Coach Taylor tries to foster community interest in the East Dillon Lions by staging a pep-rally while dealing with the increasing friction between Vince and Luke, his two star players. Tammy is still suffering the repercussions of making Luke Cafferty attend East Dillon. Riggins finds himself pageant dress shopping with his landlady's daughter and hunting with a trigger happy Matt Saracen. Meanwhile Julie accompanies Devin to a gay bar and runs into someone unexpected.

Just as the East Dillon Lions start to perform as a team, the town of Dillon is rocked with the news of the death of Matt's dad. Coach & Mrs Taylor and Julie all do their part to help Matt weather the storm. Landry & Riggins & the rest all rally to help as well but ultimately Matt must make peace with his dad on his own. Meanwhile Becky connects with Luke after he's been paint-balled by some of his former friends and the two finally...

Craziness comes to East Dillon when their scheduled football game against the undefeated McNulty team means that the game will be televised. Meanwhile Lyla remains in Dillon after the funeral and she and Tim reconnect. Julie goes AWOL to a music festival in Austin in hopes of cheering Matt up. Following their first kiss, Landry confesses to Jess that he may still not be completely over Tyra.

When East Dillon and the only other winless team in the district face off, locals term it the "Toilet Bowl." This conflicts with Coach's and Buddy's attempts to get play-by-play coverage from a local radio station. Meanwhile, Julie & Mrs. Taylor visit her old alma mater. Landry tries to convince Jess that he's completely over Tryra and that they should date. Vince's mom invites Jess to dinner with her and her son. Tim Riggins helps Luke get pain meds following an injury on the ranch without letting Coach Taylor know. Riggins also discovers that his brother Billy has been running a chop shop operation on the side to make extra money and when Tim's more legitimate attempts at landing a job fall through he considers joining him.

Luke Cafferty's mom raises a ruckus and wants Mrs. Taylor fired for her role in the aborting of her grandson. Landry and his folks invite Jess over for a rather awkward dinner. Julie reacts badly when Matt finally calls her to say he misses her. Luke becomes more and more dependent on pain pills and continues to hide his injury from everyone until it results in a crisis. Vince gets in deeper with the neighborhood thugs after borrowing money from them to get his mom into rehab. Mrs. Sproles comes onto Tim after a celebratory dinner then reacts badly when she finds him in a questionable situation with her daughter.

The final game of the regular season has the East Dillon Lions slated to host the Dillon Panthers in what is sure to be the mother of all cross town rivalries. When the Panther boosters question the fitness of the East Dillon field it quickly escalates from toothpick pranks to torn up turf. Meanwhile the pro-life witch-hunt to get Tammy terminated for counseling the pregnant Becky escalates. Adding to the chaos, Mindy goes into labor, Billy goes on a caffeine bender, and soon after the boy is born, Uncle Tim gets arrested when the cops bust the chop shop. Meanwhile Vince is reeling from the shooting death of his childhood friend and the gang that he's been running with want him in on getting vengeance.

Jess confides to Landry that she has feelings for Vince. Thanksgiving arrives, the day before the big game finds the Taylors playing host to an extended family dinner. The Riggins are there including the newest Riggins. Matt's back from Chicago. Buddy is bringing his own turkey to deep fry. Then on Friday, The lions meet the Panthers on the Panther's home field but they're a tougher team than anticipated. It all comes down to Landry can he make a 45 yard field goal and win the game?