The college football season is in full swing with memorable games and critical players already being showcased. Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from week 2:
Week 2 Winners
- LSU/Texas. The much-anticipated top-10 battle did not disappoint as Sam Ehlinger and Joe Burrow combined for nearly 900 yards through the air combined. Texas proved they are a legit Big 12 championship contender while LSU QB Joe Burrow dazzled us all with an unprecedented (for LSU) air attack.
- Kansas State. You may not have noticed because they’ve played awful teams, but Chris Klieman’s Wildcats have obliterated their first two opponents (Nicholls State and Bowling Green) by a combined 101-14. We will find out a lot more about this KSU team when they go to Starkville next week but things are definitely looking up in Manhattan.
- Clemson. This was not an overly exciting contest in Death Valley, but Clemson quietly took care of its business against a very good Texas A&M team that nearly beat them in College Station a year ago. Clemson’s defense suffocated Kellen Mond and the Aggie offense all day long in route to an easy victory. The Tigers have all but taken Alabama’s valued place atop the college football landscape at this point.
- USC. A week after losing their quarterback for the year and narrowly escaping Fresno State at home, the Trojans bounced back in week 2 with a dominant win over ranked Stanford. The Clay Helton hot seat watch is going to go on all season but, perhaps, the Trojans are trending back towards the right direction.
- North Carolina. It’s a dream-like start to the season for Mack Brown as his Tar Heels knocked off cross-state rival South Carolina a week ago followed by conference foe Miami on Saturday. This was supposed to be a long rebuild for Brown but North Carolina looks to be on the fast track to respectability.
Week 2 Losers
- Tennessee. The Vols absolutely HAD to bounce back after losing at home to Georgia State last week. Unfortunately for them, BYU completed a 64 yard pass with 5 seconds to go to get the field goal necessary to force overtime and eventually won the game 23-16. This is beyond unacceptable for a program with the history and tradition like Tennessee and it’s hard to imagine things getting a whole lot better for Jeremy Pruitt’s team this season.
- Nebraska. Not that there’s any shame in losing on the road against an ok Colorado team, but Nebraska were media darlings heading in to 2019. Scott Frost was appointed as the next Tom Osborne and the Huskers were back. All of a sudden the Huskers are still just another team and their coach is 5-9 overall. Not to mention the fact that this EXACT same thing happened against the Buffaloes a year ago in Lincoln.
- Florida State. Who knows what’s going on down in Tallahassee but fan apathy has set in (as evidenced by the week 2 attendance against Louisiana-Monroe). The Seminoles held on to win 45-44 thanks to a missed extra point but the program is as down as its been in decades under Willie Taggart.
- Kansas. I get it, if a tree falls down in a forest and no one hears it…Ok you know that cliche so why bring up another embarrassing loss by the worst program in all of Power 5? Well they hired a coach that everyone knew the name of in Les Miles and expected that would magically make them good at football and, shockingly, it has not. The Jayhawks fell to Coastal Carolina 12-7 and we are all thankful that the game was nearly impossible to find on television/streaming.
- Arkansas. The Razorbacks lost at Ole Miss 31-17 in one of the only conference games they will have a chance of winning. With the way the schedule plays out, Arkansas should be able to get to 3 or 4 wins but any thought of a bowl game is likely out the window.
