Weekend Watch Guide: An Oklahoma State Fan’s Guide to Week 3 of the College Football Season

Cowboy fans deserve a week off after sitting through their team’s generational blowout loss last weekend.

And it’s not a horrible time to have a an open weekend, either, as there are plenty of good college football games on the docket. Here’s a look at some of this weekend’s best games from around the country.

Big 12 Schedule

Colorado (1-1) at Houston (2-0) — 6:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN
Kansas State (1-2) at Arizona (2-0) — 8 p.m. Friday on FOX
Samford (0-2) at Baylor (1-1) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Oregon State (0-2) at No. 21 Texas Tech (2-0) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FOX
Pitt (2-0) at West Virginia (1-1) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
Northwestern State (1-1) at Cincinnati (1-1) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
No. 14 Iowa State (3-0) at Arkansas State (1-1) — 3 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2
No. 20 Utah (2-0) at Wyoming (2-0) — 7 p.m. Saturday on CBSSN
Abilene Christian (1-1) at TCU (1-0) — 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Texas State (2-0) at Arizona State (1-1) — 9:30 p.m. Saturday on TNT/HBO Max

The first Big 12 games played in the United States will get going this weekend, as two conference matchups are set to be played in Week 3.

Colorado-Houston: The Buffaloes have questions at quarterback. Coming into the year, the battle was thought to be between Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter and five-star freshman Julian Lewis, but sophomore Ryan Staub is reportedly set to start this game after going 7-for-10 with two touchdowns against Delaware last week, though Coach Prime pushed back on that report a bit.

Led by Texas A&M transfer quarterback Conner Weigman, Houston is 2-0 this season with wins against Stephen F. Austin and Rice. This will obviously be the Cougars’ biggest challenge to date.

Kansas State-Arizona: Boy, K-State needs a win in the worst way. K-State fell to 1-2 with a loss to Army last week. The Wildcats’ only win was a 38-35 escape against FCS North Dakota.

The Big 12’s other Wildcats are 2-0 with wins against Hawaii and Weber State by a combined 88-9.

Pitt-West Virginia: The Backyard Brawl returns to Morgantown as the Mountaineers look to bounce back from a loss to Ohio, the pride of the MAC, last week.

Texas State-Arizona State: After dropping a heartbreaker in Starkville last weekend, the Sun Devils can’t afford to overlook Texas State. The Bobcats are 2-0 and have gone 8-5 in each of the past two seasons under G.J. Kinne.

Other Games to Watch

NC State (2-0) at Wake Forest (2-0) — 6:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN
No. 12 Clemson (1-1) at Georgia Tech (2-0) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN
Wisconsin (2-0) at No. 19 Alabama (1-1) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ABC
No. 6 Georgia (2-0) at No. 15 Tennessee (2-0) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
No. 18 USF (2-0) at No. 5 Miami (2-0) — 3:30 p.m. Saturday on The CW
Arkansas (2-0) at No. 17 Ole Miss (2-0) — 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
Florida (1-1) at No. 3 LSU (2-0) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
No. 16 Texas A&M (2-0) at No. 8 Notre Dame (0-1) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on NBC
Vanderbilt (2-0) at No. 11 South Carolina (2-0) — 6:45 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network

Clemson-Georgia Tech: Alarm bells are likely to be ringing in South Carolina if Clemson doesn’t win its ACC opener, but Georgia Tech certainly won’t make winning easy for the Tigers.

Clemson fell 17-10 to LSU to start the season. The Tigers were down 16-0 to Troy last week before fighting back to a 27-16 win.

Georgia Tech, meanwhile, is off to a 2-0 start with a 27-20 win against Colorado and a 59-12 beatdown of Gardner-Webb.

Georgia-Tennessee: The Volunteers haven’t beaten Georgia since 2016, an they haven’t beat the Bulldogs in Knoxville since 2015. Could this be the year?

Neither team has been tested too heavily to this point. Tennessee beat Syracuse 45-26 before clobbering East Tennessee State 72-17. Georgia beat Marshall 45-7 and Austin Peay 28-6.

A win for Georgia is expected and would mean the Bulldogs roll into a bye week before playing Alabama on Sept. 27. A win for Tennessee shifts the outlook on the season in terms of what is possible.

USF-Miami: The Bulls from Tampa have a mighty fine hit list just two weeks into the season, having throttled Boise State before upsetting Florida in Gainesville last week.

Miami is off to a strong start, as well, having beaten Notre Dame to start the year before a 45-3 win against Bethune-Cookman.

Florida-LSU: Speaking of that Florida team that got upset last week, the Gators now get to travel to Baton Rouge. Florida needs a win. LSU needs to prove itself as a contender.

Texas A&M-Notre Dame: National heads are asking the question of whether Notre Dame can make the College Football Playoff with a loss here. The Fighting Irish lost to Miami to start the season. It obviously depends on how the season shakes out, but this could be Notre Dame’s last shot at a marquee win.

Watercooler Discussion

No. 13 Oklahoma (2-0) at Temple (2-0) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2
Navy (2-0) at Tulsa (1-1) — 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+

Navy-Tulsa: This will be OSU fans’ final opportunity to get a look at Tulsa before the Golden Hurricane travel to Stillwater next week. Tulsa lost to New Mexico State last week despite holding the Aggies to 1.5 yards per rush attempt. Tulsa outgained NMSU 376-291, but two Tulsa interceptions didn’t help the Golden Hurricane’s cause.