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College Football 2018: 5 reasons to be excited about Week 3

By Justin Dottavio

ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach Ed Orgeron of the LSU Tigers celebrates with his team after the LSU Tigers beat the Miami Hurricanes 33-17 in The AdvoCare Classic at AT&T Stadium on September 2, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 02: Head coach Ed Orgeron of the LSU Tigers celebrates with his team after the LSU Tigers beat the Miami Hurricanes 33-17 in The AdvoCare Classic at AT&T Stadium on September 2, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
(Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

4. Two major rematch games in 2018

The USC Trojans will travel to Austin to face the Texas Longhorns at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. After the Stanford Cardinal shutdown the Trojans, USC has fallen down to 47th in the S&P+. Texas is 42nd in Bill C’s analytics and this could make for a really fun matchup. Neither team may be ranked after this game but it would be nice to see J.T. Daniels face off against Todd Orlando’s defense.

On the flip side, Tom Herman needs to get the Horns offense rolling and USC plays good defense and has climbed to 26th per the S&P+. Texas offense is led by Sam Ehlinger, but the quarterback is only averaging 7.58 yards per pass attempt and has thrown two interceptions to only four touchdowns. Herman has to prove he’s the offensive genius he claims he is and put up some points against USC.

Texas and USC is a great rematch from the 2006 Rose Bowl which was one of the greatest championship games of all time. Vince Young won that game with his legs knocking off dual Heisman Trophy winners Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart.

Prediction: USC 20, Texas 17

The Oklahoma-Iowa State rematch is more recent as it only flashes back to last season. The Sooners were knocked off by the Iowa State Cyclones last season as Oklahomas only regular season loss. The Sooners lost program record setting quarterback Baker Mayfield and replaced him with two-sport star Kyler Murray who has thrown for over 500 yards and accounted for seven touchdowns with only one interception.

Oklahoma is the S&P+’s fourth ranked program while the Cyclones 0-1 and ranked 76th. Iowa State has almost no offense going with the passing game averaging six yards per attempt while running back David Montgomery has only ran for 2.6 yards per carry. Iowa State has no chance to knock off the Sooners in 2018.

Prediction: Oklahoma 56, Iowa State 10

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