Let’s not beat around the bush: it’s a weak slate of games in Week 3. It just is. And yes, the Week 4 slate moves the needle in a seismic way but let’s just focus on Week 3. In these weak slates, you need to do some digging and search around for those gems that help make a college football week so special. So let me help you.

Expect the Unexpected

When the slate is gross and the waters are murky, you can hear that “Jaws” music in the distance as it gets louder and louder until chaos strikes when you least expect it. So let’s be on high alert for some unexpected upsets.

LSU traveling to Mississippi State and Tennessee at Florida have me on high alert. LSU’s an overrated team in my eyes, and I predicted that the Tigers would start 1-2 this season. The Bulldogs don’t get too much credit. Zach Arnett has a tough and stingy defense in place, in addition to deploying the ever-so-underrated Will Rogers at quarterback. A consistent producer who never gets the credit he deserves.

As for Tennessee, that’s a team that has struggled in outings against Virginia and Austin Peay. The wide receiver room has left a lot to be desired; the Vols desperately need an alpha WR1 to step up. Speaking of desperate… Florida. This Gators team reeks, it’s poorly coached, and yet the spread is -6.5 in favor of the Vols. That line says a ton about what the oddsmakers think of Tennessee. Again, this Florida team stinks, but the Gators are going to play with major desperation as if the season is on the line. Heck, for all we know Billy Napier could be coaching for his job THIS SEASON! It’d be an unexpected win, so should we just expect it?

Some other games to monitor include:

• My national champion pick Penn State will travel to face a very mediocre Illinois team
• Kansas State is favored by just five against a very unimpressive Mizzou squad
• If it even counts, Kurtis Rourke and Ohio could very well defeat Iowa State
• How will North Carolina’s dynamite offense fare against Minnesota’s terrific defense?
• A very lowkey one is an elite FCS team in Idaho playing at Cal
• Is Nebraska safe against a Northern Illinois team that just lost to Southern Illinois?

Whether I mentioned the game or not, we’ll hear that “Jaws” music strike on Saturday when we least expect it.

Deep Pool of Talent

There are 133 FBS teams. Think of how many players there are in this sport that excite crowds every week, whether it’s in front of a sold-out SEC stadium or a mostly empty MAC venue in the early days of winter. I pride myself on finding elite talent in this sport, whether it’s at the most coveted programs or the lowly ones that scratch and claw for even a chance at bowl eligibility. So let me just implore you to watch some teams you wouldn’t normally watch. Go see some of the supreme talent that is on full display. Here’s a short list of players to watch on Saturday.

• WR Jahmal Banks, CB Caelen Carson of Wake Forest vs. Old Dominion
• QB Kurtis Rourke, RB Sieh Bangura of Ohio vs. Iowa State
• CB Maxwell Anderson of Weber State vs. Utah
• RB Nate Noel, SAF Jordan Favors of Appalachian State vs. East Carolina
• QB Gevani McCoy, WR Hayden Hatten of Idaho vs. Cal
• WR Gage Larvadain of Miami (OH) vs. Cincinnati
• QB Dequan Finn, CB Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo vs. San José State
• WR Justus Ross-Simmons of Colorado State vs. Colorado

Look at the FCS

Ironically, the FCS is also dealing with a pretty weak slate this Saturday. It’s pretty unfortunate because this would have been a stellar week for the FCS to capitalize on the lackluster FBS slate. Nonetheless, there’s a substantial matchup between a red hot Southern Illinois team and a Southeast Missouri State team that came into the season with plenty of hype. SEMO has a high-powered offense featuring a fiery quarterback in Paxton DeLaurent, a tough running back in Geno Hess, and a dynamic duo at wide receiver with Ryan Flournoy and Damoriea Vick. On the flip side, Southern Illinois put up 49 on an Austin Peay team that held Tennessee to just 30 points. The Salukis then won an ugly 14-11 game at Northern Illinois, which had just picked off Boston College. Quarterback Nic Baker is leading the SIU charge into the top 15 after beginning the season unranked. That makes for a battle between No. 13 SEMO and No. 15 Southern Illinois on ESPN+ at 7:00 p.m. ET. It’s a game worth checking out.

A few other FCS teams to watch on Saturday: Title contender North Dakota State gets an opportunity to play a Central Arkansas team that just missed the top 25. UCA boasts a terrific duo at running back with ShunDerrick Powell and Darius Hale. It’ll be fun to see them go up against a NDSU team with so much talent. In a battle of two 0-2 teams, Southeastern Louisiana and Eastern Washington will play a pivotal matchup as both teams look to get a W on the board. Both of these teams played really tough games as SELU fell to Mississippi State and South Alabama. For EWU, it was a loss to NDSU and a gut wrenching overtime loss to Fresno State. SELA has a very good offensive line that is powered by the 6-foot-1 (!!) guard John Allen and Jalen Bell. Bell has a better chance of playing at the next level, but both of these dudes are really dang good at what they do.

I promise that I could have written plenty more and given even more insight into what to watch in an underwhelming slate but I know you probably want to get back to your regularly scheduled programming… AKA your day.