College football: Week three predictions

Last week: 9-2
Season record: 18-6

Tonight/UConn over Iowa State. Look who’s at the top of the Big 12 standings—Iowa State! The Cyclones are 2-0 and are coming off an emotional win over in-state rival Iowa. Iowa State will face a UConn team which beat Fordham at home before losing by three last week at Vanderbilt. It’ll be close but UConn will win by a late field goal.

Georgia Tech over Kansas. Georgia Tech wants revenge for last season’s loss in Lawrence. Kansas wants to silence those who still doubt, even though the Jayhawks are 2-0. KU must find some way to shore up a defense which is giving up 33 points a game, 96th in the country. Both teams like to run the ball—Tech is third in rushing yards nationally and Kansas is tenth. Key stat: When James Sims rushes for 100 yards, Kansas wins. The line is 15 but I think it’ll be closer—Tech by 8.

Kansas State over Kent State. K-State has had two weeks to stew about their less-than-upbeat performance in a 10-7 win over Eastern Kentucky in the opener. They’ll be facing an 0-2 Kent State team on Saturday before going on the road to Miami. In a “fixer-upper” game, KSU wins big by 17.

Missouri over Western Illinois. MU lost the battle in the desert against Arizona State last week but QB James Franklin found loads of confidence in leading a late Missouri comeback. MU by 21.

Oklahoma State over Tulsa. How good is OSU’s offense? The Cowboys are second in passing yards nationally and eighth in points per game. Tulsa will be no match—OSU by 17.

Texas over UCLA. Last year, Texas was 3-0 and ranked seventh entering the game with UCLA. The Longhorns lost and went 2-7 over the rest of the season. This year, Texas re-enters the top 25 after starting 2-0 but will face UCLA with a new starting QB (Case McCoy in place of Garrett Gilbert) and starting tailback (Malcolm Brown over Fozzy Whitaker.) McCoy will share time with David Ash but will play the majority of the minutes. Texas revenges last year’s loss in a close game—UT by three.

Texas A&M over Idaho. Pick a score number. A&M by 35? Sounds good…

Texas Tech over New Mexico. Almost as bad but not quite as big a margin—Tech by 21.

BYU over Utah. These two rivals will slug it out after tough losses—BYU by one to Texas and Utah by nine to Pac 12 foe USC. BYU is at home and will win by four.

Clemson over Auburn. Auburn’s bubble finally bursts—after finding ways to win over Utah State and Mississippi State, the Tigers come back to reality with a four point loss to Clemson.

Colorado over Colorado State. Colorado may be flinging the ball all over the field (ranked 11th in passing yardage) but the Buffs are still 0-2. Colorado State is 2-0 and has only allowed 12 points per game. CU wins by seven in this rivalry game in Denver.

Florida over Tennessee. It’s been six years since Tennessee has beaten Florida. And, you can now make it seven. Florida by eight.

Maryland over West Virginia. What wacky uniform combo will Maryland unveil tomorrow? In one of the better games of the day, West Virginia will win by two.

Notre Dame over Michigan State. After last week's sensational finish in Ann Arbor, the Golden Domers take on that "other" Michigan team. ND's fortunes will change with their first win of the season--a touchdown margin over Michigan State.

Miami over Ohio State. This is the game which provides all sort of comedic fodder for the travails of college football this past off-season--"Little Luke" and his escapades versus "Tattoo-gate." Jacory Harris returns to lead the Hurricanes at quarterback--Miami by three.

Game of the Day: Oklahoma over Florida State. Maybe this game will help everyone remember that Oklahoma still plays football. Of late, the reason for watching OU is to see what the school's administration decides--stay in the Big 12 or head west to the Pac 12? Number one versus number five. The biggest game in Tallassee in years. Last year, OU won by 30 over FSU--revenge the loss, win this game, and the 'Noles are in the thick of national championship talk. OU by four.