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Next Saturday now: Crucial week for Stoops, Malzahn

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Auburn's Gus Malzahn have seen hyped seasons fall short of expectations before. Getty Images

Sorry Oklahoma State, but the 1972 Munich Olympic basketball officials are not walking through that door. That loss to Central Michigan is final. It's time to move on. On to Week 3.

Some things we'll be obsessing about all week

1. Big week for Stoops and Malzahn

Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Auburn's Gus Malzahn are both 1-1 this season.

They also have something else in common: Since 2011, they are among nine coaches of teams that ranked in the AP's preseason top 10 and finished the season unranked.

Of those nine coaches, Stoops and Malzahn are the only ones who were not fired or retired within the next 12 months. Steve Sarkisian, Mark Richt, Steve Spurrier, Will Muschamp, Lane Kiffin, John L. Smith and Mike Sherman were not as fortunate.

Malzahn might not be as fortunate, either. He's still in that 12-month window from last year's tailspin when Auburn started at No. 6.

Much has been made about how meaningless preseason polls are, but the added expectations of these meaningless polls have been fatal for several coaching careers. Both Stoops and Malzahn face critical junctures on Saturday. Oklahoma hosts Ohio State and Auburn hosts Texas A&M. The Sooners haven't been 1-2 since 2005, while the Tigers' last 1-2 start was in 2012 -- Gene Chizik's final season at Auburn.

Stoops might have lost his "Big Game Bob" moniker, but he is college football's longest tenured coach, and he has a national title and eight conference championships. While there is occasional grumbling from the Oklahoma faithful, it's like the state's fracking-generated earthquakes: noisy and annoying, but they don't last long. Stoops can remain in Norman as long as he wishes.

That is not the case for Malzahn at Auburn. There is a totally different vibe about Gus' bus. Since losing in the 2013 national title game, the Tigers have been running on fumes. In their past 14 games against Power 5 opponents, the Tigers are only 3-11. Three wins? That equals the number of quarterbacks Auburn used in the opener against Clemson.

Ohio State and Oklahoma could be a classic. We can only hope it matches their epic 1977 game in Columbus, when Oklahoma kicker Uwe Von Schamann mocked the Ohio State band and participated in their "Block that kick" chant before kicking the game winner.

At Auburn, it's not fair to say Saturday's outcome will determine Malzahn's future employment status at Auburn, but with LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama still remaining on the schedule, Malzahn's margin of error diminishes with each loss.

2. Is "Action Jackson" the key Card against Florida State?

In each of their past two meetings, Louisville has led Florida State in the second half, only to lose both contests. Louisville can use the experience from those close calls to its advantage, Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino told ESPN.com. The teams meet on Saturday (noon ET, ABC) in Louisville, and College GameDay will be there.

"We have confidence," Petrino said. "We know we're playing a great team. We have the confidence we can play with them, get in the fourth quarter with a good opportunity to beat them. We're excited. We've been looking forward to this game."

In 2014, Louisville jumped to a 21-0 lead and was up 31-28 with four minutes remaining but lost 42-31. Last season, the Cardinals led 14-13 in the third quarter before the Noles pulled away 41-21.

This year, though, the Cardinals have the nation's hottest quarterback in Lamar Jackson (six rushing touchdowns, seven passing touchdowns, 1,015 total yards).

"He's so explosive," Petrino said. "He can make plays running the ball and has the ability to throw the deep ball and be accurate. It's exciting to get back and score points."

Louisville is averaging 66 points per game but hasn't faced anywhere near the competition it will see from Florida State. A win against the Seminoles would be monumental for the Cards.

"It gets us a step closer to our ultimate goal," Petrino said. "We know going into it, the (ACC Atlantic) division goes through Florida State and Clemson, and FSU is up. We have to find a way to beat them."

3. Is Chad Kelly Nick Saban's Kryptonite?

Ole Miss' Chad Kelly doesn't mince words.

"I'm the best quarterback in the nation," he said at SEC media days before the season. "You have to feel that way. In order to have confidence in yourself and [your] team, you have to think you're the best. That's what I want our whole team -- from offensive linemen to running backs -- we have to think we're the best players and the best team out there.

"I want to be remembered as the greatest quarterback that ever played."

Kelly can be remembered for something else if the Rebels pull off the upset of No. 1 Alabama: Ole Miss goes for the rare three-peat against the Tide, having won the past two meetings.

Kelly's secret?

"You have to spread that team out, because they are just too big and physical to give them a short field," Kelly said.

Bo Wallace engineered Ole Miss' 2014 win, and Kelly brought home last season's victory.

With a win on Saturday, Kelly would join an elite club. He would become the first starting quarterback to win consecutive games against a Saban-coached team since Drew Brees led Purdue to 25-24 and 52-28 victories in 1998 and 1999, respectively, over Michigan State.