College footballfan.com travels to Auburn in Week Three for last year’s re-match with No. 22 Penn State (2-0) at Auburn (2-0).  After a shaky start beating Purdue on the road, Penn State vanquished Ohio U. at home, 46-10.  Despite improving against a mid-major, the good news came regarding a sudden improvement in the running game.  Freshman, five-star RB Nick Singleton carried ten times for 179 yards and two TDs on rushes of 70 and 44 yards.  Ohio U.’s defense does not match the speed and quickness of Auburn’s, but adjustments by Penn State to mix the run in with a good passing attack provides more confidence this weekend.

    Last week, the Tigers pulled out a 24-16 win at home against San Jose State.  QB TJ Finley threw for 167 yards and one INT while the running game picked up 210 yards.  In passing situations, Penn State will bring more pressure and will show greater pass coverage than what Auburn has experienced so far.  State’s Linebackers continue work-in progress at Linebacker U.  They’ll look to stop RBs Robby Ashford and Tank Rigsby, who had a big game versus the Lions last year.  With Auburn HC Brian Harsin in the pressure cooker entering Week Three already, it’s a must-win for him. 

With two games under both teams’ belts, the Lions should be more prepared than the Tigers in this one. Auburn may come out in orange jerseys to fire their faithful up for this one.  However, the first Auburn game we attended in Shug-Jordan Stadium in 1978, HC Doug Barfield used the same ploy.   Exciting game, but dull finish as the Tigers tied Vince Dooley’s Georgia Bulldogs, 22-22.

“He goes to his Comfort Zone” to the tune of…

    Kenny Loggins’s, “I went to the Danger Zone!”  The exhilarating theme song of the original Top Gun movie video plays at opening kick-offs at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.  For Nick Saban, college football discovered last week why he avoids leaving his comfort zone.  His song theme is the title above.  For the first time in 11 years, his Alabama Crimson Tide visited a non-conference Power Five School, Texas. He won 20-19, but even after Longhorn QB Quinn Ewers went down to injury, The Tide did not perform up to its standards usually displayed on their home turf. Saban kept hearing “Texas Fight!” instead of “Yeah Alabama!” in front of 105,213 Longhorn fans.

   No wonder why he prefers to play at home or only at “neutral” sites like Atlanta. Forget about home and home series as we published after attending The Tides 55-0 destruction of Utah State in his comfort zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium.  He returns to Tuscaloosa in Week Three to recover.  He scheduled UL Monroe in case things didn’t go as planned in Austin.  The SEC helped him the following week booking a prime-time game against SEC doormat Vanderbilt.  The Commodores displayed true colors after two wins last week falling to No. 19 Wake Forest, 45-25.  

Collegefootballfan.com’s version of Fantasy Football

  For Week Three, Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh of Michigan get calls from their TV “friends”.  The real people in charge say, “We’ve arranged for you two guys to play each other this weekend. We need the ratings. Your respective opponents this week, ULM and UConn, will flip a coin, and determine who will host the other Saturday. You guys do the same.  We’ll deduct a million dollars from what you make on your game and donate half a million each to these two programs who need the money.  We know you show concern for such programs.  That’s why you schedule them.”

 They continue, “Next year on September 16, whoever visits this weekend will host a rematch.  Your donations will go to the respective opponents you scheduled for that date, South Florida and Bowling Green. They’ll flip a coin where they will play.”  Of course, this won’t happen, but our “fantasy football” offers a great opportunity for fans that two coaches avoiding comparable competition refuse to consider.  Bring it on in Week Three in future seasons!

The Other Independent

    With Notre Dame (0-2) trending outside the CFP looking in with it’s 26-21 loss to Marshall, consider the other Independent that could get in the mix.  Winning their 26-20 victory over highly ranked Baylor last week, Brigham Young could challenge for the spot the Irish tend to pursue.  With Senior QB Jaren Hall back and healthy, the offense seems ready.  Transfer RB Christopher Brook from Cal gets the benefit of solid line play in front of him.  Top Receivers Gunner Romney and Puka Nacua returned.

 BYU’s defense needs to stay healthy as eight experienced starters return for HC Kalani Sitake’s squad.  Looking ahead, games at Oregon and with Notre Dame in Vegas look winnable. Wins against Arkansas, at Liberty, and at Boise could bode well for them among pollsters.  If they run the table with some impressive wins, they could gain consideration as an independent qualifier if any of the current top four teams falter.

On track already in Week Three

    On our podcast with Steve Hiegel, (click here -note: please fast forward four minutes. This is an unedited copy with four minutes of wasted set-up time. Thanks), one question regarding considerations for the upcoming season: “Who will be Coach of the Year?”    Our response, “If he wins six games this season, Lance Leipold of Kansas.” He’s got two now with his Jayhawks’ 55-42 win over West Virginia.  

This weekend, they will take on the Houston Cougars (1-1) with Clayton Tune firing for 472 yards and four TDs against UTSA and Texas Tech (lost 33-30) combined thus far. KU’s QB Jalon Daniels has comparable numbers with 408 and four TDs with wins over FCS Tennessee Tech and WVU. Both QBs threw one INT.  Should be a close call in Houston.  KU entertains Duke the following week.  HC Leipold could be close to our prediction sooner than expected in Week Three.  He is a true developer of talent and teams.  “Rock chalk, Jayhawk!” 

Other teams on our 2022 schedule in week Two

     Bama fell to No. 2 behind Georgia this week as the Bulldogs, Buckeyes, and Clemson Tigers continued to roll over lesser competition in FCS Samford, Arkansas St, and FCS Furman respectively.  Why bother?… Utah State fell to FCS Weber State, 35-7, making Bama’s win the previous week even more unimpressive…Middle Tennessee beat Colorado State, 34-19, after their drubbing to James Madison in their opener.  The Dukes throttled HBCU Norfolk State, 63-7. Louisville rebounded from its loss to Syracuse. They beat Central Florida, 20-14…

     Kentucky with Will Levis defeated Florida in an SEC East clash, 26-16. South Carolina fell to Arkansas in an inter-division SEC game, 44-30.  We’ll see the Wildcats and Gamecocks meet on October 8… Army lost for the second time, both in close calls, this time to UTSA, 41-38. On the other hand, Navy’s (0-2) offense sputtered once again in its loss to Memphis (1-1), 37-13…HC Jake Spavital got a temporary reprieve as his Texas State Bobcats (1-1) whipped up hapless Florida International, 41-12.  They travel north to Waco Saturday to play the wounded No. 17 Baylor Bears.  Watch out!…

Louisiana handled Eastern Michigan, 49-21, to move to 2-0…Our two upcoming FCS teams in the ASUN meeting on September 24 notched wins.  Austin Peay (2-1) raced out to a 41-0 halftime lead over the SWAC’s Mississippi Valley State, and allowed that score to stand.  Eastern Kentucky (1-1) defeated FBS Bowling Green, 59-57, in OT.  The Governors and Colonels meet Alabama A&M and Charleston Southern respectively in Week Three before their clash.  

 Notes of other games in Week Two

    Last week, we said we thought Appalachian State had a good shot to beat Texas A&M, and they did, 17-14!  Too bad Appy lost to UNC the week before, 63-61.  Had they won, they could have been a strong contender for this year’s Group of Five in the CFP. If they run the Sunbelt table the rest of the way, that means wins over Coastal, Marshall, and Georgia Southern. The second two defeated Power Fives Notre Dame and Nebraska last week.  The Mountaineers also have a date with JMU who we will see play Louisville on November 5. Appy collides with Troy (1-1) in Week Three. The SunBelt is rising!

   Washington State defeated Wisconsin, 17-14, in Madison.  That’s probably the PAC-12’s best win of the season…UConn (1-1) and UMass (0-2) run on a collision course to see again who will avoid finishing at No. 131 when it’s all over. They’ll meet in East Hartford on November 5.   Syracuse whipped the Huskies, 48-10, and Toledo zoomed past the Minutemen, 55-10, in Week Two.  Until their fatal date, UConn’s best chances for victory come against FIU and Ball State on the road on October 8 and 15. UMass may catch up with a win this weekend when the host FCS Stony Brook (0-1). After that, New Mexico State at home could be a possibility on October 29.  These two need to go back to the FCS Colonial Athletic where at least they’d have some natural rivalries again – Maine, UNH, URI.

Other 2022 teams on Collegefootballfan.com’s slate in Week Three

    Western Kentucky (2-0) returns from its win in Hawaii two weeks ago to play 11 straight weeks.  Saturday, they will visit Indiana (2-0) for a rematch we attended in Bowling Green last season when the Hoosiers won, 33-31.  As U of I did last year, Vanderbilt visits another Group of Five school, Northern Illinois (1-1) on the road. Expect this one to be a close game in the 30’s. We’ll find out if Clark Lea starts Mike Wright or AJ Swann at QB this week. If the starter doesn’t drive the ‘Dores early, Lea will be quick to make a change…Among other teams we’ve seen play heading into Week Three, Purdue travels to 2-0 Syracuse.

   South Carolina’s mettle gets tested this week at home against No.  1 Georgia.  FCS No. 5 Villanova (2-0) heads up the Hudson to face Army’s triple option.  Toledo leaps from lowly UMass to No. 3 Ohio State (2-0).  Eddie George’s Tennessee State team (0-2) buses over to Murfreesboro to tangle with MTSU. Louisiana Tech (1-1) charges into Death Valley against No. 5 Clemson.  The state of Kentucky feasts on Florida State at Louisville and FCS Youngtown at No. 9 UK in Lexington. No. 19 Wake Forest hosts Liberty.

 

Games we’ll keep an eye on

    2-0 California visits 0-2 Notre Dame.  Losing Tyler Buchner at QB and replacing him with Tyler Pyne with limited experience adds to the Irish woes.  Shades of Gerry Faust becoming the savior for Notre Dame when he had little experience?  At least Faust won his first game for ND vs LSU.  It went downhill after that to finish 5-6 in his first season…Another FCS win over the FBS seems most likely when perennial national champ and No.1 North Dakota State (2-0) takes on Arizona (1-1) in the desert… How fast can A&M recover when they host 2-0 Miami under new head coach Mario Cristobal?  A telling indicator for both programs early in 2022.

Ed. by – Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the fan who’s seen ‘em all!  Read our unique adventure attending games played by all Football Bowl Subdivision Teams over 30 seasons.  It wasn’t easy, but definitely fun and rewarding. That’s why we keep doing this.