Week Three College Football Preview

The top 10 had a rough go of it, but not almost as bad as it could have been.

No. 1 Ohio State (3-0) beat Northern Illinois 20-13. Yes, Alabama is favored, but only by one touchdown. Even after seeing the meager share of carries behind Todd Gurley through his first five games, he finished second among SEC backs in rushing yards. In this photo taken Saturday, September 5, 2015, Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) looks to a pass during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Texas in South Bend, Ind. The No. 8 Irish are slight underdog… Take a deep breath. To the games we go…

So let’s make some SEC picks against the spread. Alabama has moved DBs around to have more speed in the secondary, but will the Tide be able to substitute to exploit their depth against the rip-roaring Rebels?

In the night cap, Alabama hosted Ole Miss in a battle of Top 15 programs.

Previous year Boston College lost 20-17 in Tallahassee, so the Eagles will be a confident bunch heading into this matchup. And yet it wasn’t the last such possession.

But Alabama (2-1, 0-1) started to do what it does best and rode running back Derrick Henry to a desperately needed touchdown, recovered an onside kick and scored another to trail by just six with 4:33 remaining. Expectations were too high and not just from the fans.

It certainly won’t be the last.

That having been said, here are the game’s I’ll be keeping an eye on come Saturday. By that, I mean that if the defense is closing in, he has the strength to turn his shoulders and get the ball to the backside. A sputtering offense, shaky QB play and a searching defense filled with inner tension rather than inner equilibrium. And even if it doesn’t live up to expectations, it’s worth sticking around for highlights of the national championship-deciding games these teams played in the Orange Bowl. The offensive line has underperformed. And can Alabama regain ground in the SEC West with a payback win against Ole Miss or will Ole Miss cause a shift in the SEC conference? Henry wasn’t on the field much in the first half and any runs Alabama tried were on the edge with speedster Kenyan Drake and on wide receiver sweeps.

Fresno State’s Chason Virgil completed 12 of 18 passes for 140 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. But that’s not what mattered. Boy, was he wrong. Do the Tigers even need to have an offense outside of Leonard Fournette?

Les Miles described Fournette in a way only Miles can – as a “high-powered motor scooter”.

He’s also facing an Auburn defense that – despite adding Will Muschamp – allowed 400 yards in back-to-back games. Auburn’s defense allowed 485 yards, including 417 rushing, sending new AU defensive coordinator Will Mushchamp into a sideline screaming rage. That’s not happening any more. But Georgia always seems to have a game where they can’t do anything right, and they end up blowing an easily winnable game.

Georgia Tech has a Top 25 defense.

With huge victories over Alabama and Auburn, the Ole Miss Rebels and LSU Tigers made big statements and jumped to the top of our SEC Power Rankings. No argument there. There’s also no argument that it wasn’t deserved. With the hard-to-prepare-for option offense, big-pass ability from Thomas and the mind of Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech is poised to keep scoring big, gaining momentum and, most importantly, winning.

That did not make head coach Mark Dantonio happy after the game. Since coming to the SEC, Bielema targeted Wisconsin for … some reason.

The edge on offense here goes to the Blue Devils though.

That might be slightly overstating some teams situation, but not by much. And now apparently the whole state of Texas has drawn Bielema’s ire. Texas A&M still has plenty of offense and now appears to have a defense.

The last time these two schools met was about 40 years ago. The conference needs to sacrifice Missouri to the football gods to get back on track and then proceed with business as usual. Quarterback Malik Zaire, running back Tarean Folston, tight end Durham Smythe and defensive tackle Jarron Jones are all out for the season with injuries, already. “All the greats throw interceptions”.

Neither team looked good. Sadly, however, neither punter had more yards than his offense.

No. 22 Missouri (3-0) beat UConn 9-6. The Razorbacks are a mess, with a 1-2 record and games against Texas A&M, Tennessee and Alabama – all away from home – in the next three weeks. The Gators haven’t been challenged, while the Wildcats earned a quality road victory last week against South Carolina. And, two of this week’s marquee games are SEC contests. Saturday showed that the Buckeyes are hardly invincible, but they also have room to work out the kinks. They should win this one by at least seven.