Jesse’s Week 2 College Football Reactions
Ohio State 23 @ Texas 24
Texas: Texas scored 21 points in the 4th quarter to come back and beat the Buckeyes. However, the first half was very sloppy play with the biggest issues being the dropped passes by the Longhorns receivers. Next to that, the Texas offensive line gave Arch Manning plenty of time and the running backs some holes to run through. Texas also played spotty defense versus one of my current Heisman candidates Jeremiah Smith. Going further into the season, I’ll be watching the Texas defense as they play some big time offenses like LSU and Ole Miss. Overall, if Texas wants a championship, this is the season to do it. They got one monkey off their back with them finally beating Ohio State. Let’s see if they can finally win the SEC Championship, or beat Georgia, or win the National Championship.
Ohio State: Ohio State looked different with a new Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith running the offense, and they have a very young defense. Offensively, Ohio St had a problem with having someone else step up other than Jeremiah Smith. They had a good running game for the most part with the running backs averaging over 3.5 yards a carry, but didn’t have any big runs. If Ohio State played Texas again in the future, I wouldn’t count them out. I think Ohio State is still capable of beating almost every team in college football.
Tennessee 45 @ Georgia Tech 24
Tennessee: The Vols had an amazing run game, but spotty offensive line play. I think their offensive line did fair against the yellow Jackets, but going against a Georgia team or Miami (FL), they might have issues. Good news is, it is still early in the season and they can get better. Against the Yellow Jackets, the Vols averaged 6.6 ypc (yards per carry) and ran 45 times. More great news is that their freshman starting quarterback didn’t turn the ball over. QB Faizon Brandon only went for 10/21 for 148 yards, but not turning the ball over is big in his first away game against a power 5 school. Defensively, I like their defensive backs, but Georgia Tech did run pretty well averaging 4.4 ypc, and that’s even including Mendoza’s sack loss numbers. Run defense is the key for Tennessee to watch moving on for now.
Georgia Tech: Like Tennessee, Georgia Tech is playing with a freshman quarterback, Alberto Mendoza. Yes, Fernando Mendoza’s brother. He’s had some good moments his first two weeks, but haven’t provided enough. Against Colorado, they struggled to run the ball, and versus Tennessee, turnovers and not being able to keep scoring with the Vols is the reason they lost. The Yellow Jackets have lost many key pieces from last year, I don’t have them going for an ACC Championship, but I think in a year or 2 when this team gets more experience, they have a chance to compete. They still got great talent on that team like Kyle Efford, big tight end Kevin Roche, and Michigan transfer Justice Haynes. They may not compete for an ACC Championship, but if they continue to get better, I think they can make some upsets happen.
Oregon 31 @ Oklahoma State 39
Oregon: I don’t know what is happening with the Ducks right now, but they need to figure it out quickly. Dante Moore looked so uncomfortable and didn’t even complete 50% of his passes. They had 2 turnovers but what I found really concerning was no pressure on the quarterback. The Ducks didn’t have any sacks in this game. Oregon was just having blunders, they had the fumble that lost them the game, 7 penalties, and allowed 4 sacks. They allowed almost 6 yards a carry. That’s against a team they beat by over 50 points last season. Oregon is still a good team, but something isn’t right with them.
Oklahoma State: The North Texas transfer has made a name for himself by helping the Cowboys beat the Ducks. I think it’s important to realize that Drew Mestemaker was a pretty big transfer in college football. Mestemaker had a chance to probably start for almost any school in college. The Cowboys really just need to improve from last year under 1st year coach Eric Morris. That has happened with this win already, as they broke a 12 game losing streak, and a 21 game losing streak against FBS schools. They are trending in a good direction.
Oklahoma 10 @ Michigan 17
Oklahoma: The Sooners were highly favored to win since Michigan basically “lost” their game to Western Michigan in week 1. With high expectations of the Sooners defense and of QB John Mateer, this was quite a disappointing loss for Oklahoma. Mateer went 17/33 for 189 yards with 1 TD and 1 Int, and was the leading rusher for the Sooners with 45 yards. That is not the recipe for a successful offense, especially since the team as a whole didn’t even rush for 100 yards. Michigan does usually have a good difference, but with a new coach at Michigan and close to defeat last week, Oklahoma really lost an opportunity, and really one more loss could take them out of the playoffs if they don’t get any big wins.
Michigan: Close games back to back weeks, and there is a theme with this team. The defense does the job, the offense looks bad. Frankly, ever since JJ McCarthy and Jim Harbaugh left Michigan, that’s how it’s been. No difference in this game either, Michigan’s offense did just enough and their defense made it to where they really didn’t need much. Seven of those points came off a John Mateer interception inside their own 20 and Michigan scored a few plays later. Ohio State loves what they see when they see this Michigan team and it isn’t a good sign for them. Good defense may get them wins versus teams like Iowa or Penn State, but the Wolverines play Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State and I expect a different outcome out of those games if they don’t get better on offense. Most of that pressure will be on Bryce Underwood as they run the ball fairly well, but in these past 2 games Underwood has only 281 yards 1 TD and 1 Int and barely has completed over 50% of his passes.
Mississippi State 38 @ Minnesota 13
Mississippi State: I’ll start by apologizing to the Bulldogs for having Minnesota winning, although in my prediction I said Miss St would probably win, but the Bulldogs look different this year. Offense and defense looks better this season compared to last for the Bulldogs and they are being led by QB Kamario Taylor who I have as an early Heisman candidate. The Bulldogs just had their way in this game averaging 5.5 ypc and 250+ yards rushing. Add another 227 yards in the air from Taylor, the Golden Gophers just couldn’t compete with the talent. The offensive line was moving the line for the run game and Minnesota just couldn’t keep pace.
Minnesota: I had higher hopes for this group, I think junior QB Drake Lindsey has an NFL future, I think if you put him on almost any top 25 team, that team would be a lot better or just as good. This team just got outmatched in this matchup. Compare what Minnesota did offensively compared to Miss St, and it isn’t close. I mentioned earlier that the Bulldogs ran for over 250 yards and had 5.5 ypc. The Golden Gophers had 15 carries for 13 yards with their longest rush being 5 yards. They lost in the trenches and that is where the game is won 99% of the time. I expect Minnesota to be a 6–8 win team, but I don’t see them surprising anyone. As much as I like the team, they beat who they are supposed to, but don’t come out shocking the world and beating an Ohio State or Oregon team. They do have some great players individually, with Drake Lindsey, RB Darius Taylor, LB Maverick Baranowski, but as a team I don’t think they have improved or really got worse compared to last year.
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Author — Jesse Robertson(Benchwarmer Broadcasting Co-host)