The possibility that No. Three Ohio State will now not play a main part in finding out this 12 months's College Football Playoff unexpectedly exists after No. 11 Oregon's dominant jogging recreation and late interception keyed a 35-28 street win.
That being stated, there may be precedent for an OSU rebound after an early-season loss.In 2014, the Buckeyes misplaced in September at Virginia Tech after which received out to claim the countrywide championship within the debut year of the playoff format.
But now the Buckeyes discover themselves gambling from in the back of even as Oregon surges to the leading edge of the postseason race. For the primary time in six years, the Pac-12 can realistically envision putting the convention champion within the pinnacle 4.
That makes the Ducks the biggest winner of the week. Here are the rest of these groups worth of praise or complaint from Week 2 of the 2021 season:
WINNERS
Oregon
The Ducks' obvious growth beneath train Mario Cristobal become forgotten amid final 12 months's struggles in opposition to the backdrop of the pandemic. Since taking over, Cristobal has constructed a roster able to standing up against any group inside the usa, with the sort of physical attitude borrowed from his stint at Alabama that stands in evaluation to the bigger norm inside the Pac-12. Case in point: Oregon went for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns at the ground in Ohio State's worst overall performance against the run considering the fact that 2018. If the Ducks can do it in opposition to the Buckeyes, they could push around each team left on their time table.
The Pac-12
The Ducks are massive winners. So is the Pac-12. Largely a non-issue within the playoff hunt due to the fact that 2017, the convention can now make a big boast: Our quality team, Oregon, is better than the Big Ten's exceptional. These arguments deliver huge weight among participants of the playoff choice committee. And at the same time as currently reserved for the Ducks, the gain of Saturday's win could expand to whichever unbeaten or one-loss team stands atop the conference in early December, whether it is the Ducks, UCLA, Southern California or any other.
Iowa
No. 12 Iowa need to be the best-ranked Big Ten crew in the subsequent USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll after a 27-17 win in opposition to No. 10 Iowa State, the Hawkeyes' 6th straight win within the collection. How did they pull it off? It's simple: Iowa turned into plus-4 in turnover margin and scored 20 points off of these takeaways. This helped triumph over a weak displaying on offense, because the Hawkeyes completed with simply 173 yards on 60 performs. After smothering the Cyclones, it is time to start taking Iowa very significantly as a top contender for the New Year's Six and a valid contender for the Big Ten identify and pinnacle 4.
Kentucky
The Wildcats did not get another monster sport from quarterback Will Levis however still controlled to overcome Missouri 35-28 within the SEC opener for both groups. Levis, a switch from Penn State who threw for 367 yards in the opener, completed with 204 yards of total offense and two blended scores. With weeks within the books, the Wildcats are an smooth choose for the third-pleasant team within the SEC East and the best group aside from Florida with any shot at unseating Georgia from atop the department.
Matt Corral
Corral threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns with out an interception no matter playing much less than three quarters as Mississippi trounced Austin Peay 54-17. The Heisman Trophy credentials are growing for the former 5-big name recruit, who has but to show the ball over via games after a 2020 season defined through stretches of untamed inconsistency. Corral has now long gone 3 full games and 109 attempts with out throwing a pick.
Wisconsin
After a disappointing loss to Penn State to open the season, the Badgers bounced returned with a dominant overall performance against Eastern Michigan, a crew projected to land in the pinnacle 1/2 of the MAC. Wisconsin ran for 352 yards, ruled the clock and held EMU to simply three first downs and ninety two yards of offense.
South Carolina
If no longer coming towards elite competition, that South Carolina is 2-0 after a 20-17 win towards East Carolina is worth of commendation given the two factors at play. One, this is a team surely within the early stages of a rebuild beneath first-yr teach Shane Beamer. And two, the Gamecocks have gained each games with train-grew to become-quarterback Zeb Noland taking on for an injured Luke Doty, the group's projected starter in August.
WATCH: Ohio State band's drum major takes spill before game
LOSERS
Ohio State
Ohio State's playoff hopes take a dent but the loss is survivable have to the Buckeyes deal with No. 13 Penn State, Michigan and the crossover opponent within the convention championship game. As dominant as OSU has been within the Big Ten for the past decade, is a smooth run via convention play realistic given the state of the Buckeyes' protection? This group has now given up 472 yards and 6 touchdowns on the floor through video games; final year's unit allowed 781 yards and 10 scores in eight video games.
Washington
It's nearly impossible to align the preseason hype heaped on Washington with how this group has looked through two weeks. After losing thirteen-7 in its opener to Montana, UW become driven around in a 31-10 loss in top time at Michigan. Who are the Huskies? This is sincerely now not a team able to out-muscling everyone on both facets of the ball, which stands in comparison to the form of program constructed underneath former educate Chris Petersen. This is likewise a collection that is inept enough offensively to manage just landing in eight quarters of play, 4 coming towards an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision. UW has long gone from contender to the most important disappointment inside the u . S . A ..
North Carolina State
Fresh off a forty five-zero win towards South Florida that recommended the preseason takes on N.C. State — particularly, that this team can be one of the four or 5 first-rate inside the ACC — had been based in fact, the Wolfpack put together a bellyflop of a performance in dropping 24-10 at Mississippi State. They failed to run the ball nicely, shield the football, harass MSU quarterback Will Rodgers, get something going through the air or get the job carried out on third down. Otherwise, a sterling overall performance from coach Dave Doeren's institution.
Texas
After an auspicious Week 1 below new coach Steve Sarkisian, Texas flopped lower back towards mediocrity with a forty-21 loss at Arkansas. The Razorbacks, now 2-0, have made significant strides beneath 2nd-12 months educate Sam Pittman, who inherited a smoldering dumpster fire however has made this system very competitive in the SEC. After beating Louisiana-Lafayette to get matters started, the Longhorns are set to drop out of the national ratings after giving up 333 speeding yards and averaging a paltry 3.Eight yards in keeping with play.
Notre Dame and Texas A&M
The No. 7 Fighting Irish and No. Five Aggies survived as heavy favorites — the Irish 32-29 against Toledo and A&M 10-7 in opposition to Colorado — but raised eyebrows alongside the manner. For Notre Dame, the win came notwithstanding a irritating overall performance from quarterback Jack Coan, who threw a choose-six to present Toledo a sixteen-14 lead at halftime but threw the sport-prevailing landing pass with simply over a minute left. The Aggies lost starting quarterback Haynes King early against the Buffaloes and did not rating the pass-ahead landing till 2:forty one left in the fourth area. King's replacement, Zach Calzada, completed 18 of 38 tries for 183 yards.
Iowa State
The software's development into one of the satisfactory within the Big 12 is a brilliant fulfillment, so it is clean to look why instruct Matt Campbell's call gets linked with each primary job establishing in the FBS and NFL. But his tenure hasn't been best: Campbell's teams have began slow and failed to beat Iowa. In a 12 months with genuine playoff hopes, that the ones faults have all over again emerged is relatively disappointing. Worse yet, quarterback Brock Purdy's 3 interceptions against Iowa opened the door for backup Hunter Dekkers, so there might be a quarterback controversy heading into Week 3.
Tennessee
Injuries, neglected possibilities and key mistakes despatched Tennessee to a forty one-34 loss at domestic to Pittsburgh, this system's first setback under new teach Josh Heupel. Ahead 10-zero after the first zone and 13-7 early within the 2nd, the tide turned after the Volunteers misplaced beginning quarterback Joe Milton to an obvious decrease-leg harm. The offense struggled to advantage traction in the back of his alternative, Hendon Hooker, who started sluggish earlier than completing with 189 yards and rankings with an interception. The loss can be held on 3 Tennessee turnovers and the lack of ability of the protection to get key stops against quarterback Kenny Pickett and the Pittsburgh offense.
Follow colleges reporter Paul Myerberg on Twitter @PaulMyerberg
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