College football is back in full swing. There are always things to watch every week of the season. Here are 5 things to watch in college football week 3.
Last season, Texas A&M and Notre Dame played in College Station with the Fighting Irish leaving with a win. They are now matching up this week in a return game in South Bend. Texas A&M is 2-0, but has been a little more shaky than the record may indicate. They let both UTSA and Utah State hang around longer than they would’ve liked, but the offense has impressed, scoring 40 points in each game. Defensively, there is plenty to clean up, as they are allowing an average of 23 points per game.
Notre Dame lost their season-opener to Miami and then didn’t play in week 2. While the loss will sting, CJ Carr showed some good flashes in his first career start. Jeremiyah Love will need to be more involved in the offense and the defense will need to limit big plays that were allowed against Miami. Notre Dame will be favored, but the game could come down to the wire and be one of the best of the weekend.
Two old SEC East rivals are meeting this week between Georgia and Tennessee. Georgia is 2-0, having defeated Marshall and Austin Peay. The offense wasn’t as smooth as expected in either game. Their defense has been great, but going up against Tennessee could require the offense to play better to get the win.
Tennessee is also 2-0. They have wins over Syracuse and East Texas A&M with their offense really standing out. Quarterback Joey Aguilar has filled in well at quarterback after transferring in from UCLA. The defense has talent, but might be tested if Georgia gets their offense together. The winner of this game will feel great about where they rank in a competitive SEC.
Florida has had a tough start to the season. After being unimpressive in week 1 against LIU, they lost to USF at home. The loss really puts more pressure on head coach Billy Napier. Quarterback DJ Lagway hasn’t played up to his potential, which has halted the offense. The defense has been solid and they will be leaning on it this week, as they travel to take on LSU.
LSU had their big win in week 1 over Clemson and followed that up with a win over Louisiana Tech in a game that they could’ve played better. Their offense is loaded with talent and weapons for quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to use. The defense has allowed just 17 points this season so far. There are a lot of expectations on LSU after winning in week 1 and another win will keep the hype rolling.
USF shocked the college football world by beating Florida at the Swamp last season. The win puts them in a great spot to be the group of five representative in the CFP if they take care of business. Their defense has been leading the way, only allowing 23 points so far this season, which is more impressive as they defeated two ranked teams (at the time of the game). The offense is led by the arm and legs of Byrum Brown, who has really made teams pay with his tough running style.
They will have another big test this week as they go up against Miami. The Hurricanes had a notable win over Notre Dame in week 1 and played well again in their victory over Bethune-Cookman. Their offense will still likely take a step back overall without Cam Ward at quarterback, but Carson Beck has done a great job in his own right. The defense was great in both games so far and Rueben Bain can change the game. Miami is expected to win, but if they take USF lightly like Florida did, they could lose the game.
This offseason, one of the top available transfer quarterbacks was Darian Mensah from Tulane. He chose to transfer to Duke. So far, he is 1-1 as Duke’s quarterback, as the Blue Devils lost to Illinois last week. Both the offense and defense played poorly against Illinois, which makes it hard to get a read on this Duke team. Mensah will have to figure it out quickly, as the Blue Devils have a tough game this week.
Not only is Duke playing a tough team in Tulane, Mensah is returning to the school he started at last season. Tulane replaced Mensah with BYU-transfer Jake Retzlaff, who has played well so far this season, leading the Green Wave to a 2-0 record. They defeated a power conference team in Northwestern and also South Alabama. The offense is putting up 28 points per game, but the defense did allow 31 points to South Alabama. If Tulane can clean some things up, they could defeat Duke and give the Green Wave some real legs to compete for a possible CFP spot.
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