Notre Dame Clemson Arch Manning lead college football Week 3 pressure points – Ten victories seems like the key number for the College Football Playoff, based on the first year of the expanded system. But although that’s a solid limbo bar to distinguish the top of the crop in the Power Four from mere postseason candidates, the who, where and how of those wins matter. No. 8 Notre Dame hosts No. 16 Texas A&M this weekend after losing 27-24 to No. 6 Miami in the season opener. Down the line, the Hurricanes might win the ACC and secure a top-four playoff berth, taking the sting out of that result for the Fighting Irish.
Think back to last season: Notre Dame survived a horrific loss to Northern Illinois to make the playoff and advance all the way to the national title game. Clearly, a single setback to Miami won’t cripple the Irish if they take care of business against a schedule that has only one additional opponent rated in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll in the Aggies. Southern California might crack the Top 25 when the Trojans visit South Bend in October. Likewise with North Carolina State. By the time November comes around, Navy and Pittsburgh might be in the fight for national rankings. These same teams might also hang near bowl eligibility and do little to bolster Notre Dame’s credentials.
One defeat in September is survivable against this schedule; two losses right out of the start would create a completely different picture.
As they head into Saturday, the Irish have to embrace the reality of this matchup: Losing to A&M would deal a potentially devastating blow to Notre Dame’s playoff hopes — not a fatal blow, maybe, but one that would leave the defending national runner-up in a serious bind even with months to go before the playoff bracket is released in early December. That puts the Irish under the spotlight as we look at the team, game, coach and quarterback bearing the most pressure heading into Week 3 of the 2025 season.
Team: No. 11 Clemson
It’s been a nightmarish two weeks for the preseason ACC favorites, with a heartbreaking defeat to No. 4 LSU followed by an often nasty, tighter-than-expected win against Troy. And this feels like a continuation of a troubling trend: Clemson has now dropped three of five dating to last season.
Through these two games, the Tigers have scored just four touchdowns while ranking 120th in the Bowl Subdivision in yards per game and 95th in yards per play. Stumbling out of the gate has delivered ACC front-runner status to the Hurricanes and generated another round of significant questions about this team’s potential as a championship candidate.
You can very well write off the Tigers with a defeat Saturday at Georgia Tech, which has started out with wins against Colorado and Gardner-Webb. A second defeat in three weeks would need Clemson to run the table from here to warrant at-large playoff consideration and could demand a spotless finish simply to reach the ACC title game.
Game: No. 3 Georgia at No. 15 Tennessee
There’s still an air of unknown hovering around both teams, largely because of the wins each has registered through two weeks: Georgia has beaten Marshall and Austin Peay, while Tennessee has topped Syracuse and East Tennessee State. The Volunteers have better looked the part, though, scoring a combined 117 points while averaging 605 yards per game, second best in the Bowl Subdivision.Notre Dame Clemson Arch Manning lead college football Week 3 pressure points
Nasty weather and an extended pregame delay impacted how the Bulldogs appeared in the win against Austin Peay. The offense is still adjusting to the modifications in concept and attitude implemented to better suit rookie quarterback Gunnar Stockton. Overall, Georgia welcomed back seven starters, with four extra players with starting experience coming in through the transfer portal. Some early-season troubles aren’t unusual. And these hiccups might also be a byproduct of Georgia trying to impede Tennessee’s ability to prepare by playing things closer to the vest against a pair of overmatched opponents.
The result in Knoxville will affect the course of the SEC race. The Bulldogs can erase any uncertainty and leave themselves space for mistake against a slate highlighted by No. 7 Texas, No. 13 Mississippi and No. 18 Alabama. The Volunteers may create great playoff positioning against a schedule that includes just two more ranked teams in the Crimson Tide and No. 16 Oklahoma.
Coach: Billy Napier, Florida
Napier is on borrowed time following the Gators’ 18-16 loss to South Florida, which included a botched three-and-out possession late in the fourth quarter that helped fuel the Bulls’ stunning upset. His total record speaks for itself: Napier is 20-20 in three-plus seasons at Florida, giving him the lowest winning percentage of any coach with at least 30 games of experience at Florida during the modern era. Last weekend’s setback was the program’s first at home against a team from Florida other than Florida State or Miami since Stetson in 1938. Notre Dame Clemson Arch Manning lead college football Week 3 pressure points
Given the Gators’ schedule, the odds of Napier returning for another year are almost miniscule. The gauntlet of eight meetings against teams in this week’s Coaches Poll starts on Saturday night against LSU, which as close to a must-win game any Power Four coach will face in September. The Gators have dropped six of seven at Baton Rouge and haven’t won two in a row in this series since 2008-9.
Quarterback: Arch Manning, Texas
No FBS quarterback is getting more comfortable with wall-to-wall scrutiny. While not unexpected – his name, his history, the fact that he’s the starter at Texas all play a factor — the analyzing of every Manning throw is considerably greater than the attention bestowed on any other player in the FBS. Notre Dame Clemson Arch Manning lead college football Week 3 pressure points
He accounted for five scores in last week’s win against San Jose State, a considerable boost in production from the opening against No. 1 Ohio State. But Manning was nonetheless under fire for actions seemingly as trivial as his scowl after misfiring a sidearm throw against the Spartans. (Steve Sarkisian indicated last week that Manning “doesn’t have any” injuries.)
The SJSU triumph still development for the first-year starter. He’ll have to continue that development in what should be another thrashing, this time against Texas-El Paso. The Miners allowed 233 yards on 8.3 yards per attempt in a loss to Utah State and then gave up 295 yards on 8.2 yards per pass in last Saturday’s win against Tennessee-Martin.
About the Author
