While only two days away from their next game, Coach Taylor still doesn't know who to start at quarterback, and Jason still doesn't know that his best friend is spending a lot of time with his girlfriend.

Coach Taylor asks Jason to attend the upcoming Homecoming game, who begins to suspect there's something going on between Tim and Lila. Smash feels the pressure of college scouts, even though he's still a junior. Tyra and Billy plan the ultimate party for after the game.

Jason confronts Lyla about her and Tim. Matt asks Coach Taylor's daughter is she would like to go out sometime leading Taylor and his wife to worry about her.

With a very intimidating opponent on the horizon, Coach Taylor deals with his former starting quarterback and his unfaithful girlfriend and his new starting quarterback dating his own daughter. Lyla and Tim face repercussions of their own actions, and Smash deals with having to go back to his old hometown for the big game and dealing with old feelings regarding his father, all the while facing the issues surrounding his secret steroid use, especially when his sister begins to notice the changes in him.

While everyone is focused on the cheerleaders, who have an upcoming competition, they focus on giving Lyla a hard time. Smash begins to show signs of steroid abuse, and Coach Taylor finds another way to occupy his starting quarterback in an effort to squash Matt's efforts with the coach's daughter.

The Panthers are preparing yet again for another game they can't afford to lose. Jason (Scott Porter) still finds it difficult to adjust to life at home, and the feelings he still has for Lyla (Minka Kelly) don't make it any easier. Meanwhile, at what couldn't seem like a better time, Matt's (Zach Gilford) dad comes home from Iraq, but the homecoming is not what Matt expected. To make situations even more complicated, UT has taken an interest in Coach Taylor, whose popularity continues to grow, and Smash becomes more and more dependent on unnatural substances to keep up with the competition. With all the drama off the field mounting, the players work even harder to get a victory.

Matt's dad decides to stay home instead of returning to Iraq, while Jason's parents level a lawsuit against the coach for negligence. Smash tries to get closer to a girl, but he keeps getting in the way, himself. The whole town awaits another game involving two other schools, with the results determining the Panthers' post-season hopes.

When Smash's mother finds his needle, she puts the coach in an uncomfortable position and Tammy gets a new job offer, which makes the coach even more uncomfortable. Matts father gets recalled to duty and Jason ponders his decision about his relationship with Lila and Tyra tries to help her mom get over her last woman-beating boyfriend.

When his wife throws him out of the house, Buddy Garrity turns to Coach Taylor and Lyla turns to Jason. Julie turns to her mother when an accident happens involving Tyra's mother, even though she knows she's not supposed to be hanging out with Tyra. And Waverly's father turns to Smash when he fears that she has taken a personal change without consulting her father.