College football is unpredictable and delightful, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. And Week 2 absolutely delivered, from a stunner in Stillwater to an instant classic in Austin.
Each Sunday, I’ll publish my biggest takeaways from the college football weekend. I’ll highlight the most interesting storylines, track College Football Playoff contenders and specifically shout out individual and team performances that deserve the spotlight.
1. Steve Sarkisian got what he needed most.
He beat one of college football’s bluest bluebloods. I know he took the Longhorns to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff in back-to-back seasons, but we live in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world. And lately, Texas had been overhyped and under-delivering — with three losses to Georgia since joining the SEC, and two losses to Ohio State (in the CFP and last year’s season-opener). After starting last year as the preseason No. 1 team, Texas didn’t even make the CFP.
But Saturday was different, even after a first half that felt all too familiar. Arch Manning delivered with the game on the line. Hollywood Smothers showed the value of adding the transfer portal’s best available running back. And Sarkisian got the kind of win that helps a head coach sleep at night. The kind of win that gives a team a nice cushion heading into conference play, knowing that its CFP resume has a pretty shiny centerpiece.
One note: Sark might want to work on his postgame interview etiquette.
2. Ohio State has only itself to blame for blowing that 20-point lead.
Where was the Buckeye pass rush? Where was the reliable field-goal kicker? Where’s a second go-to receiver not named Jeremiah Smith who can give this team more options offensively? What was up with some of those ultra-conservative play calls from new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith? After every bounce went its way in the first half, Ohio State puckered when it all mattered most.
3. Eric Morris got his first signature win at Oklahoma State.
It took just two games for Morris to make his mark. We’ll forgive and forget about the loss to Tulsa in Week 1. That’s old news. Now, it’s time to talk about Morris and co. coming to Stillwater with 20-plus North Texas transfers and most of Morris’ old staff from Denton. It’s time to talk about Drew Mestemaker and the fact that the Mestemaker-led offense nearly doubled the output of that of the No. 6 team in the country. He quarterbacked the most productive offense in the Football Bowl Subdivision a year ago, and you saw how explosive that looked with what we saw in Stillwater on Saturday.
Morris is duplicating what Curt Cignetti did when he first got to Indiana from James Madison. Morris imported a bunch of key players from his previous stop to help set the foundation of his program and speed up the rebuild (for an Oklahoma State program that went 1-11 a year ago and lost to Oregon by 66 points). That model clearly works, and it allowed the Cowboys to deliver one of the biggest and most shocking wins of the whole season. And they haven’t even started Big 12 play yet — where I think they’ll do some serious damage, too.
4. Oregon doesn’t look like a national title contender. At least, not right now.
After Oregon eked past Boise State last week, I thought the result said more about the Broncos as a College Football Playoff-caliber team than it did about the Ducks. But I did also say I reserved the right to freak out about Oregon at a later date.
Well, that date is here, and the time is now. I’m deeply concerned about Oregon in the trenches. I’m deeply concerned about the Ducks defense, which got gashed repeatedly. I said all offseason that I was in wait-and-see mode with Oregon because the Ducks were replacing both coordinators, and I realize now that I might have undersold that situation. Will Stein is at Kentucky now. Tosh Lupoi is at Cal. The growing pains are clearly greater than anticipated, even with Dan Lanning opting to promote from within.
Oregon still has so much talent on this roster. Dante Moore is still one of the best quarterbacks in the country. I’m not writing this team off just yet — especially not in the 12-team CFP era with plenty of opportunities to make up ground — but I’m worried about what we just saw.
5. I want Akron to let me call offensive plays for a drive.
That looked fun! Even if it is, indeed, harder than it looks.
6. Bryce Underwood bounced back in a big way — as a runner. And somehow, Michigan is 2-0.
Kyle Whittingham started the week with a tepid endorsement of his quarterback, stating that Bryce Underwood was Michigan’s “QB for now.”
“It’s not something that’s infinite,” Whittingham said. “At some point, we’ve got to turn a corner, and we’ve got to see improvement.”
While Underwood’s final stat line from Saturday’s win over No. 11 Oklahoma was underwhelming in a vacuum, it represented that bounce-back that his head coach wanted to see. A huge part of that was Underwood’s legs. He carried the ball a career-high 18 times and scored a nice rushing touchdown. Obviously, if you’re a Michigan fan, you want to see a consistent passing attack and a reliable non-Underwood run game. But beggars can’t be choosers at this point, and you’d happily take a win like this — with that performance from a dominant defensive line — after such a poor showing against Western Michigan.
7. Oklahoma’s offense looked inept.
And not all that different than it looked last year, which is an issue. The Sooners ranked 92nd in FBS in total offense last season, with the offense best described as “whatever John Mateer could make happen behind an offensive line that didn’t give him much time to do much of anything.”
Against Michigan, we didn’t see much to suggest that the Sooners addressed their weaknesses. The offensive line was still a problem. The non-Mateer run game was basically nonexistent. Mateer can’t do it all. He can’t do it by himself, and he can’t shoulder everything for Oklahoma and stay fully healthy all season. I’m just not sure how you fix this in-season.
8. Alabama reminded Kentucky that it’s still Alabama.
I loved the Will Stein hire for Kentucky. And I love how much excitement there is around this program — and how many flasks were definitely brought into Kroger Field on the head coach’s orders — even though it’s just Year 1 and it’s hard to win football games in Lexington. The Wildcats kept it close for as long as they could before Alabama pulled away late. Kentucky and Alabama rosters are, indeed, still different.
9. The most-anticipated matchup of the season is finally upon us.
Lane Kiffin makes his triumphant return to Oxford to face his former team, Ole Miss, next Saturday night. People always say sports is the best reality TV, and there is no better headliner than Kiffin.
