College Football Week 2: What We Learned

Published on 9-Sep-2013 by Stacey Mickles

Football - NCAA    NCAA Football Daily Review

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College Football Week 2: What We Learned

As usual for college football, we saw another wave of surprises during the season's second week.

The steady flow of unpredictability, of course, is much of the college game's attraction. And this is shaping up for most to be quite an eventful season.

Here are just a few observations:

Georgia Can Win a Big Game ... Contrary to stereotype, the Georgia Bulldogs came up trumps this past weekend. When they needed to -- and after last week's loss to Clemson, they needed to -- Mark Richt's team played with guts against South Carolina, who shockingly didn't have enough fire power on either side of the ball -- to take care of business. Andy Murray stepped up to the plate, throwing four touchdown passes, and the Georgia defense finally made plays in the end to stop the Gamecocks. 

USC and Texas are in trouble ... Remember a few years ago when these were the top two teams in the country? Now, look where they are. USC lost to Washington State, who lost a game to Auburn they probably should have won the previous week, and Texas lost to BYU, who lost to a bad Virginia team the week before. There are already rumblings from both camps that Mack Brown and Lane Kiffin will most likely be out, and this is only Week 2 of the season. It's going to be a long year for these two, if they both make it through the year. 

The ACC is better than we thought ... It's early, of course, but the ACC has looked good. Miami is the latest ACC team to take down an SEC powerhouse in Florida, 21-16. Although, the Gators didn't help themselves by turning the ball over several times during that game. But the ACC looks as if they may finally break through in its quest to be mentioned in the same breath as the so-called Automatic Qualifiers this year. But remember, it is the ACC and we still have a long way to go. 

The SEC may be down this year ... At least, the SEC East seems to be down. Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina all have losses. At least Georgia redeemed itself at South Carolina's expense, but Florida was not impressive at all in their loss to Miami. The Gators' offense looked atrocious. And that vaunted Gamecocks defense looked like chopped liver against Andy Murray. Jadeveon Clowney still struggled at times and hasn't looked like himself yet. On the flip side, only one team in the SEC West has one loss, and that's Mississippi State. 

Jameis Winston is the real deal ... I didn't get a chance yet to comment on Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston. You know, the kid that Mack Brown passed up? Yeah, that guy. Winston was awesome in his season opener against Pitt last Monday night, as advertised. He had only one incomplete passes, threw for 240 yards, and three of them were for ttouchdowns.  No wonder Mack Brown is fighting for his job!

Next week, we'll take a look at the match-up between Alabama and Texas A&M. We'll find out if the SEC East can bounce back, whether if the ACC can continue its winning ways or disappoint as usual.

And shortly thereafter, the Big Ten, Big XII, and Pac-12 get interesting.

Click on a photo to enlarge.