With Week 2 in the books, here’s my top 25.
1. Oklahoma (2-0)
Sorry, Bama, but right this second there’s no one playing better than the Sooners. Baker Mayfield has been near perfect and he just turned in a Heisman-caliber performance on the road at Ohio State.
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2. Alabama (2-0)
Of course, the Tide rolled again, smoking Fresno State. This Jalen Hurts guy is pretty good. He totaled 282 yards and three touchdowns.
3. Clemson (2-0)
All hail the Clemson defense, which shone in keeping Auburn out of the end zone and holding them to a jaw-droppingly low 117 total yards.
Big Ten
4. Penn State (2-0)
Penn State’s defense helped mitigate a not-so-smooth day for Trace McSorley. Unlike last year, this was an easy win over Pitt and featured two touchdown drives under 10 seconds in length.
5. USC (2-0)
Redemption came quick for a USC team that looked shaky against Western Michigan as the Trojans turned in a dominating win over Stanford. But Sam Darnold’s thrown four picks in two games.
6. Michigan (2-0)
The Wolverines weren’t the dominating force I expected in a win over Cincinnati. But the numbers turned out fine, with Michigan’s defense creating two takeaways and holding Cincy to just 200 yards.
7. Wisconsin (2-0)
Jonathan Taylor Touchdowns. Surprise, surprise, the Badgers have another star running back. Taylor, a freshman, rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Florida Atlantic.
8. Oklahoma State (2-0)
Another weak opponent, another crushing from the Cowboys. Okie State out-gained South Alabama 505-175 as Mason Rudolph brought his season totals to 638 yards, six touchdowns and zero picks.
9. Louisville (2-0)
In a shocker, your new Heisman frontrunner is the defending Heisman winner. Lamar Jackson looked superhuman against North Carolina, totaling 525 yards and six touchdowns.
10. Georgia (2-0)
The Dawgs brought a true freshman quarterback to South Bend and walked out with a win, thanks to a defense that clamped down, holding the Irish to 55 rushing yards after they ran for 422 a week earlier.
11. Auburn (1-1)
There was no Auburn offense Saturday night in Death Valley, but that was the national champs on the other side of the line. The Auburn D did fine work against a very, very good football team.
12. Ohio State (1-1)
There are big problems in Columbus, from an offense completely stuck in the mud to the worst pass defense in the country. The Buckeyes are long from dead, but they’re ailing badly.
13. LSU (2-0)
The Bayou Bengals’ strength of schedule is nothing but a bad BYU team and FCS foe Chattanooga. But the LSU defense has only allowed 10 points and 63 rushing yards in eight quarters of football.
14. TCU (2-0)
While the Frogs’ defense kept the Hogs to just seven points, the TCU offense was 10-for-14 on third down. TCU has outscored its first two opponents 91-7.
15. Maryland (2-0)
The Terps simply cannot be stopped, following up a 51-point performance in the opener — in which their starting quarterback was lost for the season — with 63 points in Week 2.
16. UCLA (2-0)
After the comeback to end all comebacks in Week 1, Josh Rosen was pitching it all over the yard again, throwing five touchdown passes in a blowout win over Hawaii.
17. Virginia Tech (2-0)
The Hokies’ offense only reached the end zone twice against FCS opponent Delaware, which is a tad concerning. But since when is a 27-0 win a bad thing?
18. Duke (2-0)
After dropping 60 points in the season-opener, the Dukies dominated Northwestern, with quarterback Daniel Jones cutting up the Cats’ defense for 413 total yards and four total touchdowns.
19. West Virginia (1-1)
After that narrow loss to Virginia Tech, West Virginia dropped 56 points on East Carolina. Will Grier is a-slingin’ and is up to 723 yards and eight touchdowns through two games.
20. Stanford (1-1)
The Cardinal got run over by the truck that is the USC offense, nearly getting doubled up by their in-state rivals. You can’t fault the offense too much, as it didn’t turn the ball over and Bryce Love ran for 160 yards.
21. Oregon (2-0)
The Ducks continued their torrid offensive start, demolishing the awful Nebraska defense to the tune of 42 points — in the first half! Oregon didn’t score after halftime but finished with 566 yards.
22. Florida State (0-1), 23. Miami (1-0)
The Noles and the Canes had their games canceled this weekend because of Hurricane Irma. Wishing the very best to everyone in the Sunshine State.
24. Kansas State (2-0)
The Wildcats took two turnovers back for touchdowns and had five rushing scores. K-State keeps a -rollin’ and has scored 55 points in back-to-back games.
25. Washington State (2-0)
Wazzu had a thrilling comeback, triple-overtime win against Boise State to move to 2-0. All that late-night fun counts for something, right?
Other receiving votes:
Iowa (2-0)
The Hawkeyes have wildly exceeded my expectations, following up a shutdown of Josh Allen and Wyoming with an overtime win over Iowa State. Iowa’s looking great with a new quarterback.
Tennessee (2-0)
Another day of big numbers from the Vols’ offense. But it came against Indiana State, which seems less impressive than that opening-week win over Georgia Tech.
Washington (2-0)
I understand the AP voters think the Huskies are a top-10 team, and maybe they are. But a very mediocre win over Rutgers and a throttling of Montana do not, to me, a top-10 team make.
Georgia Tech (1-1)
Four more touchdowns from TaQuon Marshall in this week’s blowout win over Jacksonville State. He’s got nine total scores on the season.
South Carolina (2-0)
Two weeks and two Power Five wins for the Gamecocks, a rarity in the SEC at this time of year. This time it was holding Mizzou to 13 points after the Tigers scored 72 the week before.
Vanderbilt (2-0)
The Vandy defense has allowed six points through two weeks. The Dores have only played Middle Tennessee State and Alabama A&M, though, so yeah.