The Huddle: Petrino is back on top, but Malzahn is on the hot seat

Each week during the season, visit “The Huddle” for the latest in college football news, notes, conversation and opinion.

This is notable

Coach Bobby Petrino is 3-0 at Louisville against teams ranked in the top 10, including last Saturday’s 63-20 victory over then-No. 2 Florida State.

Before Petrino’s departure for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, his Cardinals defeated third-ranked West Virginia in 2006 and 10th-ranked Boise State in 2004.

Petrino is in his second stint at Louisville. He left the school in 2007, lasted less than one full season with the Falcons, then spent four years at Arkansas before he was fired amid revelations about an extramarital affair he had with a woman with whom he worked.

He spent one season as Western Kentucky’s coach before returning to Louisville in 2014.

The Cardinals, who moved to No. 3 in the polls after their rout of the Seminoles, have games remaining against No. 5 Clemson and No. 6 Houston.

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Gus Malzahn took Auburn to the Bowl Championship Series title game for the 2013 season in his first season as coach and it has been downhill ever since.

The Tigers finished with an 8-5 record in 2014 and were 7-6 last season. They’re off to a 1-2 start, including losses at home to Clemson and Texas A&M, and play host to Louisiana State on Saturday.

Malzahn could be the first coach fired this season.

That was tweet

“Lamar Jackson 5x better than what I was at V-Tech….Enough said!! #Future”

—Michael Vick (@MikeVick)

Jackson has 913 yards passing with eight touchdowns and 464 yards rushing with 10 touchdowns in three games. Vick passed for 2,065 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed 682 yards and nine touchdowns in his redshirt freshman season at Virginia Tech.

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“Shoutout to my guy @CMccaffrey5, keep doing your thing brodie and good luck with the rest of the season!”

—Adoree’ Jackson (@AdoreeKnows)

After Stanford defeated USC for the third time in three meetings, the Trojans’ cornerback sent well wishes to the Cardinal Heisman Trophy candidate. McCaffrey racked up 260 all-purpose yards against the Trojans, giving him 970 all-purpose yards in his last three games against USC.

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Hot off the presser

“My wife’s biggest pet peeve is guys who drop the ball before they cross the goal line.”

—David Shaw (told to ESPN)

First off, the Stanford coach is pretty lucky if that’s truly his wife’s biggest pet peeve. Second, Mrs. Shaw can’t be alone.

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“Have you ever seen a duck pull a truck? Ducks don’t pull trucks. Nobody has ever seen a duck pull a truck. Florida Gators are going to win, simple as that.”

—Quincy Wilson

No idea where this reference came from, but here’s a guess: In 2004, the last time Tennessee defeated Florida, this Gators cornerback was probably still playing with rubber duckies and dump trucks. The Gators play the Volunteers on Saturday In Knoxville, Tenn.

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“I don’t know what he could have been watching, to be quite honest with you. He must not have watched any tape if he had that to say. There’s no place for it and sadly, for you guys, there will be a bunch of guys not available anymore. Because we can’t trust them.”

—Bob Stoops

The Oklahoma coach has limited which players will be available to speak with the media after his backup quarterback inflamed Ohio State before last week’s game by calling the Buckeyes’ defense “basic.” Ohio State won the game, 45-24.

Fresh out the Pac

“I think the coaches feel it. I think everybody knows, OK, this is what you’re trying to get ready to really compete for, is a conference championship.”

—Chris Petersen

The Washington coach knows that Pac-12 Conference play will be tougher than the Huskies’ nonconference schedule. They’re ranked No. 9 after a 3-0 start — the first time since 2002 they’ve cracked the top 10 — but it’s difficult to say whether the Huskies worthy of the ranking after easy victories over Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State.

Next up, a night game at Arizona. And the following week, a date with Stanford.

My Thiry

Don’t eight-clap now, but this could be UCLA’s season.

The Bruins have spent the last several years on the bubble: Coach Jim Mora’s squad hasn’t been elite, but it has come a long way from the sad Bruins teams of yesteryears.

After a season-opening loss at Texas A&M, the Bruins bounced back to win consecutive games against Nevada Las Vegas and Brigham Young.

Next up is No. 7 Stanford, a team they’ve lost to for eight consecutive seasons. But a win against the Cardinal on Saturday has the potential to set Josh Rosen and company up for success the rest of the season with a schedule built in their favor.

The Bruins don’t face Oregon or Washington, and they’ll play Arizona, Utah and USC at the Rose Bowl. The road games — Arizona State, Washington State, Colorado and California — appear manageable.

lindsey.thiry@latimes.com

Twitter: @LindseyThiry