Time for week 3 of the college football season! Conference play is almost upon us. Here are some games to keep your eye on this Saturday:
No. 12 LSU at No. 7 Auburn – 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS
Tigers vs. Tigers! The SEC Game of the Week has major implications for the SEC West and the College Football Playoff conversation. Both teams come in with a signature win from their season openers: LSU wiped the floor with top-10 Miami and Auburn survived a slew of late-threats to beat top-10 Washington. Can LSU beat its second top-10 opponent this season? Can Auburn knock off its second top-15 team in three weeks?
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn and LSU head coach Ed Orgeron both bring great energy to the sidelines. This game and this season will be incredibly important for Orgeron as he looks to prove himself following last year’s nine-win season in his first full year as head coach in Baton Rouge.
Auburn didn’t dominate the run game against Washington, but the Tigers do have a formidable rushing attack that LSU will have to control. Luckily, LSU has one of the most athletic defenses in the country, year-in and year-out. Tackling in space will be key for both teams as neither wants to give up big yards after contact.
LSU running back Nick Brossette was a revelation in the opener against Miami, rushing for 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 22 carries. Averaging nearly 6 yards a carry and leading your team to a statement win on national television against a top-10 team? That’ll work! The Tigers will need more of that on Saturday if they hope to beat Auburn, who comes in as a double-digit favorite, on The Plains.
Quarterback play will also be crucial. Jarrett Stidham has been solid for Auburn. He’s thrown for nearly 400 yards and is completing more than 68 percent of his passes. On the other hand, LSU’s Joe Burrow hasn’t looked comfortable through two games. He has thrown for less than 300 yards and his completion percentage is under 48 percent. LSU is going to have a really tough time beating Auburn with that kind of production under center. This is going to be the craziest game atmosphere Joe Burrow has ever experienced. Will he be ready?
If the game comes down to the kickers, LSU’s Cole Tracy could be the big X-factor. He has yet to miss a field goal this year and has made both of his attempts from at least 50 yards. For what it’s worth, none of ESPN’s college football reporters picked LSU to win this game.
No. 4 Ohio State at No. 15 TCU – 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC
Another clash between top-15 teams! This isn’t a true road game for Ohio State though, because it will be played at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Buckeyes are favored to win by nearly two touchdowns.
A loss for TCU means the Horned Frogs would have to run the table and win the Big 12 to have a shot at the playoff. Ohio State would probably face the same scenario in the Big Ten if it loses.
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, who was suspended for the first three games of the season, will return after this game. While interim coach Ryan Day certainly hasn’t seemed to have any issues (Ohio State won its first two games by 46 and 49 points over Oregon State and Rutgers) this game is still a prime opportunity for Gary Patterson and Co. to try and knock off Ohio State without its great coach on the sideline.
TCU has looked really good against bad opponents in its first two games, beating Southern Univeresity by 48 points at home and beating SMU on the road by 30. After Ohio State beat Oregon State in the battle of the OSU schools, the Buckeyes pummeled Rutgers as Dwayne Haskins Jr. went 20-for-23 passing with four touchdown passes. That brings his season total to nine TD passes with just one pick. Did I mention this is his first year as a starter? Ohio State’s two-headed monster in the run game is Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins. Both can beat you.
TCU has a balanced offense led by sophomore QB Shawn Robinson. He’s completed more than 62 percent of his passes this year, but he’s never faced a defense as tough and athletic as Ohio State before. To beat one of the best pass rushes in the country, he’ll need strong play up front from his offensive line and he’ll need to use his feet to extend plays. Luckily for TCU, Robinson has proven he can do that. In fact, he leads the team in rushing with 112 yards, averaging more than 11 yards every time he takes off. TCU has a pair of 100-yard rushers behind him in Darius Anderson and Sewu Olonilua. Both will have to push north-south and get positive yardage on first and second down to avoid putting Robinson in a situation where the Buckeyes defense can pin their ears back and come after him.
No. 17 Boise State at No. 24 Oklahoma State – 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
This is a dangerous game for both teams. If Boise State wins, ESPN’s Playoff Predictor says the Broncos’ chances of making the CFP go from 9 percent to 19 percent. If the Broncos then win out and win in the Mountain West title game, their chance of making it in skyrockets to 56 percent. The Broncos could be the team that finally breaks through the Power 5’s grip on the playoff.
Like TCU, an Oklahoma State loss means the Cowboys would probably have to run the table and win the Big 12 title to have a shot at the playoff. That’ll be very difficult, since the Cowboys’ final three games are on the road at No. 5 Oklahoma, at home against No. 14 West Virginia, and on the road at No. 15 TCU.
Boise State beat Troy on the road in the opener by 36 points and then demolished UConn at home by 55 last week. Brett Rypien, the nephew of former NFL QB and Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien, has picked defenses apart so far this season, improving on his good-but-not-great junior year. He’s completing passes at a 73 percent clip and has seven TD passes without throwing a pick. Alexander Mattison and Andrew Van Buren will have to keep the Cowboys honest in the run game so Oklahoma State doesn’t just drop everyone back into coverage.
Meanwhile, Taylor Cornelius is going to have much a tougher time under center against Boise State than he did against Missouri State and South Alabama. Luckily for the big guy (he’s listed at 6-foot-6 and more than 230 pounds), he has two big-play receivers in Tylan Wallace and Tyron Johnson. Boise State will need to make keeping them in check a priority. The Broncos return 10 of their 11 starters on defense so the Cowboys need Cornelius to have his best game of the year if they want to break through against Boise State’s solid and experienced defense.
Noah Niederhoffer (@Noah715) is a producer at SiriusXM and a graduate of the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Originally from Atlanta, he now lives in Washington, D.C.
