6 bold college football predictions for Week 3: Kevin Jennings enters Heisman talk
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Week 3 of the college football season kicked off on Thursday night with Pitt beating Syracuse. There will be a few more interesting games on Friday — including a top-25 showdown — before the rest of the games air on Saturday.
Here are our six bold predictions for Week 3.
MORE: Predicting Big Ten football scores in Week 3: Michigan State, Notre Dame renew rivalry
Mississippi State vs. South Carolina is the game of the week
If you like offense, this game is for you. While the game doesn’t kick until 4:15 p.m. ET on the SEC Network, it’s going to feature two top-five offenses through two weeks.
Mississippi State has the No. 2 offense, averaging 620 yards of offense and South Carolina has the No. 5 offense, averaging 573 yards of offense. Both teams are led by their dual-threat signal-callers.
The Bulldogs have Kamario Taylor, whose play has him in the early Heisman talk, after throwing for 581 yards and seven TDs in two games. LaNorris Sellers’ stats aren’t as impressive for South Carolina, but drops have been an issue. Expect a lot of fireworks in this game and a lot of points.
Sam Leavitt starts and plays 4 quarters of football
Is this really a bold prediction? When you’re talking about Lane Kiffin, probably not. But looking at the availability report, LSU QB Sam Leavitt was ‘doubtful’ on Wednesday, before being upgraded to ‘questionable’ on Thursday.
Leavitt is the heart and soul of the Tigers’ offense and if he doesn’t play against Ole Miss, things could get ugly in a hurry. But, again, it’s Lane Kiffin and most people believe he’s playing tricks on the Rebels — Ole Miss’ coaching staff isn’t buying it, by the way.
It would be more shocking to not see Leavitt on the field on Saturday night.
Kevin Jennings inserts himself into the Heisman Trophy race
It feels like it’s easy to look past Kevin Jennings with him playing at SMU, but the Mustangs are a real contender and so is Jennings. It might just be two weeks, but the dual-threat signal caller is No. 2 in the nation, averaging 383.5 yards per game.
And this is going to be a big game for SMU with a lot of ACC implications on the line. The Mustangs are playing at Louisville in a top-25 showdown. The Cardinals suffered a Week 1 loss to Ole Miss, and Jeff Brohm doesn’t need two early losses on his resume.
If SMU is going to upset Louisville on the road, it’s going to take another great outing from Jennings, who would stamp his name in the Heisman Trophy race.
The Georgia Bulldogs finally get love
How often does the No. 2 ranked team in the nation feel slept on? That’s the case with the Georgia Bulldogs, who are quietly going about their business. Granted, UGA has yet to play a team with a pulse, crushing both Tennessee State and Western Kentucky.
But the ‘Dogs are doing exactly what a great team does — blowout the weaker competition. This week, UGA enters SEC play and travels to Arkansas. The Razorbacks aren’t a good team, getting destroyed by Utah last weekend, but after another blowout win, Gunner Stockton and Co. will get the respect they deserve.
It’s clear Texas Tech isn’t going to repeat as Big 12 champions
Fans won’t have to wait for Saturday to see a top-25 clash. On Friday night, No. 22 Houston travels to face No. 13 Texas Tech.
The Cougars are coming off of a 77-point outing against Southern, while the Red Raiders needed a fourth quarter to beat Oregon State, 35-24. While the Beavers are an improved team, Texas Tech wasn’t overly impressive in Week 1 against Abilene Christian.
Texas Tech was expected to repeat in the Big 12, but there are other teams that are improved and Friday night could show that the Red Raiders won’t be at the top of the standings this season.
A MAC school nearly upsets a Big Ten program
Week 1 was for the MAC. UMass upset Rutgers, Western Michigan thought it beat Michigan, and Toledo competed with Michigan State.
There will be two games to keep an eye on this weekend. Akron at Minnesota and Eastern Michigan at Wisconsin. Obviously, both the Gophers and Badgers should roll this weekend, but neither program is playing good football right now.
Minnesota was just rolled at home against Mississippi State, while Wisconsin got crushed by Notre Dame and looked so-so against Western Illinois.
A few turnovers could keep both Akron and EMU in the game, which could lead to an interesting fourth quarter.
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