NCAA College Football 2007 Week 3 Picks early games

NCAA College Football 2007 Week 3 Picks

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Fearless Rick's College Football Week 3 Picks - Early Games

Rick Gagliano | Sept. 13-15

All times Eastern - Click here for late games.

Thursday, September 13

7:30 pm West Virginia (-16 1/2, N/A) at Maryland - These two met a year ago (9/14/07) at WVA, with the Mountaineers coming away with a 45-24 thumping. Both teams are 2-0, with relatively easy tune-up wins. Keon Lattimore will spearhead the Terrapin ground game, though he's likely to be upstaged by West Virginia's two-headed monster of Pat White and Steve Slaton. The Terps are young, but very well-coached and have home field on their side. While WVA has a better offense, Maryland's defense should be able to make some plays, while Lattimore and redshirt junior QB Jordan Steffy should be able to find holes in the Mountaineer defense. This one could be a close call for highly-regarded WVA, though they should emerge with win #3.

Prediction: Mountaineers 42 Terrapins 31

8:00 pm TCU (-8 1/2, N/A) at Air Force - After blanking Baylor, 27-0 in their opener, the Horned Frogs were poised for an upset of Texas, but were thumped, 34-13, in a sloppily-played game. They'll need to tighten up the defense again against the Falcons' potent option offense, and they should be up to the task. Air Force (2-0), returned only 4 offensive starters from 2006, but those returnees included QB Shaun Carney and running back Chad Hall, the main cogs in their attack. TCU is on the road for the second straight week, and should be some angry Frogs against the improved, though still undermanned, Falcons.

Prediction: Horned Frogs 38 Falcons 17

Saturday, September 15

12:00 pm Buffalo at Penn State (-34, 49) - This will be Penn State's final non-conference game, and if indications from the first two wins are any indication, it will be an absolute rout. The Nittany Lions blanked Florida International, 59-0, and took out Notre Dame, 31-10, last week. The Bulls, who may be nearly as good at the Irish, have the misfortune of playing this one at Happy Valley, and after losing their opener, 38-3 at Rutgers, they rebounded for a 42-7 win at Temple, but the Lions are in a whole different league.

Prediction: Nittany Lions 45 Bulls 7

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1:30 pm Ohio at Virginia Tech (-19, 42) - The Bobcats have racked up a pair of wins against inferior opposition, and while the Hokies have yet to impress in their 17-7 win over East Carolina in their home opener, and 42-7 snot-kicking at the hands of LSU last week, they should handle Ohio. Virginia Tech has scored only 24 points, though they have excuses, not the least of which being last week's game at LSU, which may the best defense in the country. Still, they don't look like a normal Frank Beamer team, and though Ohio is an easy mark, the offense isn't clicking and they probably won't score enough to cover.

Prediction: Hokies 24 Bobcats 12

3:30 pm Texas (-19, 49 1/2) at UCF - The Golden Knights knocked off NC State, 25-23, on the road and have had an extra week to prepare for the Longhorns. UCF also returned 17 starters from their 4-8 squad of 2006 and have high hopes in their home opener. They'll need to be disciplined to keep up with the Longhorns, though Texas didn't impress anyone in their home opener, a 21-13 win over Arkansas State. They did turn it around against upset minded TCU, though, handing them a 34-13 defeat, though they didn't really get their offense going until late in the 3rd quarter there. The Longhorns should have their offense geared up for a dynamic performance. The Golden Knights should find themselves in a hole early.

Prediction: Longhorns 38 Golden Knights 13

All times Eastern - Click here for late games

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