After the fire hose of Week 1, the second week of the college football season might be a little more selective in the information it gives us. Alabama, Oklahoma, Clemson and Cincinnati play FCS opponents, and there are only two ranked-versus-ranked games on the slate. But those two games will be awfully enlightening, and we'll learn quite a bit more about some important young quarterbacks and coordinators. Let's walk through the most interesting questions and matchups of the weekend.
All listed times are Eastern.
Can Oregon take C.J. Stroud out of his comfort zone?
No. 12 Oregon at No. 3 Ohio State (12 p.m., Fox)
It's one thing to have talent. It's another to deploy it in a system perfectly structured to take advantage of said talent. LSU and Alabama certainly did that during their national title runs in 2019 and 2020, respectively, but Ohio State, with head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, has mastered the art as well. And with seemingly about 17 blue-chip quarterbacks on the roster, all with the ability to throw strong passes from sideline to sideline, the Buckeyes will have one of the most perfect offensive structures known to man.
Despite allowing 31 points and 408 yards to Minnesota last week, and despite sending a first-time starting quarterback out to run the show, the Buckeyes' talent and structure drove them to a two-touchdown win.
What's scary is, Stroud looked like a redshirt freshman quarterback making his first start. He finished the first half just 8-for-14 for 58 yards, got pressured into an interception over the middle and went 0-for-3 on passes more than 10 yards downfield. The Buckeyes trailed only 14-10 thanks to Miyan Williams' 71-yard touchdown run, but there was reason for concern.
In the second half, however, Ohio State adjusted. After throwing eight of his 14 passes right of the hashmarks before halftime, Stroud rolled and threw to the left in the third quarter, completing three of four passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. He needed only two fourth-quarter completions to seal the deal: a screen that TreVeyon Henderson took 70 yards to the house and a 20-yard pass to the right sideline that Chris Olave turned into a 61-yard touchdown.
Ohio State just keeps tinkering until it finds an area of the field you can't protect. The Buckeyes basically have four ways to run the football -- between the tackles, to the edge and with quick, horizontal passing to both the right and left sidelines. Running backs carried 17 times for 188 yards, and Stroud completed eight of eight passes at or behind the line of scrimmage for another 106 yards. Combine that with the route running and yards-after-catch ability of Olave and Garrett Wilson, and you're nearly unstoppable.
Of course, nearly unstoppable isn't unstoppable. While Stroud indeed improved in the second half, he was still just 3-for-9 on passes at least 10 yards downfield, and when Minnesota was able to clutter the pocket and Ohio State didn't have one of its perfectly-timed screen counterpunches lined up, he struggled.
The question for Saturday, then, is how frequently can Oregon clutter the pocket and get in Stroud's head? The Ducks weren't as aggressive in the pass rush as I expected against Fresno State in defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter's first game. They blitzed on only 16% of dropbacks (98th in FBS) and made contact with the quarterback 20% of the time (108th). The passivity nearly backfired, as Fresno State's Jake Haener led the Bulldogs on four consecutive mid-game scoring drives to give them a brief 24-21 lead. Oregon ratcheted up the intensity late -- Haener was 4-for-8 for 16 yards, a sack and a fumble in the fourth quarter -- but the 31-24 win was a closer call than expected.
DeRuyter might have been keeping things as vanilla as possible knowing what loomed in Week 2. He's got plenty of blitz success on his resume, and he could have a few more exotic tactics against Stroud and Ohio State. He could also get Kayvon Thibodeaux back: The all-world junior end played only 19 snaps against Fresno State because of an ankle sprain, and head coach Mario Cristobal says he is day-to-day. One way or another, though, Oregon will have to get pressure on Stroud without over-committing and getting gashed by screens and short passes. Easy, right?
Can Iowa State disrupt Iowa's winning recipe?
No. 10 Iowa at No. 9 Iowa State (4:30 p.m., ABC)
Like plenty of in-state rivalries, Iowa-Iowa State is always good for some bitterness and intensity. It hasn't necessarily been good for genuine quality through the years, however. Between 1977 and 2016, the Hawkeyes and Cyclones both finished with winning records only five times -- 1986, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2009. (This was primarily, but not always, due to ISU failing to hold up its end of that bargain.) The games were frequently close but rarely good; there's a reason why the college football internet took to labeling this game ¡El Assico!.
Granted, the pivotal play in the teams' last meeting was a muffed punt, which doesn't scream "EPIC QUALITY!" but the last three meetings have seen good teams playing down-to-the-wire games. And now comes the biggest meeting of all: For the first time ever, they will meet as top-10 teams. It is the Cy-Hawk to end all Cy-Hawks.
Iowa State's rise under Matt Campbell has been incredible. This was one of the more consistently dormant power-conference programs -- if promotion and relegation were a thing in college football, they would have been a second- or even third-division team for much of their history -- and they finished in the AP top 10 for the first time ever last fall. (Similarly, they started this season there for the first time ever.) He has yet to beat Iowa, but Campbell's Cyclones have come achingly close. To finally finish the job, they're going to have to force the Hawkeyes off of their winning script.
No team in college football is both dominant and openly flawed in the way that Kirk Ferentz's Iowa is. As I wrote in Monday's Week 1 review column, the Hawkeyes are so good at the things they always want to be good at -- line dominance, big-play prevention, big punting -- that quarterback Spencer Petras' mediocre stats don't seem to matter.
In Iowa's season-opening romp over Indiana, the Hawkeyes dominated the line of scrimmage -- their running backs averaged 5.3 yards per carry to IU's 2.9 -- and they allowed Indiana only three gains of 15+ yards. Only four FBS teams managed fewer. Throw in some downright phenomenal punting from Tory Taylor (49.5 yards per kick), and Iowa was in full flight despite once again getting very little from Petras. He was 5-for-5 on passes at or behind the line of scrimmage and a dismal 8-for-22 on all others.
Iowa has engineered six top-15 finishes under Ferentz despite rarely enjoying elite quarterback play. This is nothing new. But the Hawkeyes have rarely been this good at Iowa things and this bad at throwing the football, and because of that, their own traits will define every game they play. Can Iowa State figure out how to get star running back Breece Hall on track against this Iowa run front? Can the Cyclones force the Hawkeyes to the air and punish them for it? Can they at least make sure that Taylor is punting from deep in his own territory?
Can UAB keep up in this week's most intriguing rock fight?
UAB at No. 2 Georgia (3:30 p.m., ESPN2)
In the four years since re-starting its football program under head coach Bill Clark, UAB has ranked, in order, 105th, 45th, 28th and ninth in defensive SP+. His 2020 Blazers defense began the year slowly, allowing 66 combined points to Central Arkansas and Miami, but allowed just 18.1 points per game from there and won Conference USA for the second time in three seasons.
UAB makes its intentions clear. The Blazers are going to pursue with both abandon and a devastating set of linebackers. They're going to tackle well and play as much man coverage as they can to take away easy throws. They aren't going to blitz heavily or over-pursue; they're just going to wait for you to declare your intentions and then blow them up. They were first in success rate allowed last year, dominating in each major category -- second in rushing, sixth in passing, fourth on standard downs and second on passing downs.
The Blazers were, for all intents, purposes and occasionally limited offensive output, the Georgia of the Group of Five. Now they get to face the real thing.
UAB almost certainly doesn't have the offense to scare the Dawgs for 60 minutes; the Blazers haven't finished better than 92nd in offensive SP+ since their return to action, and while they were dominant last week -- they averaged 8.6 yards per play against Jacksonville State (their best average since 2018), and Tyler Johnston III was 17-for-21 for 319 yards and two touchdowns -- it's a bit of a step up from Jacksonville State to a Georgia defense that has ranked first in defensive SP+ for two straight seasons and, against Clemson, put together its best defensive performance of the Kirby Smart era.
Still, this game should offer a nice, physical challenge for UGA and a proving ground for UAB. Points aren't guaranteed, but how long UAB is able to make Georgia sweat will be telling for both teams.
What happens to Haynes King and Hudson Card away from home?
No. 5 Texas A&M at Colorado (3:30 p.m., Fox)
No. 15 Texas at Arkansas (7 p.m., ESPN)
In their respective starting debuts for the two biggest programs in the state of Texas, quarterbacks Haynes King (Texas A&M) and Hudson Card (Texas) both made mistakes and big plays and rode dynamite supporting casts to comfortable wins. King distributed the ball to three 100-yard gainers -- Isaiah Spiller (19 carries and catches for 137 yards), Devon Achane (12 for 124) and Ainias Smith (11 for 116) -- while Card leaned on barbecue spokesman Bijan Robinson (24 for 176) and Jordan Whittington (seven catches for 113).
In Louisiana, Card's Longhorns faced the better opponent of the two teams and struggled with occasional efficiency issues. Their 41.8% success rate ranks just 72nd one week in. Card took three sacks in 24 pass attempts, and Texas scored just once in its first three drives before stealing the Ragin' Cajuns' legs with a 14-play, 7:34 drive, carving them up with big plays in the second half. Now comes a hell of a second test against Arkansas and crafty defensive coordinator Barry Odom. Ask Mike Leach and K.J. Costello about the tricks Odom can unleash when he's got a little bit of film to work with.
King's debut against Kent State was quite a bit more volatile. Achane and Spiller rushed 29 times for 237 yards, and the A&M defense held the Golden Flashes to three points in their first 10 possessions, so he was allowed a slow start. But in 35 pass attempts, he threw three picks and took two sacks. He also completed 21 passes at 13.9 yards per completion and rushed three times for 29 yards. A look at his pass map definitely shows where he thrived and where he struggled.
Like Ohio State, A&M's offense is structured with multiple efficiency options and deploys plenty of both rushing and short passing. The Aggies actually used tempo quite a bit on Saturday, too, which is not something Jimbo Fisher has believed in much in the past. But this week's opponent, Colorado, got a pretty good look at where he prefers to go and where he struggled, and it will be interesting to see how much they can exploit those things and how quickly King -- and Card, for that matter -- can adjust to both opponent adjustments and hostile road environments.
Can Michigan do what it couldn't last year and look good twice?
Washington at Michigan (8 p.m., ABC)
The Michigan defense got hit for a few big gainers against a solid offensive opponent, but the Wolverines' offense exploded out of the gate, topping 40 points and over 8.5 yards per play. A young quarterback averaged double-digit yards per pass. Michigan led big at halftime and cruised. The resulting predictive metrics were friendly enough for the Wolverines to hop from 17th in SP+ into the top 10, just in time to face a frustrated opponent coming off of an upset loss.
I'm speaking, of course ... about Michigan's 49-24 win over Minnesota to start the 2020 season.
I'm also talking about Saturday's 47-14 win over Western Michigan. The names have changed -- this time it was Cade McNamara doing the big passing instead of Joe Milton, with Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins carrying the rushing load instead of Haskins and new UCLA Bruin Zach Charbonnet. This time, the second-week opponent is Washington (which just lost to Montana) instead of Michigan State (which had just lost to Rutgers). But the similarities are stark.
Every Michigan fan on the planet hopes the similarities end there. The Wolverines quickly cratered last year, topping 24 points just once more and losing four of five games. After an encouraging debut, Milton struggled with efficiency and a few interceptions and moved first to the bench, then to Tennessee. A defense that had been so dominant under Don Brown lacked the playmakers he needed and, lacking a Plan B, allowed at least 27 points in every remaining game.
Can Jim Harbaugh's new cast of key characters -- McNamara, defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald and a receiving corps that will now lack No. 1 receiver Ronnie Bell for the rest of the season -- avoid the same fate? We'll start to find out against a Washington team that has offensive question marks and wounded pride following a shockingly meek 13-7 loss to Montana. Second-year Washington offensive coordinator John Donovan faces some serious proof-of-concept issues (as does Jimmy Lake, the head coach who hired him), but after last year's collapse it almost feels like the burden of proof will be even heavier for the home team.
Week 2 playlist
Here are 10 more games you should pay attention to if you want to get the absolute most out of the weekend, from both information and entertainment perspectives.
Friday evening
Kansas at No. 17 Coastal Carolina (7:30 p.m., ESPN2)
KU scored its first win in nearly two calendar years last week, but Coastal's obviously a massive step up from South Dakota.
Early Saturday
Western Kentucky at Army (11:30 a.m., CBSSN)
The "styles make fights" game of the week. Army looked like a particularly good version of Army in Week 1, while WKU's Houston Baptist-ification -- the Hilltoppers brought in HBU's prolific offensive coordinator (Zach Kittley), quarterback (Bailey Zappe, who already has 424 passing yards and 7 TDs) and three receivers -- looked pretty advanced in a 59-point outing against UT Martin.
Pitt at Tennessee (12:00 p.m., ESPN)
This could be a stiff test for Josh Heupel's tempo offense. Quarterback Joe Milton holds onto the ball for quite a while, and Pitt can really pressure the passer.
Saturday afternoon
Toledo at No. 8 Notre Dame (2:30 p.m., Peacock)
In case you hadn't already signed up for Peacock to watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine reruns and Premier League matches, do it for this. Toledo might be the MAC's most explosive team, and the Rockets could punish a Notre Dame defense that was awfully all-or-nothing against FSU on Sunday. (It might not stop Notre Dame's offense, but still.)
NAIA: No. 4 Keiser at No. 1 Lindsey Wilson (2:30 p.m., Lindsey Wilson Sports Network)
In its 11th season in existence, Lindsey Wilson won its first national title this past spring. The Blue Raiders have scored 35+ for 12 straight games, and now they get to play Keiser, their semifinal conquest, for the second time in just over four months.
Air Force at Navy (3:30 p.m., CBS)
This is one of the nation's more underrated rivalries, but we'll see if it's a game. For the second straight year, Navy no-showed in its first game, and the Midshipmen have ground to make up here.
Saturday evening
Appalachian State at No. 22 Miami (7:00 p.m., ESPNU)
The last three teams Alabama has pummeled in Week 1 neutral-site games (FSU in 2017, Louisville in 2018, Duke in 2019) all proceeded to collapse. That probably won't happen to Miami, but the Canes now have to take on a tricky and physical App State team.
Liberty at Troy (7:00 p.m. ESPN+)
If Troy ever figures out how to navigate close games, the Trojans could ignite. They've lost seven straight one-score finishes against FBS teams, and they could give Liberty fits. SP+ actually projects Troy as a 0.4-point favorite. Will the losing streak end?
Missouri at Kentucky (7:30 p.m., SECN)
Both of these teams have designs on the No. 3 spot in the SEC East hierarchy, and both are still figuring themselves out after making significant changes on offense (UK) and defense (MU). This should be a dogfight.
Late Saturday
No. 21 Utah at BYU (10:15 p.m., ESPN)
BYU hasn't beaten Utah since 2009 and didn't get a shot at the Utes last year, when they fielded their best team in a couple of decades. Can they make up for lost time?