Upsets Abound in College Football's Week 2 Slate

Every year in college football, we have upsets. They’re as common as the Browns struggling and day games at Wrigley Field. Normally we see them run more rampant in conference play, when the line that differentiates one program from another is somewhat blurred.

That wasn’t the case Saturday. While four ranked teams were in action over Thursday and Friday, none were seriously threatened. Each won by at least 17 points. Meanwhile, #7 Miami looked like a video game, racking up 77 points and 856 yards of offense in a thrashing of Florida A&M.

Then, Saturday rolled around and the topsy-turvy world of college football we know and love made an early season appearance. Three ranked teams, including a pair in the top 11, lost. In addition, a few others had tougher than anticipated matchups before surviving. Let’s take a look at what went down.

#1 Ohio State Crumbles in Crunch Time

Ohio State had Texas reeling for three quarters. The Buckeyes were up 10-0 after one quarter and 20-3 at the half. They pushed the lead to 23-3 after three quarters and seemed poised to deal Steve Sarkisian’s squad a devastating loss for the second straight year.

Then, the fourth quarter started and Ohio State completely fell apart. The Buckeyes gave up three touchdown drives in the final quarter. Meanwhile, offensively, they went three-and-out on their first possession.

With 4:16 remaining, Connor Hawkins, who hit his first three field goal attempts in the game, missed from 45 yards. That would have given the Buckeyes a 26-17 lead. Instead, Texas went 73 yards in 12 plays to score the winning touchdown with 25 seconds left. Julian Sayin was picked on a desperation play and the Buckeyes were toast.

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#6 Oregon Falls in Stillwater

Last week, #6 Oregon had their hands full at home against Boise State. The Ducks managed to come away with a 34-27 victory but it didn’t give any of their fanbase the warm fuzzies. This week, Dante Moore and company went to Stillwater to take on an Oklahoma State squad that struggled against Tulsa last week.

Instead, Moore was outplayed by Drew Mestermaker while Oregon’s defense had a pick-six but gave up 554 yards of offense. The Ducks took their last lead at 31-30 nine seconds into the fourth quarter but their last three drives went punt, downs, downs. Oklahoma State scored the final nine points and pulled the upset. The Cowboys snapped a 21-game skid against FBS opponents with the win.

#11 Oklahoma Stumbles in the Big House

Last year, we saw #11 Oklahoma beat Michigan in Norman. This season, it seemed like the Sooners should repeat the result, only this time in Ann Arbor. After all, this was a Michigan squad that escaped Western Michigan on a Hail Mary after a replay ruled there was a second left on the clock.

In a game that was a defensive struggle, it was turnovers that proved to be the difference. With the score tied in the fourth quarter, John Mateer threw an interception that was returned to the six-yard line. Michigan punched in the go-ahead score two plays later. Oklahoma couldn’t mount a sustained drive after that and went down in defeat.

The new rankings, when they come out, should be interesting. In addition to the three ranked losers, #13 Texas Tech struggled before putting away Oregon State. Meanwhile, #19 Washington edged Utah State 16-14 and #21 Iowa slipped past Iowa State 16-13. Elsewhere, #15 BYU and #16 Penn State were less than inspiring against lesser competition.