College Football: 5 Teams on Upset Alert in Week 3

Thursday night matchups are always prime settings for upsets, especially when the favored team must travel into a hostile environment. This week, the No. 11 Clemson Tigers go to Louisville in what could be the perfect trap game.

Clemson is 2-0 this season and has disposed of Wofford 49-10 and Appalachian State 41-10 over the first two weekends of the season. Louisville, on the other hand, lost a close game against Auburn 31-24 in the Georgia Dome during the season opener and followed with a disappointing 34-31 loss to Houston last week.

Part of the problem for the Cards has been the revolving door at the quarterback position. Through the first two weeks of the season, Cardinals head coach Bobby Petrino has shuffled Reggie Bonnafon, Lamar Jackson and Kyle Bolin, making Louisville one of only three FBS teams so far this year to have three quarterbacks attempt at least ten passes. However, given Petrino’s knack for tutoring quarterbacks, it’s quite conceivable that the Cardinals will show improvement at the position in the near future.

Clemson is also relatively unfamiliar with ACC newcomer Louisville, which makes it difficult to adequately prepare. The teams have met only once in their history – last season’s 23-17 Tigers’ victory in a defensive struggle in Death Valley, in which the Cards came up short on fourth-and-goal with 21 seconds left. Of course, it’s worth noting that the Tigers were forced to rely on Cole Stoudt at quarterback in last season’s clash, not Deshaun Watson. The sophomore signal caller has thrown for 442 yards and five touchdowns so far this season despite rarely playing in the second half in either of the first two games of the season due to blowout scores.

Still, because of the setting, and the fact that the Cardinals are a better team than they’ve shown thus far, Clemson should be on upset alert. There’s a reason the game opened as a pick ’em on Sunday.

Next: Florida State at Clemson