College Football Week Two: Winners and Losers

Week two saw breakouts, standouts, and some surprises. Here are my winners and losers:

1. Oklahoma Sooners: After a shaky start, quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns as the Sooners kicked it into gear and defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes 31-16. Mayfield and the Sooners avenged last year’s loss. Think it’s time to take the Sooners, seriously.
2. USC Trojans: Quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Ronald Jones III rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns as the Trojans defeated the Stanford Cardinal 42-24. The Trojans had 625 total yards, very impressive offensive showing.
3. Clemson Tigers: Quarterback Kelly Bryant rushed for two touchdowns. The defense had 11 (yes, you read that) sacks as the Tigers held off the Auburn Tigers 14-6. The defending champs saying, “don’t forget about us.”
4. Georgia Bulldogs: Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship’s go-ahead 30-yard field goal with just over 3:30 minutes left and a late recovered fumble helped the Bulldogs hold off the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 20-19.
5. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson: Jackson had 525 total yards and six touchdowns as he led the Cardinals passed the North Carolina Tar Heels 47-35. Jackson reminding us, “hey, remember me, I’m the reigning Heisman winner!”
6. Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback Mason Randolph: Randolph threw for 335 yards and three touchdowns as the Cowboys defeated the South Alabama Jaguars easily 44-7. You’ll be hearing Randolph’s name in the Heisman discussion, too.
7. Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners: Quarterback Dalton Sturm threw for two touchdowns and rushed for 98 yards as the Roadrunners, from C-USA and in their seventh year of football, defeated the Baylor Bears 17-10. It’s the Roadrunners’ first win over a Power 5 team, beep, beep!!

Losers:

1. Ohio State Buckeyes: The Buckeyes just couldn’t move the chains in their loss to Oklahoma.
2. Stanford Cardinal: The defense gave up 625 total yards in their loss to USC.
3. Auburn Tigers: Despite having the edge in time of possession, the offense only had 117 total yards, also quarterback Jarrett Stidham was sacked 11 times in their loss to Clemson.
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: A late turnover cost the Irish, a chance to win in their loss to Georgia.
5. Baylor Bears: The Bears were only 2 for 12 on 3^rd downs and had just over 21 minutes in time of possession in their loss to Texas-San Antonio. Once again, not the start first year coach Matt Rhule wanted.

Storylines going into Week Three:

Tennessee meets Florida in an early SEC showdown. Clemson’s defense will try to slow down Louisville’s Lamar Jackson. Texas goes to L.A. and face USC.