Week Two of the College Football season typically has a lot of meaningless games with the big teams scheduling warm-ups against FCS teams as they get ready for conference play. This season is no different and the scores reflected this. Still there were a few surprises and some high scoring games.
AP Top 25 Teams
Six of the top 25 ranked teams who were playing lost, however, some were unavoidable given there were two all ranked matchups, the pick of which was the exciting SEC Big 12 showdown between LSU & Texas which had over 11oo yards of offense & only one turnover. A late Texas TD made the score look closer than the game was though and on this showing, LSU might just give Alabama a game when they meet in November.
The other all ranked game saw reigning champions, Clemson, comfortably hold off Texas A&M who like Texas had a late TD which made the scoreline look less dominant than Ckemsions Display was (the Tigers had 100 yards more offense and held A&M to 53 yards on the ground). Clemson goes to their main divisional rival Syracuse next week and they could pretty much end the ACC Coastal as a contest with a win there.
Most of the rest of the top ten coasted through their games, with the exception of Michigan who struggled against a once again somewhat underrated Army side, needing double OT and an unfortunate Kevin Hopgood Fumble to clinch the victory. Expect them to slide a bit on this showing.
The Big Upset of the weekend came in Maryland, where the Terrapins dominated on the ground racking up 354 yards rushing in a crushing 63-20 win over No. 21 Syracuse. The Orange were expected to have a good season, however, with Clemson coming to town next week, any hopes of a high ranking could be over. Close on their heels for shock factor was Cal’s narrow win at Washington in a weather interrupted game. It was close though with Cal snatching the 20-19 victory with a field goal with 8 seconds left.
Top 25 Results
Marshall @ Boise State (24) 7-14
Texas A&M (12) @ Clemson (1) 24-10
New Mexico State @ Alabama (2) 10-62
Murray State @ Georgia (3) 17-63
South Dakota @ Oklahoma (4) 14-70
Cincinnati @ Ohio State (5) 0-42
(6) LSU @ Texas (9) 45-38
Army @ Michigan (7) 20-24 (double OT)
Tulane @ Auburn (10) 6-24
UT Martin @ Florida (11) 0-45
Northern Illinois @ Utah (13) 17-35
Cal @ Washington (14) 20-19
Buffalo @ Penn State (15) 13-45
Nevada @ Oregon (16) 6-77
Central Michigan @ Wisconsin (17) 0-61
(18) UCF @ Florida Atlantic 48-14
Western Michigan @ Michigan State (19) 17-51
Rutgers @ Iowa (20) 0-30
(21) Syracuse @ Maryland 20-63
Northern Colorado @ Washington State (22) 17-59
(23) Stanford @ USC 20-45
(25) Nebraska @ Colorado 31-34 (OT)
Racking them up
A few FCS teams ended up on the wrong side of drubbings led by:
Charleston Southern 10 @ South Carolina 72
Entertaining Game of the Week
Charlotte 41 @ Appalachian State 56 – well if you like running plays anyway, as there were 79 carries for 506 yards. Overall 14 TDs and no field goals. It was also quite close early but Appalachian scoring two TD’s in a couple of minutes to end the first half finished it as a contest. Honourable mention in the points scored stakes goes to Northern Arizona 41 @ Arizona 65. A credible performance by FCS NAU who might put up a bit of a challenge in the Big Sky on this performance.
Performance of the Week
Got to give it to Army who once again showed they are capable of mixing it with the Big Boys last year they took Oklahoma to OT and this year it’s Michigan.
Valiant in Defeat
Fresno State who took Big 10 Minnesota to double OT before succumbing 38-35
One you might have missed
FCS Kennesaw State gave a good account of themselves only losing in OT at Kent State. They were leading with 10 seconds to go before Kent kicked the tying FG. Worth a mention as we don’t expect to see many more wins for the Golden Flashes if this is the best they can do.
Looking Good
Boise State once again pulled off a nice win Marshall may be a C-USA team but they are still tough to beat. The sign of a promising team is one who can win when one side of the ball is misfiring. UCF’s 48-14 win @ Florida Atlantic was also pretty impressive. These two could be in the mix for that coveted at large Bowl bid.
Slightly Disappointing
UL Monroe 44 @ Florida State 45 (OT). Sun Belt side ULM will probably struggle to get bowl eligible this year. If FSU can’t play better than this they will be sitting out December too.
Wake Me Up When It’s All Over
Surprisingly there weren’t any terrible games this week but the award for the lowest scoring one goes to Coastal Carolina 12 @ Kansas 7. It may not have been high scoring but it was interesting to a point asits not often a Sun Belt Team wins on the road against a Big 12 member.
