What to watch: College football Week 3 viewer's guide Nick BrombergSeptember 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM 0 We told you not to rule out an unexpected upset in Week 2. The schedule looked pretty dull, but South Florida took down Florida and there were close games throughout the day.
- - What to watch: College football Week 3 viewer's guide
Nick BrombergSeptember 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
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We told you not to rule out an unexpected upset in Week 2.
The schedule looked pretty dull, but South Florida took down Florida and there were close games throughout the day.
Week 3 looks much more fascinating. And it could play a big role in conference races in both the ACC and the SEC. There are three games between ranked opponents this weekend and, thanks to USF, none of them are in Baton Rouge.
Here's what to watch in Week 3.
No. 12 Clemson at Georgia Tech
Yes, that spread above isn't lying. The Tigers are just 3-point favorites ahead of their first road game of the season. It's a sign that the preseason expectations for Clemson have been way off … so far. After losing to LSU at home in Week 1, Clemson fell behind 16-0 to Troy before winning 27-16.
Clemson looked like itself in the second half of that game against the Trojans. But that half also doesn't override the fact the Tigers went an entire game (the second half vs. LSU and the first half vs. Troy) without scoring a single touchdown. That's a warning light for an offense that was very, very good in 2024 and expected to take another step forward.
The Tigers will need to be efficient on Saturday. It's not hard to decipher what the Georgia Tech gameplan will be, especially with Haynes King returning to the starting lineup after sitting out in Week 2 because of a lower-body injury. Georgia Tech will want to shorten the game as much as possible and grind out yards on the ground. King rushed 19 times for 156 yards and three scores in the Week 1 win against Colorado. Clemson's defense, meanwhile, has allowed less than three yards a carry so far this season. The under could be the smart play here.
No. 6 Georgia at No. 15 Tennessee
Has Georgia's offense been buckled up the first two weeks of the season ahead of this pivotal SEC game? Gunner Stockton has completed 69% of his passes across games against Marshall and Austin Peay, but he's averaging fewer than six air yards per attempt and 15 of his 40 completions have come at or behind the line of scrimmage according to TruMedia.
Saturday is the day to air it out. Tennessee will be without its top two corners again as both Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III are set to miss the game due to injury. Could it be a breakout game for USC transfer Zachariah Branch? He had three catches for 95 yards and a score against Marshall, but just three grabs for 17 yards against Austin Peay. Georgia's inability to go downfield consistently in the passing game has haunted the Bulldogs since the start of the 2024 season.
Tennessee's Joey Aguilar is the clear early-season winner of the QB trade between UCLA and Tennessee. As the Bruins and Nico Iamaleava are 0-2 after losing to UNLV in Week 2, the Volunteers are 2-0 and Aguilar has thrown for 535 yards and five touchdowns.
The Volunteers racked up nearly 500 yards of offense against Syracuse in Week 1 as both Star Thomas and DeSean Bishop rushed for over 80 yards. Look for that running back committee to continue against the Bulldogs, though this will be a much, much stronger test for Tennessee's offense than Syracuse and East Tennessee State.
No. 18 South Florida at No. 5 Miami
The Bulls are the surprise team of the first two weeks with a convincing win over Boise State and a last-second win over Florida in Week 2. There's no way USF can keep this up for a third week, right? Maybe it can.
QB Byrum Brown has carried the offensive load for the Bulls. He's 39-of-60 passing for 473 yards and a TD and has rushed 31 times for 109 yards and a score. WR Keshaun Singleton has also been a big play waiting to happen. He had five catches for 93 yards and a TD on a fake punt against Boise State, then had two grabs for 75 yards and a score against the Gators. That TD was a 66-yard pass from Brown that gave USF its first lead of the game late in the third quarter.
Opponents have also helped the Bulls out. USF hasn't turned the ball over yet this season while Boise had three turnovers and Florida had a key fumble in Week 2. The Gators also gave the Bulls 28 free yards on their game-winning drive with a pass interference penalty and Brendan Betts' spitting ejection.
Miami followed up its big win over Notre Dame in Week 1 with an easy 45-3 victory over Bethune-Cookman. Carson Beck has completed 78% of his passes through two games as Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels have combined for 22 catches for 181 yards and four touchdowns. The Hurricanes held Notre Dame to just 93 rushing yards in Week 1. If USF has a similar total on Saturday, Miami should be 3-0.
Florida at No. 3 LSU
This game was heading for a matchup of top-15 teams and a potential "College GameDay" site before Florida's loss to USF. But as the line suggests, this could still be a one-possession game.
The Gators snapped a five-game LSU series win streak a season ago with a 27-16 victory in Gainesville. It also continued a bizarre stretch of games between the two where an unranked opponent gets the win. Over the last five matchups dating back to 2017 when one team is ranked and the other isn't, the unranked team is 4-1. The only ranked victory came in 2023, when No. 18 LSU beat Florida 52-35.
A Florida victory would certainly quiet the idea that Billy Napier's on the hot seat. A convincing loss, however, would only increase the pressure. Especially with a game against Miami looming in Week 4.
After beating Clemson in Week 1, LSU had a rote 23-7 win over Louisiana Tech in Week 2. The Tigers were only up 10-0 at halftime, but led 20-0 before Louisiana Tech finally scored in the fourth quarter. After the game, LSU coach Brian Kelly said he wasn't happy with the way his team played. However, longtime college football fans are very familiar with sluggish games against non-power opponents in between games against ranked opponents and rivals.
No. 16 Texas A&M at No. 8 Notre Dame
Aggies QB Marcel Reed left the team's Week 2 win over Utah State early, but should be good to go against the Irish. Reed's departure appeared to be precautionary as coach Mike Elko said after the game that Reed would be fine to face Notre Dame.
Reed had four total TDs against Utah State in the 44-22 win. He's thrown for seven TDs so far this season after throwing four in Week 1 against UTSA. A&M's offense has been humming with 953 total yards. RB Le'Veon Moss also looks healthy. That's a massive development for A&M after his season-ending knee injury during the 2024 season.
Notre Dame was off in Week 2 after its season-opening loss to Miami. QB CJ Carr settled into the first start of his career and had three total touchdowns in the 27-24 defeat. But Notre Dame has to figure out how to get the ball into the hands of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price more often. Love had just 10 carries for 33 yards against the Hurricanes while Price had six carries for 45 yards. WR Jaden Greathouse was also held without a catch after he broke out in the final two games of the College Football Playoff with 13 grabs for 233 yards and three scores. The Irish will need to get their key playmakers involved far more to beat the Aggies.
Other games to watch
Wisconsin at No. 19 Alabama (-20.5), Noon ET, ABC: Yeah, this may not be a very close game. But it's a good check on the status of both teams after Alabama bounced back from its Week 1 loss to Florida State with a drubbing of Louisiana-Monroe. If the Crimson Tide do what they did to Wisconsin in 2024, then it's easier to see that FSU game as an aberration. And it's also easy to wonder where Wisconsin goes from here with five more games against ranked opponents remaining.
Pitt (-7) at West Virginia, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN: The Backyard Brawl lost a little bit of luster in Week 2 with West Virginia's upset loss at Ohio. But this is still a rivalry game with a history of producing close games. The home team has won the last four contests and six of the last eight have been decided by one possession.
Arkansas at No. 17 Ole Miss (-7), 7 p.m. ET, ESPN: This line may be a little surprising at first, but Ole Miss didn't look totally convincing in its 30-23 win at Kentucky in Week 2. The Rebels were just 3-of-13 on third downs and Austin Simmons threw two interceptions. It's the first big test for Arkansas in 2025 as the Razorbacks have played Alabama A&M and Arkansas State through the first two weeks.
Vanderbilt at No. 11 South Carolina (-4.5), 7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network: The Commodores absolutely blitzed Virginia Tech in Week 2. After trailing 20-10 at halftime, Vanderbilt scored 34 straight to end the game as the Commodores averaged seven yards per carry. In Week 1, South Carolina beat Virginia Tech 24-11.
Duke at Tulane (-1.5), 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2: The Blue Devils turned the ball over five times and effectively committed a sixth with a jersey penalty on a punt in a 45-19 home loss to Illinois in Week 2. The Green Wave beat Northwestern in Week 1 before squeaking by South Alabama in Week 2. It's also a return to Tulane for former QB Darian Mensah. He transferred to Duke in the offseason and may not be greeted warmly by the home crowd.
Minnesota (-1.5) at Cal, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN: The evening concludes with a sneakily intriguing game between 2-0 teams. Minnesota scored 59 points in the first half against Northwestern State in Week 2. The Gophers hadn't scored that many in a single game since 2022. Freshman Cal QB Jaron-Kaewe Sagapolutele is 46-of-67 passing for 493 yards and three touchdowns through two games.
Source: "AOL Sports"
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