Five Things We Learned In College Football: Week 2

Credit does go to USC QB Matt Barkley, who managed the game

and led USC on a long final drive despite a bad shoulder. 

After a pretty wild week in college football, some of the contenders for the national title are starting to show why they belong.

Meanwhile, some of the top teams at the start of the year, Oklahoma State and Ohio State, have fallen out of the top ten after crushing home defeats. And Michigan has made its return to the AP top 25 for the first time since 2007.

All that said, here are five things that we have learned after a second week of college football:

1.) Offensive inconsistencies will hamper the Buckeyes

In an instant classic in Columbus, the Ohio State defense made a spectacular showing against the Trojans. USC had over 300 yards rushing against San Jose State, but struggled to get over 100 against the Buckeyes.

The Buckeye offense, however, made a disappearing act after a high-powered first quarter, when they moved down the field on their second series. Terrelle Pryor looked timid and tried to beat USC by throwing, which he did not do a great job of in the second half.

Buckeye fans are demanding that Jim Tressel must give up the playcalling to put OSU among the best, because the defense looks so much better at this point. Luckily for the Buckeyes, the defensive line looks like the real deal.

Credit does go to USC QB Matt Barkley, who managed the game and led them on a long final drive despite a bad shoulder. If these teams should meet again, the third rematch in two years could be very interesting.

2.) Oklahoma State was not who we thought they were

Many people thought that Oklahoma State was ready to contend for the Big 12 title, and they looked in line to do so after beating Georgia the week before.

After giving up 45 to Houston and QB Case Keenum at home, the Cowboys suffered a setback that they might not recover from.

Oklahoma St fell behind early and had to play catchup, and when they could take the game, they had nothing left.

If nothing else, this game proved that the Cowboys still have a long way to go before being considered one of the best in the Big 12.

3.) Michigan should be the wild card in the Big Ten

Rich Rodriguez's second year in Michigan seems like something out of a movie, with two high-scoring performances led by freshman QBs Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson.

A last-minute win over Notre Dame put the Wolverines back in the AP Top 25, and they should have very few challenges until welcoming Penn State to the Big House on October 24th.

Forcier doesn't look like a freshman, as he has played very well in his first two games, using his legs to open the field for his arm. Greg Robinson's 3-4 defense has already been much improved over the Michigan defense a year ago.

Ohio State and Penn State are the class of the Big Ten at this point. But by October 24, the Wolverines might have something to say about that.

What gives them a darkhorse chance at winning the Big Ten? They host both Penn State and Ohio State and they only have four road games all season.

4.) The flu could be the biggest x-factor this season

This week, we saw two teams, Wisconsin and Ole Miss, deal with the flu bug which affected their teams dramatically.

In Oxford, both WR Dexter McCluster and QB Jevan Snead were among over a dozen Rebels that had caught the flu. Luckily for the Rebels, they were on an early bye week so they didn't have a game to play.

The Badgers, however, were not so lucky. They reportedly had close to 40 players sick and had a solid Fresno State team coming in to Camp Randall.

Wisconsin did win in a double-overtime game where they showed a lot of heart.

At the rate the flu seems to be affecting college teams, it might only be a matter of time before it becomes the factor in a big top-ten matchup.

5.) The cupcakes make it hard to judge much of the top ten

Florida and Texas have remained the top two teams because they really haven't had much competition in the first two weeks. The same can be said for Penn State, who has not allowed a first half point all season.

 

With some of the top teams not having been challenged, it's hard to see how they really stand. USC and Alabama have both aced difficult tests in Ohio State and Virginia Tech respectively.

Florida does not play a tough game until October 10 when they travel into Death Valley to play LSU, while the Horns have a decent opponent this week when they open conference play against Texas Tech.

Lower down in the top ten, BYU has a decent challenge against Florida State to prove they really belong among the best in the nation. If they win and run the table, they could be a very trendy pick for the National Championship Game.