College football winners and losers: Get-right weekend doesn’t work out for everybody

After a Week 1 full of intriguing matchups, Week 2 was supposed to be a breather of sorts for top teams across the country.

Some handled their rest weeks better than others.

No. 21 Alabama bounced back from a rough start to the season at Florida State by doing exactly what it needed to do against Louisiana-Monroe. The Crimson Tide were up 42-0 at halftime in the 73-0 win as Ty Simpson was 17-of-17 passing for 226 yards and three touchdowns before he left the game in favor of Austin Mack. Germie Bernard caught all three of those TDs as the Tide did not miss Ryan Williams. The star sophomore wide receiver sat out after suffering a concussion in the loss to FSU.

Advertisement

Every team in the top 10 of the AP Top 25 that played on Saturday also got a victory. No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Penn State beat their opponents by a combined 104-0. You wouldn’t have guessed a year ago that No. 6 Oregon would have less trouble against Oklahoma State than it did against Montana State, but the Ducks beat the hapless Cowboys 69-3.

Like Alabama, Clemson needed to bounce back after a Week 1 loss to LSU. And the Tigers still looked hungover from that loss for a while. Troy took a 16-0 lead over Clemson thanks to a batted pick-6 in the first half before the Tigers scored 27 straight on the way to a 27-16 win. However, the Tigers mustered just 316 yards on 55 plays against the Trojans. It’s hard to feel totally confident in Clemson’s offense ahead of a Week 3 game against Georgia Tech.

No. 13 Florida entered Week 2 as an 18.5-point favorite over South Florida. The Bulls were supposed to be an easy win ahead of a crucial Week 3 game at LSU in prime time. Instead, Florida’s poor game management and discipline cost the Gators mightily in an 18-16 loss to the Bulls.

Florida threw two incomplete passes leading by one with less than three minutes to go and then committed back-to-back penalties on USF’s game-winning drive. It was the second half that showed the Gators don’t look ready to be a serious contender in the SEC. And that’s a problem with the monstrous schedule Florida is facing this season.

Advertisement

Kansas State was a 17-point favorite at home against an Army team that lost its season-opener to FCS Tarleton State. The Wildcats entered the year as a preseason favorite in the Big 12 and still had that status despite a narrow loss to Iowa State in Ireland in Week 0 and a narrow win over North Dakota in Week 1.

Well, K-State is now 1-2 after a 24-21 loss to the Black Knights. The Wildcats ran just 43 plays — and only 13 in the second half — as Army ran 82 plays and held the ball for over 40 minutes. Army also converted 6-of-7 fourth-down attempts and ground down the Wildcats’ defense with three TD drives of 14 plays or more.

Winners

No. 11 Illinois: The Illini passed their first test of the season with flying colors. Illinois outscored Duke 31-6 in the second half on the way to a 45-19 road win. Luke Altmyer was 22-of-31 passing for 296 yards and three scores and three different Illinois players ran for TDs including Hank Beatty. He also led the team with eight catches for 128 yards.

Advertisement

Duke outgained the Illini but turned the ball over five times with four of those being fumbles. Duke also gifted Illinois a first down when it had two players with the same number on the field during a punt return.

Baylor: The Bears avoided a 0-2 start and a potential disaster with a fantastic 48-45 double-overtime win over No. 17 SMU in Dallas. Baylor never led until scoring on the first possession of the first overtime and it took 14 straight points in the fourth quarter for Baylor to get the game to extra periods.

QB Sawyer Robertson was 34-of-50 passing for 440 yards and four touchdowns and Bryson Washington ran 31 times for 115 yards and two scores.

Advertisement

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have already matched their 2024 win total with a dramatic 24-20 win over No. 12 Arizona State on Saturday. MSU won the game with less than a minute left after QB Blake Shapen found WR Brenan Thompson wide open after a coverage bust in the Arizona State secondary.

With games against Alcorn State and Northern Illinois over the next two weeks, the Bulldogs have a great chance to be 4-0 before No. 22 Tennessee comes to town on Sept. 27. A bowl game may still be a long shot. But there are at least signs of progress

Jacksonville State: The first win of the Charles Kelly era at Jacksonville State came over one of the favorites in Conference USA. The Gamecocks got a 34-24 win over Liberty with a dominant performance on the ground. JSU ran 50 times for 338 yards and four scores as Cam Cook rushed 29 times for 195 yards. It’s a victory that could prove vital for the Gamecocks as they look to get back to the CUSA title game for the second straight season.

North Carolina: After the disaster that was Week 1, the first win of the Bill Belichick era came Saturday night in a 20-3 victory at Charlotte. It was far from a perfect game; UNC had 300 total yards and was just 5-of-15 on third down. But the Tar Heels didn’t turn the ball over after three turnovers against TCU.

Advertisement

QB Gio Lopez got the start again for North Carolina and was 17-of-25 for 155 yards and a TD while rushing nine times for 44 yards.

Losers

Oklahoma State: Things can only get better in Stillwater. They can’t get worse, right? Oklahoma State lost 69-3 to No. 6 Oregon. It’s the worst loss in program history as the Cowboys were absolutely dominated from the jump. Oregon had 631 yards on just 62 plays as the Ducks built that 66-point lead through the first three quarters. Oklahoma State had fewer first downs (9) than Oregon had yards per play (10.2).

OSU coach Mike Gundy’s contract was reworked before the 2025 season and he brought in new coordinators on both sides of the ball after a 3-9 campaign in 2024. That season ended with the worst loss of the Gundy era in a 52-0 defeat to Colorado. Well, that was the worst loss of the Gundy era until Saturday.

West Virginia: Rich Rodriguez may have quite the rebuilding job at West Virginia. The Mountaineers went to Ohio and promptly lost 17-10 to the Bobcats despite not allowing a single point in the second half. Ohio’s 14 second quarter points were more than enough as West Virginia had just 250 total yards. The Mountaineers were 2-of-13 on third downs and couldn’t take advantage of three interceptions. The Backyard Brawl is up next for the Mountaineers before a trip to Kansas and a visit from Utah.

Advertisement

Virginia Tech: Any hope after hanging with South Carolina in Week 1 disappeared in the second half of Saturday night’s game against Vanderbilt. The Hokies were outscored 34-0 in the final 30 minutes in a 44-20 home loss to the Commodores.

Virginia Tech went up 10-0 in the first quarter and then everything fell apart from there as the Commodores finished with more than twice the yardage the Hokies had despite running two fewer plays. With home games against Old Dominion and Wofford up next, VT needs convincing wins in both of them to get a shred of optimism back in the fanbase.

Iowa: We promise this isn’t a copy-paste from anytime within the last two years; the Hawkeyes struggled to throw the football on Saturday. Iowa lost 16-13 to Iowa State as QB Mark Gronowski was just 13-of-24 for 83 yards and an interception. Gronowski was one of the best QBs at the FCS level at South Dakota State. So far through two games at Iowa, he’s 21-of-39 for 127 yards and a TD and an interception. Yikes.

Advertisement

Oregon State: What’s up with the Beavers? After losing by 19 at home to Cal and a true freshman QB in Week 1, the Beavers lost 36-27 at home to Fresno State. Oregon State took a 27-26 lead with 1:19 to go on a 34-yard TD pass from Maalik Murphy to David Wells Jr. But Fresno State went 44 yards in 44 seconds for a go-ahead field goal with 29 seconds left.

The Bulldogs then clinched the game on a 45-yard pick-6 by Jakari Embry with four seconds to go. A bowl game in 2025 is looking like a long shot already. The Beavers travel to Texas Tech and Oregon over the next two weeks before Houston visits.