Take a look at some of the headlines from Week 2 of the NCAA Football season:
Jimbo Fisher Already Showing Effects For A&M
On Saturday, number two Clemson held on to beat Texas A&M 28-26, but despite the loss, there is a lot to be excited about if you are an Aggies fan. Two weeks into the season, Jimbo Fisher has A&M playing some good football and fans are noticing.
Despite coming short, they were able to take the number two team in the country, one that is considered a real threat to Alabama this year, down to the wire. In fact, if the ball had bounced differently, literally, we might be talking about a win. In the fourth quarter, Kellen Mond hit Quartney Davis with a pass and Davis dove toward the pylon. The problem is that he lost the ball and it was headed for the end zone…or was it?
Replays show that it was really close and to the naked eye, it might even look like it was going out of bounds, but replay upheld the call and it was a touchback, giving the ball to Clemson. Despite such a demoralizing call, the Aggies were still able to get the ball back, score an unbelievable touchdown (Kendrick Rogers had an unbelievable touchdown catch), but could not convert the two-point conversion. Still, if Texas A&M fans were on the fence about Jimbo Fisher and what he might be able to do for the program, they are probably feeling pretty encouraged now.
After Escaping Week One, Spartans Lose In Week Two
Last week, Michigan State Spartan fans collectively held their breath as they were just able to squeak by Utah State 38-31. While it left a lot of Spartan fans nervous, the hope was that they would get it out of their system, but that they would be able to get back on track yesterday. Unfortunately, their worst nightmares happened as they had another dud of a game on Saturday and lost to Arizona State 16-13.
While Michigan State did ok in the air (Brian Lewerke went 27 for 39 for 314 yards and a touchdown), they couldn’t get anything going on the ground. Their leading rusher was Connor Heyward who had 5 carries for only 22 yards. It was a pretty similar story on the Sun Devils side whose quarterback, Manny Wilkins, went 30 for 48 for 380 yards and a touchdown, but Eno Benjamin was their leading rusher with 27 yards on 13 carries. In the end, though, Arizona State won this defensive battle.
“We play to win the game!” The famous quote will forever be synonymous with new Arizona State head coach, Herm Edwards. The new Sun Devils coach is now 2-0 and has his team up to 23rd in the AP Polls. For the 64 year old Edwards, who is coaching for the first time in 10 years, he has gotten his team to play some great football, especially on the defensive side.
Oddities In AP Polls Already
Stop me if you have heard this before, but the AP polls don’t always make a lot of sense. Wisconsin, who has looked like a pretty legitimate threat in the first two games, seem to be going the wrong way in the polls. Wisconsin started the season at number four in the country, but after a 34-3 win in their opener over Western Kentucky, they moved down to number five.
Ok, doesn’t make sense but maybe just a one-week fluke. Nope! This week the Badgers beat New Mexico 45-14 and, yep you guessed it, moved from number five to number six. At this point, the Badgers have to wonder if a loss might move them up. Ultimately, we tend to see this every year and really, if the Badgers keep winning, it will all work itself out, but if you are a Badgers fan right now, you probably aren’t too happy.
Chip Kelly Falls To 0-2
After a few inconsistent years in the NFL, Chip Kelly is back where he became a household name in the college ranks. With Oregon, he went 46-7 in his career and is now trying to bring that same magic to the UCLA Bruins. Unfortunately for Kelly, it is not getting off to a good start.
The Bruins are now 0-2 after a 49-21 loss to Oklahoma. The reason for today’s loss might simply be found in the opposing team’s quarterback. Kyler Murray went 19 for 33 with 306 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also added 69 yards rushing on 10 attempts and another 2 touchdowns. Needless to say, UCLA didn’t have an answer for him. Despite the loss, Dorian Thompson-Robinson played relatively well at quarterback for the Bruins.
He went 16 for 26 for 254 yards and a touchdown. Bolu Olorunfunmi added 56 yards on 15 attempts and 2 touchdowns on the ground. It may take a couple years to truly see if Kelly’s collegiate magic can come back as so much about college success is in the recruiting, but for now, it has not been a good start.
Kentucky Ends Losing Streak
It may have taken 31 years, but Kentucky finally won. Finally, Kentucky beat the Florida Gators after Florida had won 31 straight games against the Wildcats. Just for clarity, that puts the last Kentucky win prior to Saturday on November 15, 1986. The final score on Saturday was 27-16. For the Wildcats, quarterback Terry Wilson went 11 for 16 with 151 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did have one interception.
They also had two 100-yard rushers as Benny Snell had 27 attempts for 175 yards and Terry Wilson had 105 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts. For the Gators, Feleipe Franks went 17 for 38 with 232 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. Franks was also their leading rusher going 44 yards on 11 attempts.
