Week two of college football brought a fun filled slate of games. The College Football Playoff got a glimpse of teams that may be playing for it all in the winter. Without further ado, here are five things that stood out about this week in college football:
1. Clemson’s defensive line can carry the team
Clemson had their big time matchup with Auburn and came out with a win 14-6. When the game started, it looked as if Auburn wouldn’t have too much trouble moving the football against Clemson, but they ended up settling for field goals. That’s all they did on offense all night.
The defensive line of Clemson totaled 11 sacks and demonstrated not only how talented they are, but how deep they are. Auburn’s offense was supposed to have a break through season, but last night puts a big hole in their plans. They may still have a good season, Clemson’s defensive line might just be that good.
This also helped out the ACC, who struggled in week one in their nonconference games. Clemson can carry the torch for them, but has to avoid getting beat up in ACC play.
Last season Deshaun Watson and the offense got most of the love, but this season if Clemson succeeds the defense should get most of the credit.
2. It’s ok being a great college quarterback
Everyone going into the season was talking about the quarterbacks with pro potential and leaving out guys like Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson. Anyone who has paid attention to college football the past twenty seasons knows that sometimes the best college quarterbacks don’t work out in the NFL. Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow, Trow Smith, Jason White and more have produced in college and not been too successful in the pros.
Just because these athletes may not work in the NFL, doesn’t mean they can’t be the best college quarterbacks. Mayfield had an incredible second half performance in Columbus against Ohio State and helped the Sooners come away with a victory. He threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns and has placed his name in the Heisman talk yet again.
Lamar Jackson on the other hand, looks to be carrying his team completely by himself. He is starting off hot, just like last season when he won the Heisman. Jackson had over 500 yards of total offense and six touchdowns in Louisville’s victory over North Carolina.
While these players may not get the love of pro scouts, they still might be able to define this college football season more than the better quarterback prospects. The only question there is to ask is: Does planting a flag at midfield of Ohio Stadium after a big road win count as a Heisman moment?
3. Sam Darnold is for real
Sam Darnold still has a lot of things left to prove, especially after struggling against Western Michigan in week one, but he proved against Stanford that he can live up to the hype. He has the potential to not only be a great prospect, but a great college football player if he can keep USC in College Football Playoff contention.
In the game Darnold made plenty of NFL level throws and showed improvement over last season. Keeping that progression going is key for Darnold now.One area of his game he needs to cut down on is interceptions. If he doesn’t stop throwing them, he is making life harder on himself and his team. He still has mechanics to fix, but also has a lot of games to make his case to be the number one overall pick, but he is way ahead in the race in terms of quarterbacks, despite his interception problems.
If Darnold continues to play like this, the Trojans may get a chance to play a few extra games this season and bring home a championship to Los Angeles.
4. Georgia fans travel
In one of the biggest and unique games in South Bend, Indiana in recent memory, it had a lot more fans in red than anyone was expecting. No one doubts that Georgia fans can travel, but this was an amazing display of fandom that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Notre Dame fans took the money and ran, as the average ticket cost for this game was over $1,000.
Being in the SEC, Georgia plays a lot of big games in big time venues,, but the game at Notre Dame offered a once in a lifetime opportunity for fans of the Bulldogs. They were playing one of the most historic programs of all time, the game was on national TV and Georgia rarely plays football in the north. This is the first time Georgia has played a game north of the Mason Dixon line since 1965.
Props to both schools for scheduling such a good game. The Georgia fans were rewarded for their travels and escaped Notre Dame Stadium with a 20-19 thrilling win.
5. Never Give Up
Most fans probably turned off their televisions to go out or go to bed when the games that started from 7-8:30 were over. That was a mistake, because there was a gem of a game taking place on ESPN. The lesson here is never give up on college football because it will never give up on you.
Washington State and Boise State were playing a game that was a rematch of last season. The home fans for Washington State showed their support and a lot stayed throughout the game. Both starting quarterbacks were knocked out of the game with injury, but this was just the start of the craziness.
With just under 11 minutes left to go in the game, Boise State scored to take their led to 21 points. Then Washington State went off. Tyler Hilinski, the back up quarterback, came to life and threw two touchdowns in the last eight minutes. Linebacker Peyton Pelleur also had an interception returned for a touchdown on Washington State’s 21 point run. In the third overtime, Boise State got held to a field goal, while James Morrow had a nice catch and run to win it for the Cougars.
So if your team lost or you thought about phoning it in and missing some of the wonderful games, get back on track. It’s still early in the season and there is a lot of football to be played.
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