Week 2 NCAA Football Winners and Losers: Sun Belt Conference Rising, Notre Dame and Scott Frost Falling
Week 2 brought a bunch of upsets to college football, either from ranked teams playing against ranked opponents or, more notably, when Sun Belt schools delivered home losses to traditional powerhouse teams.
While teams in the Sun Belt Conference do not get the same kind of recognition, they have proven to be a problem for traditional powers and Sun Belt schools Appalachian State and Marshall just knocked off a couple of teams ranked in the Top 10 going into Week 2.
It was an exciting week of college football action. Here are some winners and losers from Week 2.
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Week 2 Winners
Sun Belt Conference
As college football steers the power toward its biggest conferences, it is easy for teams in smaller or lesser-known conferences to get ignored. When it comes to overlooking teams in the Sun Belt Conference, schools do so at their own peril.
In Week 2, the Appalachian State Mountaineers upset No. 6 Texas A & M at College Station by a score of 17-14.
The Marshall Thundering Herd rolled into South Bend and dropped the No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 26-21.
Nebraska, desperate for a win after losing to Northwestern in Dublin, lost 45-42 at home to the Georgia Southern Eagles. The Cornhuskers were not a highly ranked team but they are a program with history and tradition, and they just got knocked off at home by another Sun Belt team.
There are 14 teams in the Sun Belt Conference and only two have yet to record a win, while six teams are 2-0 to start the college football season.
Marvin Harrison Jr.
Continuing the tradition of outstanding receivers at Ohio State, the sophomore wideout caught seven passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-12 victory over Arkansas State.
He is now priced at +15000 to win the Heisman at FanDuel, +10000 at BetMGM, , and +9000 at DraftKings, and +7500 at Caesars.
Lower Ranked Teams
There were three games in Week 2 that involved two teams ranked in the Top 25. In each of those three games, the lower-ranked team came away victorious.
No. 21 BYU earned a 26-20 win in double overtime at home against No. 9 Baylor. BYU is now priced at +18000 at DraftKings, +15000 at Caesars and BetMGM, and +13000 at FanDuel to win the national championship.
The No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats shut out the No. 12 Florida Gators in the second half to take a 26-16 victory. Kentucky is now priced at +15000 at FanDuel, +12500 at Caesars, +10000 at DraftKings and BetMGM to win the national title.
No. 24 Tennessee went into Pittsburgh and earned a 34-27 overtime win at the No. 17 Panthers. QB Hendon Hooker and WR Cedric Tillman led the Vols to a crucial win. Tennessee is priced at +8000 at BetMGM, +7500 at Caesars, +7000 at DraftKings, +6000 at FanDuel to win the national championship.
Sam Hartman
No. 23 Wake Forest opened the week as 6.5-point favorites at Vanderbilt and the odds jumped to 13 points after news that starting quarterback Sam Hartman would be active. He has missed Week 1 action due to a blood clot.
Hartman, who threw 39 touchdown passes last season, was 18 of 27 passing for 300 yards and four touchdowns.
He is now priced at +6000 at Caesars, +5000 at FanDuel, BetMGM, and DraftKings to win the Heisman Trophy.
Texas Longhorns
Texas is not at their peak when a loss can be considered a win but losing 20-19 against top-ranked Alabama was undeniably encouraging, especially considering that the Longhorns were 20.5-point underdogs by kickoff.
It wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops for Texas, as freshman QB Quinn Ewers left the game with what appeared to be a left shoulder injury, so sophomore QB Hudson Card stepped in and gave Texas a fighting chance.
The question that comes out of this, and probably does not have an answer at this point, is whether this means Texas is back or Alabama was overrated with the No. 1 ranking.
Week 2 Losers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Irish could feel okay about their 21-10 loss at Ohio State in Week 1, but only if they were going to rally in Week 2. A 26-21 home loss to Marshall leaves Notre Dame at 0-2 for the first time since 2011.
Sophomore QB Tyler Buchner suffered a shoulder injury that will require surgery and four months of rehab, so sophomore Drew Pyne is next in line to start for the Irish. Any illusions that the Irish might have had about competing for a national championship, however unlikely, made a quick departure after Saturday’s loss.
The Irish have dropped out of the top 25, a long and quick fall from opening the season at No. 5.
Scott Frost
After losing to Northwestern to start the season, the Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach was clearly on the hot seat. After losing at home to Georgia Southern, the seat had burned to a crisp and Frost was replaced. He had a 16-31 record in five seasons as the Nebraska head coach and will be replaced by interim head coach Mickey Joseph, who was previously the Associate Head Coach for the Cornhuskers.
It is not all bad for Frost, however, as he receives a $15 million buyout for his troubles.
Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers were 17.5-point favorites at home against Washington State and it is difficult to cover a 17.5-point spread when scoring just 14 points, but that is what happened to the No. 19 Badgers in a 17-14 loss to the Cougars.
This is not a conference loss, so it does not prevent the Badgers from winning the Big 10 West, but if they are going to compete with the top teams in the Big 10 – Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State – the Badgers can’t very well get rolled at home by a Washington State team that had just managed a 24-17 home win against Idaho in Week 1.
Iowa Hawkeyes Offense
In Week 1, the Hawkeyes managed seven points, including two safeties, in a 7-3 home win against South Dakota State.
Embarrassed by their lack of offensive production, the Hawkeyes responded by scoring seven points in a 10-7 home loss against Iowa State in Week 2. Their lone scoring drive was a touchdown coming off two plays for a total of 16 yards following a blocked punt.
The under seems to be in play now, no matter how low it is set, but it’s hard to imagine a serious college football program struggling to this degree offensively.
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