College football's best games on the Week 3 schedule you should watch today

Why watch? To see if Clemson can play itself out of its 1-1 doldrums and avoid what would be an extremely costly early loss that would severely damage its College Football Playoff hopes.

This week’s ACC opener finds an undefeated Georgia Tech hosting this preseason’s presumptive conference title favorite Clemson, but which already has a loss to ranked LSU at home and needed a comeback to take out Troy in an all-too close game it trailed by 16 points at home last weekend.

Cade Klubnik was billed as one of college football’s two or three best quarterbacks coming into this season, but his offensive output has left much to be desired, despite working behind one of the nation’s most experienced lines and with some blue-chip receivers.

The lack of a rushing game has played a role in that decline. With no Will Shipley or Phil Mafah to fill that hole, Clemson has dropped to just 128th nationally on the ground, and is just 111th in FBS in passing output, too.

Now Clemson goes up against a Georgia Tech side that already has a marquee win at Colorado and, even with quarterback Haynes King injured and his exact status unknown, fields an offense that can move the ball well, especially in the red zone, where they’re 100 percent in scoring.

When to watch: 12 p.m. on ESPN

--

Georgia at Tennessee

Why watch? To see one of the SEC’s great classic rivalries in one of college football’s greatest venues, and to see if Tennessee has taken that step forward with Joey Aguilar at quarterback as Georgia’s offense looks to be stuck in neutral.

Georgia has dominated its rivalry with Tennessee in recent years, winning eight straight games against the Vols, and losing just once in Kirby Smart’s tenure as head coach, the 2016 matchup in Athens on that famous Hail Mary play with no time left.

Since then, the Bulldogs have taken out the Volunteers by an average of nearly 29 points, but this year’s version of the offense hasn’t played quite up to its potential with Gunner Stockton at the helm at quarterback in place of Carson Beck.

Tennessee is 21-1 at home since the start of the 2022 season, and that one loss is against Georgia.

Nothing is etched in marble regarding the College Football Playoff this early in the season, but it’s these kind of games that the selectors will look at under a microscope later on.

Tennessee has not allowed a sack through two games in front of Aguilar, who averages 267 yards per game with 5 touchdown passes, while Georgia’s usually-ferocious defense has recorded just two sacks coming into this SEC opener.

But while Georgia hasn’t lived up to its billing on offense, it could have a notable advantage throwing the ball deep against a Tennessee secondary that is projected to not have its two starting cornerbacks due to injury.

When to watch: 3:30 p.m. on ABC

--

USF at Miami

Why watch? To see if USF is the real deal after its historic start to the season, and how well Miami can live up to this moment in a battle of teams that have, at least as of today, very realistic chances of making the College Football Playoff field.

What a start USF has had. Every college football season has its surprise team, and so far the Bulls appear to be the leading candidate for that honor.

Somewhat overlooked in the preseason, USF has marched out to a 2-0 record on the back of a very dominant performance against playoff quarterfinalist Boise State in the opener, and then by shocking 13th ranked Florida on the road with a last-second field goal.

In the process, the Bulls became the only team in college football to defeat two AP top 25 ranked opponents, and this week has a chance to become just the fifth ever to start out 3-0 against all ranked teams since the advent of the AP preseason poll in 1950.

It’ll be a tough challenge, though, as the Hurricanes offense looks as potentially dominant as last season’s was with Carson Beck piloting this unit at quarterback.

Beck led a three-point victory against CFP runner-up Notre Dame in the opener and the Canes stacked up 45 points in a rout against Bethune-Cookman, coming in averaging 36 points per game while allowing just under two touchdowns on average.

CJ Daniels and Malachi Toney are Beck’s principal targets, both over 100 yards and averaging a dozen yards per reception, and they’ll go against a USF secondary that ranks 100th nationally in total air yards allowed but a respectable 47th by surrendering a shade under 6 yards per pass play.

USF has the chance of a lifetime to pull off another massive W and entrench itself as the consensus early favorite to represent the Group of Five in the playoff race in 2025.

When to watch: 4:30 p.m. on The CW Network

--

Texas A&M at Notre Dame

Why watch? To see if last year’s national title runner-up will plunge itself into playoff purgatory with an 0-2 start, or if Marcus Freeman can put his team in position to avoid that fate against a ranked SEC foe with an aggressive offense.

Texas A&M’s offense is humming right now on the back of a blue-chip transfer class that includes wide receiver KC Concepcion, and as quarterback Marcel Reed averages almost 6 yards per carry as a runner with over 500 yards passing and 7 TD in 2 games.

Reed left the second half of last week’s game with an undisclosed injury, and while he is expected to start against the Irish, it’s worth watching exactly how healthy he is here.

Notre Dame has endured early losses in Freeman’s tenure as its head coach.

It lost to Ohio State and Marshall in 2022, starting out 0-2, dropped two games midseason in a three-game span in 2023, and lost at home to Northern Illinois in 2024.

Now, it’s at 0-1 after that field goal loss at Miami, as quarterback CJ Carr made his first start, going a decent 19 of 30 passing with 2 touchdowns and an interception, but the Irish need to rely much more on their talented ground game.

Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price led a backfield that had just 93 rushing yards and averaged only 3.3 yards per carry against Miami, but has way more potential than that.

Losing this game won’t kill the Golden Domers’ playoff hopes, but it would leave almost no margin for error without the benefit of a conference championship game.

When to watch: 7:30 p.m. on NBC

--

What else you should watch

Wisconsin at Alabama. An SEC vs. Big Ten clash that favors the Crimson Tide once again, and with Kalen DeBoer needing to put on a show after a 1-1 start. 12 p.m. on ABC

Arkansas at Ole Miss. The Rebels are already 1-0 in SEC play after beating Kentucky, but their offense will have to match up against a Razorback attack that is among college football’s top-five most explosive, admittedly against lesser opponents. 7 p.m. on ESPN

Florida at LSU. Another great SEC rivalry from Death Valley as the Gators look to rebound from the shocking USF loss and look to pry Billy Napier off the hot seat. He beat this LSU team a year ago, ending its playoff hopes, but the Tigers’ defense looks leagues better this time around. 7:30 p.m. on ABC

--