College football rankings: Top 10 team performances of Week 2 – Oregon bounces back

The Terrific 10 is a set of college football rankings that uses team performance ratings to find the best teams in the nation every week of the season.

Week 2 of the 2019 college football season offered far more suspense than Week 1. Several key matchups were forced into overtime, a handful of Top 25 teams were upset, and multiple games featured a pair of ranked opponents squaring off with one another.

Among the top team performances Saturday, Clemson defended its No. 1 ranking in impressive fashion against a highly ranked Texas A&M squad. LSU looked fantastic on offense in its road victory over fellow top-10 Texas. Elsewhere, Alabama destroyed another non-conference opponent, Ohio State shut out Cincinnati, and Oregon beat Nevada 77-6 to bounce back from its disappointing debut against Auburn.

But which college football team was the best of the best in Week 2?

College football analytics outlet CFB Winning Edge developed its Team Performance ratings to assign specific game grades for every game featuring an FBS program, based on points awarded and deducted using a variety of statistical factors. Team Performance operates on a 60-100 scale.

Each week, we highlight the Terrific 10 teams across the nation, all of which dominated their opponents while capitalizing on a combination of metrics like net yards per play, points per possession, turnover margin, strength of opponent and more. We also keep a running tally of the top 10 team in average Team Performance throughout the season.

While most of America slept, Cal dashed the playoff hopes of what many believed to be the Pac-12 favorite. Following more than a two-hour weather delay, the Bears beat Washington 20-19 in in front of a greatly diminished Husky Stadium crowd.

The Cal secondary shut down Jacob Eason, limiting the quarterback to 162 yards and an interception on 18-for-30 passing (5.4 yards per pass attempt), and won the turnover battle 2-0. Greg Thomas kicked the game-winning 17-yard field goal at roughly 4:30 a.m. Eastern, 1:30 local time. Those that slept through it missed one of the biggest upsets of the season to date, and one of the Terrific 10 team performances of the week.

Clemson cleared what could be its toughest regular season competition from an otherwise soft schedule in an impressive 24-10 victory over Texas A&M. The Tigers’ rebuilt defensive line (and the South Carolina heat) made Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond very uncomfortable all afternoon, holding the Aggies to just 5.6 yards per pass attempt.

Clemson also shut down the Aggies on the ground, limiting A&M to just 53 yards on 27 carries (2.0 yards per carry). The Tigers kept Texas A&M out of the end zone for 59:54 until Mond connected with Jalen Wydermyer for a meaningless (not meaningless to some) touchdown.

Missouri suffered an embarrassing loss to Wyoming in Week 1, which earned an ugly 68.69 Team Performance rating that ranked No. 112 out of 130 FBS teams. But the Tigers bounced back in a big way with an impressive 38-7 victory over West Virginia.

Mizzou was dominant defensively, and held the Mountaineers to just 171 total yards. WVU managed a lowly 0.9 yards per carry on 32 rushing attempts. As a result, the Tigers held a 2.0-yard advantage and net yards per play. Missouri also forced three interceptions, while quarterback Kelly Bryant tossed three touchdowns without being picked off.

LSU announced its presence to a national audience Saturday night with a 45-38 victory over Texas in Austin. And the win wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate given a two-touchdown lead in the closing minutes of the game.

The Tigers had trouble hemming in quarterback Sam Ehlinger, but still managed to out-gain the Longhorns by an average of 2.19 yards per play. For reference, that ranked just ahead of Ohio State (2.17) in its 42-0 win over Cincinnati, and Maryland (2.12) in its 63-20 victory over a ranked Syracuse squad.

Furthermore, LSU was nearly unstoppable on offense. Joe Burrow threw for 471 yards and four touchdowns, and connected with a trio of receivers who each surpassed 123 yards on at least six catches. Justin Jefferson led the way with nine receptions for 163 yards and three TDs, including the 61-yarder to put the game away with just over two minutes left.

Most importantly, the new-look offense (and updated play-calling strategy) leaned on Burrow to put the Horns away as he threw four times (and dropped back on a fifth in which he was sacked) on that six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, which pushed the lead to 45-31.

The eyes of most college football fans across the country were on the bigger primetime matchup between LSU and Texas (which was probably a good thing given the uniforms on display). And though the Michigan State defense was as solid as usual (at least against the run), fans in East Lansing were treated to the sight of the Spartans’ offense coming to life for the first time in a long time.

Maybe it was the neon? Or the musical chairs on the offensive coaching staff? Either way, Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke connected for 10.0 yards per pass attempt, and finished with 312 passing yards, including 10 passes to Darrell Stewart, Jr., who finished with 185 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Elijah Collins ran for 192 yards, while averaging 11.3 yards per carry.

Notre Dame transfer Brandon Wimbush led UCF to a 62-0 victory in his first start with his new team in Week 1. However, an arm injury for Wimbush meant the Knights would be forced to turn to true freshman Dillon Gabriel for his first career start against FAU.

No worry. Gabriel guided UCF to 574 yards of offense, and though he struggled with accuracy (Gabriel completed seven of 19 passing attempts), he threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns, and added another score on the ground.

The biggest winner of Week 2 might have been Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley. Following a mediocre junior season in 2018 when his draft stock took a hit, Stanley once again caught the eye of NFL talent evaluators with a strong showing against Rutgers. Stanley completed 16 of 28 pass attempts for 236 yards and three touchdowns – including two to playmaker Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who caught four passes for 113 yards.

Oh, and the Hawkeyes defense held Rutgers to 125 total yards, which 1.7 yards per pass attempt on 10-for-27 passing, and forced three turnovers. Iowa also stuffed the Scarlet Knights on third down, allowing just two conversions on 14 opportunities. Complete and total suffocation.

The Alabama offense stuttered in the opening quarter in Week 1 against Duke. The Crimson Tide wasted no time against New Mexico State in Week 2. Tua Tagovailoa connected with Henry Ruggs III on a short pass on the first play from scrimmage, which Ruggs caught and ran 75 yards for a touchdown. Tagovailoa finished with three TD passes (including two of the three Jerry Jeudy caught) and 227 yards before stepping aside.

The Tide held a 5.48 yards per play advantage over New Mexico State, and outscored the outmatched Aggies by 0.81 points per play, which ranked fifth and fourth, respectively, among all FBS teams last week. Didn’t cover, though.

Ohio State eased up after taking a big early lead in Week 1 against FAU but responded with a complete 60-minute performance in a 42-0 victory over Cincinnati. The Bearcats managed just 273 total yards, and turned the football over twice – one fumble and one interception.

The Buckeyes held a 31-13 advantage in first downs gained, and the Buckeyes kept the Cincinnati ground game in check all afternoon. Quarterback Justin Fields was electric and accounted for four total touchdowns while flashing both an accurate arm (20-for-25 passing) and athleticism (42 rushing yards) in the win.

It was a complete “tale of two weeks” situation in Eugene Saturday. Nevada, coming off a dramatic last-second victory over Power Five opponent Purdue, came into the matchup with Oregon riding high. The Ducks, who lost in the closing seconds to Auburn, spent most of the week hearing how its playoff hopes were gone. With hangover concerns on both sides, Oregon rose to the occasion and destroyed the Wolf Pack 77-3, scoring more and winning by the largest point differential in college football in Week 2.

The Ducks averaged 1.04 points per play, which tied South Carolina among all FBS teams last week. Oregon also averaged 8.42 yards per play, and outgained Nevada 623-192, doing so by an average of 5.6 yards per snap. Only three FBS teams performed better on a net yards per play basis last week.

Terrific 10: The 10 best teams so far in the 2019 season