The second week of the college football season is in the books and Alabama still has one of the toughest schedules in the country. However, after this week, the road to the College Football playoff may look a little less daunting. Arkansas was embarrassed at home while Tennessee blew a 17-point lead at Neyland Stadium to Oklahoma. The Tide’s biggest rival had to sneak away with an overtime victory against an FCS school while Mississippi State has already proven to be beatable despite record-breaking cowbell noise.
Week 1: Wisconsin – Win vs. Miami (OH) 58-0
The Badgers got their first win of the season against the Redhawks behind a big offensive performance by Joel Stave. The quarterback threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns while backup running back Dare Ogunbowale rushed 16 times for 112 yards and a touchdown. The Badgers looked just as good as ever and may still be the favorite to win the Big Ten West.
Next week: Troy, 2:30 pm CST
Week 2: Middle Tennessee State – Lost to Alabama 10-37
Next week: Charlotte, 6:00 pm CST
Week 3: Ole Miss – Win vs. Fresno State 76-21
So this offense isn’t too bad. It was another easy win for the Rebels but they once again did it in style. Chad Kelley completed 80 percent of his passes and threw for 346 yards and four touchdowns. The running game may not have a big threat but as a whole, the team averaged nearly 7.0 yards per carry. The Rebels have a lot going for them right now and no one will want to miss their trip to Tuscaloosa this weekend.
Next week: at Alabama, 8:15 pm CST
Week 4: Louisiana Monroe – Win vs. Nicholls State 47-0
The Warhawks defense showed up for their FCS opponent and pitched a shutout a week after letting up 51 to Georgia. Freshman quarterback Garrett Smith had another good outing. He now has completed 78 percent of his passes on the year for 576 yards and five touchdowns. This is a scary offense to be sandwiched between two tough games for Alabama.
Next week: BYE
Week 5: at Georgia – Win at Vanderbilt 31-14
The Bulldogs got a win in their SEC opener but it wasn’t the way most people expected. Nick Chubb didn’t rush for a touchdown and Greyson Lambert didn’t throw for a touchdown. The Bulldogs four touchdowns came from a Soney Michel 31-yard run, a 5-yard run by Lambert, an 88-yard interception return and a 77-yard punt return. They’re a great team when they can get it all going in one game.
Next week: South Carolina, 5:00 pm CST
Week 6: Arkansas – Loss vs. Toledo 12-16
Well this was unexpected. The Razorbacks fell to 1-1 after getting beat by Phillip Ely and the Toledo Rockets on Saturday. Arkansas threw 53 passes and only ran for 103 yards. The loss of Jonathan Williams is starting to look really bad and there are clearly things to be solved in Fayetteville. They are entering a tough four game stretch and Bret Bielema’s team is not in a great position.
Next week: Texas Tech, 6:00 pm CST
Week 7: at Texas A&M – Win vs. Ball State 56-23
Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray saw plenty of playing time as the signal-caller, combining for 191 yards and four touchdowns. Christian Kirk was once again a big asset for the Aggies, scoring once on a receiving touchdown and setting Texas A&M up in the second quarter with a 56-yard punt return.
Next week: Nevada, 11:00 am CST
Week 8: Tennessee – Loss vs. Oklahoma 24-31 (2OT)
The Volunteers looked like they had it all figured out in the early stages of this one. Tennessee blew a 17-3 fourth quarter lead and ended up losing the game in double overtime, ending with a Joshua Dobbs interception. Jalen Hurd saw the majority of the carries, running 24 times for 106 yards, while Alvin Kamara only got five touches. This is a tough loss to bounce back from but it doesn’t hurt their SEC chances.
Next week: Oklahoma, 5:00 pm CST
Week 10: LSU – Win at Mississippi State 21-19
The Tigers opened up their season with a big win on the road against a division-rival. The Tigers held State to just 43 total yards of rushing, negative-19 yards on 10 carries for Dak Prescott. Brandon Harris took care of the ball and Leonard Fournette looked Heisman worthy with a three-touchdown performance.
Next week: Auburn, 2:30 pm CST
Week 11: at Mississippi State – Loss vs. LSU 19-21
Dak Prescott looked clueless early on against a strong LSU defense and the comeback went wide-right on the Bulldogs’ last-second 52-yard field goal attempt. It’s hard to blame a defense for allowing a guy like Fournette to run all over you but Dan Mullen and the defense faces a lot of questions about the run game.
Next week: Northwestern State, 3:00 pm CST
Week 12: Charleston Southern – Loss at Troy 16-44
The run-heavy offense was mostly shut down by the Trojans. Charleston Southern could only average 4.3 yards per carry but did have junior Darius Hammond go off in his return from injury. Hammond rushed for 161 yards and caught a touchdown pass for the Bucs.
Next week: East Tennessee State, 6:00 pm CST
Week 13: at Auburn – Win vs. Jacksonville State 27-20 (OT)
This was also very unexpected. Before getting into Auburn’s issues, let’s recognize JSU as a very good FCS program. With that being said, Jeremy Johnson still needs to show improvement. Gus Malzahn is supposed to be able to score points on anybody – at least more than 27 on Jacksonville State – but if Johnson isn’t the guy for the job, the Tigers need to recognize that. Even worse for Auburn, their first win got downgraded because Louisville lost to Houston in week two. The Tigers will look to turn things around in Baton Rouge. (Good luck with that.)
Next week: at LSU, 2:30 pm CST
Caleb Turrentine is a contributor at Touchdown Alabama Magazine. Follow him on Twitter, @CalebTurrentine.
