Bold predictions for Week 2 of the college football season
Shocking disappointments and better-than-expected performances are anticipated each weekend in wild world of college football. It's especially true early in the season as teams have yet to get into the swing of the schedules and are more prone to mistakes.
The Paste BN Sports college football staff — Jace Evans, Paul Myerberg, George Schroeder, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Dan Wolken — weigh in with some bold predictions for Week 2 of the college football season:
Jace Evans
Clemson will crush Texas A&M – by at least three scores. The hype surrounding Jimbo Fisher’s Aggies is high, deservedly so in many respects. You will probably see them listed as an upset pick this weekend in many places, with people pointing to the close game in College Station last season as a marker that this even-better A&M team can hang with the Tigers. They will not.
While he played in that 2018 game, the Tigers had not turned to Trevor Lawrence yet as the starter. Since doing that, Clemson has run off 12 straight wins, the last 11 coming by at least 20 points. Fisher’s program appears to be building something great but they’re not at the point yet to disrupt that streak, especially at Memorial Stadium.
Paul Myerberg
LSU wins at Texas to make two statements. The first says that Ed Orgeron and the Tigers are a real contender for the SEC championship and College Football Playoff, thanks to a predictably stingy defense and a suddenly explosive offense. The second statement relates to Texas, and asks whether the Longhorns are actually back, as quarterback Sam Ehlinger said after topping Georgia in last year’s Sugar Bowl. The answer? Not against opponents as good as LSU, even at home.
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George Schroeder
It’s tempting to write off Southern California – and by extension, Clay Helton – after the season-ending injury to quarterback JT Daniels. Suddenly the whole Air Raid experiment feels a lot less likely to succeed, doesn’t it? But even with freshman Kedon Slovis running the show, the Trojans will beat Stanford. Slovis didn’t arrive with the typical accolades that attend a USC quarterback, but he blew away coaches when they saw him in high school, and they were impressed by his demeanor when he was pressed into service in the opener against Fresno State. Whether Slovis is ready for the long haul – whether USC can achieve its urgent goals with the true freshman quarterback – is uncertain. But he’ll be good enough Saturday.
Erick Smith
Upset alerts usually are sent out the second halves of games played by ranked opponents. Bells should be ringing this week in pregame for both Michigan and Ohio State.
The Wolverines get a visit from Army. Everyone knows how difficult the Black Knights made life for Oklahoma last season. They're more than capable of going into the Big House and making life difficult for Michigan. An option attack can grind out first downs and chew up the clock. It will take a strong effort from Shea Patterson and the Wolverines offense to make this game a comfortable win.
Cincinnati travels to Columbus, and the Bearcats would like nothing more than to beat their bigger in-state rivals. They've already taken down UCLA in Week 1 and have more than enough pieces to slow down the Buckeyes offense and Justin Fields, who is making just his second career start.
Eddie Timanus
Saturday’s tilt between UCLA and San Diego State at the Rose Bowl will probably bear little resemblance to the high-flying, quick-strike game of college football we know today. For some who like to see strong defense played, that will be a good thing. For the rest of us, however, this contest could set the sport back a few decades.
With all 130 FBS teams now having one game in the books, UCLA ranks 122nd in total offense with just 218 yards. San Diego State wasn’t much better last week, checking in at 117th with a total of 238 yards. The Bruins’ struggles are more understandable, as they were on the road facing a tough Cincinnati defense in a bad body-clock situation. The Aztecs’ ineptitude, which came in an ugly 6-0 win against FCS member Weber State, is undoubtedly more troubling for their fans. We expect the Bruins to bounce back better as they return home, but take the under.
Dan Wolken
I think Tennessee will bounce back off the loss to Georgia State and play a much more representative football game to beat BYU handily on Saturday night. The Vols collectively laid down when things got tough in the second half against Georgia State, which raises plenty of questions about the state of things internally in Knoxville and the coaching staff led by Jeremy Pruitt. But I imagine some level of pride will be kicking this week and that Tennessee will play with more edge and physicality against a name-brand opponent. If that doesn't happen, look out below.