A week ago, the college football world celebrated Notre Dame’s road win at Texas A&M as one of the toughest of the weekend and, given their remaining schedule, christened the Irish as one of the favorites to reach the College Football Playoff.
So, about that schedule…
Week 2 brought us a few Saturday hangovers, none bigger than Notre Dame’s loss at home to Northern Illinois. Oof! Penn State was a bit groggy, too. The Nittany Lions trailed most of the game against Bowling Green before pulling off a seven-point win.
That wasn’t the case for the Irish, which dropped another puzzling game under Marcus Freeman. Remember the losses to Stanford and Marshall during his first year and last year’s blowout at Louisville? The loss to UNI may be the worst of them all.
For the Huskies of the MAC, it’s their first top-10 win in school history and it gets them into our own Top 10!
What else happened in Week 2?
Well, let’s start with Texas, which marched up to Ann Arbor and marched over Michigan in one of the most dominating and impressive performances so far this year. Pitt and Oklahoma State stormed back from double-digit deficits to get wins over Cincinnati and Arkansas, respectively. And Kansas State needed a controversial offensive pass interference call to survive Tulane.
Did you see what happened at Jordan-Hare Stadium? Cal — yes, Cal of the ACC — made the cross-country trip to Auburn and won, 21-14. The SEC is 5-6 against other power leagues in the non-conference slate so far.
Also, we had two last-second field goals for the win in Iowa City (Iowa State over Iowa) and College Park (Michigan State over Maryland).
Enough said. Let’s get to the Top 10!
A reminder about our rankings: We do not consider any preseason polls or any past-season results. What happened in the past is, well, in the past. It’s who you’ve beaten and how you’ve beaten them!
Ohio State, having played the likes of Western Michigan and Akron, is not in our poll. Neither is Ole Miss, which opened with Furman and Middle Tennessee. This system normally rewards teams with tougher early season opponents, but it also makes for an unusual group in the first few weeks.
1. Georgia Bulldogs
This week: beat Tennessee Tech 48-3
Next week: at Kentucky
Trevor Etienne made his Georgia debut after a suspension in the season opener, rushing for 78 yards on just five carries, including a 45-yarder. It highlighted UGA’s blowout of the FCS Eagles. Even Carson Beck’s backup, Gunner Stockton, had his way, going 10-for-12 for 90 yards. The Bulldogs stay as our top team with that neutral site romp over Clemson in Week 1.
2. Texas Longhorns
This week: beat Michigan 31-12
Next week: vs. UTSA
If the hype around this Texas team and QB Quinn Ewers wasn’t already at high levels, it is now. The Longhorns man-handled Michigan and further exposed the Wolverines’ offensive ineptitude. Sherrone Moore has big things to fix in Ann Arbor. Meanwhile, Steve Sarkisian appears to have a championship caliber team, led by a projected first-round QB. Ewers sizzled to three touchdowns and 246 yards in the Big House.
3. Miami Hurricanes
This week: beat Florida A&M 56-9
Next week: vs. Ball State
The Hurricanes rolled right over the FCS Rattlers. The season-opening win at Florida might not look like a great victory by the season’s end, but it’s enough to keep the Canes in our top five. Have you seen their schedule? You should take a gander at it. Miami might not play a ranked team until Oct. 19 at Louisville, which also might serve as their toughest test of the regular season.
4. USC Trojans
This week: beat Utah State 48-0
Next week: Bye
No hangover for the Trojans after their Week 1 win over LSU. The new-look defense has looked awfully sharp over the first two weeks of the season and that bodes well for a future Big Ten slate that features Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska. Miller Moss and his plethora of receivers are dangerous, but on Saturday, Lincoln Riley showed that the Trojans can run the ball just as well.
5. Tennessee Volunteers
This week: beat NC State 51-10
Next week: vs. Kent State
Under offensive-minded coach Josh Heupel, the Vols’ offense gets much of the ink, but what about the defense in this one? DC Tim Banks’ unit held the Wolfpack to 143 yards, forced three turnovers and had three sacks. The unit was responsible for a key play just before halftime. With NC State inside the UT 20 and needing a touchdown to tie it, Tennessee DB Will Brooks intercepted Grayson McCall and returned it for an 85-yard score and a 14-point swing in the game.
6. Penn State Nittany Lions
This week: beat Bowling Green 34-27
Next week: Bye
James Franklin last week told reporters that the country wasn’t talking enough about the Nittany Lions’ defense. Well, they’ll be talking about them now — not in a good way. Penn State trailed most of the game to the MAC Falcons and that PSU defense gave up nearly 400 yards. Bowling Green converted seven of 13 third downs! Franklin’s group remains in our Top 10 with that win on the road at West Virginia, but a few more performances like Saturday will send them out the door.
7. North Carolina Tar Heels
This week: beat Charlotte 38-20
Next week: vs. NC Central
In their first game without QB Max Johnson, the Tar Heels leaned on a pair of tailbacks, Davion Gause and Omarion Hampton, to run all over Charlotte for a whopping 269 yards, UNC’s season-opening win at Minnesota wasn’t pretty but it was a road power conference win and those are rare this early in the season.
8. Northern Illinois Huskies
This week: beat Notre Dame 16-14
Next week: vs. Buffalo
Give it up to UNI defensive coordinator Nick Benedetto and his Huskies defense. They held the Irish to just three third-down conversations and 286 total yards. Coach Thomas Hammock is free of any hot seat buzz after he got what has to be an emotional victory. Hammock grew up just down the road in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
9. Iowa State Cyclones
This week: beat Iowa 20-19
Next week: Bye
The Cyclones trailed 19-7 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter before scoring a touchdown and getting 46- and 54-yard field goals from Kyle Konrardy, the latter with 9 seconds left to win this annual rivalry game for just the second time in nine years. ISU QB Rocco Becht and WR Jaylin Noel connected five times for 133 yards, and Matt Campbell’s defense suffocated Iowa in the second half (three consecutive three-and-outs in a crucial third quarter stretch).
10. Vanderbilt Commodores
This week: beat Alcorn State 55-0
Next week: at Georgia State
For a second week in a row, the Commodores find themselves in our Top 10, a product mostly of their Week 1 victory over Virginia Tech. Clark Lea’s squad has a good shot of reaching the 3-0 mark next week before a trip to Missouri to open SEC play on Sept. 21. How good would a 3-0 start be? Well, the program has won that many games in a full season just once in the last four years.
Dropped out: Notre Dame (3), Georgia Tech (6), Colorado (8), Alabama (9), TCU (10)
