CFB Week 3 Thread

[Dawg83]

Don’t love that after this weekend we’ll be 25% finished with the season, but here we are regardless.

 

State-Memphis is really fascinating on paper. Really could not be any more of a sandwich game for State. Two big home games on either side of it and in the middle you’ve got this G5 team with a long home winning streak and a dynamic offense. This really feels like the week you need to see State’s offense perform, because Memphis is putrid defensively, and you feel like you probably won’t hold them to 10 like you did NC State. I trust Zach Arnett to confuse a true freshman G5 QB so I will pick State to win a competitive game. Final score something in the neighborhood of 41-28, but close for most of the way.

 

We will see how improved the Ole Miss defense truly is this week, because Tulane can really score as well. This has a chance to be a really fun game. I am not going to pick Tulane to win but I could see them covering the 14 point spread. I think both teams are over 35 points in this game, possibly over 40.

 

Not a huge week of games this week but Penn State-Auburn and Florida-Alabama are noteworthy. BYU-Arizona State should be fun if you are into late night football. But not much nationally that jumps out on paper.

[rebmus]

I like MSU to win and cover. 

I like OM to win, but Tulane to cover. 

Bama wins over Florida. I haven't looked at the spread on that game, I expect Bama to cover unless the spread is over 17. 

I have no idea on Penn State/Auburn. I wouldn't touch this game with a ten foot pole if I was betting. It should be a very good game... probably the best game of the weekend that means something in the rankings/playoff possibilities. 

 

Agreed on BYU/Arizona State- that should be a good game also. I'll probably tune in to that one after the OM/Tulane is over. 

 

 

 

 

[msaisbandkid]

MSU wins close.

Ole Miss wins by a lot. Oklahoma made Tulane look better with their Big 12 defense. I'm willing to bet Ole Miss' is better.

As far as SEC games Alabama blows out Florida and Georgia blows out South Carolina.

Vandy loses.

As an Auburn fan I will not pick the Auburn-Penn St game because I have absolutely no idea.

Everyone else wins easily.

[Dawg83]

Auburn has looked good but against perhaps the weakest schedule in the country to this point. Penn State does have the road win at Wisconsin but if you watched that game it was UGLY.

 

Add me to the list of people with no idea on that game.

[J-Trill88]

College football is becoming to be very unpredictable as the years go by. It’s not a lot of note-worthy games as you guys say but any game can have “upset alerts” and “witching” hours. I do expect State to win and Ole Miss as well. MSU just need to clean up penalties and put points on the board to make this an uneven bout. Memphis is known to go to battle with MS schools but wet the bed towards the end. So I see MSU winning comfortably on Saturday.

 
With OM, I’m not gonna sleep on Tulane too much. I see the game being closer and them putting a hat on OM throughout the game at times but OM will come out with a win. This will be a small test for the Rebs before the looming trip to Tuscaloosa in two weeks.  That bye week will only make them or break them. Enough time to correct mistakes but a weekend of rest don’t always help. Alabama will be battle tested by then.  
 

 

 Penn State/Auburn. All I can say is it will be a lot of running but I’m not touching this one. Just enjoy the game lol. 

[MSUBulldog2010]

Memphis sits at 3-0, will be at home and has a freshman QB under center who has lead an offense that averages over 50 points a game with 153 scored during the course of their first three contest respectively. With that said, I'm taking the Bulldogs based on both the play of our defense this past Saturday in conjunction with the fact that Arkansas St. dropped 50 on Memphis during their latest contest even though Memphis would go on to win 55-50. If Miss St. can manage to be sitting at 4-0 after both the Memphis and LSU games then I believe we'll see our squad crack the top #20 to #25 for the first time during this football campaign.

[pancho]

I'm expecting MSU to play sloppy and unorganized and still win big due to the lack of potency in the memphis D. Ole miss will prob give up 35 but still score 45

[MSUBulldog2010]

Alabama has the better team and yet I've taken UF in my first upset game of the year 38-36 at home, undefeated, highly ranked and in Dan Mullen's 4th season. If UF can feed off the energy of the home crowed and play above their heads then UF has a chance. This game represents a defining moment in the career of Dan Mullen and why UF brought their former OC back from Miss St. who had a hand in UF's most recent prior two national championships. Saban will retire as the most dominate college football coach to ever live and Dan Mullen and company have a golden opportunity this Saturday to elevate Gainesville back to prominence as all championship roads stemming from the SEC run through Tuscaloosa currently.

[MSTSatchmo]

UF still isn’t settled on their QB.  I think Bama will play much better this week after the chewing they got last week, especially on defense.  I know comparing scores isn’t a good way to compare teams, BUT NC State beat S Florida by 45 compared to 22 for UF.  
Bama 38 UF 17 

 

I don’t think Rulane will have the same offensive success against OM that they had against Oklahoma.  
OM 45 Tulane 21

 

I wasn’t going to pick State except in the Vandy and TN State games after week 1, but I didn’t realize Ark St put 50 on Memphis.  However LA Tech put 34 on State. 
State 42 Memphis 35

 

I’ll take Penn St over Auburn because they’re playing at home, but I’m looking forward to this game. We will see how legit Auburn’s offense is.  

[Dawg83]

I can’t pick a Dan Mullen coached team to beat Saban until I actually see it happen, but part of me does wonder if this is a closer game than many expect. I mean what do we actually know about Bama at this point? Obviously they are ultra talented, but are we really viewing them as this unbeatable team after blowing out Mercer and a very overrated Miami team?

 

Like I said, still expect Bama to win. But The Swamp is a really tough place to play when it’s packed, and Bama is still fairly inexperienced in quite a few spots.

[rebmus]

Almost every year, Bama gets better as the season goes. IF they lose a regular season game, it's most likely in the first 6 games. While I don't think Florida beats Bama, that's the smartest bet on Bama losing a regular season game IMO. 

 

[Bulldogs4]

This game is shades of the 2017 Bama-State game. UF has an opportunity here but can they finish the job? 

State got all the way to end but we failed in the last part of the game. 
I think UF covers the spread and if they can get a lead in the first half by more than one score, they can put some pressure on Bama. A big IF, but is possible. So I am going out on limb and say that CDM finally gets the best of Saban and UF beats Bama. 
 

I think Auburn sh*ts the bed (field) against Penn State and loses in fugly fashion. A new coach and staff usually have some WTF games in their first year. This is going to be one of them. Auburn has played two cupcakes at home so far. PSU on the road is big boy football and this week they are going to get rolled over. 
 

Tulane will give Ole Miss some Maalox moments but the Oxford group will outlast the New Orleans group. I think Tulane played over the heads at Oklahoma and will not quite duplicate that effort here. Ole Miss covers but it will come late. 
 

State @ Memphis. An intriguing match up. State is definitely trending in the right direction. Memphis can score but their defense is…well non existent. If there is ever an opportunity for the State offense to really get on track (possibly similar to the Missouri game last year), this is it. 
Again I see some uncomfortable moments here for State but I think we will prevail 51-35 or somewhere along that line. But what the heck do I know? 
 

Troy @ USM - I am pulling for the Eagles here but Troy is solid this year. 
24-10 final for the Trojans. 

[rebmus]

College Friday night games are typically boring, until the last weekend of the regular season. 

Tonight's game between Louisville and UCF was a very fun game to watch. 

[msaisbandkid]

Kentucky had a mega struggle win against Chattanooga.

Looks like State is going to win.

Oklahoma had a struggle win but found out that they have a corner who should play receiver.

[Dawg83]

Pretty good first half by State. After the early scoop and score they have clearly looked like the better team. That said, you can make an argument the score should be more lopsided and this one is a long way from being over with Memphis’s offense.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Dawg83

[MSTSatchmo]

They are who we thought they were.   That was about as bad a second half as you could see from State.   Little offensive production, bad penalties, gave up big plays on defense, went for it on 4th up 10 and give up a 90+ yard drive immediately after including a 4th and 6,  AND a punt return for a TD.  

[rebmus]

Just now, MSTSatchmo said:

They are who we thought they were.   That was about as bad a second half as you could see from State.   Little offensive production, bad penalties, gave up big plays on defense, went for it on 4th up 10 and give up a 90+ yard drive immediately after including a 4th and 6,  AND a punt return for a TD.  

That punt return for a TD has quite an * beside it. 

 

MSU got hosed on that call. 

 

Either way, the way State can't seem to block Memphis' Dline... they're in trouble in SEC play. 

[MSTSatchmo]

I just saw the punt return video.  What tha….?  

[hasbeen67]

I hate to be completely negative, but it doesn't look like it's going to work. 

[rebmus]

Just now, MSTSatchmo said:

I just saw the punt return video.  What tha….?  

2 obvious reasons the TD wasn't valid. 

1. The ball was downed (or the ref called it dead... take your pick).

2. Kentucky had two #4s on the field. 

 

At the same time, how does MSU not call a time out before the PAT and ask for a review?? 

 

 

[MSTSatchmo]

26 minutes ago, rebmus said:

2 obvious reasons the TD wasn't valid. 

1. The ball was downed (or the ref called it dead... take your pick).

2. Kentucky had two #4s on the field. 

 

At the same time, how does MSU not call a time out before the PAT and ask for a review?? 

 

 

I was about to ask if those weren’t reviewable.  Makes no sense as bizarre as it looked that you wouldn’t want a review.  

[rebmus]

Possibly it's not reviewable Satch. I'm guessing it was, but I really don't know for sure. 

 

I still would have called a time out and pleaded my case. 

[Bulldogs4]

Bizarre play. I would think any scoring play is reviewable. Pretty clear that the ball was touched and the play was over. 
 

All the pathetic officiating aside, we made too many mistakes, made poor coaching decisions and just failed to make plays as well. 
 

Defense played very well and was good enough to win the game, Offense and special teams cost us this game. 
 

When you play a game like this, you have to take care business to the point that the officiating can’t have a hand in deciding the outcome. We failed miserably there today. 
 

A hard lesson to learn but I hope we did learn a hard lesson today. 

[Dawg83]

Oddly enough this doesn’t really change my opinion on State. I still view them as a borderline bowl team that has a path to 6 or 7 wins. I’ve thought for months that there were a ton of toss ups on the schedule, still think that’s true. If you find a way to beat a very beatable LSU next week then this is kind of a wash.

 

The officiating on the punt return was really bad. The officiating on the onside kick was at least questionable. It doesn’t change that State should’ve won this game going away but it’s objectively a screw up that potentially cost State the game.

 

That said, other things cost State the game too. An unforced fumble that led to a scoop and score, getting no points when you had first and goal inside the 5, an interception being negated because you had guys not hustling off the field, etc. State probably should’ve won this game by double digits and they didn’t win period.

 

It’s a frustrating loss on many levels, but I picked State to be 2-1 at this point and here they are. There are opportunities to make up for this loss and still have a decent to good season. And even if it ends up being a bad year, Leach will be back next season regardless, so not much point in even considering that he won’t be.

 

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Dawg83

[rebmus]

No doubt 83, a win over LSU next week negates this Memphis loss. 

MSU still has a path to getting 6 wins, IF they lost to LSU... that path will get tougher. 

 

Tennessee State is a win. 

Vandy is most likely a win (it IS on the road though). 

Kentucky is likely a win. 

 

Arkansas, Auburn, and Bama just look a good bit better than MSU. (The easier of those 3 are on the road... beating Bama in Starkville is very doubtful). 

 

A&M doesn't look like a top 10 team to me, but still look better than MSU... and they host. 

 

That likely leaves the egg bowl for the 6th win if MSU loses to LSU. I wouldn't bet on that game either way.