College Football Week 3

I haven't had much time to blog about college football the last couple of years, and won't be able to put out my own top 25 for the week. The Iowa Hawkeyes are off to a 3-0 start, they've been kind of sluggish in each of the games at times, but they've found a way to win all of them. The big test is this week against #5 Penn State, who rolled all over them last year. Iowa has gotten some solid play from their new QB, Nate Stanley, and RB Akrum Wadley has been amazing as expected. The WR group looks better than last years squad and will only get better. The OL has provided pretty solid pass protection thus far, but now conference play begins, can they hold up? The defense really struggled against Iowa State, after a brilliant performance against Wyoming in the opening game, which I got to attend! The first half against North Texas, the defense looked uninspired as well, but they shut them out in the second half.

Here are the top games of the week and my predictions.

Penn State at Iowa: This is one is really hard to predict. I thought Michigan was going to crush Iowa last year, but the Hawkeyes played their best game of the year and ended the Wolverines' undefeated season. I think Iowa still has a lot of work to do on defense, and the loss of James Butler at running back could really hurt. Penn State has the top running back in the country, SaQuon Barkley, and he will be a tough matchup. If this game is close, I'll give the edge to Iowa, but I could also see Penn State winning by more than a couple touchdowns.

Penn State 31 Iowa 17

Alabama at Vanderbilt: Alabama started the year strong with a win over Florida State, then they knocked off a couple of Mountain West opponents, Fresno State and Colorado State. Vanderbilt is off to a great start at 3-0, even knocking off Kansas State a week ago. They've had great QB play, but can they hang with Alabama this week?

Alabama 27 Vanderbilt 17

USC at California: USC is coming off of a big overtime win against Texas. They kind of struggled with Western Michigan to begin the year before beating down Stanford the second week. California is off to a 3-0 start, which was kind of a surprise.

USC 45 California 27

TCU at Oklahoma State: TCU only gave up seven points in their first two games before allowing SMU to score 36 last week. Oklahoma State had 49 points by halftime against Pittsburgh. I think Oklahoma State will be able to get plenty of points against a pretty solid TCU defense, not sure if TCU has the offensive firepower to stay with them.

Oklahoma State 45 TCU 31

Washington at Colorado: Colorado has only allowed 27 points this season, but they'll face a tougher slate now as conference play starts up against #7 Washington. Washington got off to a slow start against Rutgers before pulling away in their opener. Washington embarrassed Colorado last year in the Pac 12 title game, 41-10, I think this one will be closer.

Washington 38 Colorado 21

Mississippi State at Georgia: Mississippi State surprised a lot of people last week, pounding LSU. Georgia nearly lost to Notre Dame two weeks ago, but bounced back to crush Samford.

Georgia 24 Mississippi State 21

Florida at Kentucky: Florida nearly started the season 0-2, they needed a miracle hail-mary pass against Tennessee to win last week. Kentucky is 3-0, with a win over South Carolina last week.

Florida 27 Kentucky 17

Notre Dame at Michigan State: Both teams had pretty awful seasons a year ago, so a win would be nice for either of these teams. Notre Dame sits at 2-1, with a one point loss to Georgia, while Michigan State is 2-0, both victories over MAC opponents.

Notre Dame 24 Michigan State 17

UCLA at Stanford: Stanford fell to 1-2 after their loss to San Diego State Saturday night, and UCLA was upset at Memphis, so both of these teams are in need of a win right now. UCLA has played in a couple of the more exciting games of the season so far, lets have another one!

UCLA 48 Stanford 42

Texas Tech at Houston: Both teams are at 2-0 right now, a win by either team should move them closer to the top 25. Texas Tech really needs a win before conference play starts.

Texas Tech 42 Houston 34