What We Learned in NCAA Football Week 2: All Calm Heading into Conference Season

There are still 30 teams from the Power-5 conference that are undefeated heading into Week 4 with Colorado the only winless squad out of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC.

According to the college football odds, SEC rivals Alabama and Georgia lead the way at +175 in the odds to win the national championship.

It was a pretty quiet week for those who bet online and were calling for upsets but that could change in the coming weeks.

Bulldogs Still the One

Georgia jumped Alabama to take the top spot in The Associated Press poll after the Crimson Tide struggled to beat Texas.

Don’t look for Georgia to drop out of the No. 1 ranking after an emphatic 48-7 win at South Carolina in the SEC opener for the Bulldogs.

Even after seeing five players selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Georgia defense was 53 seconds away from a second consecutive shutout.

Georgia has allowed 10 points in the first three games of the season.

Tight end Brock Bowers led the offense with 121 yards on five catches, including touchdown catches of 6 and 78 yards. He also had a TD run.

.@brockbowers17 WITH A 78 YARD HAT TRICK 🎩🎩🎩#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/1vHvcBK8Dm

— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) September 17, 2022

Pac-12 Front-Runners Pack a Punch

The Pac-12 doesn’t get the love that the SEC and Big Ten does on the national scene. Is that about to change?

Oregon had no trouble with a Brigham Young team that has given many Power-5 conference teams fits in recent years, Utah rolled past Mountain West power San Diego State, USC had an easy time against Fresno State and perhaps in the biggest surprise of all, Washington sent No. 11 Michigan State home on the wrong end of a 39-28 score.

The weekend almost got better for the conference as California was winning by three points at Notre Dame heading into the fourth quarter before falling 24-17.

Transfer quarterbacks played a role in these wins.

Washington’s Michael Penix threw for 397 yards and four touchdowns, Oregon’s Bo Nix ran for three scores and passes for two others while Caleb Williams of USC had two TD passes and two scoring runs.

New Playmakers Emerge for Buckeyes

Coming into the season, running back TreVeyon Henderson and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba were expected to join quarterback C.J. Stroud as the top offensive playmakers at Ohio State.

In Saturday’s win over Toledo, Henderson left early with what was reported as a leg injury. Henderson did score a touchdown on one of his four carries but in his place freshman, Dallan Hayden ran 17 times for 108 yards and a touchdown while junior Miyan Williams added 77 yards on 10 attempts.

Smith-Njigba, who is coming off an 80-catch season, has four catches in his first two games of 2022. He finished with 33 yards on two receptions.

With Stroud throwing for 367 yards and five touchdowns, most of the action went the way  of sophomores Emeka Egbuka (seven catches, 116 yards), Jayden Ballard (six catches, 127 yards), and Marvin Harrison Jr. (six catches, 102 yards, two touchdowns).

Rock, Chalk Jayhawks

Maybe it is time to start believing in the Kansas Jayhawks.

Jalon Daniels threw for five touchdowns and ran for two others in a 48-30 win at Houston. Daniels hasn’t been asked to throw the ball around in the first three games of the season with just over 400 yards in the first three games. However, he is completing 70% of his passes with four TD throws and one interception as Kansas is 3-0 with wins over Tennessee Tech and West Virginia.

The college football picks had Kansas as underdogs in each of the last two games. The Jayhawks defeated West Virginia as a 14-point underdog while Houston was favored by 8½ points on Saturday.

Coaching Change Doesn’t Help Huskers

The Oklahoma-Nebraska football rivalry used to be something that fans from coast to coast anxiously awaited.

The events on Saturday served as a reminder that not everything lasts forever.

Any thoughts that the decision by Nebraska to fire head coach Scott Frost would inspire the Huskers to throw a scare into Oklahoma lasted about a quarter.

Trey Palmer’s TD catch gave host Nebraska the early lead and it was just a seven-point game after one quarter. Oklahoma outscored the Huskers 35-0 in the second and third quarters in the 49-14 win.

The college football lines had Nebraska as a 10½-point underdog at home and the Huskers came nowhere close to covering in this one.

An ‘F’ for the Schedule-Makers

Ohio State wasn’t the only top team that barely needed to break a sweat against a non-Power-5 conference team on Saturday.

Whether it was second-ranked Alabama rolling past Louisiana-Monroe, No. 4 Michigan beating UConn 59-0, eighth-ranked Oklahoma State cruising by Arkansas-Pine Bluff 63-7 or No. 9 Kentucky blanking Youngstown State 31-0, the officials who signed off on these games are letting down the college football fans.

Obviously, the elite programs might struggle to find quality non-conference opponents early in the season. However, there isn’t much to be gained for either side in these games with the exception of the large amount of money going to teams willing to get crushed by top-10 teams.

Power Outages for Tigers, Yellow Jackets

While Auburn and Georgia Tech might play in Power-5 conferences, they looked like mid-major programs on Saturday.

Auburn allowed 245 rushing yards to visiting Penn State as the 22th-ranked Nittany Lions ran to a 41-12 victory that should send them soaring up the rankings.

The loss didn’t help with the job security of Auburn coach Bryan Harsin as the Tigers allowed 24 straight points en route to the humbling home loss.

At least Auburn found the end zone. Georgia Tech wasn’t as fortunate as the Yellow Jackets fell 42-0 to visiting and 20th-ranked Ole Miss.

Ole Miss ran for 316 yards and had nearly 550 yards of total offense.

Petrino’s Return to Arkansas was Rather Eventful

Bobby Petrino had a 34-17 record in four seasons as the head coach at Arkansas and that included a 12-4 mark in SEC play over his last two seasons before being fired for his actions off the field.

Petrino brought his Missouri State team to Fayetteville and led the 10th-ranked Razorbacks 17-0 early in the game before Arkansas rallied for the 38-27 win.

Junior linebacker Drew Sanders finished with 2½ sacks while Raheim Sanders had 242 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.

Costly Win for the Seminoles

The good news is that Florida State improved to 3-0 with a 35-31 win over Louisville on Friday night. The bad news is that quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a lower-body injury during the game.

Travis was 13 of 17 for 157 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game. Tate Rodemaker came off the bench to throw two TD passes in the fourth quarter as the Seminoles rallied for the 35-31 win over Louisville.

Defensive end Jared Verse was also knocked out of the game in the second quarter.

Gaudy Stats Aren’t Always Enough

Four players with at least 180 receiving yards on Saturday ended up putting up those impressive numbers in losing efforts.

Georgia State’s Jamari Thrash had 213 yards on 10 catches in a 42-41 loss to visiting Charlotte. SMU’s Rachee Rice finished with 193 yards on his 11 receptions in the Mustangs’ 34-27 loss to Maryland. Charlie Jones of Purdue had 11 grabs for 188 yards in a 32-29 defeat to Syracuse while UTEP fell to New Mexico 27-10 despite eight catches for 183 yards by Tyrin Smith.