher. But Mike Elko has. He led the Aggies into South Bend and emerged victorious, 41-40. The type of result that serves as an origin story to big season, and maybe as the catalyst to a new reality in College Station. 

Texas A&M emerged out of the shadow of rival Texas as newfound SEC members in 2012. The program quickly paid off the gamble, winning 11 games while Johnny Manziel claimed a Heisman Trophy. The Aggies were 6-0 on the road that season, knocking off No. 1 ranked Alabama. They had arrived. And with the added resources and recruiting advantages in the SEC, they were to be what Clemson, and to a lesser extent Oregon, became – nationally relevant. 

The old Texas A&M loses this game. The old Aggies get blown out after a slow start that included a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, an interception from Reed, and a missed field goal. Even if they had hung around, the final blow would’ve been the 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Notre Dame touchdown to give the Fighting Irish a 40-34 lead with 2:53 left. 

This doesn’t seem to be the same old Texas A&M, however. Notre Dame left the door open by botching the point after attempt and the Aggies smashed it open with their own 13-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a Marcel Reed touchdown pass to tight end Nate Boerkircher on 4th and 11 from the 11. Reed finished the game with 360 passing yards and two touchdowns. Le’Veon Moss scored three times on the ground. 

Now 3-0 with an idle week ahead to regroup for the upcoming SEC slate, the Aggies should flirt with a Top 10 ranking. They’ll receive praise and adulation from local and national media alike for the next two weeks. If Auburn beats Oklahoma in Week 4, the Tigers’ trip to College Station in Week 5 could host ESPN’s College GameDay. 

The win against Notre Dame puts Texas A&M in the discussion. To compete for an SEC title, for a spot in the College Football Playoff, heck, to win the whole damn thing. If college football has proven anything over the first three weeks of the season is that there aren’t many great teams left. Everyone has a flaw. The Aggies surely do on defense, but that’s a worry for a different day. Today, the story is of Elko’s signature road win and what it could mean for the future of Texas A&M football. 

Fritz Magic

We’ve affectionately called Houston head coach Willie Fritz “Novocain” because his method eventually always works. The pain might not start right away, but it will. Cougar fans are starting to feel the medicine. Fritz is 30-25-1 in Year 1 as his college football stops. In year two, his record 44-17. The Cougars went 4-8 last year, the first under Fritz. They’ll enter the Week 4 open date at 3-0 with a real chance to start 4-0 thanks to a trip to Oregon State to close out the month. 

Fritz was forced to hit the reset button after the 2024 season. He fired offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay after the Coogs finished second-to-last in the FBS in scoring offense, only trailing winless Kent State, and replaced him with Slade Nagle, who coached with Fritz at Tulane. Fritz didn’t want to replace defensive coordinator Shiel Wood, but Texas Tech forced his hand when the Red Raiders made Wood one of the highest paid coordinators in the Big 12. He brought in Austin Armstrong, a young defensive coordinator with a strong track record in the southeast portion of the country. 

Houston also overturned the roster. The 36-20 win over Colorado in Week 3 was led by a bunch of new faces: QB Conner Weigman, RB Dean Connors, a handful of new offensive linemen, and a plethora of defensive talent. And they all play like a Fritz team – quality special teams, great complimentary football, especially in the second half, a strong running game, fundamental tackling, few mental mistakes. 

Fritz likes to deny that there is any special sauce to his success. He says it comes down to surrounding himself with the right people and then building a plan for those people to be successful. The tide typically turns in Year 2 and that’s looking true in Third Ward for a Cougars team that is sure to help determine the Big 12 race because they’ll surely knock off a contender or two by the end of the season like they knocked off TCU and Kansas State last year. The Coogs play Texas Tech on Oct. 4, TCU on Nov. 22 and Baylor to close the regular season on Nov. 29. If I were any of those teams, I’d be nervous. 

Houston is likely a year or two away from true Big 12 contention, but the Cougars are heading in the right direction. To the shock of no one. 

Arch isn’t Him 

At least not yet. The belief that Arch Manning would unlock the Texas offense and that the Horns would ascend to a new level without Quinn Ewers at the helm was unfounded. A lot of jumped the gun. That seems clear through three weeks, which is 25 percent of the regular season. Texas might win a bunch of games in 2025 and still reach their goal of playing for the SEC championship and reaching the CFP for the third straight year, but it won’t be because of Manning. 

The 27-10 win over UTEP was evidence of how far he still needs to go. He was inconsistent throughout the game, and straight up bad at times. Games against overmatched opponents like the Miners should be a showcase for Texas’ talent. Instead, it solidified worries that the Texas offense is handicapped by a quarterback who isn’t ready to lead a national championship team. Manning finished 11-of-25 for 114 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. The only positive was with his legs, where he ran for 51 yards and a pair of scores. 

Texas entered 2025 as the betting favorite to win the national championship. They’ll enter SEC play in two weeks with a lot of doubters. Maybe even inside their own locker room. 

Texas Tech’s season starts now 

The Red Raiders are 3-0 and all we know is that they’re much better than Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Kent State, and Oregon State. The group absolutely passes the eye test and the individual talent stands out on both sides of the ball but beating those won’t define the season for Joey McGuire’s group. We’ll measure them against the Big 12’s best and those tests start in Week 4 with a trip to Utah. 

The offense is averaging 58 points per game. The defense hasn’t allowed more than 14 points in any of the three wins. Quarterback Behren Morton threw for 442 yards and four touchdowns in the blowout win over Oregon State. He’s tossed 11 touchdowns to just one interception on the year. Both Coy Eakin and Caleb Douglas topped 100 yards receiving in Week 3. Great offense is nothing new in Lubbock. But a defense that only allowed seven rushing yards on 22 attempts is. 

The trip to Salt Lake City starts a four-game stretch that continues with a trip to Houston and a home game against Kansas before concluding with a visit to defending conference champion Arizona State on Oct. 18. We’ll know if the Red Raiders are real or not by the end of that stretch. A 3-1 record over that stretch would be a success and keep Big 12 championship game hopes alive. 

Good news, Bears

This Baylor team is clearly flawed. The defense allowed 42 at home in a loss to Auburn in Week 1 and 45 in a comeback win over SMU last week. Head coach Dave Aranda admitted that his team was “in a fog” during a sloppy blowout win over an overmatched Samford squad in Week 3. 

But even with the defensive inadequacies and the prodding the roster apparently needed on Saturday, the Bears are a Big 12 contender. Some of that is about the Big 12. Upcoming games against Arizona State and Kansas State at home feel more winnable than they did heading into the season. Tough games against Utah and Houston are also in Waco. The trip to TCU looks like the hardest road trip on the schedule. 

The Sawyer Robertson led offense might be good enough to overcome all those weaknesses. That’s what elite quarterback play affords a program. He’s played at a Heisman finalist level and he’s surrounded by complimentary talent and an excellent play caller. People raced to sell their Baylor stock after the loss to Auburn. They might be headed back to the window to buy it back. In a wide open Big 12, the Bears are in the mix.  

Mean Green Glow Up 

I wrote a whole column on Saturday about North Texas’ win over Washington State and why it means so much for the Mean Green football program, so I won’t spend a lot of words on it here. But it is hard to overstate how important that victory was for Morris & Co. He was 11-14 entering Year 3 and his first big hire as an FBS head coach – defensive coordinator – was a dud.

The sign of a good head coach is one who can admit and fix his mistakes. Morris did that by finding Skyler Cassity. Morris is one of the best young offensive minds in college football. He now has one of the best young defensive minds in college football on the other side of the ball. Complimentary football has arrived in Denton, and so have the Mean Green to American Conference contender status. 

Ponies shouldn’t panic 

The end result of the 2024 season can cause some amnesia. Sure, SMU ended the regular season with nine straight wins, nearly won the ACC in its first season as Power Four members, and reached the College Football Playoffs before in-state peers such as Texas A&M, Baylor, and Texas Tech. But a look back on 2024 reveals a slow start. A near loss in Week 0 at Nevada. A three-point loss at home to BYU that forced a quarterback change. 

The Mustangs haven’t impressed through three weeks of the 2025 season. They slept walked through a Week 1 win over East Texas A&M. Then blew a 14-point lead in an overtime loss to Baylor last week. The performance in a 28-10 victory at Missouri State was not up to standard. The good news? The Ponies are 2-1, just like last year. That run in 2024 started with a big win over TCU. Maybe it will in 2025, as well. 

UTEP passes test 

Coaches can’t admit to moral victories but give Scotty Walden truth serum and he’d be forced to admit that his Miners won on Saturday against the nationally ranked Longhorns. The unspoken goals for Davids in matchups against Goliath are to avoid a blowout and significant injuries. UTEP accomplished both in the 27-10 loss at DKR. His program made Texas play the starters for 60 minutes and that’s a win. 

We’ll start to figure out what the Miners are in 2025 next week in the home game against Louisiana-Monroe. Conference USA plays starts Sept. 27 at home against Louisiana Tech. 

Texas State loses its free roll 

The Bobcats were playing with house money on the trip to Arizona State. The win over UTSA on the road the week before was a program-defining moment that was always going to be tough to immediately put in the rear-view mirror. The Sun Devils are the defending Big 12 champion and the loss the previous week at Mississippi State put their backs against the wall. Texas State entered a 17.5-point underdog. They lost by 19. No harm, no foul. The main goals for the Bobcats still exist. Playing for the Sun Belt championship in Year 3 would be a great farewell present as they head into the Pac-12. Losing to Arizona State doesn’t impact that at all. 

Already looking forward to Week 4 

We’ll learn a lot about a handful of Texas programs in big Week 4 games. The headliners include a trio of Big 12 squads. Texas Tech’s trip to Utah feels like an early championship game indicator as the winner joins Iowa State as the conference’s early season favorite. TCU hosts SMU in the final scheduled Battle for the Iron Skillet. And Baylor faces defending Big 12 champion Arizona State at night in Waco. At the G5 level, North Texas travels to Army in a true litmus test for a Mean Green program that is souring through three weeks. The UTSA game against Colorado State will also tell us a ton about the Roadrunners.