Football - Week 2 Recap
This week summed up everything we love about college football! Chaos all over the country as shock and awe struck blue bloods of the sport while high-profile matchups turned to blowouts! So much happened that I'll stick to the highlights for this post.
It all began Friday night with an Indiana beatdown of Western Illinois while BYU upset SMU in Dallas. The night game featured a double-overtime thriller with Duke taking down Northwestern in their temporary, but oddly beautiful stadium(?) while the Wildcats await the construction of their new home.
Saturday started off with a bang! Texas rolling into the Big House and absolutely annihilating the reigning champion Michigan Wolverines in their own backyard. Quinn Ewers has skyrocketed to the top of the Heisman race with an amazing performance. Another notable early game was Kansas State making a huge second half comeback to beat Tulane, Syracuse shocked a Georgia Tech side who have been riding a high since beating Florida State in Ireland in Week 0, Pitt with a huge 4th quarter comeback topped a favored Cincinnati, and I can't move on from the 11am kickoffs without mentioning the near shocker with Bowling Green holding their own against the always tough Penn State Nittany Lions.
The chaos kicked into high gear in the second time slot, though. Cal taking down Auburn should probably have been less of a surprise than it was, Iowa State took down a ranked Iowa side with a near walk-off field goal, FCS teams Idaho and St. Francis took down Wyoming and Kent State respectively, and until an insanely high-scoring 4th quarter, it looked like Missouri State might upset Ball State. However, none of those were the big headlines this week. A humble representative of the MAC Conference, against all odds, waltzed into South Bend and took down the ever-overrated Notre Dame Fighting Irish with two blocked field goals, one as time expired in each half, in a display of resilience unlike anything we've seen yet this season.
Moving on to the later set of games, we saw Clemson absolutely dismantle App State, Vanderbilt finally getting to take part in a beatdown of an FCS team while simultaneously running out of fireworks and getting noise complaints about a ship horn going off in downtown Nashville, while the Volunteers of Tennessee proved they will be a major force in the SEC by stomping the NC State Wolfpack on their home turf. Until late in the game, it looked as if we might see yet another massive upset with South Florida clinging to Alabama, much like last year, while the Crimson Tide struggled just to hold onto the football. All the while, Colorado was being handed a massive L at Nebraska, who have worked their way up to a much deserved AP poll ranking.
The most fun day of college football I've experienced in a while really did save the best for last, though. Oregon and Boise State fought like old rivals in an instant classic and early contender for game of the year. Jeanty of the Broncos added his name to the Heisman race while Oregon took a massive dub, despite all the criticism they are getting. I think this game cements Boise State as the favorite for the Go5 playoff spot for now while Oregon show signs they may struggle in the Big Ten.
Overall, a fantastic weekend of football. It was certainly one I won't soon forget. The schedule for next week does not look nearly as enticing, but after NIU's upset this Saturday, there's proof that anything can happen in college football.