Dawg Fight: Georgia Slips Past Notre Dame on Late Field Goal.
WEEK 2 ARTICLES: CFP TEAMS, G5 TOP 4, GOPHERS UPDATE, W3 GOTW
Week 2 featured two tight games, as well as two surprising results. Clemson-Auburn and Georgia-Notre Dame went down to the wire, while Oklahoma stunned Ohio State and USC pulled away in the second half from Stanford. We still don't have any definitive answers after two weeks, but there is some clarity shining through.
FIVE THOUGHTS FROM WEEK 2
Lamar Jackson is still the best player in college football. Despite nearly everyone ignoring him for the Heisman this year, Jackson is still doing incredible things on the football field. He's already thrown for 771 yards and rushed for 239 more while accumulating eight touchdowns. If you watched him score at will against North Carolina, you would understand how good he is. He's the top player in college football until further notice.
Notre Dame and Oregon are back. Despite the Irish loss to Georgia, and Oregon's late game struggle against Nebraska, it appears that their 2016 seasons are well in the past. Irish QB Brandon Wimbush appears to be the quarterback of the future, and Oregon has gotten back to its high scoring ways behind QB Justin Herbert and RB Royce Freeman.
Ed Oliver is the best player that no one is talking about. Those who stayed up late to watch Houston play Arizona were treated to the best defensive player in college football. You could argue that he's the best in college football overall, but there's no debate about his defensive status. Oliver threw Wildcat offensive lineman around like he was a man playing against boys, and made an impact in nearly every play in which he was on the field. Don't give me the "he plays for a weaker school" garbage. Go watch his film against Oklahoma and Louisville last year, and throw last nights' film on top of it. He would dominate wherever he plays. Period.
Louisiana Tech struggled against Mississippi State. And this play sums up their night.
If you were a Power 5 team, you struggled; and if you were an underdog this week, you felt good about yourself. Numerous Power 5 teams, including three from the SEC, struggled with inferior competition this week. Ole Miss, Kentucky and Texas A&M all were in battles with FCS schools before pulling away at the end of their games. Arizona State lost to San Diego State, making Todd Graham's seat even hotter, and Baylor's already bad season got worse with a loss to UTSA. It's crazy to think the Bear's were a Top 10 team just a couple years ago. Power 5 bottom feeders Kansas and Rutgers were stunned by Central Michian and Eastern Michigan, repectively. Bowling Green was dominated by South Dakota despite bringing the score within eight, and Georgia Southern got worked by New Hampshire. Syracuse had goals of being a competitor in the ACC, but lost to Middle Tennessee. Some weeks its just not good to be the favorite. Oh and the SEC isn't the best conference in college football so far.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Shea Patterson, QB, Ole Miss- The Rebels may not be good this year, but Patterson is going to be one player to watch. He's yet to throw under 400 yards this season, and already has nine touchdown passes. He threw for 489 yards and five scores against UT-Martin this week.
Shane Morris, QB, Central Michigan- The Michigan transfer played a large role in the upset over Kansas this week. And it counted this time. The Chippewas "beat" Oklahoma State last year on a play that shouldn't have occurred, but they made this one count. Morris accounted for 467 yards and five scores against the Jayhawks.
D'Angelo Brewer, RB, Tulsa- Brewer rushed for 262 yards, and the Golden Hurricane needed every single one of them. His three scores were much needed as well as Tulsa hung on to beat UL-Lafayette 66-42.
Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU- The Mustangs flexed their offensive muscle against North Texas, and did so mostly via the Ben Hicks to Sutton connection. The 6'4" junior hauled in four touchdowns to aid SMU's 54-32 win over the Mean Green.
Austin Bryant, DE, Clemson- Bryant recorded four of Clemson's 11 sacks against Auburn, and was a big reason why the Tigers held the other Tigers to just six points.
Ed Oliver, DT, Houston- 11 tackles, 1.5 TFL, a forced fumble, and a blocked field goal. Someone tell the Cougars to put him on offense too!
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Jarrett Stidham officially received his "Welcome back to college football" moment, and it wasn't a good one. Stidham was sacked 11 times, and the Tigers offense put up just 117 yards, including just 38 on the ground. One positive is their own defense held Clemson's offense to 284 yards with just 99 rushing yards. It was a defensive battle to say the least, but Auburn never went away despite their struggles. Give Stidham some more time (and two healthy running backs), and Auburn should be just fine. The defensive success is something they can build upon. Until then, they just have to be happy they scored six points against arguably the best defense in college football.
I, along with many more, am shocked about this result. It's not a surprise that Oklahoma won the game, but to win by 15 was stunning. After being embarrassed at home against the Buckeyes last year, the Sooners came to the 'Shoe and silenced the Ohio State faithful. In just his second game as head coach, Lincoln Riley got his team ready to play and they put on a show.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 386 yards against a struggling Buckeyes secondary (they lost multiple players to the NFL draft), and his top receiver was his fullback. Yes, you read that right. Dimitri Flowers has proven to be a consistent pass catcher in his time as fullback, and he caught seven passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Name another fullback that's capable of leading the team in receiving. Oklahoma will shoot up the rankings, and may have Oklahoma State fans worried. This was supposed to be the Cowboys year, but they (once again) might have to wait.
If you like high scoring games, this game and the Clemson-Auburn game were not for you. But that doesn't mean the game was a disappointment. The Bulldogs and Fighting Irish battled all night and touchdowns were hard to come by. A back-and-forth game was ensuing, and the Bulldogs pulled ahead (if you want to call it that) for good with 3:34 left in the game.
Georgia freshman quarterback Jake Fromm struggle against the Irish defense, but relied on his running backs to carry the offense. Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and D'Andre Swift rushed for a combined 178 yards, and picked up numerous key first downs in the game. Notre Dame's freshman quarterback Brandon Wimbush faired a little better, but also relied on his running back. While Josh Adams only rushed for 53 yards, he also caught six passes for 60 yards.
After a year in which they struggled mightily, Notre Dame appears to be back on track despite the loss. Losing by a point isn't something this team should hang their heads about, and they have a quarterback that could be one of the greats. Georgia's second year under Kirby Smart is off to a great start, and they have a defense that could be one of the best in the country.
USC's offense is for real, and the backfield is a big reason for their success. Ronald Jones II is the name everyone knows, but Stephen Carr could be just as good. The duo combined for 135 yards, and Carr averaged 10.8 yards per carry. 10.8. Against Stanford. Now, the Cardinal defense isn't what it used to be (see the total yardage above), but that shouldn't take away from how explosive this offense is.
That being said, Stanford isn't a bad team, but their reign over the Pac-12 might be on a hiatus for now. Running back Bryce Love is still really good, and has many thinking he could be better than Christian McCaffrey. Quarterback play was solid for the Cardinal, and Keller Chryst didn't turn the ball over on Saturday.
USC still has some concerns to work on, but the offense continues to be extremely explosive. The defense needs to work on its tackling, as Bryce Love shook many Trojan defenders this week. USC is allowing 216 yards per game on the ground, which puts them 109th. A playoff run is going to happen if they continue at this pace, as championship teams know how to stop the run.
