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We here at Block U like to help alert our readers to some good games to watch. Both AJ and I will be doing various “3 Games to Watch” articles throughout the season. The first of which will cover games that occur before Saturday. In these articles, I will try to tell which games to watch and what impact if any they could have on the Utah Utes.
Thursday
#21 UCF Knights at UConn Huskies - 5:00 p.m. MT - ESPNU
This game will likely be hard for Utah fans to catch, especially those who are going to attend Utah’s contest against Weber State in person. However, if you want to catch “the defending national champions,” here is your chance. UCF is the first ranked team to play a game this season and is the only one playing on Thursday. UCF returns quarterback McKenzie Milton, but they lost the heart and soul of the team in Shaquem Griffin. They also are under new head coach Josh Heupel after Scott Frost left for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. UConn is not know for football, and UCF will likely continue their winning streak. A UConn upset would be good for Utah though, as the Utes are sitting just outside the top 25. If a few teams in the high teens or low 20s lose, Utah could sneak into the rankings.
Friday
San Diego State Aztecs at #13 Stanford Cardinal - 7:00 p.m. MT - Fox Sports 1
Stanford stumbled last season against SDSU. This year though Stanford returns star running back Bryce Love while former SDSU back Rashaad Penny is now playing for the Seattle Seahawks. Both teams like to pound the football on the ground and play great defense. Stanford has more depth and talent and should get revenge this year. Expect a big game from Love to kick off his 2018 Heisman campaign.
Colorado Buffaloes vs Colorado State Rams (Denver) - 7:30 p.m. MT - CBS Sports Network
This will be an interesting game. Colorado State looked awful to start their first game of the year against Hawaii in week zero. While they ended up losing the game, the Rams rallied hard in the second half, and former Washington Huskies quarterback KJ Carta-Samuels set the school record for passing yards in his CSU debut. We at Block U were split on this game. I see the Rams making an improvement from game one to game two, and I think we see more of what we saw from them in the second half. This game will be a good barometer on where Colorado is this year.