The third weekend of the college football season brought with it more than its share of heroes and goats. College Football 24/7 takes a look at who had a Week 3 to remember, and who needs to turn the page.
Winners
Robert Nkemdiche: The Ole Miss defensive tackle is as athletic of a 300-pounder as there is in the nation, but the junior hasn't always shown up in the big games. He did that and then some Saturday at Alabama, recording six tackles, 2.5 for losses, with an assisted sack. Alabama's offensive line couldn't handle him all night. He'll still have his doubters, but for the NFL scouts who like him (six clubs were in attendance), this game will be Exhibit A.
Jared Goff: Cal's junior star completed 27 of 37 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns in a road win at Texas. The Golden Bears are 3-0, and Goff is considered among the top four quarterback prospects in the nation, according to NFL Media's Albert Breer.
Myles Garrett: One of the best young pass rushers in the country turned in a prolific performance for Texas A&M against Nevada: 3.5 sacks and four tackles for loss in a 44-27 win. And the true sophomore reportedly did it six days after having his wisdom teeth extracted. Garrett now has 17 sacks in 16 career games -- highly impressive -- but has only three in eight career SEC games. He'll look to begin flipping that ratio in the Aggies' SEC opener against Arkansas next week.
Brad Kaaya: Miami might have nearly blown a comfortable lead against Nebraska, but don't blame the Hurricanes' QB. The promising sophomore completed 25 of 42 passes for 379 yards and a pair of touchdowns, spreading completions to nine different receivers. Al Golden might be a question on the sideline, but Kaaya is the answer under center.
Leonard Fournette: The LSU RB ran over, through and around Auburn on Saturday to establish one thing we already knew -- he is an elite talent who can take over a game -- and another we didn't -- new Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp might need until 2016 to field a good defense.
Baker Mayfield: A week after engineering a late comeback win on the road to beat Tennessee, Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield didn't wait until the fourth quarter to show up this time. The former Texas Tech walk-on threw for 487 yards and four touchdowns against Tulsa on 32 of 38 passing.
Kevin Hogan: Stanford's quarterback led an upset of No. 6 USC with 18 of 23 passing in a 41-31 Cardinal win.
Losers
Cardale Jones: Jones was off-target against Northern Illinois on Saturday, completing 4 of 9 passes for 36 yards and a pair of interceptions. OSU went on to beat NIU, 20-13, but thanks heavily to Jones, the defending national champions went into the half tied at 10 with the Huskies.
Ronnie Stanley: Notre Dame picked up a resounding home win over Georgia Tech on Saturday 30-22, but as NFL Media senior analyst **Gil Brandt** noted, it wasn't the best of games for one of the Fighting Irish's top pro prospects. The senior offensive tackle was flagged for penalties four times.
Jeremy Johnson: The Auburn QB is a mess, and his struggles against FCS opponent Jacksonville State last week were no fluke. He was positively awful Saturday in a blowout loss to LSU, 45-21.
Nick Rose: The Texas kicker missed a late extra point that helped Cal escape the Longhorns with a 45-44 win.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
