Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 2: No. 2-1
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
It’s not often that you see a Nick Saban-coached team deliver a truly sloppy performance but that was indeed the case on Saturday in Austin. Going up against Texas and playing against the Longhorns’ backup quarterback, Hudson Card, after Quinn Ewers was taken out with an injury, the Crimson Tide needed a late field goal to get the 20-19 victory on the road.
Admittedly, Alabama ultimately got a road win against a good Texas team. But to hang onto the No. 1 spot in college football, Bryce Young and Co. needed to be dominant in a spot where they were 20-point favorites. Instead, both sides of the ball committed penalty after penalty while looking undisciplined and overall uncharacteristically lackluster in every facet of the game.
The Tide are still unbeaten, but it’s clear they’re not perfect after Saturday’s performance.
1. Georgia Bulldogs
In all honesty, Georgia made a strong case to be the No. 1-ranked team in the country in the season-opener when they downed Oregon in dominant fashion. The only problem was that Alabama’s 55-0 win over Utah State didn’t do all that much to open the door for them so the Dawgs could slip into that spot. With Bama nearly getting knocked off in Austin, though, this is a no-brainer at the top spot.
Admittedly, what Georgia showed on Saturday against Samford wasn’t overly impressive. But that was also somewhat by design. Running a vanilla offense throughout most of the day, the Bulldogs pulled out to a 30-0 lead in the first half and then just went into complete cruise control after that. This team looks hellbent on a repeat effort and might just get the job done if they keep up what they’re doing.
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