College Football Cheat Sheet: Week 3

The college football sprint is off and running. After a fun opening two weekends, we have shifted to Week 3. A mini rivalry weekend is on deck with a couple of fun Friday night games with Big 12 teams to get us ramped up.

KSR’s College Football Cheat Sheet is back to set the table for the weekend. Full schedule, top games, matchups to watch, and much more. Let’s football.

The Slate

Top Games

1. No. 20 Arizona at No. 14 Kansas State
2. Texas A&M at Florida
3. No. 4 Alabama at Wisconsin
4. No. 24 Boston College at No. 6 Missouri
5. UCF at TCU
6. No. 16 LSU at South Carolina
7. West Virginia at Pittsburgh
8. No. 9 Oregon at Oregon State
9. Memphis at Florida State
10. Washington State vs. Washington

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Measuring stick in the Big 12 race

The first of two ranked vs. ranked matchups on the Week 3 card will take place on Friday night in the Little Apple. Arizona and Kansas State are both members of the Big 12, but the Wildcats Bowl will be a non-conference game due to this game already being scheduled. The result will not count in the final standings but should tell us where each team stands.

Kansas State survived an upset bid last weekend at Tulane where their defense was rocked for 491 yards on 7.4 yards per play. Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman‘s unit did not have an answer for the Tulane passing game and needed a scoop-and-score touchdown and red zone interception late to get out of New Orleans with a win.

Arizona did not look great in a Week 2 win over FCS Northern Arizona and didn’t pull away from New Mexico until late in Week 1. We are still learning about new head coach Brent Brennan, but we know that wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is an All-American.

Arizona’s passing game appears to have an advantage in this matchup, but K-State is typically a much better team at home. Friday night will tell us where each Big 12 contender sits with some important games on the horizon. In two weeks, K-State hosts Oklahoma State, and Arizona travels to Utah for games that will go a big way in determining the pecking order in this conference championship race.

Measuring stick in the Big 12 race (Part II)

Quietly, the contest between UCF and TCU sticks out as the biggest in the night slate. Both the Knights and the Frogs have the high-end talent needed to make a conference title push. Saturday in Fort Worth will tell us where each is.

UCF is struggling to get the passing game going, but the rushing attack is lethal and will give just about every defense in the Big 12 some problems this season. Meanwhile, Josh Hoover is playing good football (71.6% completion rate, 9.3 yards per attempt) for offensive coordinator Kendal Briles. Both teams will want to hit the tempo gas pedal.

The Week 3 contest could tell us where each stands in the wide-open Big 12. Expect a back-and-forth game at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

DJ Lagway vs. Graham Mertz

Florida quarterback Graham Mertz has been cleared from concussion protocol. Head coach and play-caller Billy Napier said the veteran and true freshman phenom DJ Lagway will both play in Saturday’s SEC tilt with Texas A&M in Gainesville.

Let the QB gymnastics begin at Florida as Napier works to save his job. This could be a beautiful disaster or the move that officially turns things around for Napier.

On the other side, Texas A&M is off to a 1-1 start and might be without starting quarterback Conner Weigman after he appeared as “questionable” on the most recent availability report. The Aggies could have to turn to redshirt freshman Marcel Reed on Saturday.

This is a monster game for Napier.

Top 25 showdown in CoMo

Missouri has not allowed a touchdown on defense and is up to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 poll. However, Brady Cook is averaging under seven yards per attempt, and Luther Burden has not gotten rolling yet. Who really is Missouri?

We should find out on Saturday afternoon.

Boston College has played very well in their debut season under new head coach Bill O’Brien. Thomas Castellanos is a dangerous running quarterback, and there is some good skill talent on the roster. The Eagles will score points on Saturday.

Is Mizzou going to produce a consecutive 10-2 campaign? We will have a better feel for Eliah Drinkwitz‘s team after Week 3.

College Football Degenerate Under: Troy at Iowa Under 39.5

Another sicko mode under, another Iowa game. The total actually went over last week thanks to Iowa State’s game-winning field goal drive as Iowa blew a 19-7 lead with under 20 minutes left in the game. But the under could come back with a vengeance this weekend.

Troy is off to a 0-2 start under new head coach Gerad Parker. The Trojans have produced awful average starting field position (own 23), and that is asking for trouble against Iowa. We likely see the Hawks bounce back strong and get the clamps out on defense while this Iowa passing game still struggles.

The rest of the college football card

— Alabama makes a rare trip to Big Ten country where Kalen DeBoer‘s first team will face a Wisconsin squad that is struggling to throw the football. The Badgers could provide the Tide some challenges on defense, but Bama’s explosiveness should allow the Tide to separate at some point in front of a wild crowd at Camp Randall Stadium.

— LSU and South Carolina will be a fascinating matchup for multiple reasons. When the Tigers have the ball, we will get to see true freshman edge rushing phenom Dylan Stewart go head-to-head against potential first round tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones. These are matchups we will see on Sunday in the near future. On the other side of the football, we will see a laboring South Carolina offense and an LSU defense with much to prove. That battle will likely determine the final result.

— If you think this is a boring week, you must not like rivalry football. Backyard Brawl (West Virginia at Pittsburgh), Apple Cup (Washington State-Washington), and Civil War (Oregon-Oregon State) fill the 3:30 p.m. window. I have a feeling that all three of these matchups could deliver the goods.

— Week 3 could give Memphis an early lead on the competition in the Group of Five automatic bid race if the Tigers can knock off Florida State. An 0-3 start would be a disaster for Mike Norvell‘s program. There is a lot at stake in this non-conference matchup at The Doak.