CBS Sports shakes up Top 25 QB rankings after Week 3 of College Football

Through three weeks of the college football season, stud quarterbacks are beginning to rise above the rest of the crop.

This includes Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King, who appears to have made himself present in Heisman conversations following his clutch performance against Clemson. LSU‘s Garrett Nussmeier and Penn State‘s Drew Allar however fell out of the rankings completely after back-to-back disappointing performances.

Heading into week three of the college football season, CBS Sports has ranked the top-25 quarterbacks in the sport. Those rankings are below.

1. John Mateer (Oklahoma)

Following Mateer’s stellar performance in Oklahoma‘s 24-13 win over Michigan last Saturday, he skyrocketed to No. 1 in CBS Sports‘ quarterback rankings. The Washington State transfer completed 21/34 passes for 270 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also led the Sooners in rushing with 74 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

He carried this success into the Oklahoma‘s 42-3 drumming of Temple on Saturday, passing for 282 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Through two weeks, Mateer leads the SEC in passing yards (944) and ranks seventh nationally.

2. Haynes King (Georgia Tech) +8

Haynes King has experienced a career resurgence at Georgia Tech after spending his first three seasons at Texas A&M. He reached his peak as a Yellow Jacket this past weekend when he passed for 211 yards in a 24-21 win over No. 12 Clemson. He also rushed for 103 yards and one score on 25 carries, eclipsing the 100-plus rushing yard mark for the second time in two games this season.

“They called my number. I told them I wanted the ball down there in short yardage. If we can’t get anything I’ll try it again…just give me the ball. I’m going to try to find a way,” King said about his fourth-quarter rushing score. “So I said that and then we called running the play and I was like ‘here we go. We’re going to find out what happens now.’ Luckily I got in the end zone, and the rest is history.”

3. Jake Retzlaff (Tulane) +20

Although BYU transfer quarterback Jake Retzlaff joined Tulane just before the 2025 season kicked off, he certainly hasn’t been playing like it. Retzlaff has led the Green Wave to a 3-0 record, including wins over power-four programs Northwestern and Duke.

Through three games, Retzlaff boasts 522 passing yards and two touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 288 yards and six touchdowns (including four against Duke). With him leading the offense, Jon Sumrall‘s Green Wave currently look like the favorites to secure the GO5 bid in this season’s College Football Playoff.

4. Marcel Reed (Texas A&M) +16

No quarterback in the country made a better play this weekend than Texas A&M‘s Marcel Reed, who scrambled and found tight end Nate Boerkircher in the back of the end zone on 4th & 11 with 13 seconds remaining to upset No. 8 Notre Dame on the road in South Bend. In the upset victory, Reed passed for 360 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Through three games this season, Reed boasts 869 passing yards, nine touchdowns and one interception. Under his guidance, the Aggies are 3-0 for the first time since 2021.

5. Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt) +7

The 2024 SEC Newcomer of the Year continues to completely change the stigma around Vanderbilt‘s football program, as he passed for 177 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the Commodores’ 31-7 drumming of No. 11 South Carolina. It marked Vanderbilt‘s first win over the Gamecocks since 2008, as it had lost 16 meetings in a row.

Pavia has led the ‘Dores to a No. 20 ranking in the AP Poll and could certainly pour in another big-time performance this weekend, as Vanderbilt hosts Georgia State in a rematch of last season’s upset loss to the Panthers.

6. Taylen Green (Arkansas) +16

Although Arkansas came up just short in its 41-35 loss to No. 17 Ole Miss last weekend, quarterback Taylen Green continues to put up big-time numbers. Green passed for 305 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in the game. He also rushed for 115 yards and one score, marking back-to-back games with at least 115 yards on the ground.

Green ranks 16th in the country in passing yards (866) and first in the country in rushing yards amongst quarterbacks (307). He has another massive opportunity this weekend (on ABC) to surge up the rankings with a big-time performance against Memphis.

7. Luke Altmyer (Illinois) -3

Luke Altmyer continues to be extremely consistent for an Illinois program ranked inside the top-10 of the AP Poll for the first time since 2001. Through three games this season (although the competition hasn’t been great), Altmyer boasts 709 passing yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions.

Altmyer will get his first major challenge this weekend when the Fighting Illini clash with No. 19 Indiana. The matchup will be extremely important for Big Ten Championship and College Football implications, along with being just the eighth home game that Indiana has ever hosted involving two ranked teams.

8. Josh Hoover (TCU) -3

Coming off his near perfect season-opening performance against North Carolina, TCU‘s Josh Hoover threw for 337 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in a dominant 42-21 win over Abilene Christian last weekend. Through two starts this season, Hoover boasts 621 passing yards and six touchdowns.

Hoover fell three spots in this week’s rankings although he was flawless against ACU, but could jump back up the rankings with another great showing against SMU this weekend.

9. Tommy Castellanos (Florida State) -3

Tommy Castellanos‘ storybook opening to the 2025 season continued on Sept. 6 with a 77-3 win over East Texas A&M, marking the largest margin of victory in Florida State school history. Castellanos completed just 8/11 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns. Obviously, he was removed early from the blowout.

The Seminoles have another buy game against Kent State this weekend, but will face Virginia, No. 5 Miami and Pittsburgh in the following weeks.

10. Byrum Brown (USF) -8

While Castellanos’ storybook beginning to the season is still underway, Byrum Brown and USF‘s came to an end last weekend against Miami. Brown and the Bulls, which reached No. 18 in the AP Poll Rankings, were dominated 49-12 by the Hurricanes in Miami Gardens. Brown passed for 274 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the defeat.

There is no time for him and his team to hang their heads however, as they must quickly regroup and get back to their winning ways as they could still snag the GO5 bid in this season’s College Football Playoff.

No. 11-25

11. Devon Dampier (Utah)
12. Jayden Maiava (USC) +2
13. Gunner Stockton (Georgia) +31
14. Joey Aguilar (Tennessee) +23
15. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (Cal) +31
16. Jackson Arnold (Auburn) +7
17. CJ Bailey (NC State) +9
18. Demond Williams (Washington) -5
19. Carson Beck (Miami) -3
20. Sawyer Robertson (Baylor) -17
21. Beau Pribula (Missouri) -13
22. Behren Morton (Texas Tech) +3
23. Ty Simpson (Alabama) +11
24. Dante Moore (Oregon) -9
25. Jalon Daniels (Kansas) -6