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College Football Week 3
Pretty decent schedule this week with 3 ranked vs ranked games and a few other interesting matchups.
Villanova at 2 Penn State 3:30 FS1 No line
This is the last tune up game for Penn State. They have a Bye and then host Oregon in a night Whiteout game. Penn State has used the first 2 games more like practices and that will probably happen again. They've been focusing on their weaknesses which had made the offense look sloppy.
They've been doing a ton of zone runs which is not their strength. They've also been using different OL combos. I wonder if they will start to run a bit more of their bread and butter or if it will be another zone run drill.
RB Kaytron Allen, nicknamed fat back, dropped weight and does look faster. He reached 19 mph on his long TD run. He's a better zone runner than Singleton.
Villanova runs a strange defense, a 3-3-5 stack, which can be hard to block because it's rarely seen. The weakness is if you do get it blocked correctly, it tends to give up big plays. So again the PSU run game may look a bit choppy.
Franklin has stated that he wants the team to let it rip on Saturday. He said practice during the week is for learning and trying to be perfect but on Saturday, they need to just play. We'll see.
Allar is still getting his timing down with his new WRs. Again, it seems they are practicing the end of the playobook more than their base plays.
What is the balance between keeping things secret from Oregon and working on things to get them right? If PSU had scored 70 in both games, many fans would be complaining that they showed too much against some cupcakes.
I just want to see them look sharper. Cleaner run blocking and maybe hit a deep pass in stride.
Friday
Colorado at Houston 7:30 ESPN Hou -4.5
Colorado will start their 3rd string QB who looked good last week vs Delaware. He will start over transfer QB Kaidon Salter who struggled and a big name recruit whose name I don't feel like looking up. Houston's offense has not been great but Colorado's defense is ranked 92nd overall and that's with a game vs Delaware in the mix. Maybe the Coogs offense has a breakout.
Saturday
12 Clemson at Georgia Tech 12:00 ESPN Clem -2.5
Clemson had the close lss vs LSU to open the year ane everyone thought they just ran into a great defense. Then they struggled to beat Troy last week and Klubnik looked shaky.
13 Oklahoma at Temple 12:00 ESPN2 OU -21.5
coming off the big win vs Michigan and with Auburn up next, this is a classinc trap game for Oklahoma. They probably win this but an early start game in Philly and looking ahead could mean a sluggish game. I'm liking what i see from OK QB Mateer.
Wisconsin at 19 Alabama 12:00 ABC Ala -20.5
Which is the real Bama, the one that was pushed around by FSU or the one that beat up on LA Monroe? Probably somewhere in between. Wisconsin is trying to be a more wide open passing attack, so this isn't the usual big OL run team. Next week Bama has a Bye then they go to Georgia. I'd think possible trap game but that Bye should keep them focused in Wisky.
6 Georgia at 15 Tennessee 3:30 ABC UGA -3.5
probably the biggest game of the week. last year Tenn fans were telling us Nico was a stud. A year later, they are hate watching his UCLA games and proclaiming transfer QB Joey Aguilar as a stud. Agilar transferred in from App State. Georgia will be a huge step up from anything he's ever seen. Georgia wasn't great against Austin Peay last week but maybe they were holding stuff back. Georgia has a Bye next week then they get Bama. The winner of this game is in great shape for the playoffs, but the loser will be under pressure and may only be able to lose 1 more game to stay in playoff contention.
USC at Purdue 3:30 CBS USC -20.5
USC and Purdue are both 2-0 with wins over cupcakes. Both offense looking great. This is their first real game.
Pitt at West Virginia 3:30 ESPN Pit -6.5
The Backyard Brawl. They should have made this a noon game instead of putting it against GA vs Tenn. WVU lost to Ohio last week to take the shine off this game somewhat. West Virginia's offense has sputtered, but they are #1 in redzone offense. Pitt is 61st in redzone defense. Can WVU get to the redzone?
18 South Florida at 5 Miami 4:30 The CW Network Mia -17.5
what a score for the CW network and their ACC deal. South Florida knocked off ranked Boise and ranked Florida. Can they do it again? If they do, they likely cruise into the playoffs because they don't play any other ranked team. EVen if they were upset once, they would have 3 ranked wins and likely get a playoff spot. Mimi has the big week 1 win vs Notre Dame that they tried to choke away late. Miami's next 2 games are Florida and Florida State. I don't think they'll take USF lightly. Miami QB Carson Beck looked great against ND. With some other potential 1st rounders looking flat, he could rise up draft boards.
Florida at 3 LSU 7:30 ABC LSU -7.5
Florida just lost to South Florida. Next up is LSU, Miami, Texas, and Texas A&M. They could be looking at a 6 loss season. Bama turned it on in desperation mode. Can Florida do the same? LSU got lots of credit for shutting down Clemson but that doesn't look as impressive a few weeks later. LSU wasn't great vs LA Tech last week. Nussmeier has had a slow start this year.
16 Texas A&M at 8 Notre Dame 7:30 NBC ND -6.5
TAM has 2 games under their belt and ND just 1 because they had a Bye last week. This early in the season, is it better to have had the extra week of gameplanning or to have played a game and continued to work out early season kinks? This is the last ranked opponent on ND's schedule. Maybe USC will be ranked later. If ND loses, can they make the playoffs with 0 ranked wins and 2 losses to the only 2 ranked opponents? Probably yes because September losss get memory holed.
Vanderbilt at 11 South Carolina 7:45 SEC Network SC -4.5
interseting QB matchup between Vandy's Diego Pavia, a great college QB with little NFL upside and South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers, an erratic and raw QB with huge NFL potential.
Minnesota at California 10:30 ESPN Minn -2.5
Minn has the #1 defense in the country right now. Could be a decent late night game.
Pretty decent schedule this week with 3 ranked vs ranked games and a few other interesting matchups.
Villanova at 2 Penn State 3:30 FS1 No line
This is the last tune up game for Penn State. They have a Bye and then host Oregon in a night Whiteout game. Penn State has used the first 2 games more like practices and that will probably happen again. They've been focusing on their weaknesses which had made the offense look sloppy.
They've been doing a ton of zone runs which is not their strength. They've also been using different OL combos. I wonder if they will start to run a bit more of their bread and butter or if it will be another zone run drill.
RB Kaytron Allen, nicknamed fat back, dropped weight and does look faster. He reached 19 mph on his long TD run. He's a better zone runner than Singleton.
Villanova runs a strange defense, a 3-3-5 stack, which can be hard to block because it's rarely seen. The weakness is if you do get it blocked correctly, it tends to give up big plays. So again the PSU run game may look a bit choppy.
Franklin has stated that he wants the team to let it rip on Saturday. He said practice during the week is for learning and trying to be perfect but on Saturday, they need to just play. We'll see.
Allar is still getting his timing down with his new WRs. Again, it seems they are practicing the end of the playobook more than their base plays.
What is the balance between keeping things secret from Oregon and working on things to get them right? If PSU had scored 70 in both games, many fans would be complaining that they showed too much against some cupcakes.
I just want to see them look sharper. Cleaner run blocking and maybe hit a deep pass in stride.
Friday
Colorado at Houston 7:30 ESPN Hou -4.5
Colorado will start their 3rd string QB who looked good last week vs Delaware. He will start over transfer QB Kaidon Salter who struggled and a big name recruit whose name I don't feel like looking up. Houston's offense has not been great but Colorado's defense is ranked 92nd overall and that's with a game vs Delaware in the mix. Maybe the Coogs offense has a breakout.
Saturday
12 Clemson at Georgia Tech 12:00 ESPN Clem -2.5
Clemson had the close lss vs LSU to open the year ane everyone thought they just ran into a great defense. Then they struggled to beat Troy last week and Klubnik looked shaky.
13 Oklahoma at Temple 12:00 ESPN2 OU -21.5
coming off the big win vs Michigan and with Auburn up next, this is a classinc trap game for Oklahoma. They probably win this but an early start game in Philly and looking ahead could mean a sluggish game. I'm liking what i see from OK QB Mateer.
Wisconsin at 19 Alabama 12:00 ABC Ala -20.5
Which is the real Bama, the one that was pushed around by FSU or the one that beat up on LA Monroe? Probably somewhere in between. Wisconsin is trying to be a more wide open passing attack, so this isn't the usual big OL run team. Next week Bama has a Bye then they go to Georgia. I'd think possible trap game but that Bye should keep them focused in Wisky.
6 Georgia at 15 Tennessee 3:30 ABC UGA -3.5
probably the biggest game of the week. last year Tenn fans were telling us Nico was a stud. A year later, they are hate watching his UCLA games and proclaiming transfer QB Joey Aguilar as a stud. Agilar transferred in from App State. Georgia will be a huge step up from anything he's ever seen. Georgia wasn't great against Austin Peay last week but maybe they were holding stuff back. Georgia has a Bye next week then they get Bama. The winner of this game is in great shape for the playoffs, but the loser will be under pressure and may only be able to lose 1 more game to stay in playoff contention.
USC at Purdue 3:30 CBS USC -20.5
USC and Purdue are both 2-0 with wins over cupcakes. Both offense looking great. This is their first real game.
Pitt at West Virginia 3:30 ESPN Pit -6.5
The Backyard Brawl. They should have made this a noon game instead of putting it against GA vs Tenn. WVU lost to Ohio last week to take the shine off this game somewhat. West Virginia's offense has sputtered, but they are #1 in redzone offense. Pitt is 61st in redzone defense. Can WVU get to the redzone?
18 South Florida at 5 Miami 4:30 The CW Network Mia -17.5
what a score for the CW network and their ACC deal. South Florida knocked off ranked Boise and ranked Florida. Can they do it again? If they do, they likely cruise into the playoffs because they don't play any other ranked team. EVen if they were upset once, they would have 3 ranked wins and likely get a playoff spot. Mimi has the big week 1 win vs Notre Dame that they tried to choke away late. Miami's next 2 games are Florida and Florida State. I don't think they'll take USF lightly. Miami QB Carson Beck looked great against ND. With some other potential 1st rounders looking flat, he could rise up draft boards.
Florida at 3 LSU 7:30 ABC LSU -7.5
Florida just lost to South Florida. Next up is LSU, Miami, Texas, and Texas A&M. They could be looking at a 6 loss season. Bama turned it on in desperation mode. Can Florida do the same? LSU got lots of credit for shutting down Clemson but that doesn't look as impressive a few weeks later. LSU wasn't great vs LA Tech last week. Nussmeier has had a slow start this year.
16 Texas A&M at 8 Notre Dame 7:30 NBC ND -6.5
TAM has 2 games under their belt and ND just 1 because they had a Bye last week. This early in the season, is it better to have had the extra week of gameplanning or to have played a game and continued to work out early season kinks? This is the last ranked opponent on ND's schedule. Maybe USC will be ranked later. If ND loses, can they make the playoffs with 0 ranked wins and 2 losses to the only 2 ranked opponents? Probably yes because September losss get memory holed.
Vanderbilt at 11 South Carolina 7:45 SEC Network SC -4.5
interseting QB matchup between Vandy's Diego Pavia, a great college QB with little NFL upside and South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers, an erratic and raw QB with huge NFL potential.
Minnesota at California 10:30 ESPN Minn -2.5
Minn has the #1 defense in the country right now. Could be a decent late night game.
