This Weekend in College Football: Week 3

Week 3, ahoy! All times eastern, all games picked arbitrarily.

Noon:

  • Pittsburgh @ Michigan St., ESPN – Why is this on here? Who knows! I’m not even sure who’s going to win, so I’ll guess MSU.
  • Central Michigan @ Purdue, ESPN2 – See above; Purdue.
  • Virginia @ North Carolina, LF/Gameplan – The “lolacc” bowl! Two throughly bad/mediocre teams face off in Chapel Hill. Virginia has beaten a 1A team this year, though it was Duke, so I’ll give them a slight edge.

12:30: Mississippi State @ Auburn, LF/Gameplan -USF has sent the Auburn faithful’s, well, faith into tailspin (just see below). However, while this game may not restore the faith, per se, it will sure help. Auburn rolls.

1:30: Iowa @ Iowa State, Versus – Included only because it’s a rivalry game, and apparently the most expensive ticket in Iowa (if not one of the most in the country, especially considering the potential quality of play here). Iowa may get some in trouble because they’re away, but should prevail.

3:30:

  • Tennessee @ Florida, CBS – Potentially the best game of the day. Both of these teams have lots of questions with precious few answers this far into the season. Tennessee got beat by Cal, but had a tasty cupcake in the form of Southern Miss. Despite what Troy did last night, that doesn’t really validate Florida’s win over them. As pointed out by other sources, home team doesn’t necessarily confer an advantage in this rivalry, nonetheless I like Florida here.
  • Notre Dame @ Michigan, ABC – The game of various names. I call it the Lame Duck Bowl, but I’ve also heard other good ones that I escape me right now. Both teams will start freshman quarterbacks, both of whom got experience last week (Clausen started, Mallett came for the supposedly injured Henne).
  • Ohio State @ Washington, ESPN – This game looks a lot more interesting than it did at the beginning of the year. But I don’t think the freshman QB for Washington has seen a defense like Ohio State’s, so I still like them here.
  • Texas @ Central Florida, ESPN2 – UCF beat NC State last week, sure. But make no mistake, Texas is – hold on a second here, Texas at Central Florida? Well, Texas will probably win, but hopefully they saw what Troy did to Oklahoma State – they need to be on their toes.

5:00:

  • California – Los Angeles @ Utah, Versus – Why did I include this on the list? Why not? Oh, I guess I like UCLA.
  • Ball State @ Navy, CSTV – See above. I like Navy. Well, I don’t like Navy (Dad went to West Point, after all). I think there is a good chance they will this contest, however.

6:45: Arkansas @ Alabama, ESPN – Will Nick Saban have time Houston Nutt’s crazier-than-weasels offense? I don’t buy into Alabama being back here, and I think, and hope, that McFadden leads the Razorbacks to victory in Tuscaloosa.

7:00:

  • Fresno State @ Oregon, Gameplan – Fresno State almost got the job done in College Station last week, but that said, the game went into multiple overtimes. I can’t imagine the Bulldogs being anything but sapped after that experience. Look for this to be close to the half, but Oregon pulls away in the 3rd quarter.
  • Mississippi @ Vanderbilt, Gameplan – “DaCoachO” rolls into Nashville. I saw some promise in Vandy last week, but precious few points outside even if they did get shafted again. My heart says Vandy, but my head isn’t sure.

7:30: Louisville @ Kentucky, ESPN Classic – Another early-season rivalry game put into the backwaters of sports programming. Look for this game not to feature a lot of defense. (I’m not a betting man, but I might consider taking the over here.) Louisville wins, 55-35 or something like that.

8:00:

  • Southern California @ Nebraska, ABC – Nebraska needed a few breaks to escape Wake Forest with a win. I see no reason why you should watch Southern Cal steamroll them when you could be watching…
  • Boston College @ Georgia Tech, ESPN2 -The first real test for Georgia Tech all season. Once again, I’m nervous because the so-called experts seem to think GT will win on the basis of its defense and Tashard Choice and friends. I have to admit, I like the idea. But I’m also very nervous about Matt Ryan. The crucial factor in this game is the amount of time he has to sit in the pocket. If we can break the pass rush, he will not have enough opportunities to exploit what is by far the weakest area of the Georgia Tech defense – the cornerbacks. If he can camp out back in the pocket, he will have a field day. The numbers are fuzzy on whether or not Boston College’s run defense is any good. But hopefully Taylor gets over the jitters he had at Notre Dame and can complete some passes when BC is putting 8-9 guys in the box to stop Choice. If he can do his part to keep BC off balance, I like our chances here.

10:00: Florida State @ Colorado, ESPN – Man, if this were, like, 1991 this would probably be a great matchup. Now? Not so much. FSU has done little to impress me. I like Colorado here.

That’s all folks. Have a great Saturday!