CFB Week 3 Picks

COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 3: Picks

Picks made by Mark(MG) and Zac (ZS)

Thursday, September 15:

6 Houston @ Cincinnati

MG: Houston
ZS: Houston

Friday, September 16:

21 Baylor @ Rice

MG: Baylor
ZS: Baylor

Arkansas State @ Utah State

MG: Arkansas State
ZS: Utah State

Saturday, September 17:

Ohio @ 15 Tennessee

MG: Tennessee
ZS: Tennessee

Iowa State @ TCU

MG: TCU
ZS: TCU

Akron @ Marshall

MG: Marshall
ZS: Marshall

New Mexico @ Rutgers

MG: New Mexico
ZS: Rutgers

Mid Tennessee @ Bowling Green

MG: Bowling Green
ZS: Bowling Green

S Carolina State @ 5 Clemson

MG: Clemson
ZS: Clemson

**2 Florida State @ 10 Louisville

MG: Louisville

Week 3 was already seen as a big week in college football before the season started. This game was underlooked, but could end up the biggest and most exciting game of the week. With two of the most uptempo offenses this season, get ready to see a lot of points put up on the scoreboard. College Gameday is in town which is always a big deal for the host city and that will lead the crowd at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium to be electric. This level of excitement will lead the Cardinals to victory, making them a favorite to win the ACC and possibly make the college football playoff in Bobby Petrino’s third season in his second term as Louisville’s coach.

ZS: Florida State

I picked against the Seminoles in a huge game in Week 1 against Ole Miss. I will not make that same mistake again. Louisville’s explosive offense, led by Lamar Jackson, presents an incredibly tough matchup for the Noles. However, I like Dalvin Cook and Deondre Francois to light it up on their end as well and lead the Noles to a single-digit victory.

Temple @ Penn State

MG: Temple
ZS: Penn State

Kansas @ Memphis

MG: Memphis
ZS: Kansas

North Dakota State @ 13 Iowa

MG: North Dakota State
ZS: Iowa

Georgia State @ 9 Wisconsin

MG: Wisconsin
ZS: Wisconsin

25 Miami (FL) @ Appalachian State

MG: Miami (FL)
ZS: Miami (FL)

Vanderbilt @ Georgia Tech

MG: Georgia Tech
ZS: Vanderbilt

Virginia @ UConn

MG: UConn

ZS: Virginia

NC A&T @ Tulsa

MG: Tulsa
ZS: Tulsa

Idaho @ Washington State

MG: Washington State
ZS: Washington State

FAU @ Kansas State

MG: Kansas State
ZS: Kansas State

Eastern Kentucky @ Ball State

MG: Ball State
ZS: Ball State

UNLV @ Central Michigan

MG: Central Michigan
ZS: Central Michigan

Fresno State @ Toledo

MG: Fresno State
ZS: Fresno State

San Diego State @ N Illinois

MG: San Diego State
ZS: Northern Illinois

Colorado @ 4 Michigan

MG: Michigan
ZS: Michigan

22 Oregon @ Nebraska

MG: Nebraska
ZS: Oregon

**1 Alabama @ 19 Ole Miss

MG: Ole Miss

No one has had better success against the dynasty that is Alabama than Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze after beating the Tide the last two seasons, including last year in Tuscaloosa. Chad Kelly will need to have the game of his life and the young Rebels defense will rise to the occasion to send the Crimson Tide away from Oxford with their first loss of the young season.
ZS: Alabama

Everyone keep in mind, the Rebs have beaten the Tide in back-to-back seasons. Like seasons past, this game looks to be another tight one. In order for Rebels to pull of the upset, they will need a big game from Chad Kelly, who is averaging 266 passing yards per game. Furthermore, they will need to limit turnovers against a tenacious Alabama defense. I do not see that happening. Alabama barely escapes and moves to 3–0.

FIU @ UMass

MG: UMass
ZS: FIU

Monmouth @ Kent State

MG: Kent State

ZS: Kent State

Western Kentucky @ Miami (OH)
MG: Western Kentucky
ZS: Western Kentucky

James Madison University @ North Carolina

MG: North Carolina
ZS: North Carolina

Pittsburgh @ Oklahoma State

MG: Pitt
ZS: Pitt

South Florida @ Syracuse

MG: South Florida
ZS: Syracuse

Boston College @ Virginia Tech

MG: Virginia Tech
ZS: Virginia Tech

Western Michigan @ Illinois

MG: Western Michigan
ZS: Western Michigan

New Mexico State @ Kentucky

MG: New Mexico State
ZS: Kentucky

East Carolina @ South Carolina

MG: East Carolina
ZS: South Carolina

N Colorado @ Colorado State

MG: Colorado State
ZS: Colorado State

UC Davis @ Wyoming

MG: Wyoming
ZS: Wyoming

Idaho State @ Oregon State

MG: Idaho State
ZS: Oregon State

Eastern Michigan @ Charlotte

MG: Eastern Michigan
ZS: Eastern Michigan

Old Dominion @ NC State

MG: NC State
ZS: NC State

UL Monroe @ Georgia Southern

MG: Georgia Southern
ZS: Georgia Southern

Delaware @ Wake Forest

MG: Wake Forest
ZS: Wake Forest

Maryland @ UCF
MG: Maryland
ZS: Maryland

Navy @ Tulane

MG: Navy
ZS: Navy

Liberty @ SMU
MG: SMU
ZS: SMU

South Alabama @ Louisiana Lafayette

MG: South Alabama
ZS: South Alabama

Louisiana Tech @ Texas Tech

MG: Texas Tech
ZS: Texas Tech

Troy @ Southern Mississippi

MG: Southern Mississippi
ZS: Southern Mississippi

Mississippi State @ 20 LSU
MG: LSU
ZS: LSU

17 Texas A&M @ Auburn

MG: Texas A&M
ZS: Texas A&M

Army @ UTEP
MG: Army
ZS: Army

Texas State @ 24 Arkansas

MG: Arkansas
ZS: Arkansas

North Texas @ 23 Florida

MG: Florida
ZS: Florida

**12 Michigan State @ 18 Notre Dame

MG: Notre Dame

A night game at Notre Dame Stadium between two historic teams that have a long history of playing each other. This was a tough game to predict because of the Spartans always tough defense and the high flying offense of the Fighting Irish. Even though Notre Dame’s defense still gives me anxiety and is probably the reason I have high blood pressure, I think they do just enough to stop Tyler O’Connor and the Michigan State offense and Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer adds a few more running and passing touchdowns to win by double digits. This will be the fourth time in a row the Irish beat the Spartans, the first since the Tommy Rees era. The Fighting Irish will pull away in the third quarter to win by 10 points.
ZS: Notre Dame

The difference in this one will be the man under center. Michigan State’s Tyler O’Connor has shown promise, but has never experienced an atmosphere like he will in South Bend on Saturday night. Meanwhile, DeShone Kizer is making all of us wonder how there ever could have been a quarterback controversy for the Fighting Irish. Kizer gives the Irish enough to pull out a victory in a hard-fought game.

16 Georgia @ Missouri

MG: Georgia
ZS: Georgia

**3 Ohio State @ 14 Oklahoma

MG: Oklahoma

I believe this will be the game that Urban Meyer loses his first road game as the head coach of THE Ohio State University. It will not be easy, but I believe preseason Heisman hopeful, Baker Mayfield and the Sooners can beat the inexperienced and young roster from Columbus. Playing at home will propel Oklahoma to victory and they will comeback late in the second half to win by a field goal jumping right back into the CFB Playoff discussion along with one of the biggest victories of the Bob Stoops era which began in 1999.
ZS: Ohio State

Oklahoma has a lot more at stake in this football game then the Buckeyes. With a loss, the Sooners hopes of making a second consecutive CFB Playoff would be all but dashed. I do not expect the Buckeyes defense to look as impressive as they have in weeks prior with the likes of Baker Mayfield and Co. However, Ohio State owns an 18-game winning streak in true road games under Urban Meyer. I expect the Bucks to get to 19 with a big game from J.T. Barrett.

Duke @ Northwestern

MG: Northwestern
ZS: Duke

USC @ 7 Stanford

MG: Stanford
ZS: Stanford

Portland State @ 8 Washington
MG: Washington
ZS: Washington

Buffalo @ Nevada
MG: Buffalo
ZS: Nevada

UCLA @ BYU

MG: BYU

ZS: UCLA

Utah @ San Jose State

MG: Utah
ZS: Utah

11 Texas @ Cal

MG: Cal

ZS: Texas

Hawaii @ Arizona

MG: Arizona
ZS: Arizona

BONUS PICK OF THE WEEK (from D-III):

**Muhlenberg @ McDaniel

MG: Muhlenberg

The Mules from Muhlenberg come to Westminster in the middle of an undefeated season and I guess you can say the Green Terror are pretty much defeated. Even though this is McDaniel’s first home game at Gill Stadium on the new turf this season, Muhlenberg takes the Green Terror and the fans out of the game early and ends up winning by at least four touchdowns.

ZS: Muhlenberg

Usually I would go with McDaniel, however, both Mark and I will not be at the game this weekend. The Green Terror have not won a home football game in my two years at McDaniel. They better not win when we are not there to storm the field.