15. USC – It’s not premature to say JT Daniels is going to be special. Only the second true freshman quarterback (Matt Barkley) to start a season opener for USC, Daniels looked the part, completing 22-of-35 passes for 282 (49 more than Barkley in his debut) and his first touchdown. On the receiving end of the score was his high school teammate, Amon-Ra St. Brow (Mater Dei) who had seven receptions for 98 yards. Get ready to hear those names connecting often over the next few years.
16. TCU – Shawn Robinson accounted for five touchdowns in his second career start as TCU beat Southern 55-7. He’ll continue to start if he can do that vs. Big 12 defenses.
17. West Virginia – Will Grier could be the Heisman front-runner after throwing for 429 yards and five touchdowns in the win vs. Tennessee.
18. Mississippi State – This is going to be a fun offense to watch when Nick Fitzgerald is inserted back in the starting lineup after serving a one-game suspension in the opener. Behind Keytaon Thompson, the Bulldogs put up 63 on Stephen F. Austin.
19. Florida State – Willie Taggart coaches his first game vs. Virginia Tech on Monday.
20. Virginia Tech – Hokies travel to FSU for their opener on Monday
21. UCF – Scott Frost may be gone, but quarterback and Heisman contender, McKenzie Milton is still at UCF. The HIsman candidate threw for 343 yards and five touchdowns vs. UConn to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 14.
22. Boise State – Time to put some respect on Brett Rypien’s name. The active FBS leader in passing yards eclipsed the 10,000 career mark with 305 yards and 4 touchdowns in the win vs. Troy.
23. Texas – $5 million man Tom Herman became the first head coach in program history to lose his first two season openers. And for the second year in a row, Texas fell to an unranked Maryland team. Texas had three turnovers in the last 6:09 and Maryland scored the game’s final 10 points as the Horns lost 34-29. They also had 10 penalties. There will be calls for Herman’s head if they haven’t already started.
24. Oregon – It looked shaky for the first 10 minutes in the Mario Cristobal era vs. Bowling Green. After falling down 10-0, Oregon scored 37 unanswered points en route to a 58-24 win. Justin Herbert threw five touchdowns and ran for another as the potential top quarterback in the 2019 NFL Draft put his name in the Heisman conversation too.
25. LSU – The Tigers play Miami on Sunday at 7:30 from AT&T Stadium.