Week 3 delivered another wild slate of games, with preseason perceptions giving way to regular season realities.
All percentages mentioned below, come from ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor.
Week 3 Quick Hits
Georgia 44 Tennessee 41 – Fun game with the SEC rivals. The Bulldogs needed OT to extend their winning streak over Tennessee to 9. The Knoxville faithful were loud, and things looked good for the Volunteers early; but Georgia overcame the 21-7 1st Quarter deficit and came back to win. Certainly feel for Tennessee’s kicker not being able to knock through the would-have been game winner to end regulation. Georgia puts the quality road W on their resume, while the Vols missed the opportunity for the big home win. Georgia now has a week off before facing Alabama at home. Tennessee has a tune-up vs. UAB before returning to SEC play with a trip to Mississippi State.
LSU 20 Florida 10 – The Tigers improved to 3-0, doing enough to beat Florida at home. LSU didn’t get a huge game from QB Garrett Nussmeier, but the Tigers defense picked off 5 passes. LSU gets an automatic W next week vs. SE Louisiana, prior to going to Ole Miss the following week.
Texas A&M 41 Notre Dame 40 – The Irish fell to 0-2, and without the ability to play themselves into a conference championship; their margin for error in getting back to the College Football Playoff is thin. Even if they win out over their remaining 10 games, that might not be enough for an at-large bid. A&M gets a week off before hosting Auburn to begin their SEC play on 9/27. Even if Notre Dame can not play their way into the CFP, they figure to win enough games this year, where this win will be significant for A&M. A&M has four currently ranked teams remaining on their schedule.
Ohio State, Penn State, and Oregon did what was expected of them vs. Ohio, Villanova, and Northwestern. Oregon led their fellow Big Ten opponent 31-0 before the Wildcats had two late scores.
The Buckeyes travel to Washington face the Huskies on 9/27. Ohio State is a 76.5% favorite in that game.
Penn State also gets a week off, before hosting Oregon 9/27.
Oregon will host in-state rival Oregon State this week, and are a 98.7% favorite to arrive at Penn State undefeated.
Looking ahead to that game vs. the Nittany Lions, PSU is currently a 51.9% favorite to win at home vs. the Ducks.
Miami 49 South Florida 12 – South Florida had beat Boise State, and Florida the first two weeks. Against the Hurricanes, the Bulls were down 28-6 at halftime, and ended up giving up 576 yards of offense. Carson Beck was picked twice, but did throw for 340 yards and 3 scores. Miami gets Florida this week at home, and are a 75.2% favorite to be 4-0 when they travel to Tallahassee to face the Seminoles October 4th. Despite this uncompetitive game, things look pretty good overall for USF. Looking at their remaining schedule, they’ll be a slight dog vs. North Texas, and significant underdog vs. Memphis; but they’ve got an opportunity to win the American Athletic Conference.
Illinois 38 Western Michigan 0 – The Fighting Illini are in the Top 10 Nationally, but seemingly working under the radar. They’ve got an interesting game coming up Saturday, when they travel to Bloomington to face Indiana. The Hoosiers are currently a 62.8% favorite there. Indiana is coming off of a 73-0 beating of Indiana State.
Texas 27 UTEP 10 – Arch Manning throwing for 114 yards against a CUSA team at home, surely didn’t give the Longhorn faithful a ton of confidence. Texas gets another tune-up Saturday vs. Sam Houston state before traveling to face Florida October 4th.
Georgia Tech 24 Clemson 21 – An OT home win for the Yellow Jackets. The Tigers entered the year with a lot of people (including those in the Clemson program) expecting them to be back as a real force Nationally. Three weeks into the year, they’ve got two losses. Unlike Notre Dame, they’ve still got a chance to play for a conference championship. Florida State is the lone ranked team remaining on their schedule. The Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech improved to 3-0. The only ranked game remaining on their schedule is Georgia to end the regular season. They’ll be favored in every game prior to facing the Bulldogs.
Week 4 Games of Note
Florida at Miami – As mentioned above, the Hurricanes are significant favorites here.
Illinois at Indiana – Again, Indiana is a 62.8% favorite to get the home win.
Texas Tech at Utah – Two 3-0 Big 12 teams. TT had a lot of transfers into their program. Utah had an injury riddled initial year in their new conference. The Utes are a 65% favorite at home.
Auburn at Oklahoma – Two 3-0 SEC teams. The Sooners a 65.3% favorite.
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