College Football Picks Week 3: Predictions and Odds for Top 25 Schedule
Through two weeks of the 2014 college football season, we've already seen a bevy of unexpected results. Some teams that received significant hype over the offseason proved to have very little substance, while some underappreciated squads made names for themselves with big wins.
In the aftermath of Week 2 contests, the AP released its new Top 25 poll, which included plenty of movement. After some ugly performances from a few top teams—Ohio State tops that short list—a couple of new teams find themselves on this week's list.
Vegas oddsmakers have already released the opening lines for Week 3 of the college football season, so let's go ahead and decide the outcome of each Top 25 squad's impending contest based on those odds.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| (2) Oregon | Wyoming | ORE -43 | ORE, 52-7 |
| (3) Alabama | Southern Miss | ALA -49 | ALA, 58-10 |
| (4) Oklahoma | Tennessee | OU -21 | OU, 42-13 |
| (24) South Carolina | (6) Georgia | UGA -3 | UGA, 45-20 |
| (7) Texas A&M | Rice | -- | TAM, 48-7 |
| Buffalo | (8) Baylor | BAY -27 | BAY, 52-3 |
| Boston College | (9) USC | USC -20 | USC, 38-20 |
| (10) LSU | Louisiana-Monroe | LSU -28 | LSU, 46-6 |
| (11) Notre Dame | Purdue | ND -29.5 | ND, 35-18 |
| Texas | (12) UCLA | UCLA -6 | UCLA, 24-20 |
| (14) Ole Miss | Louisiana-Lafayette | -- | MISS, 42-13 |
| (15) Stanford | Army | SU -27.5 | SU, 38-12 |
| Colorado | (16) Arizona State | ASU -13.5 | ASU, 34-13 |
| (17) Virginia Tech | East Carolina | VT -11.5 | VT, 28-20 |
| (20) Missouri | Central Florida | MIZZ -9 | MIZZ, 42-20 |
| Virginia | (21) Louisville | LU -10 | LU, 30-22 |
| (22) Ohio State | Kent State | OSU -26.5 | OSU, 31-13 |
| (25) BYU | Houston | BYU -14 | BYU, 35-17 |
All game odds courtesy of Odds Shark.
The AP poll can be viewed at CollegeFootball.AP.org.
Pick Analysis
(24) South Carolina vs. (6) Georgia
Georgia is only giving three points to South Carolina on Saturday. It's time to break out your wallet, because the Gamecocks haven't given us any reason to believe they can keep up with the Bulldogs.
In Week 1, Georgia's win over Clemson was a thing of beauty. The Bulldogs clicked in all phases of the game, racking up 459 yards of offense while pummeling the Tigers by a score of 45-21. Hutson Mason managed the game nicely from the quarterback position, and Heisman hopeful Todd Gurley rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns.
The SEC's Twitter account received quite a reaction when it asked if Gurley is the Heisman front-runner:
"RT if Todd Gurley is your Heisman frontrunner! pic.twitter.com/qPmFqlmqxm
— SEC Football (@SECFootbaII) September 6, 2014"
It's not as if Clemson was a no-name team, either. In Week 2, the Tigers took out their pent-up aggression on South Carolina State, winning by a score of 73-7.
As for South Carolina, it allowed Texas A&M to accumulate 52 points in Week 1 and made quarterback Kenny Hill a household name. You'd think the team would rebound against East Carolina in Week 2; however, that wasn't the case at all.
While the Gamecocks notched their first win of the season, they won by just seven points with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Once again, South Carolina's defense faltered, allowing 453 yards of offense to the Pirates.
Now, just imagine what the Bulldogs will be able to do.
Texas vs. (12) UCLA
Don't look now, but the UCLA Bruins may not be as good as advertised. Sure, they currently hold a 2-0 record; however, those two wins came in close contests against unranked teams. Expect that trend to continue in Week 3.
The Bruins have yet to find an identity. In Week 1, Virginia's defense absolutely tortured quarterback Brett Hundley. His offensive line just couldn't hold up against the pressure, and the end result was a dismal 43.2 passer rating. The offense couldn't get anything done, and the defense had to bail out the team.
It was completely different in Week 2 against Memphis. Hundley looked much better, completing 33 of his 44 passing attempts for 396 yards, three touchdowns and one interception; however, there was no running game to speak of—the Bruins averaged just 3.5 yards per carry as a team. Making matters worse, the defense didn't show up at all, allowing 469 yards of offense and 35 points to the Tigers.
UCLA was lucky to escape with another win. SportsCenter tweeted exactly how close the game was in the fourth quarter:
Texas is also an up-and-down team this season. The Longhorns looked decent in Week 1, defeating North Texas by a score of 38-7. The offense wasn't overwhelmingly impressive, but the defense allowed a grand total of just 94 yards to the Mean Green.
Things didn't quite go according to plan against BYU in Week 2. While the Texas defense looked good at times—Taysom Hill struggled through the air, completing 18 of his 27 attempts for 181 yards and a pick—it gave up five rushing touchdowns, losing 41-7.
The Longhorns aren't coming off a particularly favorable performance, but they play at home against a UCLA team that hasn't exactly found its groove yet this season. Expect a close one here.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
