College football games of note: Week 3

Week 2 of the college football season left us feeling all warm and fuzzy after watching both Kentucky and Kansas snap decades-long streaks. The Jayhawks 31-7 victory over Central Michigan ended a 46-game road losing streak dating back to a September win at UTEP in 2009. Meanwhile, the Kentucky Wildcats defeated Florida 27-16, breaking their 31-game losing cycle against the Gators. 

It was also the weekend of the underdogs, with Duke beating Northwestern, Indiana upsetting Virginia and Arizona State stunning Michigan State, as the Herm Edwards experiment continues to pique the nation's interest and the Sun Devils go 2-0 to start the season. No one saw that coming. Bryce Love ran, Kahlil Tate didn’t and Houston’s Ed Oliver cornered some of the Heisman market with his impressive half of play against the Arizona Wildcats. So many more statements to be made, so let's look ahead to Week 3. 

Florida State at Syracuse – The Orange remains unbeaten after back-to-back victories against Western Michigan and FCS Wagner. But head coach Dino Babers isn’t kidding himself about the difficulties or implications that come with an opponent like Florida State. The Seminoles are not as formidable as Willie Taggart would have us believe, suffering a three-touchdown loss to Virginia Tech and narrowly escaping FCS team Samford. Yes, the Noles are talented and athletic, but they are holding themselves back with careless turnovers, and they can’t stop the pass game. That bodes well for Cuse senior QB Eric Dungey, who is getting early Heisman hype for his 402 yards, seven touchdowns and only one interception. This is going to be a fun one, folks.

12 LSU at 7 Auburn – What do Tigers dream of when they take a little tiger snooze? Do they dream of game-winning field goals or Nick Saban in a catwoman suit? One thing is for sure: Both Gus Malzahn and Ed Orgeron will be envisioning the different ways their teams can win this exciting SEC showdown. Will it be at the hands of their respective transfer quarterbacks?Jarrett Stidham’s accuracy (71%) is key, but Joe Burrow has his hands in every part of LSU’s offense. Both teams have issues on the offensive line, but Auburn edges LSU on defense with a front that is quite possibly the best in the country. It’s a home game for Auburn, so it will probably roll. But LSU has been on a roll itself since beating Miami, so we could potentially see a closer game than expected. 

Houston at Texas Tech – If we learned anything from Houston’s definitive win over Arizona this past weekend, it's that there is no real way to stop Ed Oliver from coming for your quarterback. So good luck everybody else. Offensively, Tech brings a solid run game led by Da’Leon Ward, but the question at quarterback looms large: Will McLane Carter be back for the Red Raiders, or will freshman Alan Bowman continue to handle his business? Texas Tech continues to struggle defensively, which could leave the door open for D’Eriq King and Patrick Carr to come in and clean house. Also, the Cougars have won four of their last six road games. So there’s that. 

No. 4 Ohio State at. 15 TCU – It's the biggest game of the weekend and the last game without Urban Meyer. Ohio State’s high-flying offense vs. TCU’s stingy defense. But the Buckeyes also have Nick Bosa, and that advantage will go a long way against a tired TCU offense. Shawn Robinson will definitely be on his toes, something he is good at, being super athletic and all. But the daylight he sees will be minimal, posing a problem when it comes to hitting his intended targets like KaVontae Turpin. Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins will face a similar problem on the Buckeyes side of the ball, but luckily running backs Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins take some of the pressure off, combining for 364 yards and four touchdowns so far this year. Gary Patterson’s team needs to avoid big, explosive plays if it wants to overcome the oddsmakers.

No. 10 Washington at Utah – After Washington’s loss to Auburn, it’s hard to accurately judge just how good the Huskies truly are. But a definitive win over a tough Utah team in Salt Lake would go a long way in the voracious Pac-12. It’s a dog-eat-dog conference, but surviving Salt Lake would help the Huskies assert some dominance over the Pac. The Utes boast the nation's No. 1 statistical defense, surrendering only 144 yards a game. Granted it was against Weber State and Northern Illinois, but still. Washington has won 10 of 11 all-time meetings between the two teams and, more importantly, the Huskies have won four of the last five since 2011. Jake Browning and Myles Gaskin might prove too much for the Utes.