College Football Rewind: Week Three

Week Three has come and gone, and what a wild week it was, despite ESPN’s lame “Road Test Weekend” moniker. How’d everyone do?

#1 Oklahoma defeats #5 Florida State, 23-13

This was an absolutely sensational game that unequivocally lived up to the hype. Oklahoma scored on the opening drive, but after that, the ‘Noles defense stepped up big time, limiting Oklahoma to just field goals for a majority of the game. Ultimately, Oklahoma proved to have too much firepower for Florida State – a team that hasn’t looked this good in a long time, and their future looks bright.

Next up on the schedule for the Sooners is a home game against Missouri, which should be a bit of a welcome reprieve after the hype fest of this past weekend. Missouri flatted Western Illinois this past week, but I don’t think they’ll be even remotely that successful at Oklahoma. Look for the Sooners to make a statement this week, as they are supposedly going to be announced as part of the new PAC 16 (along with Texas).

Prediction: Oklahoma 35, Missouri 16

#2 Alabama defeats North Texas, 41-0

Not a whole lot to talk about in this game, other than North Texas got hit about as hard as Shelton Benjamin did here. More below from this game in the LOL of the Week.

The Tide opens up SEC play at home against Arkansas next week in what should be a relatively easy game. Arkansas hasn’t played anyone of merit yet, and Alabama hardly broke a sweat against the Mean Green this week. Look for the Tide to keep on Rollin’.

Prediction: Alabama 34, Arkansas 13

#3 LSU defeats Mississippi State, 19-6

The Tigers didn’t seem to have much trouble dispatching the Bulldogs. LSU’s defense was stifling, and the offense did just enough to put the game away. As I said last week, LSU needed to be firing on all cylinders, and they executed their game plan to a T. They didn’t even need any grass chewing from Les Miles.

Next up is another road test with a visit to the Mountaineers of West Virginia. The crowd should be absolutely vitriolic, given that it’s West bleepin' Virginia. The Tigers will need another stellar performance from the defense to walk out of that couch-burning haven with a W.

Prediction: LSU 23, West Virginia 21

#4 Boise State defeats Toledo, 40-15

Took a bit for the Stormtroopers Broncos to get their game in gear, but once they did, Toledo didn’t really stand a chance. Kellen Moore continued his torrid pace, tossing five TDs for the game.

The Broncos get another chance to fine-tune their skills in their game against Tulsa this week. No doubt they will want to be as ready as possible for their game the following week against Nevada. The Broncos will be looking to dish some payback against the Wolf Pack because of the loss from last season.

Prediction: Boise State 36, Tulsa 12

#5 Florida State falls to #1 Oklahoma, 13-23

Already been covered above, but one other thing to point out is how well Florida State’s backup freshman QB Clint Trickett played against Oklahoma. Could there be a QB controversy brewing in Tallahassee? It’s entirely possible.

Florida State gets a chance to rebound this week in their ACC opener against the Clemson Tigers – the game formerly known as the Bowden Bowl. Clemson finally got themselves a marquis victory, beating Auburn on Saturday, and they’ll be looking to continue their momentum. Florida State’s defense though is just a wee bit better than Auburn’s, and the 'Noles should be able to open up conference play with a victory.

Prediction: Florida State 24, Clemson 18

#6 Stanford defeats Arizona, 37-10

I nearly nailed this score on the dot – Stanford took awhile to get rolling, but Andrew Luck was sensational in the second half. If he keeps this play up, it’s likely he’ll be looking at buying property in either Kansas City or Seattle after the NFL draft in the spring.

Stanford returns home for a date with UCLA this week, and it’s highly unlikely that the Bruins will pose much, if any, threat at all. A more likely scenario will be Rick Neuheisel shouting at the end of the game that even he doesn’t care anymore about this team.

Prediction: Stanford 45, UCLA 7