[Sarah Phipps – The Oklahoman]

It might have been the worst week of matchups on paper, but in classic college football fashion, Week Two held some surprises in store for us: look no further than the game pictured above in which Central Michigan won on a controversial long hook-and-ladder type play with no time left to upset Oklahoma State, who was favored by three scores. In a weekend in which no two ranked teams faced each other, there obviously weren’t any high-stakes matchups, but college football always somehow manages to deliver some excitement if you’re willing to sit in front of a TV for long periods of time, tirelessly flipping through the channels to find it.

Big 12

--- Firstly, we must salute our in-state brethren, the CMU Chippewas, for stunning OKLAHOMA STATE on what will surely prove to be one of the season-defining plays of 2016. After the game was extended due to an officiating error (Oklahoma State threw the ball away on fourth down as time expired and were called for intentional grounding, and the refs mistakenly gave Central an untimed down), Cooper Rush heaved the ball downfield to Jesse Kroll short of the end zone, who pitched the ball to Corey Willis, who reversed field and just barely got over the goal line to seal the 30-27 upset. It would have been a disappointing performance from the Cowboys even if they’d won (OSU had 1.9 yards per rush, and conceded four touchdowns and a ton of passing yards to Rush), but they lost in brutal fashion. Central joined its rival, Western Michigan, in upsetting a Power Five foe on the road who’d won ten games the year before. Oklahoma State looks to rebound next week against a pretty decent Pitt squad.

[more after the JUMP]

--- More on this game in a little bit, but TCU was the other ranked team to lose, though dropping a thrilling OT contest against former SWC rival Arkansas is probably better than losing to a MAC team. The Frogs were held scoreless in the first half, but they managed a comeback behind better quarterbacking from Kenny Hill (who wound up having a great day statistically – 470 total yards, 3 total touchdowns) and some electric plays from KaVontae Turpin. Unfortunately for TCU, a would-be go-ahead touchdown in the fourth was overturned on review and they were forced to attempt a last-second field goal, which was blocked, before losing in overtime.

--- Those weren’t the only Big 12 teams to lose: TEXAS TECH ran out of gas in a wild 68-55 loss late at night against Arizona State – a game in which the offenses were as good as the defenses were bad (and Texas Tech’s D was especially terrible); KANSAS lost to Ohio (not Brady Hoke Ohio) at home in a game that wasn’t competitive; IOWA STATE was utterly destroyed by rival Iowa in El Assico, 42-3, and could be headed towards a winless season. Simply put, Week Two was bad and the Big 12 should feel bad. Fun fact: the MAC finishes 2-0 against the league this year.

--- Of course, a couple teams handled their business. TEXAS and OKLAHOMA easily dispatched UTEP and Louisiana Monroe respectively. BAYLOR and WEST VIRGINIA each started slowly – and were tied at halftime against clearly inferior opponents (SMU and Youngstown State) – but pulled away to win by several scores.

[Paul Moseley – SI]

SEC

--- The best result of the weekend goes to ARKANSAS, who somehow conjured up a very entertaining contest with TCU after a pedestrian first three quarters (after which the Hogs led, 20-7). They eventually conceded three straight touchdowns to the Frogs and lost the lead; first-year starting Arkansas QB Austin Allen led the team down the field in the two minute drill and wound up catching the conversion on a two-point trick play after having thrown a touchdown the play before. After TCU kicked a field goal at the beginning of the second overtime, Allen punched in a touchdown on the following drive to give Arkansas the 48-31 win. The game itself was a contrast in styles between the pass-happy spread hurry-up typical of the Big 12 and Bret Bielema’s brand of lumbering Hog ball – and with the win, Bielema has assured himself of the first decent-at-worst start of his tenure in Fayetteville. Since LSU and Ole Miss lost their big non-conference tests, one could argue that Arkansas has as good of a shot as anybody at finishing second in the SEC West behind Alabama.

--- In the gimmicky-but-cool Battle at Bristol, TENNESSEE got back on the right track: Virginia Tech led 14-0 after a quarter, but the Vols outscored the Hokies 45-10 over the next three to emerge with a comfortable victory. It was definitely a better showing for the presumptive SEC East favorites than their Week One scare against Appalachian State; the final score might be somewhat deceptive as VT actually outgained Tennessee by 70 yards – five lost Hokie fumbles made a huge difference there. Senior QB Josh Dobbs was the leading rusher for the Vols (with 106 yards) and scored five total touchdowns. The sad footnote to this game is that the attendance number (156,990) shattered the previous record, which was held by Michigan.

--- The SEC, which had a league game last week, followed it up with two of them in Week Two: FLORIDA dismantled KENTUCKY 45-7 and MISSISSIPPI STATE recovered from a Week One upset to defeat SOUTH CAROLINA 27-14. Florida may very well be Tennessee’s top challenger and they looked great; on the other side of that coin, Kentucky turned in a horrible, horrible performance and it looks like the Mark Stoops era could be on the ropes – he has an eight-figure buyout but will almost definitely have a losing season in year four of his tenure. South Carolina found some life with Brandon McIlwain in at QB in relief of Perry Orth, but Will Muschamp’s squad didn’t have the juice to pull off a comeback.

--- ALABAMA, OLE MISS, TEXAS A&M, LSU, VANDERBILT, AUBURN, and MISSOURI all were pretty unbothered en route to comfortable wins against overmatched opponents; perhaps the biggest story out of any of those teams is that Les Miles turned to Purdue transfer QB Danny Etling, who did marginally better than Brandon Harris with a line of 6/14 for 100 yards, a TD and an INT. GEORGIA almost suffered what would have probably been the biggest upset of the season – they defeated FCS Nicholls State 26-24 and while a win is a win, the good feelings from the Week One win over UNC evaporated quickly.

[Mike Freed – Post-Gazette]

ACC

--- With all the wonderful college football rivalries falling into the dustbin of history, it’s always especially nice when one is revived: PITT renewed its series with its proper in-state rival, Penn State, and held on to win 42-39. The Panthers were dominant on the ground early (and featured some goal line H-back sweep plays with a large blocky catchy gentleman) and, even after running out to a 28-7 lead early in the second and slowing down on the scoreboard, they totaled 56 carries for 341 yards (6.1 yards per carry) and three touchdowns. Still, Penn State had the ball with a chance to tie with a field goal or take the lead with a touchdown late in the game, but Trace McSorely threw an interception after DaeShon Hamilton dropped a wide-open bomb earlier in the drive. The Nittany Lions preferred to air the ball out, but SaQuon Barkley netted five touchdowns (all of them), mostly on goal line carries. It’s too bad Pitt can’t get West Virginia back on the schedule as well.

--- The other games between ACC teams and other Power Five conference opponents were the aforementioned VIRGINIA TECH loss to Tennessee, a 44-26 loss from VIRGINIA on the road against Oregon (how this wasn’t a bigger blowout is a legitimate question), and, on the positive side of the ledger, NORTH CAROLINA went on the road to beat Lovie Smith’s Illinois, 48-23. The Tar Heels got back on track after the UGA loss and the game between they and Pitt in two weeks in Chapel Hill will determine the Coastal frontrunner. Based on what we’ve seen so far, the edge should go to Pitt in that matchup, especially because they’re generally able to pound the ball on iffy run defenses and UNC definitely has one of those.

--- There were a few conference games in Week Two: LOUISVILLE torched SYRACUSE, 62-28, in the Carrier Dome, and while Lamar Jackson added to his September Heisman campaign (510 total yards, 5 touchdowns), the degree of difficulty will ratchet up quickly when the Cardinals welcome FLORIDA STATE to town next week (the Noles beat up on a suspension-depleted FCS foe after their Week One prizefight vs. Ole Miss). Louisville – FSU is a fantastic matchup, maybe the best of this young seasonIn what comes as a bit of a surprise, WAKE FOREST defeated DUKE, 24-14 – the offensive output from the Demon Deacons was exponentially better after putting up seven points (and winning!) against Tulane in the opener. WF is now 2-0 after being one of the worst Power Five programs over the last few years.

--- MIAMI, GEORGIA TECH, and BOSTON COLLEGE handled some lower-level opponents without difficulty. NC STATE didn’t and eventually lost a back-and-forth battle on the road against East Carolina. The Pirates are 4-0 against the ACC over the last three seasons, and in a fairer world with conference promotion and relegation, ECU would be treading water in the middle of the ACC instead of futilely lobbying the Big 12 for membership. CLEMSON looked poor for the second straight weekend in a home win over Troy, and the Tigers look like a shadow of the team that was expected to spend most of the playoff race in the front of the pack.

[uncredited – Fox Sports]

Pac-12

--- Unsurprisingly Texas Tech’s defense did its best wet tissue paper impression in a 68-55 loss to ARIZONA STATE, but even with ample caveats about opponent quality, Kalen Ballage had a day: the Sun Devil goal line wildcat back scored seven rushing touchdowns (and caught another), mostly as a battering ram near the goal line – though he did have 75-yard TD scamper to seal the game in the fourth quarter. ASU gave up 540 yards and 5 touchdowns passing, but two critical second-half interceptions helped keep Texas Tech at arm’s length in what resulted in a two-score win. With uncertainty across the board in the Pac-12 South, the Sun Devils could be a contender, though their secondary’s flammability has to be a concern.

--- UTAH escaped with a win over hated rival BYU after a last-minute two-point conversion attempt that would have likely won the game for the Cougars failed. Even though the Utes accounted for six turnovers on offense, they were able to mitigate the fallout with solid defense and some turnover-forcing of their own (three picks from BYU QB Taysom Hill). As always, the Holy War is a hard-hitting, intense game, but this year’s game was far uglier than usual. Still, with the poor play design on the conversion attempt, the Utes bested their enemies at home by a single point.

--- Two Pac-12 teams traveled to good Mountain West opponents and both lost narrowly: WASHINGTON STATE went down big against Boise State but had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead as the game ended; CAL was absolutely eviscerated by San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey (29 carries, 281 yards, and 3 touchdowns), but hung around with their potent passing offense – QB Davis Webb threw the ball 71 times on Saturday. To say that either of these results were unexpected would be wrong – Boise State and SDSU are top-tier Group of Five teams and Cal and Wazzu are middling-at-best Pac-12 teams.

--- The Pac-12 did have some easy wins: WASHINGTON clobbered Idaho, USC crushed Utah State, COLORADO waxed Idaho State, and OREGON was always comfortably ahead of Virginia in a three-score win. It was a little tougher for UCLA (which needed two 4th quarter TDs to pull away from UNLV) and ARIZONA (who needed a big comeback against Grambling, an overmatched HBCU FCS program).

[Nam Y. Huh – AP]

Big Ten

--- Many people thought NORTHWESTERN’s 10-3 record last year was deceptively flattering and so far, they’ve been proven right: in Week One, they lost a tight game to Western Michigan, and in Week Two they one-upped themselves, losing a hideous 9-7 contest to FCS Illinois State on a last-second Redbird field goal that went off the upright and between the goalposts. Northwestern, which was held off the scoreboard until about midway through the fourth, ran the ball for just 2.8 yards per carry and quarterback Clayton Thorson threw for a 41% completion percentage without any big plays on 41 attempts. Chicago’s Big Ten team is now the clear disappointment of the young season, and with road games against Michigan State, Ohio State, and Iowa, bowl contention will be a challenge for NU.

--- The other conference losses in Week Two came from ILLINOIS, PENN STATE, and PURDUE – each against what are probably quality opponents (UNC, Pitt, and Cincinnati). It should be noted that Purdue’s 38-20 loss was considered a better-than-expected showing for the Boilermakers.

--- Some Big Ten teams feasted on their cupcakes just fine. MICHIGAN and OHIO STATE kept it rolling with blowout victories against overmatched opponents; the Buckeyes get a tough test in a marquee road game against Oklahoma on Saturday. As mentioned earlier, IOWA throttled Iowa State, 42-3. WISCONSIN, INDIANA, MARYLAND, and NEBRASKA defeated teams from the Group of Five. RUTGERS struggled early, but eventually trounced an FCS opponent; MINNESOTA handled theirs easily.