Ranking The Week 3 Games
Plus An Updated Top 25
The schedule seemingly takes a breath in week 3. It does not have the excitement of week 1 or the star power of weeks 2 (Texas at Alabama) and 4 (Ohio State at Notre Dame, Florida State at Clemson, Colorado at Oregon). Naturally, the chances of some crazy results are high. It’s cliche at this point, but it is the unassuming weeks that tend to get a little sideways on us.
But first, an updated (and belated) Top 25
Top 25
Florida State - I debated putting Texas at #1, but I thought Florida State looked more dominant in the second half over a similarly talented team (LSU vs Bama).
Texas - Winning by double digits at Alabama. Unprecedented in the Nick Saban era. I think this is more a sign that Alabama has come back to the pack rather than Texas serving notice they are this year’s super team. Still a super impressive performance by the Longhorns.
Washington - Two weeks. Two dominant performances against reputable opponents.
Georgia - Their schedule is going to hold them back all year. They may be the best team in the country, but the resume will not be strong, especially given the SEC’s unusually bad start to the season.
USC - Demolished Stanford in week 3. Three weeks in a row winning by at least 4 touchdowns. The defense has shown improvement since the San Jose State opener.
Penn State - Cruised to an easy victory over FCS Delaware. The win over West Virginia looked just a little bit better after the Mountaineers bounced back in week 2.
Michigan - Same deal as Georgia. They’ve looked solid against terrible opponents. Unlike Georgia, their resume will likely improve once Big 10 play starts.
Ohio State - A ho-hum performance against FCS Youngstown State did not inspire a lot of confidence. Kyle McCord being named the full-time starter should help the offensive rhythm going forward.
Notre Dame - A good win against NC State. Notre Dame’s offense has been very un-Notre Dame like this year. They’ve ripped off a number of explosive plays, but have not been very good at sustaining drives the last two weeks.
Tennessee - A shaky performance against Austin Peay. Will need to be better against the rival Gators in week 3.
Oregon - A good win in Lubbock over a solid Texas Tech team. The 81 points in the opener was a bit of a mirage.
Utah - Barely survived the game against Baylor. Utah needs Cam Rising back or needs to rejigger its offense if the Utes are going to win their third straight Pac-12 title.
Alabama - A tough loss against Texas. The offense is not great. Milroe and the receivers are not a vintage Alabama attack. The rushing game should be able to pick up the slack against opponents that don’t have the same front seven talent as Texas, which is most of the SEC.
LSU - Crushed Grambling State in a rebound performance after the opener. We’ll learn more about LSU the next couple of weeks against Mississippi State and Arkansas.
Kansas State - I don’t trust their talent as much as I do Alabama or LSU or else I would have them ranked ahead of them. The Wildcats have done all that is expected of them to start the year.
Oregon State - Two big wins over two overmatched opponents. A game against San Diego State will be a better measuring stick (UCLA crushed the Aztecs in week 2).
Miami - The offense was explosive against Texas A&M. Special teams miscues kept the Aggies in the game. Clean those issues up and Miami just may be in the ACC race this season.
Oklahoma - Concerning performance against SMU in week 2. I’ve got my eyes on the Sooners as a potential swooner as the season goes on.
Colorado - They were outplayed by Nebraska in the first half, except that Jeff Sims is a turnover machine. Dominated the second half in a convincing victory. Much more interested in watching Colorado against the Pac-12 powers starting in week 4.
Ole Miss - A good victory over Tulane in week 2, even if Tulane was unexpectedly without start quarterback Michael Pratt. Ole Miss controlled the fourth quarter to pull away.
North Carolina - Another barn burner against App. State. Another solid nonconference test against Minnesota in week 3.
Duke - Still riding the high of the week 1 stunner against Clemson.
UCLA - Victories over Coastal Carolina and San Diego State are a better resume than many in the Top 25.
UCF - Won on the road at Boise State. It was a narrow victory, but they pulled it off to start the year 2-0.
Washington State - Beat up Wisconsin for the second year in a row. Coach Dickert’s passionate post-game response about being left out of a major conference is worth a view.
Best Games Of Week 3
Week Night Game Of The Week
Army at UTSA on Friday Night could be a high scoring affair. UTSA won 41-38 in overtime last year.
Saturday Early Games
#14 LSU at Mississippi State. LSU and Mississippi State open SEC play. The Bulldogs ruined the Pac-12’s perfect start to the season by taking out Arizona in week 2. LSU looks to show they are still the favorite in the SEC West despite the early season set back against Florida State.
#3 Florida State at Boston College and #7 Penn State at Illinois. Two conference favorites look to flex their muscle in road conference games. Boston College and Illinois have both underwhelmed to start the year. Although if Penn State and Illinois want to recreate their most recent matchup, it will stir up a good time for the wrong reasons.
Saturday Midday Games
South Carolina at #1 Georgia. Georgia’s first game against a team with a pulse. If this was at South Carolina it would have the potential to be a bit more interesting, given Spencer Rattler has played well to start the year.
Western Kentucky at #6 Ohio State. Ohio State’s defense, which has given up 10 points on the year, has prevented a full-on meltdown by the fan base so far as the offense is trying to figure things out. That luxury will not exist on Saturday. Western Kentucky’s offense is good and will put up points. Ohio State’s offense needs to take a step or this could be interesting late.
#8 Washington at Michigan State. The first Peacock exclusive game for the season that has me figuring out a way to get another free trial. The Mel Tucker story casts an ugly shadow over Washington’s first road test of the year.
Minnesota at #20 North Carolina. A bad Gophers offense against a maybe good/maybe bad Tar Heel defense. We should get clarity on both units Saturday afternoon.
Saturday Primetime Games
Slim pickings for primtime this week.
#11 Tennessee at Florida. Florida has dominated this series for the past 25 seasons. Tennessee pulled it off last year and is poised to win back to back games in the series. Still, Tennessee’s offense is definitely not the same without Hendon Hooker, Cedric Tillman, and Jaylin Hyatt. Billy Napier will be looking to cool the temperature of his seat after the ugly loss at Utah to open the year. Getting back at the Vols will certainly help.
TCU at Houston, Syracuse at Purdue, and Pitt at West Virginia. One or more of these games is likely to at least be competitive to pair with Tennessee at Florida.
Saturday Late Night Games
Not a great slate of games to end the evening, despite Colorado’s presence.
Colorado State at #18 Colorado. Colorado State’s head coach decided to take shots at Deion Sanders this week when he stated his distaste for Coach Prime’s decision to wear hats or sunglasses for indoor interviews.
Just….Why? Colorado probably runs this one up big.
Fresno State at Arizona State. Fresno State already took down Purdue this year. They’ll be looking to add another victory over a Power 5 program to their achievement list.
Kansas at Nevada. Solely for the purpose of watching what Jalon Daniels is going to do to Nevada’s defense.