CFP predictions after week 3: Ohio State crashes the party

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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – SEPTEMBER 14: Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers runs with the ball for a touchdown during the second half of a game against the Northwestern State Demons at Tiger Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

This week’s college football playoff predictions will be of special interest to Ohio State fans. Even though it’s only been three weeks, patterns among the nation’s best teams are beginning to form, and I have renewed my playoff predictions accordingly.

Week 3 was by all accounts a snooze fest. A lot of teams, including Ohio State, were playing on the road for the first time. Still, there weren’t any high-profile ranked matchups for fans to enjoy as evidenced by College Gameday’s appearance in Ames, Iowa.

Let the predictions begin. Here is the Final Four at the moment.

1. LSU

Full disclosure: this team scares the daylights out of me. LSU’s defense, and particularly their secondary, has always been LSU’s greatest strength.

Now that the Tiger offense has finally climbed out of the stone ages, former Buckeye Joe Burrow has inserted himself firmly into the Heisman race. This LSU team is absolutely frightening.

So far, this team has done more to impress me than Alabama and Clemson have.

2. Alabama

This pick was a difficult one for me. I know most people would probably put Clemson higher than Bama, and even LSU for that matter, but I think that Trevor Lawrence’s early struggles are more concerning than people are making it out to be.

Meanwhile, Tua Tagovailoa is setting school records on the road. I raised a concern last week about Alabama’s running game and that may have been a slight overreaction.

The Tide runs a lot of RPO’s and Tua has taken the pass option more than he has the run. The low rushing numbers are likely due to open receivers, not a lack of a run game.

3. Clemson

Trevor Lawrence has already thrown 5 interceptions through 3 weeks. It’s one thing if he struggles a little in the first game of the year, but this has continued for three weeks now.

I’m not ready to hit the panic button yet, but the sophomore QB needs to play better. Or not; it’s not like he will face stiff competition until the playoff starts.

Clemson has already played its two toughest games of the season against Syracuse and Texas A&M and I put the Tigers at number 3. Not because I don’t think Clemson is as good as LSU or Bama, but because it simply won’t have the same kind of strength of schedule as those two teams.

4. Ohio State

Rejoice Buckeye Nation! The Ohio State Buckeyes have cracked my College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes look complete.

The sample size is still small, but Justin Fields and J.K. Dobbins are already looking like a terrorizing force in the backfield. Fields gets most of the attention, and it’s not unwarranted, but the real story is the Ohio State defense finally playing some complimentary football.

So far, Ohio State is looking like a complete team. I don’t see a team on the schedule the Buckeyes shouldn’t be able to outscore.

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