Welcome to The Funvee Tailgate! So last week was still great!? Clemson and Georgia both had close run-ins while I wasn’t wrong right about Arkansas’ D-Backs but I was wrong about the outcome as they upset TCU. We also had great endings from Pitt/Penn State and ULM/Oklahoma State, and an amazing atmosphere in Bristol for Tennessee/VaTech. Even though some of the chalk didn’t get erased and we had blowouts galore, Week 2 was a lot of fun to watch. Most importantly, it provided us a prelude to the week ahead. Plenty of showdowns this week as many schools reach the first quarter mark. Let’s fire up the tailgate…

Thursday Night Recap:

Houston was the lone Top 25 team to play last night and the Cougars blasted Cincinnati 40-16 becoming the leader in the clubhouse at 3-0. QB Greg Ward, Jr returned to action after missing last week’s game and Ward did not disappoint tossing for 326 yard and a touchdown while rushing for 73 yards and two touchdowns. This was the first AAC victory for Houston and frankly, the Cougars shouldn’t really be challenged until they travel to Navy at the beginning of October.

Big Games This Week:

Friday Night:

#21 Baylor travels to in-state for Rice tonight at 8pm on ESPN. The Bears are a 31-point favorite in this game and it could out of hand very fast. Rice has been blasted by both Western Kentucky and Army to start 2016. Their linemen and defensive secondary both are pretty horrendous, Baylor can turn this into a one-sided track meet.

The Chaos Begins on Saturday:

Before I get to the fun stuff, I’ve got to mention the other games. After both struggled in their first two contests, #5 Clemson and #15 Tennessee both play what should be easy wins. I say “what should be” become Clemson beating Troy last week should have been easy. #9 Wisconsin, #23 Florida, and #24 Arkansas both have easier games scheduled as well. Now onto the good stuff:

• #2 Florida State at #10 Louisville (Noon on ABC) — This one is practically a pick’em with FSU as a 1.5-point favorite. All eyes will be on the QBs as Louisville’s Lamar Jackson tore up Syracuse last week and FSU’s Deondre Francois has been solid to start the season. FSU RB Dalvin Cook and the Seminole offense haven’t missed a beat aside from the first half against Ole Miss. I’m taking FSU here due to the Noles’ comeback against Ole Miss. This will be a fun game to start off Saturday right
• North Dakota State at #13 Iowa (Noon on ESPN2) — NDSt is a ridiculously good FCS team that could beat a good amount of lower FBS teams. Todd McShay said on Russilo and Kanel earlier this week that it was dumb of Iowa to schedule this one. Iowa wins.
• #25 Miami at Appalachian State (Noon on ESPN) — App State has gain it’s notoriety form upsetting Michigan while they were in the FCS but now are a solid FBS competitor. Miami is a 3.5-point road favorite, could be another upset in the making. App State wins.
• #1 Alabama at #19 Ole Miss (3:30 on CBS) — Ole Miss has won the last two matchups. They may have blown it against FSU, but the Rebels will look to shut down Jalen Hurts and the Bama offense. Saban wants us all to forget the team that made us all question him each September. Bama wins.
• Colorado at #4 Michigan (3:30 on BTN) — The Buffalos were amongst the “others receiving votes” area of the Top 25 so it’s interesting that Michigan is a 19.5-point favorite. The two teams have been battling on social media all week. Wilton Speight looked good last week for Michigan. I don’t think they cover the spread, but Michigan wins.
• #17 Texas A&M at Auburn (7:00 on ESPN) — Kevin Sumlin takes his Aggies on the road to face a tough Auburn team, an unranked home favorite. I like the combination of A&M QB Trevor Knight to WR Christian Kirk and I think Myles Garrett leads the defense to an A&M victory.
• Mississippi State at #20 LSU (7:00 on ESPN2) — Obligatory Leonard Fournette watch. LSU wins.
• #12 Michigan State at #18 Notre Dame (7:30 on NBC) — DeShone Kizer looked great for ND last week as the Irish enter as 8-point favorites. MSU will be fresh after having last week off but I think 12 is a generous ranking for them at this point. Notre Dame wins.
• #16 Georgia at Missouri (7:30 on SECN) — UGA RB Nick Chubb looks like he never went down last year while Mizzou QB Drew Lock has been an absolute gunslinger. Georgia wins.
• #3 Ohio State at #14 Oklahoma (7:30 on FOX) — Like FSU/Louisville, this is practically a toss up. OSU needs to show that the Big Ten has a proven early playoff contender while Oklahoma needs to win to stay in the playoff conversation. Bob Stoops I think rallies his team and Oklahoma wins, forcing chaos to ensue in the Big XII.
• USC at #7 Stanford (8:00 on ABC) — two years ago, USC upset Stanford downing their chances. Not this year, Stanford wins.
• #11 Texas at Cal (10:30 on ESPN) — Cal QB Davis Webb has almost 1,000 yards in two games. Texas QB Shane Buechele is the Longhorn QB of the future. Potential road trap game for Texas here but I like the Longhorn to move to 3-0. Texas wins.

Lehigh dropped to 0-2 after losing a close one at Nova last week. The Mountain Hawks return to the Philadelphia are this week as they play in Penn’s 1st game of the season. Shafnisky looked better at QB for the Mountain Hawks but once again, the defense was steamrolled as Nova gained nearly 400 yards. Penn shouldn’t pose as big of a threat as Villanova but the Mountain Hawks will need to work for their first victory in 2016.

Disagree with my picks? Did I miss a matchup you wanted me to talk about? Let me know in the comments!

(cover photo via)