Curator & Coach - Week 3

Curator Sam Burnham

Game of the Week:
Iowa @ Iowa State

Luckily, the tradition in Iowa is to play this rivalry early in the year or else there wouldn’t be much to choose from in this cupcake storm of a week in college football.

Iowa State has been one of the best coached teams in the nation over the last few years. Coach Matt Campbell has exceeded almost all expectations in Ames. But he hasn’t beaten the Hawkeyes. With College Gameday in town there will be a lot of eyes on this matchup. Iowa will be a slight favorite but this might just be the year that Campbell takes what he has to work with and makes it happen.

Upset Alert:
Chattanooga @ Tennessee

Im not trying to pile on here but I keep coming back to this one. Chattanooga really has nothing to lose and Tennessee is in a no-win situation. Even a victory over the Mocs is going to be sneered at. The Volunteer football program is deeply damaged and Jeremy Pruitt is catching the brunt of the ire in Knoxville. That’s horribly unfair at this point but that’s the nature of the beast. There’s no pressure on Chattanooga and too much pressure on Tennessee - probably more than they can handle. Watch for an upset at Neyland.
​

Coach Drew Burnham

​GAME OF THE WEEK
CLEMSON @ SYRACUSE
2 years ago, the Orange shocked the college football world by beating a highly touted Clemson squad in the Carrier Dome. Last season, with the sting of an upset loss fresh on their minds, that same team gave Clemson all they wanted in Death Valley before succumbing to a game winning touchdown with less than a minute remaining. I don’t know what Dino Babers (a personal favorite) has going on, but he’s got a knack for getting after Dabo and the boys. One week removed from getting boat raced by Maryland, it’ll be extremely interesting to see how this one turns out.

UPSET ALERT
INDIANA @ OHIO STATE
If you are a follower of this segment then you will be familiar with the name Kalen Deboer. If you aren’t, just go give him a quick look. Look at his job history and the never ending list of him winning games at places that have no business winning games. As a head coach, he has more national title rings than career losses. No typo there. Winning seems to follow this guy to places that have never before known that word. I don’t know that he and the rest of the staff have been there long enough to build a culture strong enough to take down the giant, but if anyone has, it’s them. I was a missed kick from hitting this section last week. Don’t be shocked….

Curator’s Picks
​
​Penn State over Pitt
Colorado over Air Force
Southern Cal over BYU
Navy over East Carolina
Stanford over UCF
Michigan State over Arizona State
Iowa State over Iowa
Colorado State over Arkansas
Purdue over TCU
Clemson over Syracuse

Coach’s Picks
​
​Penn State over Pitt
Colorado over Air Force
USC over BYU
Navy over East Carolina
UCF over Stanford
Michigan State over Arizona State
Iowa over Iowa State
Colorado State over Arkansas
TCU over Purdue
Clemson over Syracuse