After a week of some of the most mouth-watering match ups, the second week of the college football season treated us to a weekend full of less-than-exciting matchups. However, as is the nature of college football, this week still left us with plenty to talk about.
As ranked team after ranked team struggled against much lesser opponents, and new names emerged in the Heisman conversation, the excitement of college football never provides a dull weekend.
Get use to the name Lamar Jackson
Louisville’s sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson has broken a few records and asserted himself into the national conversation as a player to watch for the Heisman.
He broke the school and ACC records for total offense in a game as the Cardinals crushed Syracuse 62-28 Friday night. Jackson, through two games, has already surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for total offense with 1,015 yards, proving without question that this sophomore can put up the big numbers.
He’s led Louisville to the No. 10 ranking in the nation and, with games against Florida State and Clemson coming up, Jackson has a chance to further his Heisman candidacy. Given the way both Clemson and Florida State have played so far, it’s not impossible to think the Cardinals could pull an upset in at least one of these games.
Unless a defense can fully shut down Jackson in both the running and passing game, expect his big numbers to continue week in and week out. His candidacy will be on stage this weekend as Louisville takes on Florida State in one of the premiere matchups of week three.
The Pac shows signs of life in cupcake weekend
Following a week in which the Pac-12 Conference had a collective record of 7-5, which was the second worst behind the SEC’s 7-7, the conference improved by going 8-2 this weekend, even if they game against lesser opponents.
A notable highlight from the weekend was Washington’s 59-14 destruction of Idaho. The Huskies, now ranked in the top eight in the country, show they may be a team that can compete for a playoff spot this season.
Other top moments for the conference include Utah’s win in the ‘Holy War’ over state rival BYU 20-19, Arizona bouncing back from an opening week loss and ASU beating out Texas Tech 68-55.
The opponents will be more challenging next week, but for now, it seems the conference has regained some stability after a bad first week.
Big trouble in the not-so-Big-12
First, the conference favorite Oklahoma fell. Then TCU and Oklahoma State joined the Sooners by recording early season losses.
As it stands, Baylor and Texas are the only ranked teams from the Big-12 that are yet to record a loss. While it is early, the conference could find itself without a team in the College Football Playoff this season, seeing as the top teams are beginning to fall rather early in the year.
Oklahoma State lost in a cruel finish to Central Michigan on a play that shouldn’t have even taken place. TCU crawled its way back to force overtime with Arkansas before becoming the third Big-12 powerhouse to lose in the opening weeks of the season.
It’s very rare for a team to get through a conference as difficult as the Big-12 with only one loss. In the next three weeks alone, Oklahoma State will face Baylor and Texas, while TCU will play Oklahoma, who plays Ohio State this week.
It would be hard to imagine that these top teams in the conference get through this point without another defeat. Despite being one of the better, more competitive conferences in college football, the Big-12 could face the reality of not having a team in the playoff for the second time in the last three seasons.
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