OXFORD — Life comes at you fast, college football world. I’m staring directly at you, Notre Dame.
A week after notching a premiere win at a ranked Texas A&M squad, the Fighting Irish returned home as four-touchdown favorites and fell 16-14 to Northern Illinois. College football is very, very weird, and that’s why we love it.
My biggest riser for the week was Tennessee, who blew out a ranked NC State team on the road. Michigan and Notre Dame took pretty drastic drops after their losses, though the Wolverines’ loss to Texas is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s just that … the game wasn’t particularly close.
Here is my top 25, and here is a link to the actual rankings.
- Georgia
- Texas
- Ohio State
- Ole Miss
- Alabama
- Missouri
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Tennessee
- Miami
- Utah
- USC
- Kansas State
- Oklahoma State
- Oklahoma
- LSU
- Michigan
- Notre Dame
- Louisville
- Clemson
- Arizona
- Iowa State
- Nebraska
- Texas A&M
- Syracuse
The top 10
Georgia once again did Georgia things this week, easily taking care of business against Tennessee Tech in a game where quarterback Carson Beck threw five touchdowns. The Longhorns had one of the most impressive wins of the week, as quarterback Quinn Ewers and Texas dismantled defending national champion Michigan 31-12 in the Big House. Ohio State took care of business against Western Michigan, a game where the Buckeyes ran for 273 total yards and six touchdowns.
Ole Miss was once again impressive and has outscored the opposition 128-3 through two games. Yes, Furman and Middle Tennessee aren’t exactly world beaters, but the Rebels are doing exactly what they have to do as big favorites — and that’s not something every team in the country has been able to say thus far. Rebels senior quarterback Jaxson Dart set the SEC single-game record for consecutive completions (24) against the Blue Raiders and is completing 87% of his passes through two games. I’ve had the Rebels ahead of Alabama all season, and the Crimson Tide’s matchup with USF didn’t sway me otherwise. While the final score says Alabama won by 26, it was a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter. We’ll learn more about the Crimson Tide this weekend when they play at Wisconsin.
Missouri continues to take care of business against teams it should, and Oregon notched a tight win over a very prolific Boise State team. The jury still seems to be out a bit on the Ducks, as they’ve played two relatively tight games. Penn State escaped a close one with Bowling Green, which left me with a few questions. Tennessee had one of the other marquee wins of the week, beating up ranked NC State team 51-10 on the road. Miami rounds out my top 10, as the Hurricanes were dominant against an undermanned Florida A&M team.
The rest
Utah looked like it was going to blow Baylor out of the water early, but quarterback Cam Rising suffered an injury and did not return. The Utes are still an elite team when Rising is healthy, and they beat a Power 4 team by double digits. USC continues to impress, as the Trojans shut out Utah State 48-0 at the Coliseum. USC having a good defense isn’t something most of us have had on our bingo cards the last few years, but through two games, here we are.
Kansas State went on the road and beat a very good Tulane team and looks to be among the Big 12’s best. Oklahoma State won a crazy game in double overtime against Arkansas, a game where the Cowboys trailed by two touchdowns at halftime. They remain ahead of Oklahoma for me, as the Sooners struggled mightily against Houston. LSU struggled a bit early with Nicholls but ended up winning by a wide margin. Michigan and Notre Dame took pretty swift dives after their losses, with the Fighting Irish dropping 13 spots from last week.
Louisville has been dominant through two weeks against lesser competition but, again, they’ve done what they have to do. Clemson bounced back from their opening blowout loss to Georgia with a huge win over Appalachian State. Arizona struggled for a while with Northern Arizona but ended up winning by 12. Iowa State upset Iowa and is 2-0 despite averaging just 20.5 points per game and entered my rankings with Nebraska, who handled Colorado and looks like it’s turned a corner under Matt Rhule. I rounded out my top 25 with Texas A&M, who bounced back with a big win over McNeese State, and Syracuse. The Orange are 2-0 and just beat a very good Georgia Tech team, which is why they entered my rankings.
Northern Illinois and Illinois are both 2-0 and were also under consideration for my top 25. My leaving them out is less about what I think about those teams than it is I’m really not sure what to make of Notre Dame and Kansas, which are their marquee wins, respectively.
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