Push the panic button: 12 Week 3 games, each with its own level of crisis

Week 1 had headliners for the casuals. Week 2 had rivalry games and loads of thrillers for the hardcores. In Week 3, we effort to divided the difference. This week gives america high-stakes helmet games (Texas A&M-Notre Dame, Georgia-Tennessee, Florida-LSU) and rivalry games some bitter (Pitt-West Virginia) and, sometimes, silly (Ole Miss-Arkansas). But astir of all, it gives america PANIC.

Notre Dame is 0-1 and won't person a ton of prime triumph opportunities to flooded a imaginable 0-2 start. Clemson and Georgia haven't looked the portion yet and could beryllium severely punished if they don't displacement into gear. Supposed Big 12 favorites Arizona State and Kansas State are a combined 2-3 and can't hold overmuch longer to crook into the teams they were expected to be. And some Florida and Virginia Tech played their coaches onto incredibly blistery seats with jarring second-half collapses past week. So galore instrumentality bases are either fuming oregon astir to be.

The archetypal 2 weeks were amusive successful antithetic ways. Now it's clip to get anxious. Here's everything you request to travel successful Week 3.

All times are Eastern, and each games are Saturday unless different noted.

Jump to a panic tier:
Hot seat | Time to look good
CFP hopefuls | Rivalries | Facing an upstart

More:
Week 3 playlist | Small schoolhouse showcase

Hot spot panic

Between Nov. 16 and past Saturday, Florida went 5-0, beating LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State successful successive weeks, allowing conscionable 10.4 points per crippled and, presumably, playing caput manager Billy Napier disconnected of the blistery seat.

Then the Gators mislaid to USF. They settled for tract goals aboriginal and gave up conscionable capable large plays (and horrid penalties) precocious to suffer 18-16. It happened the mode a batch of upsets happen, and USF mightiness crook retired to beryllium an awesome team. But Florida present faces an absurd tally featuring trips to No. 3 LSU, No. 5 Miami and No. 16 Texas A&M, positive a sojourn from No. 7 Texas, successful the adjacent month. Napier went from reasonably harmless to each but done successful a heartbeat.

He's not alone, astatine least. Starting the play against South Carolina and Vanderbilt, Brent Pry's Virginia Tech got outscored by a combined 48-3 successful 2 horrendous 2nd halves. The Hokies person plummeted to 74th successful SP+. Unlike Florida, they person a rebound accidental with location games against Old Dominion and Wofford, but ODU has been awfully absorbing to commencement the season.

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