College Football: Week 2 Results

Week 2 has ended with five of the ranked teams losing to either lower ranked teams or to unranked teams. That in itself will result in quite a bit of movement in the polls when they come out early this week. There were upsets, blowouts, close games, serious injuries, and some outstanding performances. In other words, a typical college football weekend.

On a side note: My Rutgers Scarlet Knights beat up on Norfolk State (an FCS school) 38-0. Some advice for the Norfolk State AD: Stop scheduling Rutgers. Since 2006 they have played three games and Norfolk State has not scored once. RU has won 55-0, 35-0 and now 38-0. As they (RU) enter the Big Ten next year, they (RU) may have to look for a bit tougher opponent.

The numbers on the left are the rankings in the Associated Press Poll and the Coaches’ Poll. (CBSSports does a preseason poll but then waits a few weeks to weigh in on a regular basis—or at least they did last year.) NR means the team is “Not Ranked” in that particular poll. The team’s current record is in parentheses following their name.

1/1 Alabama (1-0) The Crimson Tide had this weekend off.

2/3 Oregon (2-0) The Ducks routed the Virginia Cavaliers (1-1) 59-10. Marcus Mariota scored on a 71-yard run and threw for two more. De’Anthony Thomas ran for three TDs (40, 1 and 8 yards) and Thomas Tyner ran for two more (3 and 31 yards) as the Ducks rushed for 350 yards and rolled up 557 yards of net offense.

3/2 Ohio State (2-0) The Buckeyes trounced the San Diego State Aztecs (0-2) 42-7. Ohio State’s Braxton Miller left the game in the first quarter with a sprained knee but it hardly mattered.  Kenny Guiton came on in relief and tossed two TD passes to Corey Brown and ran for a third from 44 yards out. It was 42-0 before San Diego State go on the scoreboard.

4/5 Clemson (2-0) The Tigers had their way with the South Carolina State Bulldogs (0-2), an FCS school, 52-13. This despite a rather pedestrian day by Tajh Boyd, Boyd was 14 of 23 for 169 yards and no TDs. He did rush for one score, however. Still, it was his replacement, Cole Stoudt who completed 19 of 20 for 143 yards and three TDs as Clemson gained 512 yards net offense to SDST’s 241. Clemson defense forced three turnovers and held SDST to just 86 yards rushing.

5/4 Stanford (1-0) The Cardinal started their season by beating the San Jose State Spartans (1-1) 34-13. Tyler Gaffney rushed for 104 yards and scored twice for the Cardinal who ran—yes, RAN—for 197 yards while passing for 207 and rolling up 25 first downs. They never punted in the game.

6/6 South Carolina (1-1) The Gamecocks lost to #11 Georgia Bulldogs (1-1) on the road, 41-30. The first half was close—the two were tied at the half at 24 all—but the second half belonged to the Bulldogs. Aaron Murray completed 17 of 23 pass attempts for 309 yards and four TDs for Georgia. Mike Davis rushed 16 times for 149 yards and a TD while Connor Shaw was 16 of 25 for 228 yards and two TDs—both to Nick Jones—for the Gamecocks.

7/7 Texas A&M (2-0) The Aggies trounced the FCS Sam Houston State Bearkats (1-1) 65-28. Johnny Manziel played about three quarters—during which A&M did all its scoring. He completed 29 of 42 passes for 426 yards and three TDs. He also ran for one TD. The Aggies had 38 (!) first downs to the Bearkats 14 and gained 714 net yards. Tim Flanders rushed 19 times for 170 yards and two TDs for the Bearkats who gained 240 yards on the ground and 390 net yards. A&M defense needs to get better—quickly. They play #1 Alabama next week.

8/8 Louisville (2-0) The Cardinals beat up on the FCS Eastern Kentucky Colonels (1-1) 44-7. Teddy Bridgewater was 23 of 32 for 397 yards and four TDs. It could have been worse. The Cardinals defense set up the offense with short fields several times and Louisville settled for field goals. The Cardinals’ defense held the Colonels to just 107 yards rushing and 99 yards passing. They had 11 tackles for losses of 99 yards.

9/11 LSU (2-0) The Tigers drubbed the UAB Blazers (0-2) 56-17. Zach Mettenberger tossed 5 TD passes on just 16 completions (out of 19 attempts—that’s 5 TDs to 3 incompletions) for 282 yards. Odell Beckham had three of those TD catches and also returned a missed field goal 100 yards for a TD. Jarvis Landry caught the other two.

10/10 Florida State (1-0) The Seminoles had this weekend off.

11/12 Georgia (1-1) The Bulldogs beat the #6 South Carolina Gamecocks (1-1) 41-30. See above for more.

12/9 Florida (1-1) The Gators lost to the Hurricane of Miami (2-0) 21-16. Florida had 22 first downs to Miami’s 10, gained 413 yards net offense to Miami’s 212 yards, punted just four times to Miami’s nine, held the ball for 38:20 to Miami’s 21:40 but the ‘Canes forced five turnovers—two INTs and three fumbles lost—as they stifled the Gators’ offense throughout the game. Florida’s only TD came after a blocked punt resulted in a drive starting in the red zone. A very bad day for the Gators and it came at home.

13/14 Oklahoma State (2-0) The Cowboys trounced the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners (1-1) 56-35. The Roadrunners scored 28 points in the fourth quarter but they were losing 42-7 at the time. The Cowboys’ J.W. Walsh completed 24 of 27 passes for 326 yards and four TDs (he also ran for a TD) before leaving the game after three periods for Clint Chelf—who went 11 of 16 for 192 yards and two TDs. That’s 518 passing yards for OK State. The Roadrunners’ Eric Soza tossed three TD passes while completing 24 of 41 for 308 yards but also threw two INTs as the Roadrunners had 369 yards passing, too. The ball hardly touched the ground!

14/13 Notre Dame (1-1) The Irish dropped one on the road to the #17 Michigan Wolverines (2-0) 42-30. Michigan got off to an early lead but the Notre Dame would not cede the game as they kept crawling back to striking distance. But they never managed to gain the upper hand. Devin Gardner completed 21 of 33 for 294 yards and four TDs and ran for another to lead the Wolverines. Tommy Rees completed 29 of 51 for 314 yards and two TDs and Stephon Tuitt returned an interception for a TD for the Irish in this, the last for a while, battle of epic rivals.

15/16 Texas (1-1) The Longhorns got whipped by the BYU Cougars (1-1) 40-21. You know those westerns in which the cattle are stampeded by a lightning storm, or the roar of a cougar? Well, the game was delayed nearly two hours by a series of storms and when it began, the Cougars ran and ran and ran some more. They ran off 75 running plays (99 in all) for 550 yards on the ground. Taysom Hill ran 17 times for 259 yards (and two TDs) Jamaal Williams ran 30 times for 182 yards, and Justin Sorenson kicked four field goals. David Ash tossed two TDs to Mike Davis as he went 19 of 35 for 251 yards for Texas before handing over the helm to Case McCoy (5 of 10 for 62 yards but no points).

16/15 Oklahoma (2-0) The Sooners edged the Mountaineers of West Virginia (1-1) 16-7. Dreamius Smith had a 75 yard TD run for WVU but that would be all she wrote. Brennan Clay lead the Sooner offense with 22 carries for 170 yards and Mike Hunnicutt lead the scoring with three field goals and an extra point in what could only be described as a lack luster performance by both offenses in which WVU had three lost fumbles and an interception while Oklahoma had two lost fumbles and two INTs.

17/17 Michigan (2-0) The Wolverines managed to stay ahead of the #14 Irish of Notre Dame (1-1) 42-30. See above for more.

18/18 UCLA (1-0) The Bruins had the weekend off.

19/20 Northwestern (2-0) The Wildcats drubbed the Syracuse Orange (0-2) 48-27. The Wildcats got out to a quick start (20-0) and never looked back. The Wildcats used two QBs Kain Coulter started and Trevor Siemian alternated with him) and both were effective against a Syracuse defense that yielded 581 yards net offense. Coulter, who had a concussion last week against California, went 15 of 18 for 116 yards passing with one TD and ran for 87 yards on 11 carries also for one TD. Siemian was 15 of 19 for 259 yards and three TDs.

20/23 Washington (1-0) The Huskies had this weekend off.

21/21 Wisconsin (2-0) The Badgers shut out the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (1-1) of the FCS, 48-0. Joel Stave tossed three TD passes and Corey Clement ran for two TDs. Meanwhile the Badgers’ defense held the Golden Eagles to just six first downs and 113 yards net offense (44 on the ground, 69 in the air).

22/19 Nebraska (2-0) The Cornhuskers romped over the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (0-2) 56-13. The Husker defense returned two INTs for scores in the first quarter—they had four for the game—and Taylor Martinez completed 15 of 23 passes for 170 yards and three TDs. Ameer Abdullah 17 times for 114 yards for Nebraska.

23/NR Baylor (2-0) The Bears rolled over the Buffalo Bulls (0-2) 70-13. The Bulls scored first and held a 7-0 lead—briefly. That score was followed almost immediately by a 61 yard TD pass from Bryce Petty to Tevin Reese. Baylor scored twice more before Buffalo again got on the scoreboard making it 21-14. THAT score was followed immediately by an 83 yard strike, Petty to Antwan Goodley. Petty finished the day with 13 completions on 16 attempts for 338 yards and those two TDs. Lache Seastrunk (17 carries for 150 yards) scored three times on the ground and Shock Linwood (12 carries for 76 yards) tallied two TDs on the ground.

24/24t TCU (1-1) The Horned Frogs beat the FCS Southeastern Louisiana Lions (1-1) 38-17. Frogs won but lost starting QB Casey Pachall to a forearm injury early in the game. He will miss next week’s Thursday night game against Texas A&M and possibly more. No problem as Trevone Boykin, who stepped in for Pachall when he went into alcohol rehab and missed most of last season, came in to this game and competed 9 of 13 for 133 yards and two TDs. Pachall was 8 of 14 for 100 yards before being injured.

25/22 Southern California (1-1) The Trojans got upset by the Washington State Cougars (1-1) 10-7. Defenses dominated. In fact, Wazzu won with a Damante Horton 70 yard interception return and an Andrew Furney 41 yard field goal. Tre Madden rushed 32 times for 151 yards to lead the Trojan offense as the quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Max Wittek) produced just 56 yards passing with no TDs and two INTs. The Cougars managed just 222 net yards on offense and committed three turnovers while USC had just 193 net yards and committed two turnovers.

NR/24t Miami (Fla.) (2-0) The Hurricanes upset the #12 Florida Gators (1-1) 21-16. More above.