What We Learned in NCAA Football Week 2: It’s Open Season on Top 10 Teams
Time to take a deep breath and try to take everything that transpired over the weekend.
While there were some surprises in Week 1 of the college football season, Week 2 saw stunning developments in pretty much every conference.
Seven ranked teams fell on Saturday including three in the top 10. Top-ranked Alabama almost joined the list of favored teams taking a tumble. Alabama is now tied with defending national champion Georgia for the best odds to win the national championship.
This could be just the start of an unpredictable season and one that could be tough to figure out for those who bet online
While limiting the weekend’s festivities to just 10 items is a bit on the challenging side but here we go.
There was a game on Saturday that led to big news on Sunday. Georgia Southern stunned Nebraska, 45-42, in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers’ loss led to the demise of the Scott Frost era at Nebraska as he was fired after a dismal 16-31 run.
Lack of the Irish
For the second year in a row, Notre Dame lost to a non-Power-5 team. However, the 2021 loss to a Cincinnati team loaded with NFL prospects wasn’t quite as stunning as what took place in South Bend on Saturday.
It was expected to be yet another routine Saturday playing in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus as Notre Dame was facing a Marshall team that allowed 89 points in the final two games of the 2021 season and seeing its quarterback Grant Wells transfer to Virginia Tech while leading rusher Rasheen Ali has taken a leave of absence.
Three Notre Dame turnovers, including Steven Gilmore’s interception return for a touchdown, proved to be too much to overcome in a 26-21.
Since the start of the 2019 season, Notre Dame was 10-0 when the college football betting lines listed the Fighting Irish as a 20-point favorite. That streak ended as Khalan Laborn ran for 163 yards and Marshall scored 14 points in 41 seconds in the fourth quarter.
Appalachian State Is at it Again
When the subject of college football upsets comes up, it usually doesn’t take much time for Appalachian State’s 34-32 win at No. 5 Michigan in 2007 to get mentioned. Now, 15 years later, a different group of Aggies stunned the college football world again.
A week after narrowly missing an upset against North Carolina, the Mountaineers made the trip to College Station and took down sixth-ranked Texas A&M.
The Appalachian State defense held Texas A&M to 186 yards of total offense in the 17-14 victory.
Since making the move to the Football Bowl Subdivision level, the Mountaineers were 0-7 against ranked teams before Saturday’s stunner.
Texas A&M missed a potential game-tying field goal with 3:43 left to play. Camerun Peoples converted on 3rd-and-1 and ripped off a 48-run on the next play as the Mountaineers were able to run out the clock.
Young with Early Heisman Moment
No. 1 Alabama was on the verge of suffering a loss to an unranked team as well as one coached by a former Alabama assistant coach for the second year in a row.
Texas, only 25 points shy of breaking into the top 25 in the Associated Press poll, led by two points thanks to a clutch 49-yard field goal by Bert Auburn.
The blood pressure and excitement level of headline writers were starting to rise at the thought that a kicker named Auburn was the one providing the game-winning points against the Crimson Tide.
However, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner completed four straight passes and then somehow eluded a sack and turned it into a 20-yard run to set up Will Reichard’s field goal with 10 seconds to play.
Built Differently 😤@_bryce_young @Jahmyr_Gibbs1 #RollTide pic.twitter.com/x9RQ9HS6Lk
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) September 11, 2022
Even though the Longhorns’ starting quarterback Quinn Ewers was knocked out of the game, this was as close in the statistical breakdown as it was on the scoreboard.
Cougars Working Overtime
The results were much different but a pair of nationally ranked Cougars’ squads weren’t able to settle things in four quarters.
In one of the two games featuring a pair of ranked teams, Brigham Young defeated reigning Big 12 champion Baylor 26-20 in double overtime.
A pair of false starts on the final drive doomed visiting and ninth-ranked Baylor with a fourth-down incompletion ending a mistake-prone game.
No. 21 BYU, which will be joining the Big 12 in 2023, outgained Baylor 366-289 despite going 3 for 14 on third downs.
No. 25 Houston barely escaped in its season opener but was not as fortunate in Week 2.
The Cougars failed to score on plays from the 10-, 5- and 3-yard line in the second overtime and had to settle for a short field goal. Texas Tech won the game on Donovan Smith’s nine-yard scoring run as the Red Raiders defeated Houston for the fifth straight time.
Chip off the Old Block
Marvin Harrison had some pretty unforgettable days during his time with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
His son Marvin Harrison Jr. had a performance in Ohio State’s 45-12 win over Arkansas State that was reminiscent of his famous father.
Harrison had 184 yards on seven catches with three touchdowns as he almost matched his career total for receiving yards in the victory.
Wildcats Win a Big One in Gainesville
The anticipated quarterback showdown in the Kentucky-Florida game did not live up to the hype.
Kentucky’s Will Levis threw for just 202 yards with a touchdown pass and interception while Florida’s Will Richardson was held to 143 passing, four yards rushing and he had two costly interceptions. One of them was returned by Keidron Smith 65 yards to break a 16-16 tie with 3:25 left. The 20th-ranked Wildcats would win 26-16 over No. 12 Florida.
It was the second win in the last three trips to the “Swamp” by Kentucky after losing its previous 10 road games in the series by an average of 24.5 points.
Volunteers Make Things Interesting
Tennessee didn’t take the easy way out as losing two fumbles and allowing a blocked punt forced the 24th-ranked Volunteers to need overtime to outlast No. 17 Pittsburgh 24-17.
The Volunteers overcame a pair of early 10-point deficits behind the play of receiver Cedric Tillman (nine catches, 162 yards) and linebacker Aaron Beasley’s 14 tackles.
Homecoming to Remember for Washington State’s Watson
Nakia Watson left Wisconsin looking for an opportunity to be a difference maker. He was just that in his return to Camp Randall Stadium.
Watson scored on a 2-yard run and 31-yard catch and run to lead unranked Washington State to the 17-14 shocker against No. 19 Wisconsin.
“Normally, I’m not a person who cries,” Watson told the media after the game. “But I cried a little bit, I am not going to lie.”
Sam Lockett’s fumble recovery with 5:14 left iced the game for the Cougars and it was the last of the six turnovers in the game.
Wisconsin outgained Washington State 401-253 but struggled to finish drives in the game.
Trojans Live Up to the Hype
Seven Pac-12 teams had better conference records than Southern California a season ago. However, the college football predictions have the Trojans as the team to beat in the Pac-12 thanks in large part to former Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley bringing in the top-rated class of transfers.
It is one thing to have the talent to work with but it is a little different to turn that into results on Saturdays.
USC took a major step in that direction as former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams, former Oregon running back Travis Dye and former Pittsburgh All-American receiver Jordan Addison played starring roles in a 41-28 win at Stanford.
None of them were on the team when the Trojans were upset by the Cardinal a season ago. Williams threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns. Addison (seven catches, 172 yards) had two of the TD grabs while Dye finished with 105 yards and a TD.
Air Force Rushes Past the Buffaloes
It is not a normal occurrence for the college football odds to list a Mountain West team as a favorite by more than two touchdowns against a Pac-12 squad. However, Air Force had no problems covering with a 41-10 taming of the Buffaloes.
The nation’s leading rushing team rumbled for 435 yards in the victory. Air Force only completed one pass in the win while the defense held Colorado to 111 yards.
