Clemson football has its first bye-week of the season in week three.
Despite Clemson football not kicking off this week, there is still lots of football to be played. While we prefer to watch the Tigers play, there is still plenty of reason to watch college football this weekend.
With the SEC kicking off this weekend, three of the five major conferences will be in play which will give us plenty of choices from noon all the way until the last game ends at 11:00 pm eastern.
Because we are awesome over here at Rubbing the Rock, we have put together a guide of games for you to watch this weekend as well – we have taken the guessing game out of your Saturday college football viewing.
We will rank the top three games at each time slot according to the good, better, and best rating system. As you’ll see, even without Clemson football tomorrow, there is still plenty of reasons to keep your honey-do-list in the drawer.
Noontime slot:
Good: Auburn at Kentucky
Reason to watch: This is one just three ranked team matchups this week. The Auburn coaching staff features Clemson football coaching has-been’s, namely the two coordinators from the 2012 Orange Bowl. While I refuse to say their names, you know who I am speaking of.
Can Auburn Bo Nix show any type of improvement from a freshman year that featured as many lowlights as he had highlights?
Better: Florida at Ole Miss
Reasons to watch: Lane Kiffin. That is the entire reason. He has been able to recreate his identity through social media and people are excited to have him back in major college football. There is also Florida, who many expect to win the SEC East and ultimately make their first appearance in the College Football Playoff later this year.
Best: Louisville at Pittsburgh
Reasons to watch: Like Auburn and Kentucky, this is another ranked matchup. While Clemson will only face Pittsburgh this season, unless Louisville finds a way to win to out and get to Charlotte, it will still be best to see what the Panthers and Cardinals are packing in week three.
3:30 pm/4:00 pm time slot:
Good: Texas at Texas Tech
Reason to watch: Sam Ehlinger is on the shortlist of players that could challenge Clemson football quarterback Trevor Lawrence for the Heisman Trophy according to Vegas. He looked good two weeks ago versus UTEP, will he look better against Power 5 competition?
Better: Duke vs UVA
Reason to watch: There are a couple of reasons to watch. The first is Clemson football will host UVA next week in Death Valley for the first time in more than a decade. While this is a completely different Virginia team than we saw in last year’s ACC Championship game, it will still be good to get a good look at them.
The other reason is a chance to support former Clemson football quarterback Chase Brice, who has struggled in his first couple of games for Duke. He is looking to throw his first career touchdown in a Duke uniform.
Best: UGA at Arkansas
Reason to watch: Arkansas fired former Clemson football offensive coordinator Chad Morris after a 2-10 season in 2019. While I have no use for Morris, what they did to him was terrible. No one turns around a program in two seasons.
They hired UGA offensive line coach Sam Pittman, who spent several years at Arkansas as their offensive line coach under former head coach Bret Bielema. After the SEC shuffled the schedules, they decided to make this the first game of the year for Arkansas and UGA.
No one knows what to expect from either team as UGA starting QB JT Daniels has yet to be cleared medically after transferring from the real USC and Arkansas was such a dumpster fire that Pittman had a lot to do just to get ready for week one.
7:30 pm/8:00 pm time slot
Good: Tennessee at South Carolina
Reason to watch: Dumpster fires attract viewers. It will be great to watch Carolina go 0-1 with their new chicken in the front yard.
Better: NC State at Virginia Tech
Reason to watch: After two delays, VA Tech will finally get a chance to kick-off, though listening to head coach Justin Fuente cry about having to play this week, you can tell that the Hokies want no part of playing in 2020 – which is crazy.
NC State had a shaky week two game versus Wake Forest but still came out with the win. This game is intriguing because both teams have the talent to make their way to Charlotte in an eventual matchup with Clemson but both have enough reasons to keep them from doing so.
Best: FSU at Miami
Reason to watch: This game should not be close. Miami should win this game by three touchdowns as D’Eriq King has elevated the Hurricanes offense to another level. It is hard to watch Miami and not wonder what they could have been if their surefire first-round NFL talent hadn’t decided to sit out 2020.
Mike Norvell has his work cut out for him at FSU. Between Jimbo Fisher running it into the ground and then a bad hire to follow, FSU is a shell of what it once was. I would be lying if I didn’t enjoy every minute of watching FSU lose.
There are plenty of games in Week 3 to enjoy despite not having Clemson football on the schedule. Find three or four to watch and enjoy another college football Saturday. As we know, they aren’t guaranteed to happen in 2020.