College football bold predictions: Week 3 upset picks include LSU - USA Today

The college football season is moving quickly through September with only one more weekend in the ninth month on the calendar after this Saturday.

Some themes are starting to develop as College Football Playoff contenders sort themselves out in the non-conference portion of their schedules. Oregon and Oklahoma look shaky. Michigan has been down and up and has one of the best wins so far. Ohio State and Texas battled in a matchup that was probably a net gain for both teams but the Longhorns were the ones victorious.

So what will happen during the Week 3 schedule to shake up the season? We know there will be unexpected results. That's just par for the course in a sport that delivers surprises. The difficult part is forecasting where they will happpen.

That’s where the USA TODAY Sports college football staff comes in. Our experts weigh in with their thoughts on where the upsets might happen.

It's hard to imagine Bill Belichick doesn't see a first-time, true freshman starting quarterback on the opposition and believe, even amidst his son Steve Belichick's lingering, mysterious absence as defensive coordinator, that he can generate significant problems. He's right. This UNC at Clemson game will do severe damage to offensive football. But Tigers rookie Tait Reynolds has the home crowd and the better defense. And in an early-season Hot Seat Bowl, Belichick exits with more backside heat. -- John Brice

Louisville let opportunity slip away against Ole Miss. It won't happen again. The more QB Lincoln Kienholz plays and gains control of Cardinals coach Jeff Brohm's offense, the more dangerous Louisville becomes in the ACC. -- Matt Hayes

The game everyone in the college football world has eyes on will be focused so much on Kiffin, but let’s not forget the people actually on the field. No matter how much Pete Golding tries to downplay it, he certainly wants to lay into his former boss and prove he made the wrong move. The Rebels storm out of the game and lay the hammer down with a double-digit victory that lets the entire city of Oxford sleep well after a long night of partying. -- Jordan Mendoza

On the back end of this week's Top 25, West Virginia knocks off No. 25 Virginia in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a banner win in Rich Rodriguez's second year. Even if neither team is seen as a title contender, a win by the Mountaineers could be carry weight down the line when the ACC and Big 12 inevitably compete for the limited at-large playoff spots available after the SEC and Big Ten get theirs. -- Paul Myerberg

Lost amid all the focus on Lane Kiffin and the rest of the Top 25 games is an intriguing matchup on the Plains with Auburn hosting Florida in the SEC opener for a pair of 2-0 teams under new coaches. So does Jon Sumrall or Alex Golesh get a needed victory to boost their rebuild process? Look for Aaron Philo to outplay quarterback counterpart Bryum Brown and the Gators to prevail in a tough road environment. -- Erick Smith

None of the top-five teams will lose this week, but one will get a major scare. A couple of them will be on the road for conference games, but no, it will not be Georgia or Miami. It will be No. 3 Notre Dame that will have a hard time putting away Michigan State. New Spartans’ head coach Pat Fitzgerald knows a thing or two about upgrading a defense, and his group has surrendered just a couple of long plays from scrimmage in its first two outings. The Fighting Irish will get it figured out, but don’t be shocked if the home crowd is a tad nervous at halftime. -- Eddie Timanus

Never discount the possibility that Lane Kiffin is screwing with us. Is Sam Leavitt banged up? Probably. He’s often banged up. Does whatever ails Leavitt make him “doubtful” or "questionable" to play for LSU against Mississippi, as Kiffin indicated on LSU’s official injury report? Well, I’ll answer that Saturday night. Spare me the SEC’s language about the institutional and coaching penalties that can be applied if a coach fibs on the injury report. LSU briefly risked SEC expulsion and Kiffin flirted with a suspension in an ill-fated pursuit of NFL castoffs. Lane’s not one to worry about the rules. Whatever the case might be with Leavitt, I think we’ll see backup quarterback Landen Clark play in some capacity. Maybe, he’ll start. Would that be so bad for LSU? The Elon transfer looked superb in relief the past two weeks. And let’s not forget, the best thing to happen to Kiffin last September was starting quarterback Austin Simmons suffering an ankle injury in Week 2. That forced Kiffin to play Trinidad Chambliss, who might one day get that statue at Mississippi that Kiffin walked away from. It’s easy to say an Championship Subdivision player won’t become what Chambliss became for Ole Miss, but don’t forget Chambliss himself is a Division II transfer. Kiffin possesses an eye for quarterback talent, and he knows how to help them. Whether Clark starts, I don’t know, but I’ll say he plays, LSU wins a close one amid the hornet’s nest, and Kiffin walks away with another golf ball in his pocket. -- Blake Toppmeyer