By Pat Luhta, @PLuhta
Plenty of statements were made in week 2, as there are definitely some shake ups in my top 10 after a week that featured 4 big games.
WEEK 3 TOP TEN
10. Oklahoma State (last week: NR)
9. Louisville (last week: 10)
8. Michigan (last week: 9)
7. Washington (last week: 5)
6. Georgia (last week: 8)
5. Clemson (last week: 6)
4. Oklahoma (last week: 7)
3. Penn State (last week: 4)
2. USC (last week: 3)
1. Alabama (last week: 1)
Clemson, Georgia, USC and Oklahoma all picked up some monster wins over the weekend. Clemson answered a huge test as they stifled Auburn, Georgia went on the road with a true freshman QB to squeak out a win over Notre Dame, USC showed their potential in an impressive showing against Stanford and Oklahoma got revenge on the Buckeyes to the tune of 31-16. So with all that happening last Saturday, the rankings are jumbled up from the previous week, with Alabama the only team that didn't move as they remain the #1 team in the country.
Ohio State was the big loser of the weekend, falling from 2nd to out of the top 10. The Buckeyes are probably at 11 or 12 to me and have as much talent as any team in the country, but the offensive struggles have carried over from last season and will need to show improvement before they can truly be considered an elite team. Taking their spot in the top 10 are the Oklahoma State Cowboys, whose offense can outscore anyone and they may be finding a pretty good defense to go along with that.
Washington moved down a bit only due to not playing a good team yet while others all proved a point that they should be in the top 5. Their time is coming soon though and we will find out about the Huskies down the road.
WEEK 3 HEISMAN WATCH
5. Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
4. Saquan Barkley, RB, Penn State
3. Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
2. Sam Darnold, QB, USC
1. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
After a slow week 1, the QB's all picked it up big time in week 2. Under normal circumstances, a big win on the road to the #2 ranked team in the country would bolster Baker Mayfield's Heisman hype, but Sam Darnold gashed a good Stanford defense for 4 TD's and 316 yards while Lamar Jackson put on a show against UNC with 3 passing and 3 rushing TD's.
Only change is UCLA QB Josh Rosen now making the list at #5, replacing UGA RB Nick Chubb. Rosen led a huge 34 point comeback win over Texas A&M in week 1 with a 491 yard and 4 TD performance, and followed it up with a 326 yard and 5 TD performance against Hawaii. This combined with UGA seemingly wanting to be a RB by committee team, as RB Sony Michel had more carries and rushing yards against Notre Dame, means that Rosen is in while Chubb is out.
WEEK 3 PREVIEW
#23 Tennessee at #24 Florida - 3:30 PM
One of the biggest rivalries in the SEC kicks off here, with the Tennessee Volunteers headed to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators. Last season, Tennessee broke an 11 game losing streak to the Gators as they made a big 28 point comeback to win 38-28. Their season collapsed after that however, so this season they are really needing this one in order to be on the track of making the SEC title game. The Volunteers will look to their offense to put up the points, they've score 40+ in both outings this season. Florida has to figure something out at QB, they've only played one game due to last weeks game being cancelled, but they put up some atrocious numbers in their opener against Michigan. If Florida cannot find any consistency on offense then this could be a long game, and long season for them.
PREDICTION - Tennessee 28-16
#3 Clemson at #14 Louisville - 8:00 PM
This game has electric written all over it. Clemson passed their first big test last week, with a 27-6 win over Auburn. The offense still looks good and QB Kelly Bryant is finding his stride at QB. Louisville's defense has not been impressive this season so far, so Clemson has the ability to put up some big numbers in this game and put it out of reach. But the big matchup in this game will be Louisville QB Lamar Jackson against the front 7 of Clemson. The Tigers kept Auburn in check all last week, the defensive line especially dictated the entire game. They now face the most electric dual-threat QB in the country in Lamar Jackson, who is eyeing his 2nd Heisman trophy. If he is able to find a rhythm and beat the pressure that Clemson will be sending then this game will be going Louisville's way. The game will undoubtedly come down to who gets the better of who between Jackson and the Clemson front 7, expect this one to be a pretty high scoring affair.
PREDICTION - Clemson 37-33
Texas at #4 USC - 8:30 PM
This game is only a marquee match-up due to the programs involved and it's the first meeting between them since their epic game for the BCS national championship back in 2005. Texas is still in a growing pains period, and in week 1 they took a lopsided loss at home to Maryland by a score of 51-41. They followed it up with a 56-0 win over San Jose State, but they will be walking into the belly of the beast here Saturday night as they head to Los Angeles. The Trojans showed exactly what they are made of, and their championship talent was on display last Saturday. They took care of Stanford 42-24 with QB Sam Darnold leading the way with 4 TD passes, 2 of them to star WR Deontay Burnett, and they showed off their 2-headed RB tandem with both Ronald Jones II and Stephen Carr going over 100 rushing yards. Texas will need to play lights out here and hope that USC has an off game in order to possibly pull off the upset, again it's a cool game just based on the history of the programs but don't expect another instant classic between them here.
PREDICTION - USC 56-31
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