2021 College Football Week 3 Preview, Odds and Picks
There are three games in Week 3 of this college football season that feature a pair of ranked teams. We will have an individual preview later this week of No. 1 Alabama at No. 11 Florida, but here’s a breakdown of the other two Top 25 matchups Saturday.
Be sure to check out the latest 2021 College Football odds and lines at our online Bitcoin sportsbook before placing your bets this season!
Top 2021 College Football Week 3 Games to Bet On
AP Poll for Week 3 released:https://t.co/J8u2LK6ER9 pic.twitter.com/eNNp5OW99j
— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) September 12, 2021
READ MORE: 2021 College Football Week 2 Recap
No. 22 Auburn at No. 10 Penn State
- When: Saturday, September 18th, 2:30pm ET
- Where: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvannia
- 2021 College Football Week 3 Odds: Texas A&M Aggies -6
Penn State and Auburn have met two times previously, with each program winning one game. Penn State won 43-14 in 1996. Auburn won 13-9 in 2003.
This will be Auburn’s third-ever regular season game against a Big Ten team; the last was a 1931 7-7 tie at Wisconsin (the Tigers’ only other regular-season road game at a Big Ten stadium) and the first was a 0-0 tie with Ohio State in a game played in Montgomery, Ala., in 1917.
It’s frankly hard to know if Auburn is any good because the Tigers haven’t played anyone of note yet. They come off a 62-0 rout of FCS school Alabama State. Demetris Robertson scored three touchdowns — Robertson caught a pair of touchdown passes from Bo Nix before scoring on a 36-yard reverse, the latter two TDs coming in Auburn’s 35-point third quarter. Jarquez Hunter led Auburn with 147 yards on eight carries. Tank Bigsby added 122 yards on 11 rushes, helping the Tigers pile up 364 rushing yards on 39 carries, an average of 9.3 yards per carry.
Auburn leads the nation in scoring offense (61.0 ppg) and is tied for the lead in scoring defense (5.0 ppg). The Tigers lead the nation in rush defense (21.5 ypg). Auburn and Baylor are the only FBS teams that have had two 100-yard rushers in each of the first two games this year. Those two teams are also the only with two players averaging at least 120 rushing yards per game.
Penn State had an impressive Week 1 win at Wisconsin and then beat a pretty good Ball State team 44-13 on Saturday. With 35 passing yards on the first drive, QB Sean Clifford became the 10th Penn State quarterback to reach the 5,000 career passing yards mark. Clifford threw for 230 yards, bringing his career total to 5,209 passing yards. Clifford’s one touchdown pass, to Jahan Dotson, moved him into a tie for fourth with Daryll Clark (2006-09) with 43 career passing touchdowns. The Nittany Lions finished with 240 rushing yards. It marks the 32nd time in the James Franklin era Penn State has rushed for over 200 yards. PSU is 26-6 in those games.
It was Penn State’s 300th win in Beaver Stadium as the Nittany Lions became one of just nine FBS teams with 300 wins in their current stadium. Penn State has now won 11 consecutive games against non-conference teams during the regular season, dating back to a win over Temple in 2016. The Lions have won 17-straight non-conference home games, dating back to a win over Kent State in 2013. Pick: Auburn.
2021 College Football Week 3 Pick: Auburn
No. 19 Arizona State at No. 23 BYU
- When: Saturday, September 11th, 7:00pm ET
- Where: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- 2021 College Football Week 3 Odds: Arizona -3.5
These schools both used to be members of the WAC many years ago. They haven’t played since 1998.
Arizona State (2-0) comes off an easy 37-10 home win over UNLV. QB Jayden Daniels set a career high with 125 rushing yards. Rachaad White rushed for 90 yards and two scores. Dating back to last season, White has four consecutive multi-touchdown games, with a total of nine in that span.
The Sun Devils have won four straight dating to last year. The average margin of victory in those games is 48.5-16. It marks the first four-game winning streak since opening 2016 with four straight wins. ASU has scored 22 times on the ground over the past four games, the most in a four-game span in program history. Arizona State has held opponents to less than 30 points in 22 of 32 games under Coach Herm Edwards. They totaled five sacks and didn’t allow the Rebels to reach the end zone in the final 38:46 of play.
BYU (2-0) upset No. 18 Utah 26-17 on Saturday. It was the first win over Utah that did not come down to a last-second game-winning play since 1996 when BYU won 37-17. The BYU offense accounted for 219 yards against Utah. It was the first time BYU has rushed for more than 200 yards against Utah since 1996 when the Cougars had 366 yards on the ground.
Quarterback Jaren Hall went 18 of 30 for 149 yards and three touchdowns. He also carried the ball eight times for 92 yards. Running back Tyler Allgeier, added 27 carries for 102 yards. The Cougars are +3 in turnover margin through two games and have yet to turn the ball over on offense. BYU has won 16 consecutive games when even or ahead in the turnover battle. BYU has won 11 in a row at LaVell Edwards Stadium. BYU went 7-0 at home in 2020. The Cougars are 4-2 in their past six games against ranked opponents.
2021 College Football Week 3 Pick: BYU
READ MORE: 2021 NFL Week 1 Preview, Odds and Picks
Check out our latest sports betting guides for the 2021 College Football season. Stay tuned for more Football previews and articles and don’t forget to check out the latest Football betting odds at our online Bitcoin sportsbook.
*All odds stated are subject to change without prior notice.
