Another week of mostly duds for college football still provided us with enough information to heat up the season. Tennessee Football fans are now nervous after how bad their team looked against the Austin Peay Governors. Here are the 10 biggest takeaways from the week 2 slate of games.
1. Early 2000s college football blue bloods look back
The Florida State Seminoles, Texas Longhorns, USC Trojans, Ohio State Buckeyes and Miami Hurricanes all look like top 10 teams. I just named the national champion every year from 2001 to 2005 (USC split in 2003), and FSU played for the college football national title in 2000. When did this happen? It’s like the BCS era has returned in full force!
2. SEC looks bad
We specifically looked at 2000 to 2005 because the SEC didn’t start dominating college football until 2006. After a bad opening week, things got worse this past weekend, as the Alabama Crimson Tide lost a home game to Texas, and the Texas A&M Aggies got blown out by the Miami Hurricanes. The league is now 3-6 against Power Five opponents.
3. Offense a huge question in SEC and Big Ten
Part of the reason for bad SEC play is bad quarterback play. Joe Milton III, Carson Beck and Jalen Milroe replaced Hendon Hooker, Stetson Bennett and Bryce Young from last year. The same thing is happening in the Big Ten. We know about the Iowa Hawkeyes, but Kyle McCord doesn’t look right for the Ohio State Buckeyes. At least they look more dominant than the SEC.
4. Alabama era looks over…but don’t pound the gavel just yet
Yes, Nick Saban just lost at home to Texas, but honestly, if he found a quarterback, this team would look extremely different. They still got the No. 1 recruiting class this past year and are on a tear this recruiting cycle. A college football national title doesn’t seem in the works this year, but it’s nowhere near done.
5. Jimbo Fisher and the college football hot seat talk returns
So…that Jimbo Fisher and Bobby Petrino marriage worked out for a week. Okay, Texas A&M lost that game on defense, but the offense should’ve been able to put up more than 33 points given its hype. Two interceptions by Connor Weigman is unacceptable, and they also averaged under three and a half yards a carry on the ground. Yep, Fisher is in trouble.
6. Kudos to the Pac-12…and the ACC
Not bad for a conference about to end and another hanging on for dear life. The Pac-12 has lost two non-conference games. One was the Arizona Wildcats losing at the Mississippi State Bulldogs in overtime on a questionable call. There are eight top 25 caliber teams there. Meanwhile, the ACC is elite at the top with the Duke Blue Devils, Miami, FSU, North Carolina Tar Heels and Louisville Cardinals.
7. Prime looks even more legit
Speaking of the Pac-12, the Colorado Buffaloes are now 2-0. Deion Sanders beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and they did so in completely different fashion than the TCU Horned Frogs. After all, they had to run the ball and play tough defense, winning the line of scrimmage. That’s exactly what they managed to do.
8. Will Nebraska ever get back among college football elite?
Taking the analytics approach with Matt Rhule was the best move Nebraska could make to take advantage of their strengths, but Colorado beat them at their own game. Rhule is 0-2 in his first year, and Sanders is 2-0. We keep asking the question, but is this verifiable proof Nebraska will never return to the elite of college football?
9. Heisman race
1. Travis Hunter
2. Shedeur Sanders
3. Caleb Williams
4. Michael Penix Jr.
5. Sam Hartman
10. Top 10 and College Football Playoff outlook
1. Texas
2. Florida State
3. Colorado
4. Duke
5. Auburn
6. Miami
7. Utah
8. Mississippi State
9. Ole Miss
10. Oregon
