Outside of Alabama, it’s looking like the 2021 race for the College Football Playoffs might be the most wide open version we’ve ever seen. With powerhouses like Ohio St. and Clemson already with blemishes on their records, conference titles are up for grabs this year. Here’s what happened in week 2 of the college football season.
(17) Coastal Carolina defeats Kansas 49-22
Top Performer: Reese White (CCU) 14 carries, 102yds, 3TDs
Snapshot: Scored on the ground, through the air, and via a blocked punt in this one sided affair against Kansas.
(1)Alabama defeats Mercer 48-14
Top Performer: Bryce Young (ALA) 19/27, 227yds, 3TDs
Snapshot: As expected, Alabama cruised to victory here. Not even a whiff of a “trap game” ahead of their week 3 date with 11th ranked Florida.
(2) Georgia defeats UAB 56-7
Top Performer: Stetson Bennett (UGA) 10/12, 288yds, 5TDs
Snapshot: Everytime Bennett threw the ball, he seemed to come away with a touchdown. Such was life for a woefully overmatched UAB squad this past weekend.
(12) Oregon defeats (3) Ohio St. 35-28
Top Performer: CJ Verdell (ORE) 20 carries, 161yds, 2TDs
Snapshot: A back and forth affair all game long which the Ducks ultimately came out on top of. A slow start for Ohio St. was too much to overcome down the stretch.
(4) Oklahoma defeats Western Carolina 76-0
Top Performer: Spencer Rattler (OU) 20/26, 243yds, 5TDs
Snapshot: You may as well have put a Peewee football team up against the Varsity squad here. A short day for the OU starters.
(5) Texas A&M defeats Colorado 10-7
Top Performer: Brendon Lewis (COL) 9 carries, 76yds
Snapshot: The college football world was on upset alert for most of the afternoon as the Aggies struggled to get anything going offensively. They managed to score a late TD to move to 2-0 on the year, but you have to figure they’ll be dropping in the rankings as a result of this stinker.
(6) Clemson defeats South Carolina St. 49-3
Top Performer: Will Shipley (CLEM) 8 carries, 80yds, 2TDs
Snapshot: Continuing the trend of “blowout or upset alert” in week 2, Clemson walked over South Carolina St. to right the ship after their week 1 loss to Georgia.
(7) Cincinnati defeats Murray St. 42-7
Top Performer: Jerome Ford (CIN) 18 carries, 113yds, 3TDs
Snapshot: A balanced Cincinnati offense survived an initial scare to pull away in the 2nd half. The Bearcats scored 35 unanswered points after heading into the locker room tied at 7 at the break.
(8) Notre Dame defeats Toledo 32-29
Top Performer: Jack Coan (ND) 21/33, 239yds, 2TDs
Snapshot: The Irish escape a potentially catastrophic loss to Toledo by the skin of their teeth. QB Jack Coan threw the game winning TD after dislocating a finger to seal the victory.
(10) Iowa defeats (9) Iowa St. 27-17
Top Performer: Breece Hall (ISU) 16 carries, 69yds, 1TD
Snapshot: For the first time in the “CyHawk” rivalry, both teams came into the game ranked in the top 10. Iowa State’s issues turning the ball over (QB Brock Purdy had 3 INTs) would wind up costing them in the end.
(11) Penn St. defeats Ball St. 44-13
Top Performer: Sean Clifford (PSU) 21/29, 230yds, 1TD
Snapshot: This one was over by halftime in Penn State’s “tune up” before their annual white out game vs. Auburn next week.
(13) Florida defeats South Florida 42-20
Top Performer: Anthony Richards (FLA) 3/3, 152 yds, 2TDs, 4 carries, 115yds, 1TD
Snapshot: Call this one the Anthony Richards show as he got it done in a variety of ways this weekend. It was another light workload for the Florida starters in the 2nd half as they cruised to a 35-3 lead by halftime.
Stanford defeats (14) USC 42-28
Top Performer: Nathaniel Peat (STAN) 6 carries, 115yds, 1TD
Snapshot: In a loss that would ultimately cost head coach Clay Helton his job, USC suffered their first loss of the season at the Coliseum Saturday. Stanford’s pick-six touchdown with 5minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter helped seal the Trojans fate.
Arkansas defeats (15) Texas 40-21
Top Performer: Trelon Smith (ARK) 12 carries, 75yds, 1TD
Snapshot: Is it too late for Texas to retract their bid to join the SEC? Arkansas manhandled the Longhorns in nearly every aspect of the game to hand them their first loss of the year, and likely drop them out of the top 25.
(18) Wisconsin defeats Eastern Michigan 34-7
Top Performer: Chez Mellusi (WISC) 20 carries, 144yds, 1TD
Snapshot: A nice bounceback game for the Badgers, albeit against a lesser opponent. Wisconsin is off next week before a huge date with Notre Dame at Soldier Field on the 25th.
(19) Virginia Tech defeats Middle Tennessee 35-14
Top Performer: Raheem Blackshear (VT) 10 carries, 53yds, 2TDs
Snapshot: A big 3rd quarter where the Hokies scored 14 unanswered points was enough to seal this one after a close first half. There are definitely a few things head coach Justin Fuente will be looking to clean up at practice this week.
(20) Ole Miss defeats Austin Peay 54-17
Top Performer: Matt Corral (OLE) 21/33, 281yds, 5TDs
Snapshot: Matt Corral and the Ole Miss offense had their way with Austin Peay this day, piling up 37pts in the first half alone. Dontario Drummond had a big day hauling in 6 balls for 107yds and two scores for the Rebels in the win.
BYU defeats (21) Utah 26-17
Top Performer: Micah Bernard (UTAH) 12 carries, 146yds, 1TD
Snapshot: A Charlie Brewer INT and a Tavion Thomas fumble could be viewed as the difference in this closely contested affair. Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd was all over the field in this one with 13 tackles and a pass deflection in the loss.
(22) Miami defeats Appalachian St 25-23
Top Performer: Camerun Peoples (APST) 17 carries, 95yds, 1TD
Snapshot: Appalachian St gave Miami everything they could handle in this one. With one minute remaining, the Hurricanes had to come up with a 4th down stop at midfield to escape with the victory.
(23) Arizona St. defeats UNLV 37-10
Top Performer: Jayden Daniels (ASU) 20/29, 175yds, 2TDs, 13 carries, 125yds
Snapshot: If you throw out the 1st quarter, the Sun Devils didn’t play a bad game of football this weekend. Jayden Daniels was everywhere on a day where the ASU offense flowed almost exclusively through him.
(24) North Carolina defeats Georgia St. 59-17
Top Performer: Sam Howell 21/29, 352yds, 3TDs
Snapshot: This was the version of Sam Howell people were expecting to see this season, not the one we saw vs. the Hokies in week 1. Poised in the pocket, he looked every bit the part of a future NFL QB.
(25) Auburn defeats Alabama St. 62-0
Top Performer: Demetris Robertson (AUB) 3rec, 61yds, 2 TDs
Snapshot: This one was over after warmups. Auburn takes on Penn St. in a doozy primetime showdown next week.