(Editor’s Note: All team rankings are based on the Top 25 Coaches Poll and Sagarin Ratings, Jeff Sagarin’s mathematical and factual ratings among the 245-team Division 1 competition.)
Only 7 teams remained on top and on track 2-0 during the second week of the college football season: Florida, USC, Alabama, California, Boise State, Brigham Young and Kansas.
No. 1 Florida crushed Troy 56-6 behind Tim Tebow’s career-high 4 touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown.
No. 3 Southern Cal saved the best for last against No. 7 Ohio State to win, 18-15, on the road when rookie quarterback Matt Barkley led the Trojans on a 14-play, 95-yard drive. to score with 1:05 remaining. The Ohio State Buckeyes have now lost 7 straight games against the top 5 teams, including two national title games and last season’s 35-3 loss to USC in Los Angeles.
No. 4 Alabama defeated the Florida International 40-14 when quarterback Greg McElroy completed a school record 14 consecutive passes. Remember that Alabama was the same school that Joe “Willie” Namath led to a National Championship in 1964, and Kenny “The Snake” Stabler led to another National Championship in 1965. Both Namath and Stabler played for legendary Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear”. “Bryant.
No. 10 California defeated Eastern Washington, 59-7, behind Jahvid Best’s 144 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns, one on the ground and one on a 22-yard reception.
No. 11 Boise State shut out Miami of Ohio, 48-0, while QB Kellen Moore went 16-for-26 for 307 yards and 4 touchdown passes.
No. 12 Brigham Young, following his 14-13 upset over Oklahoma a week earlier, sidekicked Tulane en route, 54-3, as QB Max Hall threw for 309 yards and 2 TDs and Bryan Kaiya scored two times.
No. 25 Kansas pummeled UTEP, 34-7, on the road behind Jack Sharp’s 104 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns.
There were 4 genuine upsets as Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Michigan State hit the turf hard.
No. 20 Notre Dame allowed Tate Focier to throw a 5-yard TD pass to Greg Matthews with 11 seconds left to give unranked Michigan a 38-34 win at the Big House in Ann Arbor. . Focier, a freshman, was 23 of 33 for 240 yards, 2 TDs, an interception and rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown. Notre Dame’s star quarterback Jimmy Clausen, now a junior, went 25-for-42 for 336 yards and 3 touchdowns, but missed some costly throws.
You can argue about who was the better QB on this day, however, nothing counts more than the final score, and Notre Dame was once again an underdog in a big game.
After beating Georgia last week, No. 6 Oklahoma State, a 15-point favorite, let it all go to waste by losing to Houston 45-35 at home. The Cowboys need to learn to ride again; it seems they always have more attack than defense.
UCLA quietly got to 2-0 by defeating Tennessee on the road 19-15. The Volunteers, a 10-point favorite, no longer make much of an impression in the SEC.
The 14.5-favored Michigan State Spartans let Central Michigan embarrass them completely with a last-second 29-27 loss on home turf. The Spartans had an excellent schedule this year that offered them a chance to top the table (go undefeated) as they tied both Michigan and Penn State at home and didn’t have to play Ohio State.
Instead, Michigan State was outplayed, outplayed and deserved to lose.
Five teams went 2-0 and scored good wins to solidify their position as leaders to watch:
No.18 Nebraska, favored by 21, beat Arkansas State 38-9. No. 23 Cincinnati beat 1-AA SE Missouri State 70-3. Unranked Pittsburgh, favored 5-10, beat a good Buffalo team 54-27 on the road. Unranked Iowa beat in-state rival Iowa State 35-3 on the road.
Unranked and undefeated Southern Methodist defeated UAB 35-33 on the road. Now don’t laugh at SMU, give the Mustangs and coach June Jones some credit; after all, if you’re a fan of Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Rutgers or Georgia, your team isn’t 2-0, you’re 1-1.
Another unranked team that went 0-12 last year finally won its first game in 16 tries when new head coach Steve Sarkisian and new defensive coordinator Nick Holt pulled off an impressive 42-23 win over Idaho. Yeah, Idaho isn’t a big deal, but Washington will start to win and beat better teams than Idaho. You read it here first.
Here are 19 teams that have gone 2-0 at the start of the season, but their wins haven’t been much of a deal considering the competition they’ve been playing:
No. 2 Texas, favored 32.5, beat Wyoming on the road 41-10, but couldn’t close the gap.
No. 5 Penn State, favored 28.5, beat Syracuse 28-7, but couldn’t close the gap.
No. 9 LSU, favored 14.5, beat Vanderbilt, 23-9, but couldn’t close the gap.
No. 17 Utah, favored by 14, beat San Jose State 24-14, but was able to cover the difference.
No. 19 North Carolina, favored by 4.5, needed 12 points in the fourth quarter to narrowly beat Connecticut 12-10, but couldn’t close the gap.
No. 24 Oregon State, favored by 7, beat UNLV 23-21, but couldn’t close the gap.
So seriously, why are Texas, Penn State, LSU, Utah, North Carolina, and Oregon State rated so highly? Answer: Don’t ask anyone who bets on them not only to win, but to cover the spread.
Here are the other 13 teams that are 2-0 in no particular order because, frankly, it’s too early to tell if they’re really good:
Missouri over Bowling Green 27-20, Tulsa over New Mexico 44-10, Hawaii over Washington State 38-20, Auburn over Mississippi State 49-24, South Florida over Western Kentucky 35-13, West Virginia over East Carolina 35-20, Texas Tech over Rice 55-10, Boston College over Kent State 34-7, Minnesota over Air Force 20-13, Southern Mississippi over University of Central Florida (UCF) 26-19 and Northwestern over Eastern Michigan 27- 24.
So did Arizona over 1-AA Northern Arizona 34-17, and Colorado State needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to beat 1-AA Weber State 24-23.
Here are 5 teams that won their first game, but really need to play a good team and win to think they’re doing anything worth talking about:
No. 14 Oklahoma beat 1-AA Idaho State 64-0, No. 16 TCU beat Virginia 30-14, No. 21 Georgia narrowly beat South Carolina 41-37, Virginia Tech beat Marshall 52-10 and Rutgers beat 1-AA Howard 45-7.
Every week in college football there are games and wins that make you look twice when you read the score and look at the teams. Here are 3 from this week:
Toledo beat Colorado 54-38 at home, leaving the Buffaloes 0-2. This got me wondering if sinkholes have developed in the state of Colorado. Much more and the Buffaloes will disappear from the radar screen. Maryland needed extra time to narrowly beat 1-AA James Madison 38-35. Louisiana Lafayette defeated Kansas State 17-15.
Wrap it up, Benny, and throw it in the archives; It’s time to prepare for the third week of college football competition.
Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley
