Week 3 Matchups

By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The college football season is underway.

So far, the best matchup was with top-10 teams LSU and Texas. Let’s take a look at some of the best Week 3 games.

No. 9 Florida @ Kentucky: Both teams are 2-0. The Wildcats got the first win in the series last season since 1986. Star running back Benny Snell left for the NFL after his junior season. Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson will miss the remainder of the season with a torn patellar tendon in his left knee.

Feleipe Franks can keep the other team in the game with turnovers. I’m expecting him to play well and the Gators just have more talent. They should get revenge and start a new 30 plus year win streak in this series.

Stanford @ No. 17 UCF: Notre Dame transfer QB Brandon Wimbush started the season opener, a 62-0 win over Florida A&M. He did not play in the last game against FAU and true freshman Dillon Gabriel started. Coach Josh Heupel was vague, saying Wimbush was not 100% after game 1.

The Cardinal lost badly to USC last week. The Trojans star quarterback went down and true freshman Kedon Slovis came in and passed for 377 yards, 3 touchdowns with no interceptions.

The question is, can the same thing happen this week? Will a bigger Power 5 school regret coming to Orlando to play UCF? I don’t think so. Stanford is more talented and physical than the Knights. It will not matter who they have at QB.

No. 6 Ohio State @ Indiana: We all know Justin Fields transferred from UGA and was able to play immediately. He’s played well in his first two games, throwing for 458 yards, 6 TD’s with 0 picks. He’s also rushed for 103 yards and 3 TD’s. Both teams are undefeated but the Buckeyes are the clear favorite.

Fields is an early front-runner for the Heisman Trophy, which is why this game is important. OSU also has a great running back in J.K. Dobbins that will run for over one hundred yards and multiple scores.

No. 2 Alabama @ South Carolina: This is the first true road game for the Crimson Tide. Anything can happen going into hostile conditions. Bama has star QB and Heisman front-runner Tua Tagovailoa and the best receiving corps in college football.

The Game Cocks lost the season opener to North Carolina. They bounced back and beat FCS Charleston Southern. Starting quarterback Jake Bentley fractured his left foot and will undergo season-ending surgery.

Nick Saban snapped at the media Saturday after being questioned about playing New Mexico State. I expect him to be hard on the team this week and they will come out on fire against SEC competition. They should win by 30 plus.

No. 1 Clemson @ Syracuse: The Orangemen were ranked 21st nationally when Saturday started. They ended with a 63-20 loss to unranked Maryland. They have played Clemson close over the previous two seasons, including a home win in 2017.

Trevor Lawrence looked amazing in last season’s national championship game. He received a ton of hype coming into the season and he’s been disappointing thus far. He threw 2 interceptions and 1 TD in the season opener against Georgia Tech. On the season, he has 3 picks and 2 touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 77.3, putting him outside of the Top 20 nationally.

This should be a bounce back game for him and the Tigers will roll.