Week 2 of the college football season is officially in the books and it’s hard to believe that the meat of non-conference play is winding down.
But Week 2 did not disappoint.
The slate was riddled with great matchups in every single time slot. Even the non-AP Top 25 matchup on Friday night between Illinois and Kansas was a fun one. The Jayhawks built a huge lead and the Illini battled back, but a late pick sealed the win for Lance Leipold and Co. If they’re not careful, the Jayhawks may sneak into the AP Top 25 soon.
On Saturday at noon, Colorado and Nebraska took center stage and the Buffaloes rolled after a slow start. Notre Dame went into Raleigh and beat a tough NC State team, and Utah escaped disaster at Baylor.
The day only got more exciting as Ole Miss went on the road to beat Tulane in impressive fashion, Miami pulled off a home upset of Texas A&M, and Iowa went into hostile territory and picked up a huge win over Iowa State after struggling in the opener — still no offense, though.
Finally, the day was capped off with a massive upset as Texas went into Alabama and shocked the No. 3 Crimson Tide.
What will the AP Top 25 look like after Week 2?
The Hawkeyes were ranked to start the season but slid out to make room for Duke and Colorado. Plus, the Hawkeyes didn’t look all that impressive against Utah State at home and the offense was stagnant still. The offense wasn’t a ton better against Iowa State this week, but this was a nice rivalry win, nonetheless. Iowa will jump back in.
Through the first half, I was ready to declare Clemson “done” for the season. The Tigers were only up 24-17 and Charleston Southern had all the momentum, but whatever Dabo Swinney said in the locker room at halftime worked and Clemson scored the last 42 points of the game to win 66-17. They have to do something about these slow starts.
Did I think I’d be putting Miami in the AP Top 25 projections this early in the season? No, but Mario Cristobal and Co. continue to prove me wrong. They just handled a very talented Texas A&M team and did what they haven’t been able to over the past few years: seal the deal. Impressive win for the Hurricanes.
I’ve officially become a believer in Washington State. Cam Ward is one of the best quarterbacks in the country and he just led the Cougars over No. 19 Wisconsin in upset fashion. I believe that most voters will have the Cougars in the AP Top 25 after this one.
Duke followed up a nice season-opening upset win over No. 9 Clemson with a blowout win over Lafayette. The Blue Devils pretty much just rolled right through Lafayette on the way to a 42-7 win with ease. Can’t take much from this but it feels like the Blue Devils are legit.
Every single college football fan seems to be slowly jumping onto the Colorado bandwagon, and how couldn’t you? The Buffaloes overcame a slow start and accelerated right through Nebraska, 36-14. Shedeur Sanders needs to be in the Heisman conversation after tossing for 393 yards and four more scores. The hype train rolls along.
Ugly wins seemed to be the theme on Saturday as Oklahoma beat SMU but it just felt gross. Oklahoma held a 14-11 lead in the fourth and two later touchdowns put this one away. Nothing about this win felt satisfying and Sooner fans are trying to figure out why this one was so close.
It took overtime for North Carolina to escape an upset loss to Appalachian State on Saturday and the Tar Heels were scary close to dropping completely out of the rankings after this. Could I see the Tar Heels dropping? Yes, but I think App State is better than people give them credit for.
Am I impressed with Ole Miss? Absolutely. The Rebels went on the road and ran away with a win over the No. 24 team in the country and arguably the Group of Five’s best team. The Green Wave put up a fight, but Ole Miss scored 27 of the final 30 points to beat Tulane and Jaxson Dart looked really solid again.
Folks, DJ Uiagalelei has found a new home and he looks good in Oregon State orange. The former Clemson quarterback impressed yet again as the Beavers were up 35-0 in the blink of an eye before cruising to an easy win over UC Davis. Just another solid week for this team.
It looked like Troy was going to be a thorn in Kansas State’s side all game long, but the Wildcats turned things up in the second half and ran away with a 42-13 win. Once again, Kansas State is looking like a Big 12 title threat as Chris Klieman’s squad may be even better than last year’s.
LSU wasn’t exactly tested this week after losing the opener against Florida State. The Tigers hosted Grambling and had their way with the (fellow) Tigers. After a slow start, LSU led 35-10 at halftime and never looked back. It was nice to see the run game step up, too.
Oregon had a bit of a scare in Week 2, holding on to beat a solid Texas Tech team on the road. The Red Raiders lost their first game in upset fashion but nearly pulled off one of their own. The Ducks ended up coming from behind to win 38-30 thanks to a late interception to seal the deal. Dan Lanning can win close ones.
It wasn’t pretty, but Utah went on the road to beat a Baylor team that was coming off a season-opening loss to Texas State at home. The Utes were without Cam Rising again and if you told me that they’d start the season 2-0 without their starting quarterback with wins over Florida and Baylor on the road, I’d be convinced that this is a top-10 team.
I’m honestly still in shock that a Nick Saban-coached Alabama team just lost at home to Steve Sarkisian. The Crimson Tide didn’t stand a chance in the second half as Quinn Ewers and the Longhorns seemed to come up on the right side of everything. The Longhorns went on the road and closed against Saban. I can’t believe it. Alabama will drop a healthy amount.
Talk about an ugly win. I can bet you that Tennessee fans were not happy with the Volunteers’ performance on Saturday night against 0-1 Austin Peay. Winning 30-13 isn’t the worst thing in the world, but I think fans are more upset with the fact that Tennessee only scored three touchdowns. Very unlike a Josh Heupel team.
Joe Milton wasn’t bad, by any means, completing 21-of-33 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a rushing score.
It was the defense that really disappointed in Knoxville. The Volunteers gave up 260 passing yards and their inability to slow the Austin Peay aerial attack led to this one being way closer than it should have been.
Did Tennessee look like a top-10 team this week? No, but there’s just no way voters drop the Volunteers a couple of spots for winning by 17.
Crazier things have happened.
Tennessee needs to clean things up before heading to Florida next weekend.
I’ll be honest, a small part of me expected Notre Dame to struggle a bit at NC State in Week 2. The Irish were fresh off two straight wins over inferior opponents and they hadn’t been tested through two weeks. Usually that’s a recipe for disaster.
Not on Saturday.
Notre Dame built a 17-7 lead early on and then cruised to a 45-24 win after fending off a comeback attempt by NC State in the second half. Notre Dame was up 24-17 and turned the ball over, but an NC State missed field goal led to 21 straight Irish points and a blowout.
Sam Hartman had another really solid game for the Irish, passing for 286 yards and four touchdowns on 11.9 yards per attempt. He should be squarely in the Heisman Trophy conversation after this one if he’s not already. He looks the part of one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
And how about Audric Estime? He continues to impress despite being severely underrated. He had 134 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
Another game, another Michael Penix Jr. 400-yard performance. That now makes it two of them to start the season.
Through two games, Penix Jr. has over 850 passing yards and the Huskies rolled right by Tulsa on Saturday, 43-10. The game was pretty much over in the first quarter as the Huskies put 14 quick points on the board and then were up 36-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
Those who believed that Washington was somehow going to take a step back this season were sadly mistaken. The offense seems just as explosive as it was a year ago.
The only knock I have on this team is the fact that they just don’t run the ball very much. They had 22 rushes for just over 100 yards. That’s not going to cut it against the big boys in the Pac-12.
Washington continues to look like a legitimate playoff contender and it’ll be tested on the road against Michigan State next week.
Penn State played one of the worst teams of any Power Five team in Week 2 and the Nittany Lions flat-out dominated Delaware.
Drew Allar followed up a solid first performance against West Virginia with another near-perfect game against Delaware. He finished the game 22-for-26 with 204 yards and a touchdown and it didn’t really matter how much he did as the Nittany Lions dominated for 60 minutes en route to a 63-7 win and the defense only allowed 160 total yards.
People seem to be buying a ton of stock in Penn State this season, and for good reason. The offense is putting up numbers and the run game led the way with 315 yards and six touchdowns. The defense also looks to be elite and I wouldn’t be shocked if Penn State is the last Big Ten team standing this season.
For now, Penn State will be the third-highest-ranked Big Ten team after a dominant win behind Michigan and Ohio State.
No surprise here, USC is likely going to take care of Stanford at home on Saturday night to close out the weekend for AP Top 25 teams.
The Trojans are one of the best teams in the country and I truly think that they’re the best chance for the Pac-12 to make the playoff, especially if Caleb Williams continues to dominate like he has.
The Pac-12 is very top-heavy this season but I can see the Trojans pulling off the conference title and heading to the playoff. This team just continues to dominate and I don’t see that stopping any time soon.
Has Ohio State been overly impressive this season? Not exactly, but that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes aren’t a top-10 team. They’ll likely stay in the top five even after a sleepy win over Youngstown State in Week 2.
Kyle McCord did look a lot better in this one and was taken out rather early for Devin Brown and the offense definitely stalled out in the second half. McCord finished with 258 yards and three touchdowns on 14-of-20 completions and he finally got on the same page with Marvin Harrison Jr. who had seven catches for 160 yards and two scores.
If McCord can use this as a confidence-booster, he’ll be the answer for this offense and you can tell that he just had a better feel for the game against the Penguins.
And it was good to see Harrison Jr. play well after a tough Week 1.
Through eight quarters, Ohio State has only allowed 10 points which is a good sign moving forward, but it’d be nice to see the Buckeyes dominate teams like Youngstown State. This win just wasn’t satisfying.
Did I expect Texas to go into Tuscaloosa and run away with a win over Alabama? Absolutely not, but I think we may not be giving Steve Sarkisian enough credit for being a solid coach and having a roster that can clearly compete at the highest level.
Nick Saban just doesn’t lose at home. Texas dominated.
Quinn Ewers showcased his legit star potential, passing for 349 yards and three touchdowns against one of the best defenses in the country heading into the season. He looked like he grew up before our very eyes and took down Saban and the Tide.
I think we’re going to see Texas given the Florida State treatment this week, jumping into the top five after beating a top-five team. We may even see the Longhorns pass the Seminoles because, in my opinion, this win was more impressive than Florida State’s on a neutral field.
When was the last time a team went into Tuscaloosa and looked this good against a Saban-coached team?
Yeah, Texas may just be a serious national title threat.
After Alabama fell at home to Texas, we’re going to see Florida State move up a spot. I did mention that I think there’s a chance that the Longhorns jump the Seminoles, but I don’t think voters will be that aggressive here.
The Seminoles took care of business against an inferior foe as Southern Miss came to town. Consider this a bit of a tune-up before ACC play starts in a couple of weeks.
Although Jordan Travis wasn’t the most accurate on Saturday against the Golden Eagles, he still looked like a Heisman candidate and didn’t make many mistakes. It’s not like he needs to prove anything after beating LSU.
Oh, and Keon Coleman is still really, really good.
Through two games, Michigan has looked like the Big Ten title favorite like everyone expected. The Wolverines dominated UNLV en route to their second blowout win of the season and while they haven’t been covering the spread with regularity, it seems like they’re playing conservatively.
Although they weren’t exactly running hurry-up to run up the score on UNLV, JJ McCarthy still had a great game and he’s starting to build a nice Heisman resume through two cakewalk games. He finished with 278 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-25 completions.
Blake Corum had a nice game as well, rushing for 80 yards and three touchdowns to follow up a modest opening game.
Michigan is just taking care of business with Jim Harbaugh still away from the team on Saturdays.
The Wolverines are going to stay at No. 2 this week after dominating UNLV and improving to 2-0. We still don’t know a ton about this team through two weeks.
Fans were clamoring for a quarterback change after yet another slow start, but a punt return touchdown seemed to have ignited Georgia as the Bulldogs cruised to a big win over Ball State.
While Beck wasn’t looking great early on against an 0-1 team from the MAC, he rebounded to have a solid first half with over 150 yards and a touchdown. He still hasn’t won many fans over and he’s going to need to step it up if Georgia is going to keep this No. 1 spot all season long, but he’s done just enough to blow out two teams now.
The offense as a whole just doesn’t feel like the same old Georgia offense that helped engineer back-to-back national titles, but a lot of that has to do with going from a veteran quarterback to a first-year starter.
Fortunately, the defense has been unreal through two weeks and that’s going to have to be the calling card again this year.