Week 2 Impressions
Week 2 is in the books, and there were several surprises. While I didn't watch as much as last weekend, I have several impressions based on outcomes.
Purdue may be much better than they've been in the recent past, after playing well against Louisville in week 1, and then pounding a decent Ohio team in week 2. It will be interesting to see how they do against Missouri, another team that is a little bit of an enigma.
Michigan's defense looks like the real deal! Wisconsin has also looked impressive, unlike other Big10 teams. Northwestern, and Rutgers played poorly in losses, and Ohio State got blown out late. Penn State looked impressive in their win over Pitt, dominating the lines, and Indiana, another team that could be much improved, had a solid win over Virginia. Michigan St. and Iowa both struggled to wins over lesser opponents while Minnesota and Illinois handled their opponents with ease. Nebraska still seems to be underwhelming.
USC was very dominant in their win over Stanford. Arizona State and Arizona look at least as bad as last year. I will be surprised if Todd Graham and Rich Rodriguez return as coaches next year. Washington did nothing to discourage their status as frontrunners in the PAC12 North.
Baylor is in much worse shape than anyone thought. Their loss to UTSA follows their poor performance in their loss to Liberty last week. Oklahoma, however, was very impressive in their win over Ohio State, as was TCU in their win over Arkansas. Oklahoma St. and Kansas St. seem to be the biggest threat to the Sooners for winning the Big 12 Conference.
I believe Clemson has a clear path to the ACC Conference title. Their game at Louisville next week will be a big one. FSU has postponed their game with Miami to October 7, which will give both teams 2 bye weeks due to Hurricane Irma. NC State, who many prognosticators thought was a dark horse for a conference title, has looked less than impressive so far. Wake Forest, Duke, and Virginia Tech may fill that role instead. And don't go to sleep on Georgia Tech; they should be 2-0. North Carolina has a long way to go to turn their season around.
Nobody in the AAC seems capable of snagging a New Year's Six berth, with the possible exceptions of South Florida, Houston, or Navy, though none have wowed.
The MWC appears to be wide open. San Diego St. looks like a likely candidate for a New Year's Six spot, especially if they can get by Stanford next week. No one else, except perhaps Air Force-who's only played one game against an FCS foe- seems capable of seizing the initiative. Should make for an interesting conference race!
While Western Michigan has played well in 2 losses, Toledo and Central Michigan look to be the class of the MAC West, though Eastern Michigan looks much improved. The MAC East is wide open, with no one looking particularly good.
Old Dominion is 2-0, but neither of their victories is against a decent opponent. UTSA may turn out to be a surprise, and should be 3-0 when they face Southern Miss on October 7. Every other team in Conference USA already has at least one loss.
Every team in the Sun Belt Conference has a loss, except for new team Coastal Carolina, who has just played one game. It will be hard to judge the relative strengths of these teams until conference play begins, though Georgia Southern has looked particularly disappointing.
In the SEC, Alabama keeps on keeping on. Auburn struggled on offense for most of the game against Clemson, LSU had an easy time with Chattanooga, Texas A&M struggled against Nicholls (as did UGA last year), and Arkansas continues to disappoint. Ole Miss and Mississippi State both overwhelmed lesser opponents.
In the East, Tennessee, Kentucky and Vandy won easily, while South Carolina rolled over Missouri in the first conference game of the year. I believe South Carolina is a dark horse contender to win the East; the game with Kentucky next week may solidify that status. Florida was off due to the hurricane.
The Georgia victory over Notre Dame was certainly exciting! The UGA defense dominated, for the most part, only giving up short gains, when there were gains at all. They maintained constant pressure on the Notre Dame QB all night, and forced several bad throws, a few of which could have been intercepted. As for the offense, inconsistency was the theme of the night. At times, there was lots of room to run and plenty of time to throw, but at others, the blocking seemed to break down. Jake Fromm wasn't helped by his receivers dropping 2 touchdown passes, and the play calling left much to be desired: way too many passes on first down. Overall a good performance. Two other notes: the special teams are MUCH improved. I no longer cringe every time we receive a punt, wondering if our return man will fumble it. The other observation is that there were WAY too many penalties. That has got to stop if Georgia is to continue to win.
That's it for now. Look for my updated power rankings tomorrow and my week 3 picks on Wednesday or Thursday. Until next time, may your day and your loved ones be blessed! (And stay safe from Hurricane Irma!)
Purdue may be much better than they've been in the recent past, after playing well against Louisville in week 1, and then pounding a decent Ohio team in week 2. It will be interesting to see how they do against Missouri, another team that is a little bit of an enigma.
Michigan's defense looks like the real deal! Wisconsin has also looked impressive, unlike other Big10 teams. Northwestern, and Rutgers played poorly in losses, and Ohio State got blown out late. Penn State looked impressive in their win over Pitt, dominating the lines, and Indiana, another team that could be much improved, had a solid win over Virginia. Michigan St. and Iowa both struggled to wins over lesser opponents while Minnesota and Illinois handled their opponents with ease. Nebraska still seems to be underwhelming.
USC was very dominant in their win over Stanford. Arizona State and Arizona look at least as bad as last year. I will be surprised if Todd Graham and Rich Rodriguez return as coaches next year. Washington did nothing to discourage their status as frontrunners in the PAC12 North.
Baylor is in much worse shape than anyone thought. Their loss to UTSA follows their poor performance in their loss to Liberty last week. Oklahoma, however, was very impressive in their win over Ohio State, as was TCU in their win over Arkansas. Oklahoma St. and Kansas St. seem to be the biggest threat to the Sooners for winning the Big 12 Conference.
I believe Clemson has a clear path to the ACC Conference title. Their game at Louisville next week will be a big one. FSU has postponed their game with Miami to October 7, which will give both teams 2 bye weeks due to Hurricane Irma. NC State, who many prognosticators thought was a dark horse for a conference title, has looked less than impressive so far. Wake Forest, Duke, and Virginia Tech may fill that role instead. And don't go to sleep on Georgia Tech; they should be 2-0. North Carolina has a long way to go to turn their season around.
Nobody in the AAC seems capable of snagging a New Year's Six berth, with the possible exceptions of South Florida, Houston, or Navy, though none have wowed.
The MWC appears to be wide open. San Diego St. looks like a likely candidate for a New Year's Six spot, especially if they can get by Stanford next week. No one else, except perhaps Air Force-who's only played one game against an FCS foe- seems capable of seizing the initiative. Should make for an interesting conference race!
While Western Michigan has played well in 2 losses, Toledo and Central Michigan look to be the class of the MAC West, though Eastern Michigan looks much improved. The MAC East is wide open, with no one looking particularly good.
Old Dominion is 2-0, but neither of their victories is against a decent opponent. UTSA may turn out to be a surprise, and should be 3-0 when they face Southern Miss on October 7. Every other team in Conference USA already has at least one loss.
Every team in the Sun Belt Conference has a loss, except for new team Coastal Carolina, who has just played one game. It will be hard to judge the relative strengths of these teams until conference play begins, though Georgia Southern has looked particularly disappointing.
In the SEC, Alabama keeps on keeping on. Auburn struggled on offense for most of the game against Clemson, LSU had an easy time with Chattanooga, Texas A&M struggled against Nicholls (as did UGA last year), and Arkansas continues to disappoint. Ole Miss and Mississippi State both overwhelmed lesser opponents.
In the East, Tennessee, Kentucky and Vandy won easily, while South Carolina rolled over Missouri in the first conference game of the year. I believe South Carolina is a dark horse contender to win the East; the game with Kentucky next week may solidify that status. Florida was off due to the hurricane.
The Georgia victory over Notre Dame was certainly exciting! The UGA defense dominated, for the most part, only giving up short gains, when there were gains at all. They maintained constant pressure on the Notre Dame QB all night, and forced several bad throws, a few of which could have been intercepted. As for the offense, inconsistency was the theme of the night. At times, there was lots of room to run and plenty of time to throw, but at others, the blocking seemed to break down. Jake Fromm wasn't helped by his receivers dropping 2 touchdown passes, and the play calling left much to be desired: way too many passes on first down. Overall a good performance. Two other notes: the special teams are MUCH improved. I no longer cringe every time we receive a punt, wondering if our return man will fumble it. The other observation is that there were WAY too many penalties. That has got to stop if Georgia is to continue to win.
That's it for now. Look for my updated power rankings tomorrow and my week 3 picks on Wednesday or Thursday. Until next time, may your day and your loved ones be blessed! (And stay safe from Hurricane Irma!)
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