AH week 3 picks: Iowa should improve to 3-0 for seventh time under Kirk Ferentz
Iowa City, Iowa – The college football season always seems to take forever to get here.
But once it finally arrives, the action unfolds in a hurry.
Iowa (2-0) will play its final nonconference on Saturday against 1-1 North Texas at Kinnick Stadium. The game will start at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.
The Hawekyes are coming off an emotional 44-41 overtime victory at Iowa State last season, while the Mean Green will try to bounce back from a 54-32 loss to Southern Methodist University last Saturday.
Our three-person panel unanimously picked Iowa to win by margins of 28, 25 and 17 points. That could signify that we're homers, but in fairness, the point spread for Saturday's game is 21.5 points.
The Hawkeyes blasted North Texas 62-16 in 2015 at Kinnick Stadium. But a lot has changed for the Mean Green since then, including the head coach with Seth Littrell having replaced Dan McCarney after the 2015 season.
Here is our predictions for the Iowa game, and for four other key matchups on Saturday:
Pat Harty
Iowa 38, North Texas 21: Some Iowa fans become restless when Nate Stanley only throws one touchdown pass in the first half and when Akrum Wadley gets tackled once in open field.
Wisconsin 33, Brigham Young 23: Considering the lack of beer sales in Provo, some Badger fans might have to actually watch this game sober unless they decide out of desperation to drink their own mouth wash.
Southern California 45, Texas 17: Texas coach Tom Herman says afterwards that previous head coach Charlie Strong should share half of the loss with him for leaving behind bad players.
Florida 20, Tennessee 17: Remember when this game meant something and was fun to watch? I barely do, either.
Clemson 28, Louisville 27: Clemson is literally trying to defend its national title as it showed in the victory over Auburn.
Last week: 1-4
Overall: 5-5
Tyler Devine
Iowa 42, North Texas 14: Nate Stanley throws for six more touchdowns, three of them being caught by Ihmir Smith-Marsette and the two begin drawing comparisons to Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
Wisconsin 38, Brigham Young 20: This reminds me, I should have gone to see "The Book of Mormon" when it was at Hancher.
Southern California 49, Texas 10: Tom Herman blames Urban Meyer for the loss after his defense gets smoked yet again.
Tennesee 23, Florida 18: Florida can't Gate-r-done as Jim's time in Gainesville could be McElwain-ing.
Clemson 45, Louisville 42: After the loss, Bobby Petrino leaves for a three week stint, but comes back just in time to lead Louisville to a bowl game.
Last week: 3-2
Overall: 6-4
Dylan Burn
Iowa 45, North Texas 20: North Texas will hit on some drives early, but the Hawkeyes will be too much to handle in the trenches, running away with this one behind what looks like a potent offense.
Wisconsin 34, Brigham Young 13: BYU doesn't stand a chance in this one. Not quite up to the Badgers' standard. Wisconsin executes at a high level, Cougars can't match talent level or intensity.
Southern California 40, Texas 17: This isn't going to be close in my opinion. Texas isn't good and USC possesses probably the best QB in the country in Sam . Everyone is talking about Vince Young's run back in '06 and about this rematch, but I don't really care. Trojans by a lot.
Florida 23, Tennessee 20: Florida figures it out a little bit on offense, relies on that stout defense to sneak past the Volunteers in a battle of top 25 teams that could not be more underwhelming.
Clemson 34, Louisville 30: Clemson didn't really miss a beat after losing Deshaun Watson to the NFL after their championship run last year. They beat a good Auburn team and their defense held them to just 6 points. Dealing with Lamar Jackson is a little different, but they get it done.
Last week: 3-2
Overall: 3-2