By: David Folz
Week 3 What to Watch For
We start week three of the college football season with many
great games this weekend. We officially
start the conference season in many aspects as teams vie for the top spot in
conferences and divisions after one game.
For those not having a conference game, there are many intriguing games
on the slate this weekend. With that
here is what to watch for this weekend.
National title contenders face stiff tests: This could be
looked at as a precursor to November 3, which will be Showdown Saturday. Alabama cannot let up against an Arkansas
team who is angry from losing against Louisiana-Monroe and will vie for an
upset. Michigan State faces their
toughest test to date, as the tenth-ranked Spartans face Notre Dame, who is
twentieth in the nation. Second-ranked
USC will visit Palo Alto to face twenty-first ranked Stanford, and the Cardinal
is looking to beat the Trojans for the fifth time in the last six years.
Upset Hangover: Arizona, UCLA, Oregon State and
Louisiana-Monroe all upset top 25 opponents a week ago. Oregon State has a bye week so they do not
need to worry about getting beat.
Arizona faces FCS opponent South Carolina State, so it would a colossal
letdown to lose. UCLA faces a
downtrodden Houston team who is not the same Cougars team who beat the Bruins a
year ago. Louisiana-Monroe will play at
Auburn this weekend, but will not be intimidated by the Tigers crowd coming off
the win last week at Arkansas.
Bounce back Games?: The top 25 teams that fell last week
were Arkansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State, and all are looking at
getting back on top. Arkansas will have
a tough test against #1 Alabama this weekend, but the game is at home so that
may help the Razorbacks. Nebraska faces
a tough test against the Sun Belt by playing high-powered Arkansas State. Wisconsin faces a scrappy Utah State team
Saturday night as the Aggies upset Utah last week and will give the Badgers a
run as well. Oklahoma State should be
able to right their ship as they take on Louisiana-Lafayette.
Upset Watch: Look at this weekend to possibly be filled of
upsets following last week’s games. Wake
Forest is a sleeper in the ACC and will go on the road against #5 Florida
State. California will not be
intimidated heading into the Horseshoe to face #12 Ohio State, and the Buckeyes
got a tough test a week ago against UCF.
North Carolina may not have anything to play for other than pride this
year thanks to NCAA sanctions, but that does not mean they won’t be a threat to
upset #19 Louisville. Utah may have lost
to rival Utah State last weekend but that means they will be mad going up
against their main rival #25 BYU on Saturday night. There may be other games to look out for: #1
Alabama/Arkansas, #2 USC/#21 Stanford, and #14 Texas/Ole Miss.
With that here are the top 5 games to watch this weekend.
5. Virginia at Georgia Tech: This will be a good game
because Georgia Tech is playing their second ACC game (lost on Labor Day
against Virginia Tech) and Virginia is in their opening game. The Cavaliers are 2-0 on the year following
wins against Richmond and Penn State but no team has an offense like the Yellow
Jackets do. Georgia Tech was a bad
quarterback decision from starting the season 2-0, and it is absolutely
critical that Georgia Tech wins this game to stay alive in the Coastal division
mix.
4. Alabama at Arkansas: This would have been the #1 game had
Arkansas not lost to Louisiana-Monroe and subsequently dropped all the way out
of the Top 25 following. This has all
the makings of a game that will be a blowout for Alabama. The key for Arkansas is to get Tyler Wilson
healthy and if he is for this game, then it will be closer than what people are
thinking. If Wilson cannot go in the
game, then it will become really difficult for the Razorbacks to avoid a
crushing blowout. Remember this, last
year the Razorbacks with Wilson lost by 24, and if he cannot go, the margin may
be even larger than that.
3. USC at Stanford: There are many intriguing storylines to
this game. Stanford has won four of the
last five matchups, USC’s offensive line has struggled, and the Stanford
offense is still trying to figure itself out with its offense after so many
graduations. The other factor is that
Stanford will not be favored, even with the game being at home. This will be the best test for the Trojans
before their matchup on November 3 against Oregon, and this will be the stage
that the Cardinal need to say that they are just as good without Luck as they
were with him and everyone else.
2. Notre Dame at Michigan State: This is a big rivalry to
both teams and has produced from thrilling finishes in the past, from the fake
field goal two years ago, to Notre Dame’s comeback in a driving rainstorm six
years ago with Brady Quinn at quarterback.
This will be another tough test for both teams because Notre Dame is out
to prove to pollsters and the nation that they are for real this year, while
Michigan State’s Le’Veon Bell wants to enhance his Heisman hopes in this game
on the national stage against a prestigious program. This will be a big game in many ways this
weekend as these two teams battle for the Megaphone Trophy.
1.Florida at Tennessee: College GameDay is here and so is
the #1 game of the week to watch this weekend.
Tennessee has played really well offensively with Tyler Bray leading the
team to a top 15 offense this year up to this point. Mike Gillislee has been very important to the
success of the Gators offense thus far, but he is battling a groin injury and
if he does not play, then things could get really difficult for the Gators in
this matchup. The winner will be not
from a skill set player however. The key
will be the offensive lines keeping Tyler Bray and Jeff Driskel on their
feet. The team that can do that will have
the success necessary to beat their rival and for Tennessee, it would be the
first win since 2004 for them over Florida.
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