College football is back. While not all teams are back, a lot of teams are preparing for week 2. Here are five things to watch for in college football week 2.
1. Who Will Step up at Wide Receiver for Clemson?
The favorites to win the National Championship are the Clemson Tigers. With Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne and plenty of more talented players returning, Clemson is set for 2020. They open their season with Wake Forest, who they are favored to beat by 33 points.
One of the biggest question marks for the Tigers is at wide receiver. Tee Higgins is now in the NFL and Justyn Ross was supposed to step up and be the number one receiver. Ross is out for the season after having spinal surgery. Senior Amari Rodgers is expected to lead an inexperienced group of wideouts. Rodgers has 104 catches for 1,124 yards and eight touchdowns. Lawrence will make his receivers better, but Rodgers needs to play well this season for the Tigers.
2. A Chance at Redemption
Last season, Coastal Carolina upset Kansas in a game the Jayhawks would likely want to forget. It was a low-scoring 12-7 game that the Chanticleers won on the road in Lawrence. It was the first year that Kansas was coached by Les Miles, so they will want revenge considering there is a rematch this week.
Kansas will hope that running back Pooka Williams can lead the team this season. He has rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons with the team. If the Jayhawks can establish the run, they will likely win the game. They are only favored by seven points, so Coastal Carolina could make things interesting.
3. Spencer Rattler‘s Starting Debut
Spencer Rattler was one of the best quarterbacks in the 2019 recruiting class. He opted to sign with Oklahoma, which resulted in him sitting behind Jalen Hurts. The Sooners, like they’ve become accustomed to, made the CFP last year. Hurts was drafted and followed in the footsteps of Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray.
Rattler has dual-threat abilities like some of the other quarterbacks that have come through Oklahoma. He’ll look to use his talents against Missouri State in the Sooners’ in what should be a relatively easy day of work. The only negative for fans? It is going to be a pay-per-view game.
4. D’Eriq King‘s Miami Debut
After setting records for his ability to run and throw at Houston, D’Eriq King played four games last season and then redshirted. Following the season, he decided to transfer to Miami, a team that has struggled to find good quarterback play over the last several seasons.
Miami went 6-7 last season and did lose a lot from their defense, including their linebackers and projected top draft prospect Gregory Rousseau, who decided to opt-out for the season. If Miami is to improve, it will mostly be on King helping the offense score more points before the defense comes along. King will be going up against UAB this week, which is a good opportunity to hit the ground running.
5. Notre Dame’s ACC Start
Notre Dame has played in the ACC for years now for all sports, but football. They have played a partial ACC schedule in football since that time, but this season they will play a full ACC schedule and will have a chance to compete for an ACC Championship.
Their first game as part of the ACC will be against Duke this weekend. The Fighting Irish are favored by 20 points so that won’t be an issue. Notre Dame will have tough games against Clemson, North Carolina and some other solid ACC teams. Their presence also helps Clemson, who hasn’t had to many marquee games in the ACC this season.
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