In Week 2 of college football, we saw some teams significantly under-perform. Here are the three worst losses from the weekend.
This article is about losses. But for every loss, there is also a win. Let’s highlight a couple of teams that have had many losses recently, but finally won.
A long streak was broken this weekend in college football when Florida fell to Kentucky, 27-16 The 31-game streak of Florida beating the Wildcats ended in Gainesville. While this is definitely a bad look for Dan Mullen, how bad of a loss is hard to determine as both teams are still developing. It was, however, bad that the Gator’s lost a conference home game. Additionally, many questioned Florida being ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll in the first place.
In bigger news, Kansas traveled to Central Michigan to face the Chippewas. In Week 1, Central Michigan lost to Kentucky 35-20. However, Kentucky just beat Florida, so we can figure that Central Michigan can’t be that bad right? Well, the Kansas Jayhawks won 31-7. This was Kansas’ first road win since September of 2009, snapping a 46-game road losing streak.
It should also be noted that Kansas lost to Nicholls State, an FCS team, at home in Week 1. So beating Central Michigan in their own house 31-7 meant it was a complete beat down. Central Michigan blew an easy win against a team that many would suggest were the worst in the FBS.
Therefore, is Central Michigan now the worst team in college football? I would submit yes. However, I would also submit the worst team in the country can’t really have a “bad” loss. Here are three, more meaningful losses.
3. USC Offensive Struggles Continue
In Week 2, we witnessed a rematch of last year’s Pac-12 championship game between No. 17 USC and No. 10 Stanford. Where USC won the previous meeting, such was not the case this time. The Stanford Cardinal dominated the Trojans in a 17-3 win. Now you say, that doesn’t sound like a “dominating” win.
The Trojans inability to score more than three points was reflective of the Stanford defensive line’s harassment of JT Daniels. Daniels, the USC true freshman quarterback, turned over the ball three times. He threw two interceptions and fumbled once. The Trojan offensive line had no answer to the Cardinal rush and left Daniels to scramble outside of the pocket, over and over again.
The Cardinal defense also limited the USC rushing attack to 3.1 yards per carry. USC showed that they cannot protect their quarterback, nor run the football effectively. Stanford established themselves as the top team in the Pac-12 this weekend and planted a seed in the Trojans’ minds for the good chance they meet again in this year’s conference championship.
2. Doubts about the Memphis Tigers
After a blowout 66-14 win against Mercer in Week 1, the Memphis Tigers traveled to Annapolis, Maryland only to lose 22-21 against a questionable Navy team. Although some years Navy can be a 9-10 win team, this year is likely not one of them. Navy lost badly to Hawaii in week one, giving up 436 passing yards and six touchdowns, for a total of 59 points. Memphis, on the other hand, passed for 428 yards in and five touchdowns in their Week 1 game.
The Tigers were set to run up the score against an atrocious Midshipmen secondary. However, it was the Navy secondary, led by senior captain, Sean Williams, who came up biggest against Memphis.
Tigers quarterback, Brady White, went 15 for 25 on passing for only 145 yards and threw one interception. It is likely that Navy should not have lost their first game against Hawaii, but prior to this Week 2 match-up, Memphis was the favorite to win the AAC West. However now that Navy stole a win away from Memphis, the Midshipmen have a solid shot to win the West.
1. Leave it on the Grass
“Leave it on the grass” is what Coach Herm Edwards told his team before taking their home field against Michigan State. And well, they left the Spartans on the grass and came out victorious, 16-13. In a mostly defensive game, the Sun Devils were able to steal a win away from a struggling Michigan State team. In Week 1, Michigan State nearly lost to Utah State, 38-31.
The Spartans were leading 3-0 at halftime. By the end of the third quarter, Michigan State had a 10 point lead and appeared to be in complete control of the game. However, after a touchdown and last second 28-yard field goal kick by Brandon Ruiz, the Sun Devils had won their second home game of the season.
Herm Edwards is silencing critiques at the very same time Mark D’antonio is gaining them. Michigan State has plenty of time to save their season since this loss comes to a non-conference opponent. The likelihood their season will be saved is incredibly low, but the likelihood Mark D’antonio will be on the hot seat at the end of the season is much higher.