Week 3 Games to Watch
No. 5 Oklahoma at Iowa State
Saturday, 11 a.m., ABC
In one of the wildest upsets of 2017, Iowa State marched into Norman and knocked off Baker Mayfield and the Sooners, 38-31. It was quarterback Kyle Kempt’s first career start, where he shined with 343 passing yards and a trio of touchdown passes. Kempt is listed day-to-day with an ankle injury for Saturday’s contest in Ames. His absence during the fourth quarter of the Iowa game contributed to the Cyclones’ 13-3 loss. Oklahoma will try to steamroll yet another opponent with talented quarterback Kyler Murray, but the Sooners will be without Rodney Anderson, their star running back. After rushing for 100 yards on five carries in Week One, Anderson went down with a knee injury against UCLA last week and is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
No. 12 LSU at No. 7 Auburn
Saturday, 2:30 p.m., CBS
The pair of SEC West Tigers reside in the top 15 after edging out ranked opponents in Week One. LSU dominated Miami in Arlington just two weeks ago, looking impressive with a refurbished offense. Running back Nick Brossette has carried on the success of his predecessors Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice by rushing for 262 yards in two games. But most SEC West battles are decided by the defenses. Auburn’s duo of defensive tackles, Derrick Brown and Dontavius Russell, will play a critical role in spoiling Brossette’s breakout senior year at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
No. 17 Boise State at No. 24 Oklahoma State
Saturday, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
Boise State is demolishing everything in its path. In a 62-7 wreckage of Connecticut, the Broncos accumulated 818 yards of offense while limiting the Huskies to 193 — the largest gap between yards in a game this millennium. Led by cannon-armed senior Brett Rypien, Boise looks poised for its most successful season since the Kellen Moore era. Week Three will present a major challenge in Stillwater against Mike Gundy and the Pokes. Oklahoma State’s offense has faced little resistance running up the score this season, averaging 56.5 points per game after routs over Morgan State and South Alabama.
No. 4 Ohio State at No. 15 TCU
Saturday, 7 p.m., ABC
The Buckeyes and Horned Frogs both feature two of the top five active winningest head coaches, but only Gary Patterson will stand on the sidelines Saturday night in Arlington. Without Urban Meyer, Ohio State has blown out Oregon State and Rutgers behind the arm of new starting quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Haskins completes passes at nearly an 80 percent rate and has connected on nine touchdown passes this season. TCU needed a half to adjust to poor weather conditions in a 42-12 win over SMU last Friday, but thanks to playmaking wide receiver KaVontae Turpin and the defensive heroics of Ben Banogu, TCU enters Week Three with a plus-78 point differential. But only one of these undefeated teams will maintain its perfect status at AT&T Stadium.
No. 10 Washington at Utah
Saturday, 9 p.m., ESPN
This Saturday’s obligatory #Pac12AfterDark features a matchup that could put Washington’s lofty playoff hopes to rest. The Huskies rebounded from their tough-fought loss to Auburn by punishing an FCS opponent. Utah is no slouch, though. During his successful tenure with the Utes, Kyle Whittingham has knocked off three top-10 opponents, two while his team was unranked. Jake Browning, Myles Gaskin and Washington’s talented offense can’t fall for this trap game on the road against a talented Utah defense that only allowed six points to Northern Illinois last weekend.
