College Football Week 2 Musings

Week 2

• Well, the FCS division won three more games over FBS opponents. Two of the victories, Chattanooga 42-14 over Georgia State and Maine 24-14 over Massachusetts, were not unexpected. Both Georgia State and Massachusetts are completing a transition from the FCS level to the FBS level. Both rosters are made up of mostly FCS caliber talent which is why these losses are not surprising. The true upset was Nicholls State beating Western Michigan 27-23 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 2011 and 2012, Nicholls State went 2-20 and those two victories were over NAIA opponent Evangel. In addition, Western Michigan was coming off a solid defensive performance against Michigan State in which they were beaten 26-13.

• The game between #6 South Carolina and #11 Georgia showed that Aaron Murray can win the big one. It also showed that Jadeveon Clowney's MIA performance against North Carolina in Week 1 was no fluke. There is no doubt that Clowney is the focus of the South Carolina defense, but if he is not able to make an impact, South Carolina will not have nearly as a successful season as they hoped for. Georgia won the game 41-30.

• Week 2's other big game between #14 Notre Dame and #17 Michigan lived up to the excitement as Michigan defeated Notre Dame 41-30. Michigan's QB Devin Gardner found WR Jeremy Gallon 8 times for 184 yards and 3 TD's. Jeremy Gallon had 4 Touchdown receptions in 2012. In two games in 2013, Gallon has 4 touchdowns. Gardner also showed his escapability as a runner getting out sacks many times throughout the game and added a rushing TD.

• Devin Gardner's overall performance was excellent except for one play early in the 4th quarter which was the Notre Dame interception in the Michigan end zone. Gardner should have taken the sack and the safety instead of his ill-fated attempt to throw the ball away. Let's also give credit to Stephon Tuitt for making that tough catch. After all, he is a defensive lineman.

• Finally, we come to the USC Trojans' 10-7 loss versus Washington State. It was a horrendous display by the USC Trojans' quarterbacks. As I noted in my Week 1 post, I was not impressed by the USC quarterbacks' performance in Week 1. Well, Week 2 against Washington State was worse than Week 1 against Hawaii. Here are the stats: Cody Kessler and Max Wittek combined to go 11 for 21 for 54 yards and 2 interceptions. The three service academies (Army, Navy, and Air Force) all managed to throw for more yards than USC. All three of those teams run the triple option. USC WR Marqise Lee had 7 catches for 27 yards. No team with Marqise Lee as a #1 WR should throw for 54 yards for the entire game. I believe Lane Kiffin is gone at the end of the season because it will be hard to salvage more than 6 or 7 wins with the quarterbacks he has at his disposal. How many people thought Mike Leach would win a game at Washington State while only scoring 10 points? I certainly did not.