No. 8 Ole Miss delivered the biggest result in the early Top 25 College Football Scores conversation, beating No. 7 LSU 32-24 in Week 3 at Vaught Hemingway Stadium. West Virginia also joined the upset discussion, finishing with a 38-27 win over No. 25 Virginia as the Poll Top 25 looked set for movement on Sunday.
The Ole Miss result had the feel of a game that could matter well beyond Saturday night. Lane Kiffin returned to Vaught Hemingway Stadium and saw his team take control early, then survive the kind of second-half push that usually turns ranked matchups. With ranked teams falling, the Poll Top 25 release was always going to be one of the main talking points the next day.
Ole Miss built the lead, then had to hold firm
Ole Miss led 24-7 at halftime after a first half in which it had 214 yards of offense while LSU was held to 29. That was the kind of control that should have settled the game, but LSU changed the tone after the break by scoring two touchdowns and a field goal to draw level.
The Rebels also had to manage key moments around injuries, with Kewan Lacy exiting in the third quarter with shoulder pain and Trey’Dez Green later being helped to the sideline with an apparent lower-body injury. Even so, Ole Miss found enough composure to finish the job when it mattered most.
The late stands that settled the game
LSU kept coming. With five minutes to go and facing 4th and 4, Sam Leavitt converted for LSU, and with just under two minutes remaining the visitors reached first and goal after a pass interference call. But Ole Miss produced the decisive play on the final snap, as Jaylon Braxton tipped and caught Sam Leavitt's fourth-down pass to end the game.
That was the difference between a tense ranked win and a collapse. Ole Miss had already shown enough in the first half to suggest it could control the matchup, but the second half demanded resilience as well as quality. On the evidence of the final moments, it had both.
West Virginia adds to the Week 3 picture
West Virginia's 38-27 win over Virginia also fits into a changing Week 3 landscape. Virginia led 14-7 in the first quarter, but West Virginia was ahead 21-14 at halftime before Virginia tied the game at 21 in the third quarter.
Michael Hawkins Jr. then found DJ Epps for the go-ahead touchdown to make it 28-21, and West Virginia finished the job from there. In a week shaped by ranked results, that was another scoreline that could help shape how the Poll Top 25 looks when it is released on Sunday.
For now, the message from Week 3 is simple. Ole Miss handled No. 7 LSU for a 32-24 win, West Virginia beat Virginia 38-27, and the Top 25 College Football Scores discussion is only getting started. The recap will continue with the late-night games next day, but these two results already matter in the ranking conversation.
