TWIF Notes 9/14/26

Welcome Back!

Forget everything you though you knew about how the 2026 was going to go; everything was upended here in Week 2. Well, not everything, but you get the idea. 

I was able to watch a few games on my I-Pad and my phone while on the school bus to and from the Florida Atlantic University campus (more on that below), but I didn't add a meaningful number of teams to those listed last week. I'll update this next week.

Here are my thoughts from Week 2

1. The ACC can really beat up on FCS teams. Over Thursday and Friday Nights, Miami, Louisville, Virginia, and NC State defeated 4 FCS teams by a combined 268-23, an average score of 67-5.75. That's complete domination. But also...

2. The ACC was 3-0 versus the Big Ten this past weekend, with Duke topping Illinois 31-27 in Champaign, Wake Forest escaping 38-36 in 2 OT at Purdue, and Boston College downing Rutgers 28-21 at home. The ACC also got a win from Pitt over UCF, as the conference was 4-1 against P4 competition this week, with the only loss being Ga Tech at home to Tennessee.

3. The SEC was 16-0 in OOC play in Week 1, and in Week 2 were 12-2, making them 28-2 so far this season. They are currently 8-2 against other P4 teams, with losses by Oklahoma to Michigan (by 7), and Arkansas to Utah (by 33). 

4. The Big Ten, on the other hand, didn't fare well: they were 2-6 versus P4 competition, and 11-0 against G6/FCS teams. Overall the Big Ten is 3-7 against all P4 teams, including 0-1 against Notre Dame. The good news is I'm pretty sure that any team from the Big Ten would dominate the MAC.

5. Oregon laid an egg against Oklahoma State, and while they can still recover and win the Big Ten and/or make the CFP, that seems highly unlikely, as the Cowboys scored 39 on the Ducks the week after being held to 10 by Tulsa. The Quack Attack has been ok, but the defense, which was thought to be one of the best in college football, has given up 66 points in 2 games. My pick to win the National Championship almost seems eliminated in Week 2.

6. Michigan seems to have a tremendous defense, as they have allowed only 1 TD and 5 FGs in 2 games. However, the offense is still a concern. Oklahoma's offense worked well against the UTEP defense last weekend, but struggled mightily against the Wolverines. Their game this week against New Mexico, who has outscored their 1st 2 opponents by 108-14 (against C Mich and an FCS squad), could be interesting. UM gets that very same UTEP team the Sooners squashed in Week 1.

7. Georgia once again looked dominant with their starters in the game, but a bit sloppy with the backups. Fortunately, the backups should be able to play more as the season goes on, which should give them added experience and confidence, but I would be worried if they had to play, due to injuries or some other circumstance. According to ESPN, this is the 1st time the Bulldogs have scored 60+ points in back-to-back games since 1915, when they opened the season with a 79-0 devastation of Newberry, and followed that up by destroying North Georgia 64-0. That team finished 5-2-2, tying Chattanooga 6-6 in Game 3 and Georgia Tech 0-0 in Game 8, with their losses in Games 5 and 6 to Virginia and Auburn.

8. Notre Dame, just may be the best team in the country. So far, they have outscored Wisconsin and Rice by a combined score of 93-13. And I don't think those type of scores will change until they travel to Provo on October 17, as they take on Michigan State, at Purdue, at Northwestern, and Stanford over the next month.

9. Washington has not been very impressive in the early going. They struggled to get by rival Washington State in Week 1, which is understandable except for thr fact the Cougars were routed by Kansas State this past weekend. But this week, the Huskies managed only a 16-14 score against a Utah State team that allowed 29 points to FCS Idaho State in a loss. UW may be able to stumble through the next couple of weeks, but their schedule turns brutal beginning with an October 3 contest at USC. This could turn out to be a 5-7 or 6-6 type season unless they get things straightened out, especially on offense.

10. Mississippi State routed Minnesota, which begs the question: are the Bulldogs better than expected, or did the Golden Gophers just have a bad game? It should be interesting watch the trajectories of these 2 teams over the season just to see if these result bears out, or if it's just an anomaly. Minnesota has a key game at Washington in a couple of weeks while MSU travels to South Carolina this weekend. 

11. Boise State bested Memphis by a score of 38-20, handing the Tigers their 1st loss, and now we have only a few G6 teams that are still undefeated: UTSA, USF, and Tulsa from the American Conference, Colorado State from the Pac 12, New Mexico and North Dakota State from the Mountain West, JMU, App State, Ga State, and Troy from the Sun Belt, and UMass from the MAC. Every team in CUSA already has a loss. While a 1-loss G6 team can (and probably will) make the CFP, there are just 11 teams that are currently undefeated, which means 59 other teams need to avoid a 2nd loss to enhance their chances (some already have 2 losses). 

12. According to the AJC, Georgia Tech is 0-2 (after their 45-24 loss to Tennessee in Atlanta) for the 1st time since 1989, and the Yellow Jackets have lost 13 consecutive games to SEC teams (the majority of those to UGA, of course, as the Dawgs have won 8 straight in the series). The Jackets actually lost the first 3 games in 1989, to NC State, Virginia, and South Carolina, but ended the season 7-4 (other loss was in Game 7 to Duke) with a win over UGA that led to the split National Championship in 1990.

13. FCS teams pulled 2 wins against FBS teams, with Illinois State taking down Northern Illinois 28-24 and Montana State flattening Nevada 20-7. That brings the total number of FCS wins this season to 5.

14. UNLV is eliminated from the CFP thanks to a loss to Memphis in Week Zero and the disappointing performance in Denton, Texas, as the Rebels were crushed by North Texas by a score of 44-6. The Rebs can still win the Mountain West, but if they do, that will definitely eliminate an MWC team from the CFP. The Mountain West is already perceived as a weakened conference, with Boise State, Fresno State, and SDSU all moving to the Pac 12 (with others), so they need to repair that image with OOC wins where they can. They have a huge opportunity this weekend when UNM travels to Oklahoma, UTEP goes to Ann Arbor to take on Micjhigan, and NIU visits Arizona. While unlikely, a win in one of these 3 contests would surely help.

15. Georgia State proved themselves at least the 4th best FBS team in the state when they took down Kennesaw State 31-17 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw. It also says a lot about the Sun Belt when what is perceived as one of the 2 worst teams in the conference defeats the CUSA Champion from 2025. GSU was just 1-11 last year, and are 4-20 over the last 2 seasons, but the Panthers may be turning things around, and could be ready to get their 1st conference win over a current member since 2023 (their only SBC win the last 2 years is over new Pac 12 member Texas State).

16. The Longhorns stunned everyone with a 21-point 4th quarter to overcome a 23-3 deficit and win 24-23. Texas may finally be ready to win the SEC, but they have plenty of challenges still to come. The Buckeyes know that this doesn't end their season, but it sure does narrow their margin for error, as they still must face Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, USC, Oregon, and Michigan. They can't afford more than 1 more loss, but that also means avoiding an upset from an unlikely source, like Maryland or Nebraska. I suppose it's possible for a 9-3 OSU team to make the CFP, but I don't like their chances, especially if they don't improve their OOC record in Week 3, which is all contests against G6 or FCS teams, with 2 exceptions: Colorado visits Northwestern, Va Tech comes to College Park to take on Maryland.

17. Oregon State and Iowa State are connected by the fact that OSU's coach from last year, Jimmy Rogers, left Corvallis to coach the Cyclones. And by the fact both situations were thought to be disasters waiting to happen. But ISU is 1-1 with just a 3-point loss to rival Iowa, and while the Beavers are 0-2, new HC Jamarcus Shepard has led the team to competitive losses to 2 top level Big 12 teams, losing to Houston and Texas Tech by just 13 and 11 points, respectively.

18. Clemson has no offense. The Tigers barely got by a middling Sun Belt Conference team, winning 22-7 over Georgia Southern, a team that was 7-6 last year, and just 4-4 in the conference. A team that has won more than 6 games in the regular season just once (8-4 in 2024) since they were 7-5 in 2020. Clemson has UNC coming to town this weekend, then travels to Cal on a short week before facing Miami, teams that are a combined 5-1. If get to November with more than 2 losses, I'm not sure what direction the administration and coaching staff will take.

19. I really enjoyed the Navy at FAU game in Boca Raton. My band got to rehearse and perform with the FAU Owl Band at halftime of the game, and were excited to see the Owls surge to a 31-7 halftime lead, thanks to a 60-yard FG just before the half, but the Midshipmen had a comeback that came up just a little short in the 38-30 loss. Navy QB Braxton Woodson was lost partway through the game with a lower leg injury, but backup QB Jackson Gutierrez proved to be more than capable. Paired with Army's loss to USF and Air Force's loss to NDSU, the 3 service academies took an oh-fer for the day.

20. Speaking of NDSU, the Bison are now tied for the lead in the MWC with UNLV, and just might be considered a favorite to meet New Mexico in the CG at the end of the regular season. Could they possibly make the CFP in their 1st season at the FBS level?

21. 135 of the 138 FBS teams played this past weekend, 1 more than last week, and that just may be a record for number of top division teams playing the same weekend. The teams who were off: FSU, Northwestern, and Stanford.

22. All teams have now played at least 2 games except one, and that is the Northwestern Wildcats. Ten teams have already played 3 games: USC, Memphis, UNLV, NDSU, Hawaii, JSU, SJSU, Eastern Michigan, New Mexico State, and Sacramento State. Of those 10, only USC and NDSU are still unbeaten.

That's it for this week! Come back tomorrow for my updated Power Rankings!

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!