College Football, Week 3: Games and players to watch

Good morning New York Giants fans! Happy Saturday, and welcome to another college football game day!

It’s still early in the season, so great games against ranked opponents are a bit hard to come by. And after the Giants failed to get a pass rush against the Dallas Cowboys — and have to face three good offensive lines in the NFC East — I want to check in on some of the best pass rushers in the upcoming draft.

Pittsburgh at Penn State (13)

ABC - Noon

Junior EDGE Yetur Gross-Matos from Penn State is going to be the player to watch this game and looks to be a first round — or a high second round — draft pick should he declare for this spring’s draft. But while he should be the best player on the field, Penn State has a number of interesting players to watch.

Players To Watch

Pittsburgh

• Dane Jackson (CB/DB)
• Taysir Mack (Wr)

Penn State

• Yetur Gross-Matos (EDGE)
• Cam Brown (OLB)
• Jonathan Sutherland (S)
• KJ Hamler (WR)

Notre Dame (7) vs. New Mexico

NBC - 2:30 p.m.

The EDGE to concentrate on in this game should be fairly familiar to Giants’ fans: Notre Dame’s Julian Okwara — younger brother of former Giants (and current Detroit Lions) DE Romeo Okwara. Where Romeo is a bigger, more powerful defensive end, Julian is a longer, more flexible speed rusher.

Players To Watch

Notre Dame

• Julian Okwara (EDGE)
• Khalid Kareem (EDGE)
• Alohi Gilman (S
• Liam Eichenberg (OT)
• Tommy Kraemer (OG)

Florida State at Virginia (25)

ACCN - 7:30 p.m.

Not everyone will get this game, and if you don’t check out Florida at Kentucky at 7pm on ESPN, but considering the Giants might want to continue to upgrade their secondary heading into 2020, I wanted to drop in on this match-up.

These two teams have a long tradition of putting quality defensive backs into the NFL, and feature two of the better safeties in the upcoming draft class.

FSU’s Hamsah Nasirildeen has rare size for the safety position (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) as well as good athleticism and movement skills. Some teams might want to convert him to a WILL linebacker, but whether he plays safety or linebacker at the next level, he should help improve a team’s speed and athleticism in the middle of the field.

Cornerback Bryce Hall could be the top cornerback in the 2020 draft, with good size at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, plenty of experience as a four-year starter, ball skills, and great feet.

Players To Watch

Florida State

• Hamsah Nasirildeen (S/LB)
• Marvin Wilson (DT)
• Tamorrion Terry (WR)

Virginia

• Bryce Hall (CB)
• Charles Snowden (LB)
• Jordan Mack (ILB)