Simon Clancy reviews Week 2 of the college football season, homing in on upsets and the state of Florida football, before turning his attention to the best of the Week 3 match-ups…

LEAD OFF
I hate to say I told you so but… I told you so.

Last week, in this very column, I gave warning of an upset special in the desert as Herm Edwards’s Arizona State hosted Michigan State. Early Sunday morning UK time it happened, as Brandon Ruiz booted a 28-yard FG at the gun to lift the Sun Devils over the Spartans 16-13 and pull off an unlikely win. No two-loss team has ever made the college football playoff, so MSU will need to go 9-0 in the Big Ten if they’re to win the National Championship. Which means MSU are out of the race after just two weeks…

Edwards, meanwhile, was a late-night talk show joke waiting to happen when he was hired by his former agent, ASU athletic director Ray Anderson. But nobody’s laughing now. It’s been 10 years since he’d stood on the sidelines, and 30 since he last coached in college, yet his team’s unbeaten, is playing tough football on both sides of the ball and is dominating against the run, having given up just 65 yards on 61 carries in two games. The reward? Their first AP Top 25 ranking since the 2015 pre-season as they head to play San Diego State this weekend.

THIS AND THAT
I said Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond would need a Johnny Manziel-type performance if they were to beat #2 Clemson. Well, in the fourth quarter, he turned in his best impression, instigating a furious rally that fell just short as the Tigers barely survived…

One team that wasn’t so lucky was Nebraska, who were toppled by Colorado thanks, in large part, to QB Steven Montez, who looks every bit the NFL passer. He threw for 351 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner to Laviska Shinault with a minute and change left in the fourth quarter… Speaking of Shinault, the sophomore receiver has the inside lane in this year’s Biletnikoff Race for the nation’s top wideout after another tremendous performance. He now has 21 catches for 388 yards this season. At 6’2 and 200lbs, he too has serious NFL pedigree… One footnote from that game: the Cornhuskers trailed 33-28 with seven seconds left and 21 yards to go to the endzone, yet ran play action. Explain that one, Coach Frost… One good note, Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez had the all-clear from doctors to play this week after he left the game with an injury…

The state of Florida is an omnishambles at the Power 5 level. FSU, after failing to show up against Virginia Tech last week, trailed FCS Samford for 56 minutes on Saturday, finally going ahead late in the fourth to win by ten in a game they were favoured to win by 31. Head coach Willie Taggart did most things right this offseason: bringing back Bobby Bowden, re-engaging with ex-players, and going a long way to help repairing a fractured programme – but he’s lost every bit of good will since the opening kickoff against the Hokies… And, while we’re moaning about Florida State, whoever thought the ‘Turnover Backpack’ was a good idea should be removed from their job immediately. Not only is it cheesy and terrible, but pulling it out against Samford? Just no…

Things might be even worse in Gainesville than they are in Tallahassee. Dan Mullen is a good coach, but he’s presiding over a very bad Gator team who were outplayed in The Swamp by minnows Kentucky. It was Florida’s first loss to the Wildcats since 1986… Want a good Sunshine State story? Central Florida has a 15-game win streak. Just sayin’…

Nick Saban’s Crimson machine rolled on, waxing Arkansas State 57-7. In doing so, they became the first Alabama team since 1923 to score 50+ points in their first two games… Keep an eye on Jalen Hurts, who may redshirt this season after losing his job to Tua Tagovailoa. The NCAA’s new rules mean he can play in up to four games without burning that redshirt and, because he’s set to graduate in December, he could transfer, play for a new school in 2019 and still have two years of eligibility left…

Mississippi State QB Nick Fitzgerald had 157 yards rushing in his first game of the season after being suspended for week one. But the star of the game was TB Kylin Hill, who had 211 yards on the ground for the Bulldogs and could enter the Heisman conversation with a few more big performances…

Looking for college football’s wolf in sheep’s clothing? Step forward, Kevin Sumlin. Houston hammered his Arizona programme 45-18 and rendered star QB Khalil Tate almost useless. After looking like the next big thing at Texas A&M with Johnny Manziel, Sumlin has flattered to deceive ever since. As for Tate, his touted Heisman candidacy will not recover…

Someone else who won’t be winning the Heisman is Oklahoma TB Rodney Anderson, who tore his ACL in the win over UCLA. Anderson, who considered entering the 2018 Draft and likely would have been a first round pick, will miss the rest of the season… Elsewhere on the injury front, another likely first round pick, Washington LT Trey Adams, has been shut down for the second straight campaign after back surgery…

Let’s hear it for the state of Kansas: it had been 3,282 days since the Jayhawks won on the road. iPads didn’t exist, Obama was in the first year of his presidency and Instagram was still a year from launching. But, on Saturday, they travelled to Central Michigan and came away with a 31-7 victory… Meanwhile, Kansas Wesleyan, who play at the NAIA level, were up 69-0 vs Friends University at the half and ended up winning 83-0. Things got so bad for the Falcons that they had Chandler replacing Ross at QB in the second half. That will be my last joke!

GAME OF THE WEEK
The best match-up this weekend is the Battle of the Tigers between #7 Auburn and #12 LSU in what’s the biggest game of the season so far. Why? Both schools have a pretty persuasive victory over another well-regarded foe at a neutral site, as well as a beat-down of a schedule patsy at home. Whilst Auburn are more well-rounded, especially under centre with QB Jarrett Stidham, LSU have, in Ohio State transfer Joe Burrow, the sort of passer that both Nick Saban and Les Miles won national titles with: a game manager who doesn’t make mistakes, leads from the front, is like a coach on the field and whose ego doesn’t distract from the fact that, if they’re to win games, then it’s safer to do so on the legs of the run game and the back of the defense. This is always a great game and, whilst there’s no Cam Newton or Leonard Fournette, it should be tight, testy and terrific.

BACK-UP GAME OF THE WEEK
I’m tempted to say USC vs Texas if only for reminders of the 2006 Rose Bowl. But Texas have fallen so far that this should be a comfortable win for the Trojans. No, my back-up game of the week sees 15th ranked TCU playing #4 Ohio State at AT&T Stadium. The Horned Frogs, who boast the sixth best record in college football since 2005, will look to pull off the sort of upset that Gary Patterson has long been famous for. In QB Shawn Robinson, they have someone who can threaten the Buckeyes as a running threat when he breaks contain, as well as make throws down the field. However, the difference in this game should be OSU’s Dwayne Haskins, who might just have jumped to the top of the pile in the Heisman race – see below. His numbers – 42 of 53 for 546 yards and nine touchdowns – only tell half the story. He’s looked like an archetypal NFL passer and his accuracy is unerring. The sixth-ranked defense in the nation will test him, but take the Buckeyes here.

NFL WATCH
Last week, we told you about Houston’s Ed Oliver, who had another massive game against Arizona. He’ll be a top three pick in April’s draft and it’ll take a very good player to keep him from being the first man taken. One such performer who could end up going above him is Ohio State’s Nick Bosa, who’s started the season in electric fashion, underlining why NFL front offices are salivating over him.

A guy that can elevate himself into the top 40-conversation is TCU edge rusher Ben Banogu, who looks like he could develop into a premier NFL 3-4 LB given time. He has the bend to get around the edge, the burst off the ball and the length to win as a rush threat. He’s got some technique work to do in his game but, if he can be in Dwayne Haskins’ face against the Buckeyes this weekend, then he’ll really put himself on the map.

No surprise that Alabama continues to churn out first round talent, but they’re doing so continually from the safety position. Ronnie Harrison and Minkah Fitzpatrick are gone, but step forward redshirt junior Deionte Thompson, who looks to be one of the rangiest safeties I’ve seen in a long time. His range is incredible, almost to the point where it looks like it’s a camera trick. His interception vs Louisville in week one was the perfect example: he was several yards inside the hash when the ball was thrown from a strong-armed quarterback – and yet he got all the way over to the sideline to make the pick in the endzone. He’ll be tested each week given the conference he plays in, but his combination of elite range and physicality have the makings of a top 10-15 pick. At worst.

HEISMAN FIVE
It’s difficult to demote Tagovailoa from the top spot after going 13 of 19 for 224 yards and four touchdowns, so we’ve kept him at number one, but Dwayne Haskins is closing hard. The most hard done-by performer is Will Grier, who inexplicably falls a spot despite going 21 of 26 for 332 yards and four scores. But we’re a tough bunch. Jonathan Taylor ripped off a career high 233 yards and three touchdowns and he moves up a spot to four. The Trevor Lawrence bandwagon still rolls on, but it doesn’t roll so high this week and he falls out of the top 5. In his place is Ole Miss passer Jordan Ta’amu. After throwing for 336 yards in week one, he followed that up with 448 against Southern Illinois and five touchdowns. He’s also yet to throw a pick.

1. Tua Tagovailoa – Alabama (1)
2. Dwayne Haskins – Ohio State (3)
3. Will Grier – West Virginia (2)
4. Jonathan Taylor – Wisconsin (5)
5. Jordan Ta’amu – Ole Miss (-)

Wildcard: Manny Wilkins – Arizona State (-)
Dropping out: Trevor Lawrence

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