College football Week 2 superlatives: Joe Burrow arrives, Heisman race, Playoff rankings and more

Joe Burrow announces himself to the world, Clemson is still really good and Florida State and Tennessee are still really bad.

LSU finally has a quarterback

This is not your older brother’s LSU offense. For years the knock on LSU was their lack of competent quarterback play. With Joe Burrow back for his second year, LSU has their best quarterback since the one year Zach Mettenberger had when Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry were his top receivers in 2013. Burrow has really taken to Steve Emsinger’s offense with a heavy Joe Brady influence. After throwing five touchdowns in the opener, he threw for a career-high 471 yards with four touchdowns. And one wave to the Texas fans for good measure.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1170539476940201984

For the first time in program history, LSU had three receivers top 100 yards as Ja’Marr Chase, Terrace Marshall Jr. and Justin Jefferson topped the century mark. With this type of passing attack, LSU can be taken seriously as a challenger to Alabama. But doing it against Texas who isn’t quite back yet, and doing it vs. Alabama are two entirely different challenges. But for the first time in a few years, it looks like LSU should at least be competitive vs. the Tide. With each passing week (pun intended), Burrow and the rest of the offense should get more comfortable and that’s a dangerous proposition for the rest of the SEC.

Clemson has no more tests

Clemson got Amari Rodgers back from a torn ACL suffered in late March in the 24-10 win over Texas A&M. The score doesn’t reflect how much of a dominant win that was for Clemson. The Aggies scored on fourth down with less than 10 seconds to get them to 10. The win was the 17th in a row for Clemson who set a new program record.

They’ll try to extend it to 18 with Syracuse on the schedule next week. The Orange just got housed by Maryland so the odds are in their favor. Although, Syracuse beat Clemson two years ago and nearly did it again after Trevor Lawrence was knocked out with an injury. Chase Brice led Clemson to a win and kept their streak alive. Clemson really just has to avoid injury the rest of the way because there isn’t a single team on their schedule that can pose a threat, let alone make them sweat into the fourth quarter. Sure, it’s college football and crazy stuff happens every week, just look at Tennessee and Florida State, but it’s safe to write Clemson in the Playoff.

This touchdown throw from Lawrence to Justyn Ross is why he’ll be the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Ross will be a few picks behind him as one of the top receivers. How do you defend this duo, on top of Tee Higgins and Rogers out wide and Travis Etienne in the backfield?! You can’t. With the win, Clemson and Dabo Swinney improved to 14-5 vs. the SEC since 2012. The Tigers have wins vs. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, South Carolina and now Texas A&M. Yes, Clemson’s ACC schedule is weak, but it’s not their fault. At least they dominate the teams from the best conference when they get the chance.

Worst beat: Clemson (-17.5)

Texas A&M covered the spread with less than 10 seconds to go after converting on a 4th and goal from the 2. This is why I wanted no part of the 17.5-point spread. There was never any danger of Clemson losing. The Aggies couldn’t get anything going the entire game and Clemson brutalized them all game. It was a walking wounded for Texas A&M with several players injured throughout the game, including Kellen Mond who will have to take an ice bath for the next 18 hours so he can walk to class on Monday morning.

Worst coaching in a win: What was Jim Harbaugh doing vs. Army?

Michigan needed double overtime to beat Army, who is a great team and held the nation’s second-longest win streak at 14. But Harbaugh coached like he wanted to lose. A pair of decisions to go for it on 4th down in the fourth quarter nearly cost Michigan.

The Wolverines used to be able to blow off any team off the line of scrimmage with their big, nasty and powerful offensive line. But I don’t know where that line on Saturday afternoon. Army stuffed Michigan on both tries and looked like they were listening in on Harbaugh’s play calls.

Harbaugh has to adapt to the modern era of college football with spread offenses and tempo. It’s an ugly work in progress after two weeks, but if it doesn’t tighten up this season, Harbaugh may be looking at NFL openings after losing again to Ohio State.

https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1170408807522013185?s=20

Worst coaching in a loss: Les Miles loses to Coastal Carolina

The return to the sidelines for Les Miles is not so much fun when you’re losing to Coastal Carolina. Kansas gave the Chanticleers their first win over a Power 5 program, although saying Kansas is a Power 5 team is by definition only and not a reflection of the quality of their play.

To put this in perspective, Coastal Carolina was in its fifth year as an FCS program when Miles led LSU to the National Championship in 2007. Yikes. It’s a far cry from Death Valley for one of the game’s best quotes, but he can’t talk his way out of how bad this is.

What the hell was this play by Florida State?

Florida State may have got a one-point win over powerhouse UL Monroe after the Warhawks missed the extra point in overtime. But this definitely is a bad look for Willie Taggart’s team. I don’t know if he’ll make it through the season because of plays like the one seen below. If you look closely you’ll see the tight end lined up BACKWARDS!

The play technically worked because Cam Akers is a beast and picked up 11 yards but it’s not like it worked because they distracted the defense wondering what the heck they were trying lining up a dude backward.

Much like that photo a few years ago of two Florida offensive linemen blocking each other, this screenshot is just as damaging to a program who is only a few years removed from winning the national championship.

The ACC stinks

Speaking of a bad ACC team, the rest of the ACC outside of Clemson smells like that block of cheese you left out all day. After Syracuse got boatraced by Maryland, Clemson might be the only ranked team in the Week 3 AP Top 25. The conference is Clemson and everyone else. It doesn’t really matter who is the sacrificial lamb for Clemson in the ACC Championship Game because they’ll snatch their soul midway through the second quarter. As Dennis Green would say, “You wanna crown them, then crown their a**.” I’m crowning Clemson kings of the ACC.

Rocky Bottom Part 2 for Vols

I thought last week’s home loss to Georgia State was rock bottom for Tennessee. But this week’s loss might be even more painful. The Vols had a 99.6 percent chance of victory with 30 seconds left in the game vs. BYU.

The Vols had a 16-13 lead but then BYU quarterback Zach Wilson found Micah Simon who was streaking behind the Tennessee defense for a 64-yard reception. BYU narrowly kicked the game-tying field goal to force overtime. After trading touchdowns in the first overtime, BYU scored a touchdown three plays after limiting Tennessee to a field goal.

This marks the first 0-2 start for Tennessee since 1988 when they started 0-6. It can only go up from here, right?! Not exactly. There will be more losses and perhaps a winless season in the SEC and another coaching search. And we know how those can go in Knoxville.

Best player you don’t hear enough about? Rondale Moore, Purdue, WR

Rondale Moore had 13 catches for 220 yards and a touchdown in Purdue’s win over Vanderbilt. After an All-American season last year, the sophomore wide receiver is on his way toward a potential Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver. Maybe he can get a little Heisman love too? His 220 yards were the third-highest in program history. Saturday also marked the eighth game since last year Moore has had at least 11 catches. No other receiver in the nation has more than four of those games. Moore may stand only 5-foot-9 but there may be no bigger receiving threat in the nation.

This was the sickest of them all.

Best comeback win: Colorado takes down rival Nebraska in overtime

Scott Frost is 0-2 vs. Colorado as head coach. Mel Tucker is 1-0 after erasing a 17-point halftime deficit that saw the Buffs score 31 second-half points, including 24 points in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

Colorado got their field goal in overtime while Nebraska’s try was unsuccessful. I tried to warn everyone to pump the brakes on the Nebraska hype train because this is a big rebuild for Frost and a Big Ten West title this year was way too lofty of a goal. Nebraska showed flashes with how great they can be with quarterback Adrian Martinez and when the defense is on their game.

But the second half and overtime showed Nebraska still has work to do and Colorado might be a lot better than first thought.

Tucker got a big win early in his tenure to help his cause on the recruiting trail and instill some confidence in his team when they entre the Pac-12 slate, which includes enough winnable games for the Buffs to get back to a bowl game.

Best post-game speech after a 52-point win: Nick Saban

He’s not mad, he’s just disappointed. That’s about the gist of Nick Saban’s postgame talk after Alabama’s 62-10 win over New Mexico State.

“I’m never pleased, Saban said. I’m not disappointed. But I’m not please so we got a lot of things to work on. We gotta work on trying to get better.”

Never change, coach. Never change.

College Football Playoff rankings

1. Clemson – Tigers physically dominated Texas A&M on Saturday and make life hell for Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond. Just wait until the offense starts clicking.
2. Alabama – No test vs. New Mexico State as the Tide won 62-10. Tua Tagovailoa threw for three touchdowns, Jerry Jeudy caught three touchdowns and Henry Ruggs III had a receiving score and a 75-yard rushing score.
3. LSU – The Tigers have the biggest win of the year with a 45-38 win over No. 9 Texas.
4. Oklahoma – The Sooners weren’t tested vs. South Dakota but hold off Georgia for the fourth spot in our way-too-early playoff projections.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1170522903357603840

Heisman rankings

1. Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma, QB – Hurts was 14-of-18 for 259 yards and three touchdowns and added 47 yards on the ground. Most of the damage was done in the first half vs. South Dakota.
2. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama, QB – Tua didn’t have to do much but threw three touchdowns on 16-of-24 passing for 227 yards. Tua also flashed his wheels with a 25-yard rushing touchdown.
3. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin, RB – After four scores in the opener, Taylor added four more in Week 2 in Wisconsin’s 61-0 win over Central Michigan. Taylor had 102 rushing yards and three touchdowns and added another receiving score, which is his third of the season and his career.
4. Joe Burrow, LSU, QB – Burrow threw a career-high 471 yards and four touchdowns as LSU beat Texas in Austin. This comes one week after a career-high five touchdowns. This new-look LSU offense looks legit and should only get better with each week.
5. Justin Fields, Ohio State, QB – Fields was 20-of-25 passing for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns and added 42 yards and two more rushing scores in Ohio State’s 420- win over Cincinnati.

Best thing I saw this weekend: Blake Anderson returns to Arkansas State

Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson missed the start of the season following the death of his wife, Wendy from brain cancer in August. Anderson took a leave of absence shortly before her passing. On Saturday, he returned to his team prior to their game vs. UNLV. His players erupted with emotion when he walked through the door. It’s the greatest thing I saw all weekend. If you don’t get goosebumps or shed a few tears watching this, you’re not human.

Stat of the week

You probably didn’t pay too much attention to the Washington State-Northern Colorado game. But with the Cougars 59-17 win, it represented the sixth time since 1936 they’ve scored 50 points or more in consecutive games. Half of them have taken place since Mike Leach took over as the head coach in 2012. Chances are it’ll happen a few more times as long as he stays in Pullman and fends off any overtures from other programs desperate for his brand of offense and personality.