NCAA College Football Week 3 Picks late games

NCAA College Football 2006 Week 3 Picks

Fearless Rick's NCAA College Football Week 3 Picks - Late Games

Rick Gagliano | 9/12/06

All times Eastern - Click here for early Thurs., Friday & Saturday games

Late Games, Saturday, Sept. 14

5:30 pm Texas Tech (-2, 54) at TCU - No matter who is running the Texas Tech offense, it's nearly impossible to stop, though the Tech defense leaves much to be desired. TCU is a much more balanced team, despite playing in a small conference (Mountain West).

Tech has proven little in their two wins (SMU, 35-3 and at UTEP, 38-35) except that they're probably not as good as they were in 2005. Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs reloaded off their remarkable 11-1 season and opened with a nice 17-7 win at Baylor and a 46-13 hammering of UC-Davis. They have all the weapons, and the nation's current longest winning streak at 12. Make that 13 as TCU proves they belong.

Prediction: Horned Frogs 38 Red Raiders 24

7:00 pm Arizona St. (10 1/2, 53) at Colorado - It's no secret that the Buffaloes are struggling, having lost their first two games of 2006 to Montana State and local rival, Colorado State. While both games were close, they still were losses and now the Buffs play host to a red hot Sun Devils in a pretty large regional conflict.

The Sun Devils are 2-0 and looked mightily impressive knocking off Nevada, 52-21 last week. Rudy Carpenter, the soph QB for ASU, threw for five TDs and amassed 333 yards passing. He'll be letting it fly against the Colorado defense and if ASU gets their ground game going at all, this is going to be a complete mismatch.

Prediction: Sun Devils 45 Buffaloes 21

7:45 pm Clemson at Florida State (4 1/2, 44) - The Tigers lost a tough double overtime game at Boston College last week on a missed extra point, but this Clemson squad should not be underestimated. They have an experienced offensive line to protect QB Will Proctor and RB James Davis is a rugged inside rusher. Their special teams - which allowed 228 return yards in the BC loss - are another story, one which coach Tommy Bowden needs to address against his dad's talented team.

Florida State will try to pound the ball with a trio of backs including Joe Surrat and Lorenzo Booker, but most of the burden will fall on QB Drew Weatherford, who has been efficient in both starts this season.

The Seminoles have been living on borrowed time so far this season, with come-from-behind victories against Miami (13-10) and unheralded Troy (24-17). If they fall behind the Tigers, this one could get ugly. Clemson took it to the Seminoles last year in South Carolina, 35-14. Clemson can't afford another conference loss at this early juncture, so they will be motivated and ready to spring the upset.

The Seminoles have had trouble moving the ball on the ground and Clemson will take advantage with defensive pressure and a controlled passing game.

Prediction: Clemson 28 Florida State 16

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8:00 pm Nebraska at USC (-18 1/2, 57) - Don't be fooled by the protruding line on this game; it's going to be a lot closer than most people think. The 2-0 Cornhuskers are in their third year under coach Bill Calahan and his West Coast offense, and there were signs last year that the players were getting it, as they won their last two regular season games and then beat Michigan 32-28 in the Alamo Bowl. They can and will score multiple TDs against the Trojans.

In Southern Cal, this is not the same team that won 12 straight and narrowly lost the Rose Bowl (and national championship) to Texas last season. All of the key offensive players are new, and they've only played one game - a 50-14 laugher at Arkansas, in which the Razorbacks turned the ball over five times.

Don't expect Nebraska to be so generous. QB Zac Taylor will fire at will against the somewhat suspect and untested USC secondary and the 'Huskers defense (ranked 10th against the pass last season, isn't going to let John David Booty get very comfortable in the pocket.

USC is going to be put to the test and will have to match Nebraska's intensity and offense. Against a hungry and capable team, the Trojans look like upset victims here.

Prediction: Nebraska 41 USC 31

8:00 pm Florida (-3, 45 1/2) at Tennessee - Wow! What a way to end a super Saturday of college football. Another huge SEC game looms here and the big question is which Volunteer team will show up - the one that dominated and manhandled Cal in the opener, or the one that nearly coughed it up against Air Force last weekend?

It's probably going to be most of the former, as the Vols may have been guilty of looking ahead to this one last week. The Falcons certainly got their attention and coach Phil Fulmer and the Tennessee fans will make sure the boys are focused on Florida, and they better be.

The Gators are already on cruise control, delivering wipe-outs to Southern Miss and UCF, scoring 76 and allowing only 7 points in those two games. While the Gator offense and the Tennessee defense usually get all the headlines, this one could feature a distinctly different flavor. Look for Chris Leak and the Florida offense to get off early and the Gator defense takes some bite out of ol' Rocky Top.

Prediction: Gators 34 Volunteers 16

All times Eastern - Click here for early Thurs., Friday & Saturday games

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