Oregon showed once again Saturday that it needs just a quarter, if that, to rip away complete control of a would-be close game. The mile-a-minute Ducks offense that eventually overwhelmed Michigan State last week spotted Wyoming a 7-0 lead, only to explode for four second-quarter touchdowns on the way to a 48-14 win.
We've seen teases like this from Oregon before, but this evisceration came with microwave instructions. It took all of 1:07 for the Ducks' first touchdown drive to tie the score at seven, and by halftime, quarterback Marcus Mariota had led touchdown drives of 2:15, 1:41 and 1:34 to take a 27-7 lead.
Game over.
Wyoming was playing for pride before its defense could find the Gatorade.
Seventeen more things you need to know from Week 3 in college football:
- Another game, another crazy stat for Oregon's Mariota.This time, according to Oregon PR man Craig Pintens, the redshirt junior has the lowest interception ratio the NCAA has ever seen with 10 picks in 793 career pass attempts. Considering UO's offensive design is basically to get Mariota as many pass attempts as 60 minutes will allow, that's a stunning factoid.
- Two NFL draft picks aren't being missed a bit. At least, not after three games. Missouri is getting crazy-good production from defensive ends Markus Golden and Shane Ray, who replaced 2014 draft picks Kony Ealy and Michael Sam this year. The mayhem Mizzou is creating in the pocket hasn't missed a beat.
- If you like to play the who-beat-who game, try this one: The American Athletic Conference's East Carolina beat the team that, just seven days ago, beat then-No. 7 Ohio State. The middle man? Virginia Tech, which battled back from a 21-0 deficit to tie the game in the final minute, only to give up a touchdown in the final seconds in a 28-21 loss.
- The Louisville offensive line looked positively woeful Saturday in a 23-21 loss to Virginia. But while the Cardinals' line looked a lot better against Miami in their season opener, there was an NFL draft prospect that made them look worse on Saturday. Cavaliers linebacker Henry Coley tallied seven tackles, two for loss, a sack and a pass breakup to help spark the upset.
- If there were extra points in football for degree of difficulty, Maty Mauk would have scored them Saturday. The Missouri sophomore threw four touchdown passes in a win over UCF (and now has 12 on the year), but none were as tough as this one: Rolling to his left, throwing right-handed, and threading a needle between defenders for a score.
- They're a long way from perfect at Vanderbilt, where a comeback was needed Saturday to beat UMass at home. But Commodores linebacker Caleb Azubike is beginning to look like a perfect fit in a new 3-4 defensive scheme as a pass-rushing linebacker. After sitting out an embarrassing season-opening loss to Temple, Azubike has notched two sacks in each of Vanderbilt's last two games (against Ole Miss last week and against UMass on Saturday). Remember where you heard it first.
- Mississippi State wide receiver Jameon Lewis is making a case to throw the ball more. And it's not only a good one, it's a perfect one.
- Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel will have one less Alabama defensive back to worry about next week. At least, for a half. Crimson Tide senior Nick Perry was ejected for targeting against Southern Miss Saturday night, and by rule, because it occurred in the second half, Perry must sit the first half of Alabama's next game. That just happens to be its SEC opener against the Gators. Perry was apologetic from the UA locker room.
- The Georgia-South Carolina series wrote another classic chapter. But it was Steve Spurrier, not Todd Gurley, who wrote the ending. The Gamecocks' defense still has all sorts of holes to fill. But for now, there are signs of life in Columbia, S.C., that were nowhere to be found two weeks ago when Spurrier's team was embarrassed by Texas A&M.
- First, Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty missed some action with a back injury. Now, another of the nation's elite quarterbacks is ailing. UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley injured the elbow on his left (non-throwing) arm against Texas. He was replaced by a familiar name: Jerry Neuheisel, son of former UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel. We're guessing Bruins fans would just as soon do without the Neuheisel nostalgia and get their Heisman Trophy candidate back.
- Don't look now if you wrote off Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace after his skittish performance against Boise State in Week 1. He's since righted the Rebels' passing attack, and looked sharp as can be in a non-conference tuneup against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday. Wallace completed 23 of 28 passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-15 win.
- How about an APB for Jamison Crowder? The Duke standout entered the season as one of the NCAA's most productive receivers, but while the Blue Devils are off to a 3-0 start, Crowder's involvement hasn't been quite so dynamic. He caught two passes for 14 yards Saturday in a 41-3 win over Kansas.
- Every fan base that suffered a tough loss on Saturday will play the what-if game on Sunday. But Texas fans have it just a little tougher. A coin-flip snafu by Texas resulted in the Longhorns having to kickoff to begin both halves. UCLA took the second-half kickoff for a touchdown, and won 20-17. Ouch.
- Hundley wasn't the only Pac-12 quarterback who went out with an injury Saturday. Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly was knocked out of his team's win over Colorado with an apparent foot injury, and did not return. Nothing dampens 3-0 spirits record like a quarterback wearing a protective boot on the sideline, but that was the scene on the Sun Devils' sideline.
- The injury bug was biting in College Station, Texas, too. Texas A&M receiver Speedy Noil, a standout freshman with a standout name, was carted to the locker room and didn't return from an undisclosed injury in the Aggies' win over Rice. Said coach Kevin Sumlin: "We'll see."
- Upset wins are lots of fun, but they're often followed by a letdown. In a disappointment comparable to Virginia Tech's, USC found a way to take all the fun out of its win over Stanford last week. In this case, it was Boston College slicing the humble pie. The Eagles borrowed the knife from East Carolina.
- Maybe he was smart to trademark that nickname. Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill, who is claiming rights to the "Kenny Trill" phrase, also claimed an easy win over Rice on Saturday with another big performance: 300 yards passing, four touchdowns, and another 38 rushing yards. Johnny What's-His-Name isn't missed just yet.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
