Week 3 College Football Preview
Week 2 lived up to bill and then some. Can Week 3 carry on the momentum?
Last Week
The typically dull Week 2 had quite a respectable amount of action! Oregon beating Ohio State, Iowa taking another step in proving they’re for real drubbed ISU in Ames, Arkansas put a beatdown on Texas, USC shockingly was manhandled by Stanford and fired Clay Helton! All that and more went down last week and have set the stage for another great weekend of Football.
Top 25 Matchups
The first and perhaps biggest Top 25 showdown of the day features #1 Alabama going into the Swamp to take on #11 Florida at 3:30 on CBS as the first SEC on CBS game of the year. Alabama has, shockingly, looked amazing early on and look to continue this momentum against a very different Florida team than they faced in Atlanta last December. The Gators had to reload following the departure of their big 3: Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts, and Kadarius Toney. The replacements so far have looked good but the Crimson Tide will be the ultimate test. There is also a QB battle brewing between the returning Emory Jones and the freshman Anthony Richardson. Jones hasn’t particularly impressed so far, especially struggling with ball security, while Richardson continues to make highlight reel plays. Both are solid options on the ground which has been the biggest strength for the Gators so far. Alabama meanwhile hasn’t missed a beat despite having to replace approximately a billion players and coaches year in year out. QB Bryce Young has particularly looked amazing taking over after Mac Jones’ selection in the NFL draft. There should be a lot of points in this game, although as lopsided as that could be, and if Florida wants to make this a game it will ultimately come down to whether Florida’s defense can consistently get stops or force a key turnover early to allow the intense Gainesville crowd to really get ramped up and allow whichever Florida QB that is in the game to get the Gators into the endzone early and often.
The second game between ranked teams this weekend is also the site of College Gameday. #10 Penn State hosts #22 Auburn at 7:30 PM on ABC and if Gameday’s presence didn’t kick this game into overdrive the whiteout designation certainly will. PSU’s whiteout is a fantastic tradition and never fails to make any game seem like the biggest game of the year. The Nittany Lions have gotten right back on track with the momentum they ended 2020 with starting with a win in Madison vs Wisconsin in the season opener and an impressive dominating victory over Ball State in Happy Valley last week. The Penn State Offense has a shot at being something great. QB1 Sean Clifford has looked good both through the air and on the ground. Skill wise Noah Cain and Keyvone Lee form a formidable RB duo with Jahan Dotson, Parker Washington, and KeAndre Lambert-Smith terrorize defenses down the field. The PSU defense is as good as always, especially in the legendary Nittany Lion Linebacker group with Brandon Smith and Ellis Brooks who are 1 and 2 in tackles on the entire team. Meanwhile for the Auburn Tigers an offseason of change could be the catalyst for a great year. The Gus Malzahn era came to an end and in came Bryan Harsin from Boise State strengthening his coaching staff OC Mike Bobo and DC Derek Mason. Bo Nix returns as the Quarterback and while it hasn’t been against the most impressive of defenses he really looks like he has taken the next step in his development as he enters his third season as the starting QB. The highly touted Tank Bigsby has been a great RB1 but Jarquez Hunter has joined him in putting up some outstanding numbers to this point and if they can keep this up as Auburn moves into the meat of their schedule there could be another great RB duo in Auburn’s future. Out wide Auburn has two main experienced targets in Shedrick Jackson and Demetris Robertson (yes that Demetris Robertson) who have each played well so far. If the Tigers want to escape Happy Valley with a win they will have to try and quiet the rabid whiteout crowd with some early big plays and hope their year in year out stellar Defense can have a great performance against a very talented PSU Offense.
The last of these matchups should be a great way to end the Saturday Night slate. #19 Arizona State travels to Provo to take on #23 BYU at 10:15 PM on ESPN. Herm Edwards and the Sun Devils have impressed many (recruiting scandal notwithstanding) since his hiring which was largely met with confusion and scrutiny by the CFB world originally. Jayden Daniels is the undisputed star and leader of this team at QB and he hopes to notch another ranked win under center. His ability to put up great numbers through the air and in the run game make him one of the top QBs in CFB in general not just the Pac-12. The Sun Devils themselves haven’t really faced any world beaters (and even struggled with UNLV for a fair amount of last Saturday) so they subbed a lot of people making it hard to determine who will be the big difference makers Saturday Night outside of Daniels. BYU on the other hand were not expected to enter this game with a Top 25 ranking by their name. The Cougars had a solid squad last year but lost quite a few players notably QB Zach Wilson and OT Brady Christensen to the NFL. But after last week’s victory in The Holy War the Cougs are right back into the rankings. Taking over the reins from Wilson is the dual threat sophomore Jaren Hall who had 241 Yards and 3 Passing TDs in the great victory last week. If BYU wants to upset another ranked Pac-12 team this week they’ll have to hope for a repeat performance from Jaren Hall and that their defense can contain Jayden Daniels and force him to try and win the game all on his own.
More Interesting Matchups
Every week there are a few games that aren’t Top 25 vs Top 25 that are still great! Here’s a few to keep an eye out for this week (all times Eastern):
UCF @ Louisville 7:30 PM ESPN (Friday): Dillon Gabriels and the Golden Knights face off under the Friday night lights in Cardinal Stadium vs Malik Cunningham and Louisville. There is potential for a shootout here and a win would do wonders for Scott Satterfield and his team’s morale against one of the best G5 programs of recent seasons. Meanwhile UCF is always on the hunt for more P5 scalps to add to their collection.
Nebraska @ #3 Oklahoma 12 PM FOX: This week’s edition of Big Noon Kickoffs reunites two old rivals in Norman. While Nebraska isn’t back by any stretch of the imagination dual threat QB Adrian Martinez could take advantage of Oklahoma’s defensive struggles and make this a game.
#8 Cincinnati @ Indiana 12 PM ESPN: The Bearcats make their first trip to the state of Indiana this season to take on Michael Penix Jr and the Hoosier in Bloomington (their first since 2000). After getting blasted by Iowa in Week 1 can the Hoosiers bounce back with a huge statement win? Or will Luke Fickell’s team continue their potential march to the CFP?
#15 VT @ WVU 12 PM FS1: Two old rivals meet in Morgantown as VT looks to continue climbing the rankings before ACC play. A win against the Hokies would do wonders for Neal Brown and the Mountaineers whose season is potentially on thin ice already after falling to rival Maryland in Week 1.
Michigan State @ #24 Miami 12 PM ABC: After escaping App State last week the Hurricanes continue their gauntlet and welcome Mel Tucker’s Michigan State Spartans to Miami. Tucker has the Spartans playing well before many thought they would and they hope to put out a statement this Saturday.
Minnesota @ Colorado 1 PM Pac-12N: Two teams who had very valiant performances against highly ranked teams face off in Boulder. Both these teams have the potential to go on a tear in their conference schedules and end the season ranked and it should be a great showdown (If you can even watch it).
Purdue @ #12 Notre Dame 2:30 PM NBC: Notre Dame welcomes an old enemy into South Bend after two games that were way way way too close for comfort for the Irish. Purdue would love nothing more than to play the spoiler role again and end the ND home winning streak and potentially send the Fighting Irish into a tailspin.
Tulane @ #17 Ole Miss 8 PM ESPN 2: The Green Wave look to put the fear of God into another ranked team on the road after coming so close vs Oklahoma in Week 1. Heisman darkhorse Matt Corral and the high flying Rebels offense have no intentions of allowing that to happen.
Upset Alert?
As teams continue to navigate their non conference schedules there are some real opportunities for some teams to be caught looking ahead to the start of conference play (DISCLAIMER: just because I put a game in the upset alert category doesn’t mean I think the upset will happen. It means I think there is a shot of it being close for at least three Quarters or so.)
Nevada @ Kansas State 2 PM ESPN+: Carson Strong and the Wolfpack are not to be trifled with and face off against a KSU squad that struggled with Southern Illinois mightily last week.
Arkansas State @ Washington 4:15 PM Pac-12N: The Huskies have a truly putrid offense that should never be allowed to see the light of day. The Red Wolves can put up a lot of points and look to send the Huskies to a disastrous 0-3 start to 2021.
Utah @ San Diego State 7 PM CBSSN: The Aztecs have been a great program out west and welcome a Utes squad fresh off their first loss to BYU since 2009. If Utah isn’t careful they could be the second Pac-12 team SDSU defeats in 2 weeks. The Aztecs dispatched Arizona 38-14 last Saturday
I may sound like a broken record at this point but it really should be another great weekend of exciting CFB to watch!