Important conference games highlight the third Saturday of college football as Florida goes to Tennessee, USC is at Stanford, Alabama is at Arkansas and Virginia invades Grant Field to face Georgia Tech.

 In non-conference action, two undefeated teams in Texas and Ole Miss meet in Oxford, while Northwestern looks to move to 3-0 as Boston College comes to town.

Saturday's 16 --

Cal-Berkeley (1-1) at Ohio State (2-0) (Noon, ABC) … The visiting Bears will have a tough go in Columbus … and gets worse next week with a trip to the L.

A. Coliseum to face No.2  USC.

Winner: Ohio State

Va. Tech (2-0) at Pittsburgh (0-2) (Noon, ESPNU) … No.13 Hokies should win on the road against winless Pitt …

Winner: Va. Tech

No.15 TCU (2-0) at Kansas (1-1) (Noon, FX) …   A Big-12 match-up in Lawrence …

Winner: TCU

LA-Monroe (1-0) at Auburn (0-2) (12:21 p.m.)  … Auburn won’t be looking past LA-Monroe to LSU next week   but if they do and stumble down on The Plains they could be looking for a new coach soon.

Winner: Auburn

Sewanee (1-1) at Maryville (0-2)  (1:30 p.m.) …  good in-state rivalry game …  Sewanee has won the last the trips to Maryville (2001-03-05) …

Winner: Sewanee

Austin Peay (0-2) at Tennessee State (2-0)  (2 p.m.) … Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams … TSU is celebrating its 100 years of existence with the first game back at Hale Stadium on campus since 1998 … Also known as “The Hole”, the Tigers are 134-27-5 in games played at Hale Stadium since 1953 …

Winner: Tennessee State

Virginia (2-0, 0-0) at Ga. Tech (1-1, 0-1) (3:30 p.m., ESPNU) ... Ga. Tech honors players from SEC championship seasons of 1951 and 1952 (national champions) … statue of long time Tech coach Bobby Dodd was unveiled at a ceremony Friday …

Winner: Ga. Tech

No.1 Alabama (2-0) at Arkansas (0-2)  (3:30 p.m., CBS) … The Hogs will wish they were playing LA-Monroe again this week … SEC opener for both teams.

Winner: No.1 Alabama

Boston College (1-1) at Northwestern (2-0) (3:30 p.m., Big 10 Network) …  Host Wildcats look to go 3-0 for the third time in five years … second of four straight home games …

Winner: Northwestern

Texas A&M (0-1) at SMU (1-1) (3:30 p.m., FSN Regional ) … former Southwest Conference teams meet in Dallas …

Winner: Texas A&M

Navy (0-1) at Penn State (0-2)  (3:30 p.m., ABC Regional) … Penn State gains first win of the season before the Nittany Lion faithful and all is well in Happy Valley at least for a few hours.

Winner: Penn State

Florida (2-0, 1-0) at Tennessee (2-0, 0-0) (6 p.m., ESPN) … Gators had a good road win in College Station last Saturday, but will hear “Rocky Top” in their sleep after tonight’s game in Neyland Stadium where there is a Christian prayer given prior to kickoff …

Winner: Tennessee

Ohio U. (2-0) at Marshall (1-1)   (6:30 p.m.) … The Battle for the Bell Trophy ... Ohio U looks to go 3-0 in back-to-back seasons for first time since 1967-68 … Marshall has won eight of the last 10 games in the series …  Ohio U. has not had consecutive wins against the Herd in more than 30 years.

Winner: Ohio U.

No.2 USC (2-0) at Stanford (2-0)  (7:30 p.m, FOX) … PAC-12 opener for both teams … Stanford has given USC fits over the years but are out of “Luck” this year against The Cardinal and Gold even at home …

Winner: USC

Texas (2-0) at Ole Miss (2-0)  (9:15 p.m., ESPN) … Rebel faithful honor the players from the 1962 team  (10-0) which is only squad to post a perfect season in school history … Texas beat Rebs in Cotton Bowl at end of 1961 season and in the 1966 Bluebonnet Bowl … can Ole Miss move to 3-0 ..?

Winner: Ole Miss

Houston (0-2) at UCLA (2-0) (10:30 p.m., PAC-12 Network) ... Bruins have momentum after big home win against Nebraska.

Winner: UCLA

Last Week: 11-5 … Season: 26-6

 

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net