College football’s first week of action didn’t disappoint, and Week 2 is setting up to provide fans with more enticing drama.
While most of the big programs won’t be tested, thanks to a favorable early schedule, there are some phenomenal contests that will make up for what should be a lineup of blowouts for most of the top-25 teams.
The following represent the most interesting storylines on the docket in Week 2 of the 2015 college football season.
Oklahoma (No. 19) vs. Tennessee (No. 23): Pivotal game for both top-25 programs
This is the first big game of the season for both programs, as both are coming off blowout wins over lesser competition from the MAC in Week 1.
The Volunteers ran all over Bowling Green last week to the tune of 399 rushing yards and six touchdowns. It was a team effort, as Tennessee featured a three-headed monster in Alvin Kamara, Jalen Hurd and Joshua Dobbs—each of whom rushed for at least 89 yards.
“That is what we envisioned,” Jones said, via VolQuest.com. “They feed off each other. The great thing about them is that they’re selfless. When one scores we all score and you could see the excitement in them, in their body language whether it was Jalen or Alvin.”
No doubt Tennessee head coach Butch Jones is going to want to impose his will on Oklahoma in similar fashion, but the going might not be so easy this time around.
Akron found rushing against the Sooners to be tough going in Week 1, gaining just 3.1 yards per carry.
On the other side, Oklahoma features an outstanding aerial assault, led by junior Baker Mayfield. The team’s Air Raid scheme gobbled up yardage with ease over Akron. This is troubling for Tennessee, which allowed Bowling Green to dominate through the air in Week 1 to the tune of 433 yards and two touchdowns.
The Sooners have the advantage on paper, but they’ll need to overcome the raucous crowd at Neyland Stadium in order to walk away victorious.
This game begins at 6 p.m. ET and is being televised on ESPN.
Oregon (No. 7) vs. Michigan State (No. 5): Do the Spartans have a chance?
Oregon’s new quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. was absolutely phenomenal in his first-ever start with the Ducks against his former team Eastern Washington. He’s raring to go after getting knocked out of the game on a cheap-shot late hit and should be considered armed and dangerous.
The Ducks put up 61 points in Week 1, and Michigan State surprisingly had a tough time in the second half against Western Michigan, which outscored the Spartans 14-10 after halftime.
This could be over quickly.
The Spartans must play perfectly on defense to avoid getting blown out at home in a nationally televised game (ABC, starting at 8 p.m. ET), and quarterback Connor Cook must perform with more acuity than he did in Week 1.
For some added intrigue, Michigan State, and particularly its quarterback, is still feeling the sting from last year’s devastating loss in Eugene when Oregon romped to a 46-21 victory. Cook is eager to get revenge, needless to say.
“We’re going to play them (Oregon) this year and try to get revenge, that’s obviously in the back of our minds,” said Cook, minutes after dispatching of Western Michigan, 37-24, on Friday (h/t MLive.com). “There’s no doubt in my mind the coaches and players will be ready for Oregon next week.”
This is setting up to be a phenomenal game, and the eyes of the nation will be watching.
LSU (No. 14) vs. Mississippi State (No. 25): Good, old-fashioned SEC slugfest
After dealing with a curveball from Mother Nature in Week 1, LSU’s first contest of the season comes against a tough Mississippi State that could give the Tigers a run for their money.
Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott led his team to an impressive victory over its SEC rival last year, beating LSU 34-29. Mississippi State won the game thanks to a torrid 17-0 start, stunning the faithful fans at Death Valley. Now, they will attempt to make it two in a row after the Bulldogs previously endured a 14-game losing streak against their rival.
And this time they get to do it at home.
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris, who will make his first start for LSU this weekend. The untested passer certainly could have used the team’s Week 1 game against McNeese State to dip his toes into the waters before jumping into the deep end this weekend.
No doubt Les Miles will feel inclined to ride his featured back, Leonard Fournette to carry the load, rather than ask Harris to throw the ball overly much in hostile territory.
This nationally televised game will be broadcast on ESPN at 9:15 p.m. ET.
Will Jim Harbaugh get his first win at Michigan?
Harbaugh’s debut as the head coach of his alma mater didn’t go according to plan, as the Utes utilized outstanding defense to spoil his fun and win 24-17 over the Wolverines.
Michigan’s senior quarterback Jake Rudock had a miserable afternoon against Utah, which intercepted three of his errant passes. Making matters worse, the team’s rushing attack was impotent, averaging just 2.6 yards per carry while failing to punch the ball into the end zone once.
Harbaugh’s next challenge is to get his team ready for a talented Oregon State program that eased through its Week 1 contest against Weber State, 26-7. He remains confident in Rudock’s ability to lead the offense, despite the quarterback’s rough outing against Utah.
“We all trust Jake,” Harbaugh said (h/t MLive.com). “We expect that to build the more and (get) better each week. He’s earned that. From the coaches and his teammates.”
The one saving grace at it pertains to Michigan’s opener was the team’s ability to shut down Utah’s running game. This will be key if Harbaugh is to get his first win of the season in Week 2, as Oregon State’s dual-threat quarterback Seth Collins leads a potent rushing attack that chewed up five yards per carry last weekend.
Needless to say, the crowd at the Big House will be pumped up long before the opening whistle has been blown. Whether or not the folks in the stands continue to cheer throughout the contest is another question. The Wolverines must play better in all phases of the game to overcome the Beavers on Saturday.
This game is nationally televised on ABC and begins at 12 p.m. ET.
A couple of Pac-12 programs in need of a big win
Stanford and Arizona State both came out flat in Week 1 and were overcome by their opponents. Both results were fairly shocking, and they revealed some troubling challenges for both programs.
Stanford’s offense was downright embarrassing against Northwestern last weekend. The Cardinal only managed six points while senior quarterback Kevin Hogan and his offense stumbled and bumbled its way through the contest.
The Cardinal now host UCF in a game that should be easily won. The Knights were just as bad last week and should act as balm to David Shaw’s injured program.
Arizona State was steamrolled in Week 1 by a surprisingly good Texas A&M squad. Quarterback Mike Bercovici was largely ineffective, averaging just 4.9 yards per attempt while throwing one touchdown pass. The team’s 38-17 loss was shocking considering the Sun Devils were ranked No. 15 in the nation.
With Cal Poly coming into town, ASU also has a perfect chance to right the ship, but another loss would be devastating for the program.
Can BYU conjure another miracle against Boise State?
BYU pulled off a miraculous victory over Nebraska, with backup quarterback Tanner Mangum tossing a 42-yard Hail Mary to receiver Mitch Mathews with time expiring.
Unfortunately, starting quarterback Taysom Hill was lost for the season due to an ankle injury, meaning this is Mangum’s team now. And, while his Hail Mary has cemented his legendary status in BYU history, he now has a far greater task in front of him leading the team’s offense for the rest of the 2015 campaign.
The Cougars lost Hill to an injury last year as well, and the team lost four games in a row. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall believes he has his team better prepared for this challenge this time around. He acknowledges the team was too quarterback-dependent in 2014.
“So I think we certainly now have addressed that in a different way, and hopefully a better way, in terms of now getting the rest of the team to step up and do more rather than just relying on only our quarterback to determine the identity of our team,” Mendenhall said, via The Salt Lake Tribune.
Up next for the Cougars is a dynamic Boise State squad (No. 20 in the nation) that features a nasty defense. The Broncos shut down Washington’s offense in a big way in Week 1, allowing just 179 total yards, 11 first downs and zero offensive touchdowns.
The Cougars have home-field advantage in this one, but it might not matter. The Broncos are formidable, meaning it another miracle could be in order for BYU to come out of this one with a 2-0 record.
This contest is nationally televised on ESPN2 starting at 10:15 p.m. ET.
Will Josh Rosen continue to shine in hostile environment against UNLV?
UCLA’s Rosen is legit.
This freshman phenom put the nation on notice in Week 1, completing 80 percent of his passes (28 of 35) for 351 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. It was a flawless performance against a decent Virginia defense and signaled Rosen’s status as a clear Heisman contender.
Needless to say, his head coach is excited about the way he performed and expects big things from him going forward.
“I did not see a deer in the headlights look with him at all. I didn’t think that I would, either,” UCLA coach Jim Mora said, via ESPN.com. “I didn’t know how he’d perform, but I didn’t get the feeling that it was going to be too big for him. He was very in the moment — before the game, [Friday] night, during the game. He’s a mature young man and he handled it well. It’s only going to get harder for him because he had some success.”
UNLV should allow Rosen to pad his stats. The Rebels gave up 38 points to Northern Illinois last weekend, allowing quarterback Drew Hare to pass for 360 yards and two touchdowns.
Based on the pin-point accuracy displayed by Rosen against Virginia, he shouldn’t have any trouble shredding the porous defense of UNLV this Saturday night on the road in Las Vegas.
That said, this is the first road game for the true freshman. It will be interesting to see if he can keep his nerves in check in a hostile environment.
Will Malik Zaire continue to shine on the road against Virginia?
Zaire’s performance against Texas was magnificent. He missed on just three of his 22 passing attempts for 313 yards with three touchdowns, and most importantly, no interceptions.
That was a huge bonus for head coach Brian Kelly, who made the comparison to last year, when Everett Golson threw 14 interceptions to the detriment of the Irish.
“Well, I think that, you know, we’re quite aware of where we were last year when we turned the football over,” Kelly said. “I think Coach Sanford has done a great job in developing that kind of identity with our quarterbacks, and I think we feel confident that we’ll continue to work on that and we know that that’s no secret, but it’s a thing that we know, it’s going to be singularly the reason why we can win.”
Texas’ defense isn’t exactly formidable, however. Zaire’s next test against Virginia should test his mettle quite a bit more. While it’s true UCLA took it to the Cavaliers last weekend, Rosen was on fire. It’ll take a similarly hot performance by Zaire to keep the Fighting Irish on the winning path—especially considering this is a road game.
If he can continue playing smart football while making explosive plays—both running and throwing the ball—then it’ll be time to admit Notre Dame is a legitimate playoff contender.
Will Urban Meyer stick with Cardale Jones?
The Ohio State head coach surprised many by starting Jones over J.T. Barrett, and then he surprised those folks even more so by sticking with the signal-caller even after he made some questionable plays against Virginia Tech, including an interception.
Jones certainly flashed elite-level traits, both running and passing the ball. He finished with 186 passing yards and two touchdowns, completing half his passes (9 of 18), adding another 99 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
After the game, Meyer discussed his reasons for starting the outgoing junior quarterback over Barrett, noting his status as the starter last year, as well as his size, as factors that mattered.
“The way I looked at it, Cardale finished the season as the starter and that kind of started the thinking that he had to get beat out and he wasn’t beat out, it was very close,” Meyer said, via USA Today’s For the Win. “I almost went to J.T. earlier but it was such a pressure game that with Cardale’s size I thought he could get over the top and their defensive front was all over the place and that was the decision.”
While Jones did put together a strong performance, he still looked raw as a passer. Further muddying the waters was the fact that Barrett threw a touchdown pass on the pass he attempted late in the game—a 26-yard strike to Michael Thomas.
It’s going to be fascinating to see if Meyer continues to stick with Jones throughout the season. The Buckeyes host Hawaii on Saturday, and if Jones continues to put up mediocre numbers in the passing game you can be sure fans will be calling for Barrett to take his place.
Can Charlie Strong turn things around at Texas?
There’s no way to sugar-coat just how atrocious Texas was last weekend against Notre Dame. The Longhorns gave up 527 yards on defense and only managed 163 total yards offensively, moving the chains for first down only eight times.
Head coach Strong was understandably embarrassed by his team’s performance and is hoping for a “restart.”
“Our goal is to win the [Big 12] championship,” Strong said, via ESPN.com. “We know this week we have to go play well … millions and millions of people are involved in this program and we have to give them hope. They have to see progress.”
Up next for Strong and the Longhorns is a Rice squad that put up 543 yards and 56 points last weekend against Wagner. If things don’t get turned around quickly at Texas, then you can be sure the boosters who were originally dissatisfied with Strong as the choice for head coach will be calling for a change.