Every week here at Blogging the Boys, we’ll spotlight the biggest college matchups and the players who could soon wear the Star. If you want to get a jump on who might help America’s Team in the years to come, this is your weekly college football guide.
GAME OF THE WEEK
There’s college football, and then there’s college football at night in Baton Rouge. The lights, the band, and the air that tastes like jambalaya and danger. This Week 3 matchup drops the Florida Gators into LSU’s Death Valley, where visiting dreams go to die. Both sides have game-breakers, wide receivers who can teleport after the catch, backs who cut once and vanish. One slip, six points.
This isn’t just plays, it’s posture. Florida wants to plant a flag on the road and say, “give us attention.” LSU on the other hand wants to slam the door and say, “not this time.” Scripted openers matter, but so do mid-game answers when things get tough for either team.
Game Overview
- Matchup: Florida vs. LSU (3)
- September 13th, at Tiger Stadium.
- Kickoff Time: 7:30 p.m. (EST)
- LSU favored by 7 points
- Off to a strong start and opening SEC play at home, LSU has the night kickoff game which will set the stage for great prime-time atmosphere.
Player Watch
Florida:
Jake Slaughter, OC
Jake Slaughter is the kind of center who stabilizes an offensive line, he’s the steady voice in a room full of noise. He brings intelligence, technique, and consistency. If he continues polishing his lower-body strength and refining his nuanced technique (especially hand work and anchor), he projects as a Day 1 starter in pro systems that value communication and positional discipline. There’s a chance he could be the first center off the board next year.
Tyreak Sapp, DE
Sapp plays like a lever, he pries open edges with power and then snaps through with a compact burst. He’s not a pure speed merchant, his calling card is sturdy, assignment-sound edge defense with enough pop and counters to finish. Keep the pad level cleaner and the counter move on a shorter trigger, and you’re looking at a dependable three-down end who can moonlight inside on money downs and grind out production without needing schematic gimmicks.
Caleb Banks, DT
Banks is a space-eater with pass-rush teeth, think pocket-denter first, block-shedding run plug second. If he strings together lower pad level with earlier, firmer hand fits, he projects as a scheme-flex interior lineman who can live on early downs and stay on the field for money downs to collapse launch points.
Eugene Wilson III, WR
Wilson is Florida’s ignition switch, run him to the perimeter and the offense hums. He wins by getting open instantly and staying slippery after the catch, and the Gators are leaning into that with a heavy quick-game to let him do damage in space. If the staff sprinkles in more intermediate shots to keep safeties honest, his volume-plus-YAC profile plays like a down-to-down stress test for defenses rather than just a gadget spark.
LSU:
Garrett Nussmeier, QB
We covered Nussmeier in Week 1. Since then, he’s put up 237 yards and one touchdown against Louisiana Tech, and also 230 yards with one touchdown against Clemson. So far this year, Nussmeier has done well to keep the offense on-schedule, played low-mistake football, and willing to ignore playing hero-ball for field position. If the intermediate/deep explosive plays return while keeping the turnover profile this tame, his box score will catch up to the wins.
Harold Perkins, LB
Perkins plays well when he’s on form to collapse pockets. He tilts down with burst and menace, and when LSU lets him hunt rather than hover, game tempo bends his way. Keep the run-fit discipline steady, you’re looking at a weekly problem offenses must solve before they solve anything else.
Nic Anderson, WR
Anderson profiles as LSU’s go-long receiver, a speed threat who can widen safeties and cash in if the secondary can’t keep up. If the Tigers push his route tree back to more posts, seams, and fades, his impact should scale quickly from chain-mover to coverage-dictator.
Texas A&M (16) vs Notre Dame (8)
Week 3 drops a blueblood crossover with serious pageantry as No. 16 Texas A&M rolls into South Bend to meet No. 8 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish snagged the first act last year, the rematch flips to South Bend with the stakes ratcheted up. Marcel Reed’s dynamism has juiced A&M’s offensive explosiveness early. Across the sideline, CJ Carr settles into the biggest home stage of his young career.
Game Overview
- Matchup: Texas A&M (16) vs. Notre Dame (8)
- September 13th, at South Bend
- Kickoff Time: 7:30 p.m. (EST)
- Notre Dame favored by 6.5 points
- Irish favored by just under a touchdown, total hovering around 49–50. The oddsmaker’s way of saying this will be a good one.
Player Watch
Texas A&M:
Taurean York, LB
York sets the defense’s rhythm and bites when it’s time. The floor is high, the missed-tackle rate low, and the trust from coaches is obvious. Clean up the shed-through-contact and he profiles as a three-down starter who keeps a unit on schedule and steals drives with timely pressures.
Ar’maj Reed-Adams, OG
Reed-Adams is a tone-setter on the line, he tilts the line with leverage and torque, then finishes with nasty energy. Keep the hands earlier and lower, and you’ve got a plug-and-play interior starter who can power zone and gap schemes alike while bringing captain-level reliability to a huddle.
Kevin Concepcion, WR
What an addition Concepcion has been to the roster this year. Through two games he’s at nine catches, 145 yards, three receiving touchdowns, plus four punt returns for 112 yards and a touchdown. Concepcion plays like a joystick. He’s twitchy, decisive, and always pointed toward daylight. Keep sprinkling in verticals to punish unaware safeties, and his slot-plus-returner impact becomes a weekly problem. High volume, high explosive plays, and field-flipping yards.
Notre Dame:
Malachi Fields, WR
It may seem weird to start with Fields, but Notre Dame is another team we’ve covered earlier in the season, so we move down the pecking order. Fields is a possession bully with big-play moments, more chain mover than track star who tilts 50/50s into 70/30s. If Notre Dame keeps pairing him with layered play-action and back-shoulder timing, he’s the kind of receiver who can steady a young quarterback and juice the red-zone menu without needing manufactured touches.
Jaden Greathouse, WR
Greathouse is a bully-ball technician who wins snaps with tempo and body position, then finishes with vice-grip hands. He’s the type of receiver who turns contested catches into first downs and catches through contact. Add a few more vertical nods to keep safeties honest, and he profiles as the steady go to answer who makes a young quarterback look older.
Georgia (6) vs. Tennessee (15)
Game Overview
- Matchup: Georgia (6) vs. Tennessee (15)
- September 13th, at Neyland Stadium
- Kickoff Time: 3:30 p.m. (EST)
- Georgia favored by 4 points
Player Watch
Georgia:
Christen Miller, DT
Miller is Georgia’s pressure point inside who’s stout enough to hold the front together and quick enough to dent pockets on early downs. If the shoulder holds out and he layers a reliable counter (swim or club-rip), his tape can catch up to the grading buzz, projecting a high-floor, three-down SEC anchor with ascending value.
CJ Allen, LB
Allen sets the tempo, cleans up the mess, and rarely beats himself. Keep the pads lower and you’re looking at a three-down SEC bell cow whose production comes from being in the right place faster than everyone else.
Zachariah Branch, WR
Branch is Georgia’s offensive main man, he tilts coverage with speed and makes the defense hold its breath. Keep feeding him quick hitters to force soft zones, then uncork the posts and seams that then turns him into the kind of weapon that makes defensive coordinators rethink their coverage plans.
Tennessee:
Jermod McCoy, CB
McCoy plays corner like a clock. He’s quiet, precise, and always on time. He wins reps by stealing space early and finishing through the hands late. If the post-ACL burst looks like 2024 again, he profiles as a true CB1, a field-shrinker who lets a defense call more man without blinking.
Notable Games
Arkansas vs Ole Miss
Wisconsin vs Alabama
Clemson vs Georgia Tech
Vanderbilt vs South Carolina
Pittsburgh vs West Virgina
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