Red Flags: 5 college football teams on upset alert in Week 2

4. Texas A&M Aggies

Opponent: Appalachian State | Time: Saturday, Sept. 10, 3:30 p.m. ET | Spread: TAMU -18.5

Yes, this might be out of left field, but the fact of the matter is that it’s hard to trust Haynes King. He must be showing Jimbo Fisher something in practice that we aren’t seeing in games, because his limited sample size as the Texas A&M starter hasn’t exactly inspired a ton of confidence.

In roughly six/seven quarters, King has thrown five interceptions at the helm of the Aggies offense. Meanwhile, the offense was also inconsistent yet explosive in moving the ball against Sam Houston State.

App State gave up 63 points to North Carolina but the defense is not that bad overall. Moreover, their offense is versatile and could move the ball even on Texas A&M’s vaunted defense. Even if it’s not an outright upset, the Mountaineers being almost 20-point underdogs feels egregious.

3. USC Trojans

Opponent: at Stanford | Time: Saturday, Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m. ET | Spread: USC -9.5

If USC did anything good in Week 1, the Lincoln Riley/Caleb Williams hype train was going to be off and running. So when they played a bad Rice team that moved the ball for roughly two drives then got molly-whopped, the Trojans became the “next CFP contender to watch”.

This offense predictably looks good but the defense was highly dependent on big turnovers, most notably the three pick-sixes they notched against Rice. Stanford may not be full of superstars, but they have an NFL-caliber quarterback in Tanner McKee and a strongly coached team. Throw in that this game is in Palo Alto and the pressure is further raised.

The simple fact that this line is under 10 points shows that there’s something tricky afoot in this game. The Trojans could be in trouble and the hype train could be quickly derailed.