College Football Week 3 Game Predictions

After moving on from a hectic Week 2 of college football, we’re into Week 3, with plenty of predictions for another exciting slate of games. We’ll highlight some key matchups, game predictions, and more in this action-packed weekly preview.

College Football Week 3 Predictions

Houston at Texas Tech

Both teams share a common data point with both playing Oregon State. Houston played the Beavers in Week 1 at home, while Texas Tech played them on the road last week. The argument can be made that the first game of the season at home versus a road trip to Corvallis are completely different animals, which is fair. However, Houston significantly outplayed Oregon State while Texas Tech was lucky to get out with a win.

Houston put up 9.8 yards per pass and 5.6 yards per rush for a total of almost 500 yards. Texas Tech was outgained by Oregon State by 120 yards and kept things even on the ground, but passed for 7.0 yards per play compared to Oregon State’s 8.0.

Both Texas Tech and Houston have issues in the secondary, but the Red Raider’s secondary issues may be attributed to not having the same pressure from up that they did from a season ago. They also have had problems with penalty yards, as Houston had 60 penalty yards and Texas Tech had 70 against the Beavers. Neither team played their cleanest game, but in Week 3, finding a common opponent between two teams is a positive for trying to predict how the game might play out.

In this primetime Friday night game, Houston is trying to prove they are a true contender in the Big 12, while Texas Tech is trying to prove that they haven’t fallen out of the top spot just yet. 

Score Prediction: Houston 28, Texas Tech 25

What to Watch Moving Forward

• If Will Hammond is truly 100-percent from his 2025 injury and if the Tech DL can force Weigman into mistakes.
• Does Houston’s secondary show improvement?

Tulane at Kansas State

Tulane hasn’t been impressive in either of their games so far this season. In game one, they scored three total points, while giving up 250 rushing yards. In game two, the Green Wave was outplayed by South Alabama at home, needing a touchdown within the final two minutes of the game to squeak out a victory.

Kansas State has looked better than advertised so far this season. If it wasn’t for a pick-six right before halftime, they would have held Washington State to three points or less. Not to say Kansas State doesn’t have their own concerns, but the Wildcats still probably remember the outright loss to Tulane at home in 2022 and the slim win on the road at Tulane last season. They aren’t going to take this game lightly. Kansas State has too much for Tulane to handle this time.

Score Prediction: Tulane 13, Kansas St. 37

What to Watch Moving Forward

• Tulane’s strength is running the ball, will they have to abandon the run if they are trailing early?
• Kansas St. still gave up 3.5 yards per carry to Washington State last week. Can they clean it up this week against a tougher rushing game?

NC State at Vanderbilt

NC State found their footing last week, burying FCS Richmond at home 73-0, but their defense is still hard to trust. Vandy hasn’t really looked good in any game this season so far, only beating FCS Austin Peay 28-9 in the season opener and getting played dead even in the box score to CUSA Delaware last week, winning by nine.

NC State had a bye week before their home game last week, coming off of a disappointing Week 0 performance, and it looks like Vanderbilt heads into this game with a laundry list of injuries to deal with. If the Wolfpack want to be a contender in the ACC as they hoped, they will need to prove it against an SEC team this weekend.

Score Prediction: North Carolina St. 24, Vanderbilt 21

What to Watch Moving Forward

• Was Virginia’s offense and defense the real deal or is NC State just not equipped on both sides of the ball to face real competition?
• Will Jared Curtis start to live up to his lofty five-star billing as the highest rated recruit in Vandy history in this game?

Temple at Toledo

Temple looked somewhat respectable against Penn State last week, but that was mostly due to several mistakes and not really any of Temple’s own doing. However, the Owls did put up an impressive 176 rushing yards against the Nittany Lions. The Owls are still going with two quarterbacks so far, and as the old saying goes, if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.

Toledo has been impressive so far this season, keeping pace and even taking a lead in the fourth quarter against Michigan State on the road in Week 1 and blasting FCS Central Connecticut State last week. Toledo had all of the makings of a year zero rebuild coming into the season, but the continuity from the infusion of Mercer players and coaches has shown up early. The Rockets enough talent in the passing game to get it done here.

Score Prediction: Temple 21, Toledo 30

What to Watch Moving Forward

• Will Toledo be able to stop Temple from shortening the game with their rushing and grinding out first downs?

Florida State at Alabama

The rumor mill is swirling in Tallahassee this week, with social media suggesting moving trucks were spotted at head coach Mike Norvell’s residence and Norvell not necessarily denying the claim. Regardless of the rumors, Florida State just doesn’t have enough to shock Alabama like they did last season. The Seminole secondary is flat out bad. The only positive they have on offense is the running game, if they can get the right personnel on the field.

Alabama has the defense to stop the run, as they only allowed two total rushing yards to ECU in Week 1 and 63 rushing yards on the road at Kentucky, in a game they trailed going into halftime. Keelon Russell appears to be figuring it out and improving along the way and just might be in for his best day passing yet against this FSU secondary. 

Score Prediction: Florida St. 15, Alabama 38

What to Watch Moving Forward

• Improvement with Keelon Russell’s interceptions.
• Can FSU pass on this Alabama secondary that borders on excellent?

SMU at Louisville

SMU only won their first game at FSU by three, but should have won by a country mile, as they outperformed SMU by a wide margin in almost every area. They also had no problem handling a top-10 FCS team in UC Davis last week. It looks like Kevin Jennings is back to 100-percent this season, which is exactly what SMU needed.

Louisville took a tough loss in Week 1 vs. Ole Miss, but it could have easily swung in their favor if it weren’t for a few bad mistakes, as Louisville played the Rebels dead even in the box score. The Cardinals already had a stiff test, while SMU hasn’t played anyone of top-25 caliber just yet. Louisville’s ground attack, between dual threat Lincoln Keinholz and Isaac Brown, should put up some yards and points this week on an SMU front that allowed 200 yards rushing at 4.4 yards per carry to a rough FSU offensive line. 

Score Prediction: SMU 28, Louisville 34

What to Watch Moving Forward

• How will the SMU offense choose to attack the Louisville defense?
• How much will Louisville want to pass the ball if they are having success on the ground?

Miami OH vs. Cincinnati

The battle for the Victory Bell takes place again this season in a contest that has been going on between Miami (OH) and Cincinnati since 1888. Miami head coach Chuck Martin has a history of not prioritizing out of conference games in comparison to MAC games, but with this being a longstanding rivalry, he will probably try to make it competitive.

Miami had some quarterback instability to start the season, but Kansas transfer David McComb has played pretty well so far. He played decently against Pitt in his first start, and went 13-for-13 with three touchdowns last week against Holy Cross.

Cincinnati hasn’t really faced any notable competition yet this season. They played Boston College in Week 1 and faced Western Carolina last week. Their performance versus Boston College wasn’t necessarily top notch, as they had less first downs than the Eagles. They were also outgained in total yards, lost the yards per pass battle, and still allowed 165 yards rushing in a somewhat faulty 34-15 win. Boston College also missed a 35-yard field goal, fumbled past midfield, and committed a turnover on downs inside the red zone.

Miami was projected to have a top defense in the MAC this season, so they will get to test their mettle this weekend at TQL Stadium. The RedHawks should keep it somewhat competitive.

Score Prediction: Miami OH 20, Cincinnati 31

What to Watch Moving Forward

• What will the Cincinnati offense look like if they are forced to pass?
• Can Miami take advantage of a down UC secondary?

Stanford at Duke

Stanford was dealing with a ton of injuries after the Hawaii game and then had to play Miami (FL) at home in a game where they were understaffed and overmatched. They had a bye last week, and it looks like they will be getting a couple of lineman back on both sides of the ball.

Duke has been very impressive to start this season after many weren’t sure what to expect. The Blue Devils ground game has been excellent so far, posting 250 rushing yards versus Tulane in Week 1. They followed that up with a 170-yard performance on the road at Illinois in a winning effort. However, the passing game is questionable, as San Jose State transfer Walker Eget is still working back from injury. The Duke defense hasn’t been overly impressive, but have made some improvements from last season.

This is a tough cross-country trip for Stanford. Yet, having the bye will not only help them with travel, but their overall team health. The Stanford run defense has also been respectable, albeit in a small sample size so far. The Cardinal should be able to have success through the air and keep the chains moving, as the Duke secondary has looked rough in its first two games. Having a safety net in RB Micah Ford is also a positive for Stanford. This should be a Duke victory, but don’t be surprised if Stanford keeps it closer than expected.

Score Prediction: Stanford 23, Duke 30

What to Watch Moving Forward

• How effective will the Duke run defense be and can the Cardinal expose a weak Duke secondary?

LSU at Ole Miss

Sam Leavitt showed up on the injury report for LSU this week as “doubtful” to play in this week’s highly anticipated game at Ole Miss. Is this Lane Kiffing playing mind games or is this a case of where there is smoke, there is fire?

Ole Miss has looked the part of a contender this season, with a solid Week 1 win against Louisville and a throwaway game last week at home against Charlotte. The Rebels defense hasn’t quite lived up to their billing yet, as they let Lincoln Keinholz throw for 307 yards and rush for another 69, accounting for three total touchdowns. Trinidad Chambliss has lived up to his pre-season hype thus far, though. He could be primed for a big home performance this weekend, after already passing for 561 yards and a 5-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

This game is going to be quite the chess match. Kiffin is going to know exactly how to defend Chambliss and exploit his weaknesses. Meanwhile, Pete Golding will know exactly how to defend a Kiffin offense. If Leavitt actually ends up being out for this game, it may take away from some of the built up drama and level of play, but overall, this looks like a dead even contest. Ole Miss will have a massive homefield edge, as the fans will be feeling good for this thriller of a matchup. Kiffin will have a couple of tricks up his sleeve, and LSU has been nails on defense so far this year. Slight edge to LSU.

Score Prediction: LSU 34, Ole Miss 31

What to Watch Moving Forward

• How both teams navigate familiarity throughout the course of the game.
• How both teams may handle a loss heading into Week 4, with Ole Miss and LSU staring down road games with Florida and at Texas A&M.

Virginia Tech at Maryland

While James Franklin will field another team for this game, the series between him and Maryland lives on. It is almost like clockwork. Every year or so, Maryland would get off to a decent start, go 3-0 to begin the year, get hyped up, and then get manhandled versus James Franklin and Penn State. This year seems to be following the same script, as well. 

Franklin is 9-2 all time against Maryland and doesn’t mind running up the score. There is some bad blood between Maryland head coach Mike Locksley and Franklin, as Locksley didn’t approve of PSU throwing a last-second touchdown in 2024’s 44-7 edition of this rivalry.

Maryland has looked good this season with an improving young quarterback and very reliable defense. This game is at home for Mayland, who has tried everything in this spot in years past. They’ve had a “blackout” game night game, cancelling class for the day to tailgate, and more. Unfortunately, nothing has really worked. Franklin isn’t going to take his foot off of the gas this year just because the color of his team’s uniform changed. Virginia Tech spoils another hyped up home spot for Maryland.

Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 29, Maryland 24

What to Watch Moving Forward

• Can Virginia Tech finally get the run game going against a veteran Maryland defense?
• Which Malik Washington shows up?

Purdue at UCLA

Purdue was on the brink of ending their P4 drought, but gave up a 4th-and-15 to Wake Forest that ultimately lost them the game. The defense looked terrible once again against a banged up Gio Lopez. Now, Purdue will now be on the road at upstart UCLA in a late night battle.

UCLA got off to a blazing start against Cal in Week 1, but somewhat cooled down last weekend against San Diego State. They had a 28-10 win in a game where UCLA had scored seven total points at the end of three quarters.

This is a tough travel spot for Purdue who is coming off of a gut-wrenching loss and traveling to the west coast, where they have traditionally never played well. However, while the Purdue defense likely won’t be able to hold its own, the offense may be able to keep up with UCLA’s defense. The key behind the Boilermakers’ offensive “success” this season has been running back Fame Ijeboi. He fills a role Purdue has been missing for a long time in a solid, reliable, downhill runner that can pick up the sticks when you need him to.

UCLA’s rush defense was awful last season. It hasn’t improved much this season, giving up 144 rushing yards to a lifeless San Diego State offense last week and 119 rushing yards the week before to Cal, who has their own set of defensive rush issues. UCLA’s obvious offensive threat is rushing the ball as well, but Purdue’s rush defense hasn’t been nearly as susceptible as their pass defense. Purdue may be able to slow down a rushing attack that didn’t have much success until the fourth quarter last week. Yet, if they can do that, they can hang around in this game. 

Score Prediction: Purdue 21, UCLA 31

What to Watch Moving Forward

• Will Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne continue to help the Purdue offense or will inconsistency return?
• Will Nico Iamaleava clean up the interceptions against a weaker Purdue secondary?