College football week 2 is in the books. After every week fans can take away things from what happened on the field. Here are 5 things learned from college football week 2.
1. This Season is Giving Off Strong 2007 Vibes
College football fans that have been around for a while will remember how crazy the 2007 season was. Teams currently rotated in and out of the top standings. At different times, Missouri, Kansas and Boston College were all ranked in the top two teams. Kentucky, of all teams, beat LSU, who went on to win the championship with two losses, which was unheard of in the BCS era. It was a crazy season that provided a lot of fun for fan bases that don’t always have that same adrenaline rush every season.
This season has already started off with many similar aspects and feels like it is slowly building. Clemson and Ohio State, who many complain about getting into the College Football Playoff every year, have already lost. There has been an unprecedented number of FCS over FBS upsets. Five ranked teams lost this week and several others played in close games that they should’ve won without as much trouble (looking at you Texas A&M, Miami and Notre Dame). Other than Alabama, the rest of the teams have shown some flaws, which could aid in this season being crazy. There is still a long way to go for this season to live up to the 2007 season, but there is some potential for absolute chaos.
2. Texas, USC, Florida State and Tennessee aren’t back
Maybe a thing helping the craziness of the early season is the struggles of big programs. One thing is for sure, Texas is not back. They went on the road and got dominated from start to finish by the Razorbacks. USC had high hopes for reaching the Pac-12 title game, but lost to Stanford, who aren’t expected to do too much damage this season after losing their opener to Kansas State.
Tennessee wasn’t expected to be great this season, but there was hope after Joe Milton looked good in their first game. Milton left the game with an injury and Tennessee struggled to keep up with Pitt. The Panthers unleashed an offense that few knew they had and won 41-34. Florida State had the roughest loss of them all, as they dropped a game to Jacksonville State, an FCS program. For all four of these programs there is a long way to go before getting back to where they once were.
3. Ohio State has Major Defensive Issues
In a surprising result, Ohio State lost to Oregon, who were 14-point underdogs and were missing five defensive starters. They weren’t just missing average starters either, the Ducks were without Justin Flowe and Kayvon Thibodeaux, who were two of their best. Ohio State scored a decent amount of points, finishing the game with 28, but their defense couldn’t stop Oregon consistently, which resulted in the loss. Oregon left a rubber duck at mid-field to help celebrate the win.
The Buckeyes allowed Oregon to score 35 points. That was the same number of points the Ducks scored against Fresno State in the opener. Ohio State had injuries in the secondary, which made their lack of playmaking understandable. Their linebackers were slow to diagnose and get to the football, while the defensive line didn’t have their best game. What makes things worse is that it looks like no adjustments were made. Oregon scored three times off the same play, where they handed it off to the running back around the left end, while the wide receiver did a crack-back block on the linebacker. Joe Moorhead, Oregon’s offensive coordinator, did a great job of game-planning around Ohio State’s talented defensive line. Ohio State did not do the same game-planning and failed to make adjustments as the game went on. As long as the defense is playing this poorly, Ohio State isn’t going to be a great team that fans have become accustomed to.
4. Iowa has a Nice Path to the CFP
Iowa had two tough tests to start the season: Indiana and Iowa State. They passed both tests easily. The Hawkeyes dominated the Hoosiers in week 1 and then were able to put on a masterclass of forcing turnovers to win in week 2 over Iowa State. Defeating their rival not only gives them one of the more impressive wins of the season but also gives them a great chance to go on a major run.
Their remaining nonconference games against Kent State and Colorado State shouldn’t hassle them too much. Their crossover game with the Big Ten East that is the most concerning is against Penn State, who has started off the year well but still has a lot to prove after a 4-5 season in 2020. Their toughest test in the Big Ten West appears to be Wisconsin, who already has one Big Ten loss coming at the hands of the Nittany Lions. If they can make it to the Big Ten Championship Game, they’ll likely get Ohio State, who as already mentioned, are not playing great football at the moment. There is a long way to go this college football season, but Iowa has taken care of business so far.
5. Texas A&M Could be in Trouble
There were high expectations of Texas A&M this season. They had plenty of NFL talent returning all over the field, including defensive lineman Demarvin Leal, running back Isaiah Spiller, guard Kenyon Green and tight end Jalen Wydermyer. The one thing that the Aggies had to figure out was the quarterback position. That hasn’t happened yet.
Haynes King was the starter for week 1 and looked shaky to start. That is to be expected of someone making their first collegiate start, but he also threw three interceptions, which left a lot to be desired. He then injured his leg against Colorado this weekend and was seen on crutches on the sideline. The Aggies then put in Zach Calzada, who King beat out for the job. Calzada wasn’t able to consistently hit his receivers and Texas A&M struggled to get points. They ended up winning 10-7 and Calzada deserves some credit for finding Spiller in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown, but if Texas A&M doesn’t get better quarterback play, whether that’s Calzada or King if he can return this season, they will not have as good of a season as they anticipated.
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