There are three monstrous games this weekend in college football but only one that I think gives us our first virtual lock for the College Football Playoff. That's what's on my mind in this week's Cover 3, along with some underlying injury consequences and some overshadowed running backs that are must-watch talents.

1. Clemson-Auburn will produce a playoff team

The winner of this game will be a playoff team. That may be an aggressive prediction in Week 2, but that's how talented these two teams are and that's the kind of springboard a win of this magnitude can be.

That foundation of that prediction is a belief in Clemson. I predicted that Clemson would win the ACC before the season, and I'm emboldened following Florida State's loss of Deondre Francois. The defense is that good, the offense is that talented, and Kelly Bryant looks plenty good enough under center. If Clemson can survive this test against an Auburn defense that is likely one of the two best it will face all season, I can't imagine anything slowing it down the rest of the way.

An ACC Champion Clemson, even with a loss, that has a win over Auburn isn't missing the playoffs. If Clemson loses to a good Auburn team, I still think that it has the horses to run the table the rest of the way and therein lies Auburn's opportunity. Auburn's path to the CFP faces a huge Iron Bowl hurdle. The expectation is that the Tigers have to beat Alabama to win the SEC West and reach the playoff. But this Clemson matchup provides an alternate path for Gus Malzahn.

Should Auburn win against Clemson and run the table against the rest of the SEC prior to the Iron Bowl, it wouldn't even need to beat Alabama to make the playoff as long as Clemson handled its business the rest of the way. It would just need to keep the Iron Bowl close. The CFP Selection Committee would certainly take an SEC champion Alabama, it would take whoever made it out of the Big Ten, and just a reasonable amount of cannibalization in the Big 12 and Pac 12 would give Auburn the playoff nod over the ACC champion that it beat in Week 2.

That's a lot of projection to chew on, particularly for an Auburn team with LSU, Georgia and the rest of the SEC to survive. But beat Clemson and Auburn seems capable of running that gauntlet. In its simplest form, the projection is a statement on how good I think these two teams are. We're getting a playoff-caliber game in September and a sneak peek at a quarter of the last four that will be standing this winter.

2. Long-term consequences for FSU, Georgia injuries

When Florida State lost Francois to injury in Week 1, it may have lost its shot at a national title. When Jacob Eason went down with a knee injury in the first quarter against Appalachian State, Georgia fans may have seen the SEC East flash before their eyes. Both of those goals may in fact be in jeopardy for the Seminoles and Bulldogs, but unfortunately that may not be the end of the wreckage. As collateral damage, those injuries may have indirectly knocked Florida State and Georgia out of the driver's seat for the No. 1 player in the country for the Class of 2018.

I've said before that Justin Fields is a national championship quarterback. The senior at Harrison High School out of Kennesaw, Georgia, is good enough not just to win a national championship at any of the schools he's considering. He's good enough to be the reason why they win that championship. He's a pure thrower at quarterback, but he's 6-3, 225 pounds with 4.5 speed in the 40-yard dash. He can throw for 300 yards or rush for 200 yards -- or both -- in the same game.

Heading into the fall, Fields' presumed leaders have been Georgia and Florida State, but he's been very explicit in stating that he wanted to observe what happened on the field before making any decisions. At Florida State, a good season by redshirt sophomore Francois could have meant an early departure for the NFL and a clear runway for Fields to come in and win the starting job as a true freshman. At Georgia, it's a little more complicated. Were Jacob Eason to have a huge sophomore season positioning him for a three-and-out career, that would mean a redshirt season and a battle with Jake Fromm for the starting job in year two. For Fields, that appeared to be acceptable. But this weekend those projections got thrown out the window.

Suddenly, Francois is a virtual lock to return for his junior season in Tallahassee, Florida. Making things more complicated, true freshman James Blackman steps into the starting role and will have a full year to prove that he's capable as the heir to the position. At Georgia, Eason is out at least one more week, and Fromm looked very capable in relief against Appalachian State. Another impressive performance against a high-profile opponent in Notre Dame creates a much more convoluted path to the starting job.

Fields, for his part, seems to be at peace entering a quarterback competition but Georgia and Florida State could develop into some of the foggier opportunities available to him. Conversely, Auburn has remained in the mix and Jarrett Stidham is a one-and-done candidate and could offer him an immediate starting opportunity and a strong supporting cast. With Sam Darnold's NFL buzz, USC is compelling. The same can be said for LSU in Danny Etling's last year under center. Alabama remains a factor here, too.

Suddenly, the playing field looks level once again for Fields.

3. Come for the QBs, stay for the RBs

Heading into the college football season, USC's Sam Darnold was the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. After one week of action, Oklahoma State's Mason Rudolph may have put himself at the top of the Heisman power rankings. Both are likely first-round draft picks this spring. But turn on the film and don't be surprised if you come away more impressed with their sidekicks.

That's what happened to me over the weekend when I watched USC's game against Western Michigan and Oklahoma State's blowout win over Tulsa. Darnold -- despite an off day for him -- and Rudolph were great, but they are casting a shadow over running backs that may be the best in college football. Of all the college football I've watched over the last six days -- and I've watched a lot -- Oklahoma State's Justice Hill and USC's Ronald Jones II were the two best running backs I saw not named Saquon Barkley.

For Oklahoma State, during a 59-point output, Hill rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries. For USC, during a closer than expected win over Western Michigan, Jones rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. But it's not just the production that caught my eye. It's the burst, the physicality the ability to never get tackled by the first hat. Those two were going at a different speed than the other backs around the country.

Jones is a burner. In high school he ran a 10.37 in the 100 meters, and he's a rare longer-levered back at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds. Hill is 5-10, 185 pounds but plays with a physicality that gives him a much bigger presence. Only a sophomore, Hill is still on a steep trajectory with a year left to play before the temptation of the NFL, but Jones is likely gone after this season. I expect that Barkley and Derrius Guice are first-round locks in NFL Draft this spring at running back, but if Jones continues to run like he did on Saturday, he's going to work himself into that conversation as well.