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How to watch the top College Football games of Week 3
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LSU-Auburn in the mid-afternoon window and TCU-Ohio State in the evening are the two games this week that will alter the playoff race. Should we expect some upsets in those games or elsewhere around the country? Here’s what you need to watch for in Week 3.
No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners at Iowa State Cyclones
Date/Time: Saturday, September 15 at TBD
Location: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa
TV: TBD
Iowa State was the only blemish on Oklahoma’s regular season record in 2017. Can the Cyclones shock the Sooners once again? Kyler Murray and Oklahoma are fresh off two serious beatdowns of lesser opponents and are clicking on all cylinders. Meanwhile, ISU had its season opener cancelled due to weather and is coming off a tough loss to in-state rival Iowa. Translation: Even with running back Rodney Anderson out for the year with a knee injury, this looks like the Sooners first Big 12 win of the season.
No. 12 LSU Tigers at No. 7 Auburn Tigers
Date/Time: Saturday, September 15 at 3:30 p.m.
Location: Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama
TV: CBS
LSU and Auburn have followed the same script before this meeting: 1) Beat a top 10-ranked out-of-conference opponent to open the season, and 2) follow it up with an effortless win over an FCS team. Led by stars Greedy Williams and Devin White, LSU’s defense aims to contain Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham, who’s looking for revenge after he was kept to a career-worst 34.6% completion rate in last year’s matchup. Auburn’s defensive strategy will be to create havoc. Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele’s guys already have six turnovers through two games.
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Week 3
- 9/15: Alabama vs. Ole Miss, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
- 9/15: Ohio State vs. TCU, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN3
- 9/15: USC vs. Texas, 8 p.m. on FOX
- 9/15: Washington vs. Utah, 10 p.m. on ESPN
No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide at Ole Miss Rebels
Date/Time: Saturday, September 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Mississippi
TV: ESPN
We’ve finally stopped talking about the Alabama quarterback situation. Through two games, Tua Tagovailoa has clearly proven his national title game performance was a harbinger of great things to come. And this trip to Ole Miss may very well be the game that sees him rack up even crazier stats. The Rebels have a bowl ban this season, which means they have zero pressure and can just enjoy playing spoiler in the SEC West. No, they probably won’t stop the Tide, but Ole Miss QB Jordan Ta’amu will be unloading to his deep receiving corps all night. That means Tua will uncork plenty of deep balls of his own in what should be a fun shootout.
No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs
Date/Time: Saturday, September 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
TV: ABC
Neither Ohio State nor TCU have truly been challenged yet, adding extra intrigue to this non-conference showdown with playoff implications. TCU will need to force some turnovers and win the field position battle to keep up with Ohio State. The play of Horned Frogs defensive end Ben Banogu and the rest of the D-line against Buckeyes quarterback Dwayne Haskins and the running back duo of Mike Webber and J.K. Dobbins will be a key in this one. On the other side, TCU’s offensive line gets the extremely difficult task of trying to contain future NFL defensive linemen Nick Bosa and Dre’mont Jones.
No. 22 USC Trojans at Texas Longhorns
Date/Time: Saturday, September 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Location: Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas
TV: FOX
When Texas faced USC in 2017, it was all about remembering the epic 2005 BCS National Championship Game. This time around, it’s more about each squad trying to avoid a disappointing 1-2 start. UT dropped its opener against Maryland and followed it up with an ugly win over Tulsa last week. USC took care of UNLV in Week 1 but fell to Stanford in Week 2. The Trojans desperately need freshman quarterback JT Daniels to improve upon last week’s three-turnover dud if they want to leave Austin with a win. For the Longhorns, a home loss to USC could really make their season spiral downward as they hit the toughest part of the schedule in the weeks to follow: vs. TCU, at Kansas State, vs. Oklahoma.