2025 Week 3 Coaches Inc. Highlights

The LA Rams improved to 2-0 after a win in Nashville on Sunday over the Titans and #1 overall draft pick QB Cam Ward. LA newcomer WR Davante Adams had six catches for 106 yards with a TD, seemingly showing the Rams offense has finally found the extra weapon it’s been so desperately missing since their Super Bowl run. The Rams D played well again and OLBs Coach Joe Coniglio’s group kept constant pressure on Ward throughout the game. The defense recorded five sacks on the day and OLB Byron Young’s strip-sack to set up a TD for the Rams in the fourth quarter proved to be the play of the game.

Joe is in just his third season in the NFL but has proven he belongs with the work he has done with his young group. The Rams entrusted him to develop two first round picks in Young, who set a franchise rookie record with 8 sacks in 2023, and 2024 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse. With production like that, expect to see Joe moving up the NFL coaching ranks just like he did in college.

The #17-ranked Red Raiders are off to a 3-0 start thanks in part to averaging 58 points per game. Against Oregon State on Saturday, Texas Tech threw for 466 yards with 4 TDs en route to 601 yards of total offense. The score was 28-0 at the half and was 45-0 before Oregon State was able to get on the scoreboard. Texas Tech Assistant HC/Passing Game Coordinator/WRs Coach Justin Johnson, who won a Big 12 title while coaching RBs for Baylor in 2020, appears to have the Red Raiders primed for a title run of their own as they open Big 12 play this weekend against Utah. 

UB’s Offensive Line Coach Matt Stansfield and TEs Coach Ron Whitcomb needed all 60 minutes on Saturday to help the Bulls come back on the road at Kent State to open up MAC play 1-0 and improve to 2-1 on the season. After trading leads in the second half, the Bulls trailed Kent State 28-24 when they got the ball back with 2:38 left in the game. Transfer QB Taquan Robertson led the team on that final drive for the game-winning TD in surgical fashion that ended with a 22-yard TD pass. The UB offense racked up 457 yards of total offense for the day, giving up just one sack. Robertson’s 318 yards and three TDs through the air show the Bulls are going to be a MAC championship contender once again.

The Memphis Tigers have won seven games in a row dating to last season. For RBs Coach Lee Marks, that’s nothing new. Lee came to Memphis after going 14-1 with the University of Washington in 2023, with the team’s only loss coming in the CFP championship game to Michigan, a team that has since been found guilty of numerous NCAA violations from that season. On Saturday at Troy, the Tigers combined great defense with a balanced, ball-control offense. Memphis’ 430 yards of total offense was split evenly between the rushing and passing attacks. Lee utilized five RBs to contribute 217 yards and 3 TDs on the ground, paced by Sutton Smith, who had 113 yards and two TDs. The Tigers return home to host Arkansas before kicking off conference play. 

Shawn Gibbs spent 11 years coaching RBs and Special Teams at North Carolina A&T, winning five MEAC championships and four Celebration Bowls during that time. Since winning the 2019 Celebration Bowl, NCA&T left the MEAC for the Big South and is now in its third season in the CAA. Shawn moved on as well, leaving for his first head coaching opportunity at Fort Valley State (D2) after the 2021 season and led FVSU to a 22-9 record over three seasons. The Aggies tapped him to take over as Head Coach following the 2024 season and he got his first win at the helm on Saturday.

The Aggies have been absolutely devasted by injuries over the last few years and this year has been no different. Shawn and Offensive Coordinator/QBs Coach Greg McGhee entered Saturday’s game starting their sixth-string QB after losing two QBs in the offseason and three QBs in their game against UCF the week before. As if that wasn’t enough, the sixth-stringer took a tough hit that knocked his helmet off so he was taken out and replaced by their seventh-string QB for the second half. Somehow, down 10 with just under two minutes to go, the Aggies put together a TD drive, recovered an onside kick, and kicked a FG to send the game to OT. NC A&T held Hampton to a FG in the second OT and was able to rush veteran RB Wes Graves a few times to score a TD and secure the win. First wins are always memorable but this is one Shawn and Greg will surely never forget. 

Brian Wright led the NAU Lumberjacks to the FCS playoffs last year in his first campaign as Head Coach in Flagstaff, so expectations going into this year were high. NAU played Arizona tough in the season opener and have put up back to back wins against fellow FCS opponents the last two weeks. In Southern Utah, it took a game winning drive and a successful two-point conversion to take the lead for good with 0:29 left on the game clock.

That final drive was led by QB Ty Pennington, who followed Brian to NAU from Pitt State (D2), capping a career night in which he threw for 366 yards and three TDs. The TD put the score at 49-48 and Brian relied on Pennington to convert the successful two-point conversion to take the lead instead of going for the tie. Overall, the NAU offense piled up 508 yards of total offense and NAU started the second half by converting an onside kick that shifted the momentum, resulting in a 28 point third quarter for the Lumberjacks. Brian and NAU host FCS Top 20 opponent UIW on Saturday in a game that could have playoff implications. 

UNC-Pembroke Head Coach Mark Hall left Chowan to take over the UNCP program after the 2022 season and hired new Offensive Line Coach Cullen Casey a couple months ago. It’s clearly been a good fit so far as the Braves beat #16 Delta State (D2) 25-21 on Saturday - just the second win over a ranked opponent in program history and first since 2013. UNCP amassed 409 yards of balanced offense and orchestrated two TD drives in the fourth quarter to finish off the successful comeback victory.

Wheeling Head Coach Zac Bruney and his squad round out our Week 3 Highlights filled with come from behind wins. The Cardinals erased a 14 point deficit in the third quarter by scoring 21 unanswered points to take the lead for good. Wheeling QB Ade Olanegan threw a school record 93-yard TD pass and RB Steven Mitchell had 117 yards on 28 carries. It was the best offensive performance of the season so far and comes at the perfect time, as the Cardinals start conference play next week in their quest to secure a fourth straight winning season.