After a wild Week 1 in college football, Week 2 followed with more chaos. From comeback wins and bounce-back performances to teams remembering to put their foot on the gas, the weekend slate gave fans lots to think about.
Sark Finally Gets Texas To Break Through
Steve Sarkisian has developed a reputation, to an extent, as the offensive-minded James Franklin. A great coach that fans feel good about until he’s coaching in a big game. Through three quarters on Saturday night, it looked like that narrative would continue. The Longhorns fumbled on the first play of the game, and Arch Manning threw a cartoonish pick on the second drive, making it feel like Sark might be cursed in these games.
Then something happened in the fourth quarter. The defense locked in, and Manning got into a groove to dominate the final quarter, where they scored 21 unanswered points to win the game. Texas outgained Ohio St. 194-52 in the quarter and dominated time of possession.
This iteration of Texas has generated massive hype with Sarkisian and Manning but hasn’t produced the results to match. This type of win can boost a team’s confidence and swagger to levels that carry throughout the season. Texas gets another nice tune-up game against UTSA, resetting emotions before starting SEC play. Getting that monkey off their backs could be huge as the competition gets tougher.
How Does The Loss Affect Ohio St.
On the other side of the biggest game of the weekend, Ohio St. has put themselves in a difficult position. The preseason number 1 team has the roster, but the schedule was always a question mark. Texas needed the win to feel like they could actually play with the top teams, but the Buckeyes needed it to give themselves a margin for error.
Conference realignment is great for fans because there are better matchups, but teams occasionally get brutal schedules, like the one OSU has. Obviously, they had this Top 5 matchup, but they still have to go to Iowa in three weeks. Then they have the toughest three-game stretch in the country: at Indiana, at USC, and then at home for Oregon. Then they get to finish the season with a home game against Michigan.
This loss wasn’t just brutal in its fashion; it also puts so much more pressure on the rest of the season for the Buckeyes. The voters may still give them a pass because of the schedule, but it’s tough to imagine a world where they get in with three losses.
Oregon Does Have Issues
Last week, there was an argument to pump the brakes on Oregon, and that Boise St. deserved a lot more respect as an opponent. Drew Mestemaker and Oklahoma St. are no slouches, but considering all the preseason love that Oregon got, they can not look this bad through two weeks. The defense has been anemic, and they have been desperate for Dante Moore to save them.
Oregon didn’t just lose this game; they were outclassed. Oklahoma St. dominated every aspect of the game, nearly doubling the Ducks in yards and leading time of possession by almost 14 minutes. Mestemaker looked like a Heisman frontrunner, throwing for 317 yards, rushing for another 109, and three total touchdowns.
Dan Lanning has some soul-searching to do with his team. In two weeks, they open up Big Ten play, facing a USC team on the road that looks like it’s cruising. His Ducks have looked flat, lacked physicality, and seem to be uninterested in avoiding unforced errors. There’s a team every year that wildly underperforms. Oregon has its work cut out for it to avoid being that team in 2026.
Michigan Is The Most Confusing Team In College Football
It feels impossible to make sense of Michigan through two weeks. They looked as bad as any ranked team in Week 1, but escaped with an ugly win. Then they turned around and put out another ugly performance. They had 11 penalties for 90 yards, were outgained by the Sooners, and Bryce Underwood looked like wasted potential again. Somehow they still found a way to win and upset 11th-ranked Oklahoma.
Maybe the best way to put it is that they might be Iowa with more talent. Iowa doesn’t compete for national championships, but nobody likes playing them. It’s always low-scoring, they make the game messy, and they’re just a thorn in the side of every team. Michigan has a better roster in terms of recruiting rankings, but Kyle Whittingham may just need to lean into that style, given how they’ve looked on the field.
Texas A&M And Alabama Remember Who They Are
Both the Crimson Tide and Aggies looked like they had their hands full this week. At their respective halftimes, A&M held a one-score lead, and Bama actually trailed. Both teams went on runs in the second half to cast all doubt aside. Bama scored 32 unanswered points in their dominating second half against Kentucky, and the Aggies outscored Arizona St. 31-10 the rest of the way.
These two teams on the periphery of title contenders have shown a lot of positives through two weeks. Their matchups were not to the level of Texas versus Ohio St., but Kentucky and Arizona St. are still Power 4 schools that can put up a fight. Alabama and A&M need those wins to get back to the playoff and make up for disappointingly early exits last season.
Jayden Maiava Continues To Shine
This looks like it’s going to be a theme of the year. Through three games, Maiava is looking like another Lincoln Riley masterpiece. Three quarterbacks since 2017 in that system have taken home Heisman honors. Maiava is playing to that level right now.
The USC quarterback hasn’t shot up the rankings just yet (still the 10th best odds according to FanDuel), but he is laying the groundwork in these early-season matchups. He is currently averaging just under 300 yards per game, completing 81% of his throws, and has ten touchdowns to just one interception. He’s going to need to show it against the better competition, but he’s given himself a great head start going into conference play.
