College Football: Week 2 Results

#8 Ohio State’s 35-21 loss to Virginia Tech means there will be plenty of changes in the polls prior to Week 3. Throw in #3 Oregon beating #7 Michigan State 46-27 and #13 Stanford losing to #14 Southern California 13-10--at Stanford and there could be a lot of shuffling going on. None of the other ranked teams lost although there were a few close calls.

(Ranks on the left are those of the AP/Coaches Top 25/CBSSPORTS.COM 128 Polls as reported by CBSSports.com. NR = Not Ranked)

1/1/1 Florida State (2-0) The Seminoles tamed the Citadel Bulldogs (0-2), an FCS school, 37-12. Call it “diversity.” The Seminoles had 10 different players catch passes and seven different players rush the ball. Jameis Winston threw for 256 yards and two TDs as he led the Seminoles to a 28-0 halftime and then for two field goals in the third quarter before taking a seat with the lead up to 34-0.

2/2/3 Alabama (2-0) The Crimson Tide rolled over Florida Atlantic Owls (0-2) 41-0. It was 31-0 at the half so you know lots of second and third stringers got to play in the second half.

3/4/2 Oregon (2-0) The Ducks out lasted the #7 Michigan State Spartans (1-1) 46-27. The Spartans attempted to run the hyperfast offense against the Ducks and it worked…for a little while. Michigan State had a 24-18 halftime lead. Things went south in a hurry in the second half, however, as the Ducks put up 14 points in each of the third and fourth quarters while holding MSU to just a field goal. Marcus Mariota completed 17 of 28 attempts for 318 yards and three TDs and Royce Freeman had TD runs of 38 and 14 yards—both in the fourth quarter--for the Ducks.

4/3/7 Oklahoma (2-0) The Sooners tamed the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (1-1) 52-7. Oklahoma is more a tornado kind of place. They laugh at hurricanes, golden or otherwise.

5/5/5 Auburn (2-0) The Tigers whipped the San Jose State Spartans (1-1) 59-13. Cameron Artis-Payne rushed for 112 yards and three TDs—all in the first half. QB Nick Marshall rushed 11 times for 103 yards and a TD. Marshall’s backup, Jeremy Johnson, also scored on the ground. As a team, Auburn rushed for 358 yards and six touchdowns.

6/8/4 Georgia (1-0) The Bulldogs had this weekend off.

7/6/6 Michigan State (1-1) The Spartans fell to the #3 Oregon Ducks (2-0) 46-27. See above for more.

8/7/11 Ohio State (1-1) The Buckeyes were upset by the Hokies of Virginia Tech (2-0) 35-21. Ooops! J.T. Barrett rushed 24 times (sometimes out of desperation/fear for his life) for 70 yards and one TD but he completed just nine of 29 pass attempts for 219 yards, one TD and three INTs. The Hokies also had three turnovers (two INTs and a lost fumble) but Michael Brewer was 23 of 36 for 199 yards and two TDs.

9/13/9 Texas A&M (2-0) The Aggies plucked the Lamar Cardinals (1-1), an FCS school, 73-3. Johnny who?

10/9/8 Baylor (2-0) The Bears wolloped the Northwestern State Demons (0-2), an FCS school, 70-6. Bryce Perry didn’t play; didn’t even suit up. He’s got some cracked vertebrae. No problem for the Bears. Backup quarterback Seth Russell threw for 438 yards and five touchdowns…in the first half. Oh, and he ran for a TD as well. Three of those first half TD passes went to KD Cannon: 50 yards, 81 yards and 42 yards. The other two? 61 yards to Jay Lee and 57 yards to Davion Hall.

11/11/12 UCLA (2-0) The Bruins beat the Memphis Tigers (1-1) 42-35. Brett Hundley completed 33 of 44 for 396 yards and three TDs. The last came after he had thrown his only INT—a pick six by Fritz Etienne who returned it 17 yards for a game tying score early in the fourth quarter—and allowed the Bruins to pull out the win.

12/12/13 LSU (2-0) The Tigers put a lickin’ on the Sam Houston State Bearkats (1-2) 56-0. Anthony Jennings tossed three TD passes to Travin Dural (94 yards, 28 yards and 18 yards) in the first half. The defense had seven sacks and forced three turnovers (two interceptions and one fumble).

13/10/10 Stanford (1-1) The Cardinal lost to the #14 Southern California Trojans (2-0). Defenses—and penalties--stifled both offenses. In the end, it came down to who made the least errors and that was USC. Penalties erased a Cardinal TD; Jordan Williamson, Cardinal place kicker, missed two field goals; and the Cardinal lost two fumbles; so despite out gaining the Trojans 413 yards to 291, the Cardinal came up short.

14/14/14 Southern California (2-0) The Trojans edged the #13 Stanford Cardinal (1-1) 13-10. See above.

15/17/18 Ole Miss (2-0) The Rebels torpedoed the Vanderbilt Commodores (0-2) 41-3. Vandy’s three points came in the fourth quarter when it was already 41-0.

16/15/17 Notre Dame (2-0) The Fighting Irish shut out the Michigan Wolverines (1-1) 31-0. It’s the end of an old rivalry (for the foreseeable future at least) and it would have been nice if BOTH teams had showed up. Michigan had not been shut out in 30 years. Everett Golson completed 23 of 34 attempts for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Michigan’s Devin Gardner was19 of 32 for 189 yards and had threw three INTs. Michigan also lost a fumble. Giving the other guys the ball seldom ends in points for your team.

17/16/19 Arizona State (2-0) The Sun Devils trounced the New Mexico Lobos (0-2) 58-23. D.J. Foster carried the ball 19 times for 216 yards and one TD for the Sun Devils. Six different Sun Devils scored on the ground (only Kalen Ballage had a double) as Arizona State rushed for 423 yards. Two more scored on passes from Taylor Kelly. Brandon Branch scored 2 points for the Lobos on a rare return of a blocked extra point.

18/19/20 Wisconsin (1-1) The Badgers beat the Western Illinois Leathernecks (1-1), and FCS team, 37-3.

19/18/15 Nebraska (2-0) The Cornhuskers squeaked past the McNeese State Cowboys (0-1), an FCS school, 31-24, by scoring a TD with 20 seconds remaining. Ameer Abdullah turned a short Tommy Armstrong, Jr. pass into a 58 yard score to break the 24-24 tie.

20/20/16 Kansas State (2-0) The Wildcats need 12 fourth quarter points (two TDs) to defeat the Iowa State Cyclones (0-2) 32-28. The final score came when QB Jake Waters ran the ball in from 8 yards out with 1:30 remaining in the game. The Cyclones had a had 28 unanswered points in the first half to take a 28-14 lead late in the second quarter but a Jake Waters 1 yard run reduced that to 28-21 at the half.

21T/23/ NR North Carolina (2-0) The Tar Heels came from two touchdowns behind in the second half to edge the San Diego State Aztecs (1-1) 31-27. Only an interception by Tim Scott in the endzone with 14 seconds left allowed the Tar Heels to breathe again. The Aztecs Quinn Kaehler threw for a career-high 341 yards and one touchdown. Unfortunately, he also threw three INTs. The first was returned for a North Carolina touchdown. The second set up a field goal. And the third sealed the game for the Tar Heels. I’m sure Mr. Kaehler did NOT enjoy his long flight back to San Diego.

21 T/21/24 South Carolina (1-1) The Gamecocks fended off the East Carolina Pirates (1-1) 33-23. Mike Davis rushed for 101 yards and two TDs on 18 carries and Elliot Fry had field goals of 39, 42, and 26 yards for the Gamecocks. Shane Carden threw for 321 yards on 32 completions in 46 attempts but just one TD and two INTs for the Pirates.

23/24/23 Clemson (1-1) The Tigers routed the South Carolina State Bulldogs (1-1), an FCS team, 73-7. Deshaun Watson, true freshman back-up quarterback, played four series and completed 8 of 9 passes for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Cole Stoudt completed 22 of 31 attempts for 302 yards and one TD. Jadar Johnson returned an interception 60 yards for a score for the Tigers. The Tigers held South Carolina State to a net 44 yards on 53 plays while gaining 735 yards on 93 plays. Dominique Mitchell returned a fumble 35 yards for the Bulldogs only TD.

24/22/NR Missouri (2-0) The Tigers feasted on the Toledo Rockets (1-1) 49-24. The Rockets came back in the second half but it was way too little and way too late.

25/NR/NR Louisville (2-0) The Cardinals hobbled the Murray State Racers (1-1), an FCS team, 66-21. The Cardinals scored 21 in the first, 24 in the second to take a 45-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Cardinals scored on nine straight possessions. Will Gardner completed 13 of 22 passes for 133 yards and two TDs before giving way to freshman backup quarterback Reggie Bonnafon, who ran for two touchdowns and passed for another. Other backups did well, too. Sophomore Brandon Radcliff rushed 15 times for 97 yards and two second-half TDs, and freshman L.J. Scott ran for a game-high 126 yards and a TD on 11 carries.

NR/25/NR Texas (1-1) The Longhorns got preyed upon by the BYU Cougars (2-0) 41-7. It was a close game—for a while—as the Cougars held a 6-0 lead at the half. Then QB Taysom Hill ran for three touchdowns in the third quarter as BYU rushed for 248 yards while Texas managed just a total of 258 yards and 82 of that on the ground.

NR/NR/21 Iowa (2-0) The Hawkeyes eked out a victory over the Ball State Cardinals (1-1) 17-13. The Hawkeyes scored twice in the last six minutes with the final, winning touchdown coming with just a minute to play. Blake Dueitt returned a fumble 35 yards for the Cardinals’ only touchdown in the second quarter. Jake Ruddock completed 33 of 52 pass attempts for a career best 322 yards and the two Iowa touchdowns.

NR/NR/22 Marshall (2-0) The Thundering Herd stampeded over the Rhode Island Rams (0-1), an FCS team, 48-7. Rakeem Cato ran 9 times for 143 yards including a 63 yard TD scamper. Cato also completed 15 of 29 pass attempts for 267 yards and two TDs. Devon Johnson rushed for 137 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.

NR/NR/25 Florida (1-0) The Gators chomped on the Eastern Michigan Eagles (1-1) 65-0. The Gators finally got to play a game. They’re contest last week against Idaho was declared no contest after being postponed due to a deluge. (That’s why they call it “The Swamp” I guess.) Anyway, the Gators scored early, late and in between as they racked up the points 17 in the first quarter, 13 in the second, 21 in the third and 14 more in the fourth. Meanwhile the defense grounded the Eagles. The win ended Florida’s seven game losing streak. Jeff Driskel, playing for the first time since he broke his leg in week three of last year, went 31 of 45 for 248 yards and a TD. His backup, Treon Harris went 2 for 2 for 148 yards and two touchdowns. The Gators rolled up 655 yards net offense against the Eastern Michigan Eagles. The defense didn’t do badly either. Duke Dawson returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown. The Eagles were limited to just 125 yards net offense.

My Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-0) will beat the Howard Bison (0-2), an FCS team, 38-25. The Knights did not get a TD on the first play from scrimmage as they did in week one, it took them two series before they put points on the board. Howard actually took an early 7-0 lead before Rutgers ran off 31 consecutive points. They worked some kinks out of the offense but still need to improve in the defensive secondary. Gary Nova threw well completing 15 of 19 for 282 yards and four touchdowns. Two of those TD tosses—one being a screen pass that went 69 yards!--went to running back Paul James who also scored once on the ground.