Two games in and we already have some buyer’s remorse and coaching hot seats.

• Newbies Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin (five year contract of $14.5 million + TAMU’s buyout) and UCLA’s Chip Kelly (four years, $24 million) both have 0-2 records that include a loss to a non-P5, Houston and Cincinnati respectively.
• The Savior of Nebraska football and National Champion T-shirt maker Scott Frost (seven years, $35 million) dropped his Cornhusker debut to Colorado in Lincoln by the same score that Mike Riley lost his first UN game 33-28 in 2015.
• Arkansas’ Chad Morris (six-years, $21 million) lost to Colorado State who was 0-2 coming into the game. Terrible hire.
• For a long time, Dan Mullen (six years, $36 million) yearned to get out of Starkville and go to a big-time program where he will be remembered for generations. Mission accomplished. The ol’ hunchback got a big raise to go to UF but don’t be surprised if he’s out of Gainesville and doing TV in a few years. IMHO opinion, he is not built for Florida. They need a young cocky kind of coach. If Mullen had stayed at MSU, he could’ve lived like a king (in a smaller kingdom), get by with mediocrity, and coached ‘til he keeled over on the sidelines of old age.
• Willie Taggart’s (six-years, $30 million) Florida State finally beat FCS Samford late into the night on Burt Reynolds Night in front of a full house, but just barely. Bama ruins another perfectly good program.

• Meanwhile in Tejas, the Bevo bunch are gathering their torches and pitchforks as wunderkind Tom Herman’s Longhorns struggled to beat Tulsa. He is in the second year of a five year contract that will earn him $5.5 million this season and raises of $250,000 for each subsequent year.
• A funny thing happened to Tempe. Arizona State is 2-0 after a win over #15 Michigan State and the Sun Devils fans are buying into Herm Edwards who will make $2M per year over five years. They travel to Washington in two Saturdays.

ESS-EE-SEE

Georgia 41 South Carolina 17 - Did you see this one coming like I did? SC was getting way too much love. That is their modus operandi: Love and praise the Gamecocks, they falter. Look past them and they jump up and bite ya on the arse (don’t make me link it). It was 14-0 in the blink of an eye. Three different Bulldogs running backs had scores. Back-up QB freshman phenom Justin Fields did not enter the game for UGA until the fourth quarter and threw one pass. Please, get yourself over to Twitter and start some Justin Fields transfer rumors.

Clemson 28 Texas A&M 26 - Perhaps the best game of the day saw QB Kelly Bryant starting to take control of this Tigers team. He threw for 205 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another score in a tight game that saw a much-improved Kellen Mond (23/40, 430 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT) lead the Aggies back from down 28-13 to almost steal the win.
Back-up Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence entered the game in the second quarter and threw a jump ball into double coverage and everyone in Auburn-with-a-Lake thinks he’s the second coming of Joe Montana. The truth is, WR Tee Higgins made a great grab and an even better move to score from 64 yards. Sunshine did not do much for the rest of the game. Outside of that 64-yard JFF pass, he was 4 of 8 with 29 passing yards.

Alabama 57 Arkansas State 7 - The Crimson Tide has outscored their opponents 108-21. Najee Harris had his best game in crimson and white with 13 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown. Five different Tide receivers scored touchdowns. ASU’s star quarterback Justice Hansen (15/36, 140 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT) was held in check.

Mississippi State 31 Kansas State 10 - QB Nick Fitzgerald returned from a one-game suspension and was not great (11/27, 154 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT). It was running back Kylin Hill who stole the show rushing for 211 yards on 17 carries and scoring twice on the ground and once on a 16-yard reception. The MSU defense held K-State to 213 total yards.

Kentucky 27 Florida 16 - The Gators did the unthinkable: losing to UK... in the Swamp. The ‘Cats had not beaten UF since 1986 and not in Gainesville since 1979. A heavy dose of Benny Snell (27 att, 175 yards) and a crazy ending sealed this one.

Ole Miss 76 Southern Illinois 41 - The Salukis hung with the Rebs for three quarters trailing only by one point with 25 minutes to go. Alas, Jordan Ta’amu was too much for SIU as he threw for 448 yards and five touchdowns and OM scored 27 fourth quarter points. A.J. Brown caught 8 for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Colorado State 34 Arkansas 27 - The Hogs blew a 27-9 lead to allow the Rams to get their first win in three tries this season. Arky (1-1) very well could lose the rest of their games, including against an improved North Texas Mean Green on Saturday.

LSU 31 SE Louisiana 0 - The most boring 31-point win you’ll ever witness. Nick Brossette ran 19-137 but no scores.
Auburn 63 Alabama State 9 - Early and T-Pain said it best.
Tennessee 59 ETSU 3 - Jeremy Pruitt gets his first win as a head coach.
Missouri 40 Wyoming 13 - For some reason, Drew Lock (33/45, 398, 4 TD, 0 INT) went the distance in this one. One fluky turn of a knee and the season is doomed.
Vanderbilt 41 Nevada 10 - With a 17-10 lead at the half, the ‘Dores ran away with this one in the second half.

NATIONAL

Colorado 33 Nebraska 28 - The Buffaloes ruined Scott Frost’s homecoming with 351 passing yards from UC’s Steven Montez. See STATS OF THE DAY below.

Notre Dame 24 Ball State 16 - The Irish won despite Brandon Wimbush throwing three picks and 0 TDs, while blowing a 24-6 lead. It was an ugly game that found ND daydreaming after their victory over Michigan.

Houston 45 Arizona 18 - The Cougars scored touchdowns on their first three drives and kept on scoring. Khalil Tate had 341 passing yards but completed only 24 of 45, threw two picks and 0 TDs. He also had 7 rushes for 8 measly yards.
Oklahoma 49 UCLA 21 - Good news/bad news: Kyler Murray was the leading passer (306) and rusher (69) for Okie. That second stat was the bad news - See SICK REPORT below.
Iowa State 13 Iowa 3 - U-G-L-Y, this game ain’t got no alibi, it was ugly. This year’s Cy-Hawk game was the Bizarro World version of last season’s 44-41 overtime thriller win for the Hawkeyes. The two teams combined for 25 first downs, 459 yards, and amazingly only one turnover. The children’s hospital next door was asked to keep the noise down.
It might warm your heart to know that Tim Brando had to call this dreck of a game for Fox.
South Florida 79 Georgia Tech 38 - Former Bama/Ariz State QB Blake Barnett threw for 207 and ran for 86. I can’t for the life of me understand why GT sticks with Paul Johnson and his antiquated offense.
Texas 28 Tulsa 21 - The Longhorns led 21-0 at halftime and set their sights on next week’s game with Southern Cal. The Golden Hurricane decided to keep playing and scored touchdowns on their final three drives. Texas’ much-maligned quarterback Sam Ehlinger engineered a 13-play drive to a fourth quarter score that proved to be the game winner.

FLAW-DUH

FSU, Florida and Miami are 0-3 versus FBS opponents this season.

KAN’T-SAS

Kansas 31 Central Michigan 7 - Somehow, the Jayhawks blew out CMU on the road a week after losing to Nichols State at home. It is their first road win in 46 games going back to 2009 when Alabama still had 0 Heisman winners!
Missy State 31 Kansas State 10 - Woodshed.

DENY & COVER UP

Arizona State 16 Michigan State 13 - Former Alabama commit Brandon Ruiz hit a 28-yard field goal as time expired for a big Herm Edwards win. So much for Sparty and all their returning starters.
Wisconsin 45 New Mexico 14 - Wisky continues on with their lame schedule (104th SoS per Massey Rankings).
Penn State 51 Pitt 6 - No surprise here, although Trace McSorley playing deep into the 4th quarter was not all that great (14/30 145-2-0).
Ohio State 52 Rutgers 3 - Urban is still a POS.

THE WACKY WORLD OF DESMOND HOWARD

No real movement except for Corso’s regretful faith in Texas.

• DESI - Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, West Virginia, Washington. Mich over WVU; Bama over UW; Mich over Bama.
• CORSO - Georgia, Clemson, Wisconsin, Texas, Washington. Clemson over UW; Wisky over UGA; Wisky over Clemson.
• HERBIE - Alabama, Clemson, Penn State, Oklahoma, Washington. Bama over UW; Clemson over PSU; Bama over Clemson.

MY PICKS

• Alabama, Clemson, Penn State, Oklahoma, Washington. Bama over Okie; Clemson over PSU; Bama over Clemson.

BAMA STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

Not much help here this week.

• Louisville - The Cardinals (1-1) were tied with li’l ol’ Indiana State 7-7 thanks to a UL punt return for a touchdown. Ineffective Jawon Pass was benched in the second half in favor of Malik Cunningham who engineered 24 unanswered points and the win. Next for UL is 0-2 WKU.
• Arkansas State (1-1) - Justice was served. The Red Wolves travel to Tulsa (1-1) who gave Texas fits.
• La-Laf (Sept 29) - The Ragin’ Cajuns (1-0) oddly had a week off. Their downward spiral will begin with a curbstomping at Missy State.
• Citadel (Nov 17) - The Fightin’ Cupcakes (0-2) lost to Chattanooga 29-28. No SoS here.

ADOPT-A-TEAM

• FAU! rebounded with a 33-27 win over Air Force. The Owls took flight against the Falcons with Chris Robison completing 33 of 40 passes for a school-record 471 yards and three touchdowns. However, FAU! found little success on the ground attack (54 yds).
• Hawaii moves to 3-0 with a win over Rice. Cedric Byrd and John Ursua have combined for 53 catches and 742 yards in three games. They both have 5 receiving TDs.

COUSINS

• Troy (1-1) smacked FAMU around 59-7. Up next is a big trip to Nebraska!
• South Alabama (0-2) - The Jags were manhandled by Okie State 55-13. Hopefully, they can lasso their first win when they host Texas State.

THAT ANNOYING STEP-BROTHER

UAB (1-1) - The Blazers led adorable little Coastal Carolina 24-20 at the half and sent the trumpet section of the band out to play the second half. The excellently-named Chanticleers scored 27 unanswered point for the 47-24 rout. We may have to adopt CCU.

(I don’t know why this gif is so tiny. No disrespect.)

SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS

• Navy (1-1) The Midshipmen rallied from down 21-9 in the fourth quarter to upset Memphis 22-21. Next up is the slaughter of FCS Lehigh Mountain Hawks (not to be confused with the Lehigh Valley Hawks).
• Army (1-1) - The Black Knights excommunicated the Liberty Fightin’ Falwells 38-14 with 449 rushing yards. They play host to a tough Hawaii team on Saturday.
• Air Force (1-1) - As mentioned above, the Falcons could not stop the passing attack of FAU! They travel to Utah State.

ELIMINATED

NEW:
FSU - No way they are going to the playoffs with a slim home win over Samford.
Tennessee - might as well eliminate them. They aren’t going to run the table.
Arkansas - lost to Colorado State.
Georgia Tech - There used to be a time when the Yellow Jackets were relevant.
Iowa State - 3 points and 188 yards against Iowa.
Kansas State - Routed at home by Clanga-clang.
Northwestern - Home loss to Duke.
Pitt - Destroyed by PSU.
Purdue - home loss to Eastern Michigan.
Syracuse - Yeah, they are 2-0 but... c’mon.

All non-Power 5 teams.
Ole Miss
Arizona
Kansas
Oregon State
Rutgers
UCLA
UNC
Texas Tech
Virginia

ENDANGERED

The following are still in the running but have a slim margin for error.

Florida
Miami
Michigan
Michigan State
Nebraska
South Carolina
Southern Cal
Texas
Texas A&M
Washington

THE CONTENDERS

A way WAY WAY too early look at the College Football Playoff (CFP) picture:

Already a shake up in the race for the playoff.

• ACC - This conference is looking pretty lame. Only three ACC teams are currently ranked and one of them, Miami, looked like wet garbage against LSU in Week 1. Clemson looks vulnerable after a struggle-win against the fifth or sixth best SEC team, TAMU. The Tigers have cakewalk schedule the rest of the way.
• Big Ten - Penn State took out their frustrations on Pitt. Michigan is on the rebound. Ohio State and Wisky again beat up on cupcakes. Michigan State is pretty much done.
• Big 12 - It’s still a two-horse race between Okie and WVU unless TCU (GO Frogs!) can lay some Karma at Urban’s doorstep. Okie Lite and Baylor are both 2-0 but not looking like playoff teams.
• PAC-12 - Stanford steps to the forefront. Southern Cal in dangling by a thread. Oregon and Washington are still hanging around.
• SEC - It’s Alabama, UGA, MSU, Aubie. Florida and South Carolina are done.
• Indies - Notre Dame is still in it. They play Stanford at the end of the month.

RANK ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM

Alabama has made their 106th overall appearance at the top of the AP rankings, which started in 1936. This week’s No. 1 ranking surpasses Ohio State for the most by any school. It’s a little surprising at first glance, but then again there was a lot of anti-southern schools bias for many decades (and not just because of the integration issue).

Here is my half-ass as-of-now ranking:

1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3. Clemson
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State/Auburn

LET’S GO BOWLING

The Cactus Bowl in Phoenix will now be known as the Cheez-It Bowl. Man, recruits are going to be SO impressed by that trophy.

STATS OF THE DAY

• Colorado WR Laviska Shenault had 10 receptions for 177 yards including the game winning TD from 40-yards out against Nebraska. Last week, he had 11 catches for 211 yards against Colorado State. In two games, he has more receiving yards (388) than 37 FBS schools do as a team. This includes LSU, Kentucky, Maryland, Iowa, Virginia, and... Nebraska.
• Despite being outgained (378 to 316), Navy ran poor Memphis ragged possessing the ball 42:47 of the 60 minutes of game time.

Krazy Kristi’s “SHUT UP!” of the Week once again goes to the ACC. As a conference, they are 8-8 against FBS foes so far. The Coastal Division went 1-4 vs FBS this weekend including Georgia Tech’s lost to USF and UNC handing an awful ECU team their first win.

HEISMAN HYPE

With the exception of TWO YEARS, the Heisman Trophy voting is basically a hype award. Often times voters fall in love with someone way too early. Later in the season, we’ll bring you “Who Will Win” and “Who Should Win”. But for now, let’s just look at them for how they present themselves.

Who Will Win Candidates (in no particular order)-

• Will Grier (QB West Virginia) passed 21-26 for 332 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT against FCS Youngstown State. He had 2 carries for -3 yards. Grier has a strong arm but he doesn’t do much else. The voters like guys who do spectacular things and make SportsCenter highlights. Grier isn’t that guy.
• Jonathan Taylor (RB Wisconsin) 33 carries, 253 yds, 3 TD versus... yawn... New Mexico. He has 0 catches in two games. It’ll be more than a month before Wisky faces a real defense in Michigan (Oct. 13).
• Dwayne Haskins (QB thatOSU) again ran up the score on a terrible team. Finally this week, Ohio State faces a defense with a pulse in TCU.
• Tua Tagovailoa (QB Alabama) was Tua.

Meh-

• Bryce Love (RB Stanford) - Omigawd, the national media just could not wait to pounce on their laptops to praise Love for his big “bounceback” game rushing for 136 yards on 22 carries. However, the Cardinal had a total of 159 rushing yards against a Southern Cal team that yielded 308 the week before to historically awful UNLV. Love caught 0 passes and had one kickoff return for a whopping 9 yards.
• Ed Oliver (DT Houston) 3 solos, 2 assists, 0.5 TFL, 4 QBH against Arizona. This guy will be an excellent NFL player someday but he isn’t winning the Hypesman unless he puts up some ridiculous numbers and starts scoring multiple TDs. He has no sacks through two games.
• Khalil Tate (QB Arizona) - What the bleeping bleep is Kevin Sumlin doing to this poor guy? A year ago, Tate accounted for 14 passing TDs, 12 rushing TDs, and over 1400 yards both on the ground and through the air. This year, he has 1 passing TD, 2 rushing TDs, and 22 rushing yards in two games, but 538 passing. The thing that made Tate special was his duality. Is Sumlin trying to turn him into Tom Brady? Ken Niumatalolo is looking pretty right about good now, huh KT?

Who Should Win -

• Tua has given no reason to not have him as a favorite. Ole Miss will be a step up in an opposing defense.

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

THE SICK REPORT

• Isaiah Buggs twisted his ankle in Week 1 against Louisville and “re-tweaked it” on Saturday. He should be okay. Freshman DB Jalyn Armour-Davis injured a knee in pre-game. He is likely done for the season. The Mobile native was probably going to redshirt anyway. Alabama freshman defensive lineman Stephon Wynn (ligament strain) will practice this week.
• Ole Miss true freshman linebacker Kevontae’ Ruggs and senior wide receiver DaMarkus Lodge are both in concussion protocol. Ruggs is from Lee High School in Montgomery, AL. Lodge had 41 rec for 698 yds and 7 TDs a season ago. Both players are questionable against Alabama. Starting cornerback Jaylon Jones (ACL) was lost for the season in Week 1.
• Oklahoma starting running back running back Rodney Anderson will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. This is a big blow for the Sooners.
• Florida starting cornerback Marco Wilson has suffered a torn ACL.
• Miami defensive end Greg Rousseau suffered a right ankle fracture.
• ICYMI: Former Alabama OL Brandon Kennedy is out for the season at Tennessee after suffering a knee injury during practice last week. He was the Vols’ starting center.
• ICYMI: LSU’s top edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson is out for the season. He is a true sophomore.

R.I.P. BANDIT

DRAMA

• A few days after a humiliating home loss to Virginia Tech, new FSU head coach Willie Taggart accused Hokies of intentionally faking injuries to slow down the tempo. Oh, Willie. This is so sad. One game in and already making lame excuses for your shortcomings. This will not end well for you.
• Last week, South Carolina reinstated DB Javon Charleston, who was arrested in offseason on assault and burglary charges - JUST IN TIME FOR THE UGA GAME! How convenient. I am sure he learned his lesson about stalking and intimidating women by sitting out the Coastal Carolina game.
• Florida’s loss to Kentucky was so embarrassing that Gators RB Adarius Lemons decided to transfer! That is not really the reason but he has left the team. He did not record a carry in the game but had two kickoff returns for 28 and 19 yards.
• Missy State safety Johnathan Abram was ejected after getting called for targeting early in the fourth quarter. He will miss the first half of the Bullies game with ULLaf.
• Mizzou starting Sam LB Brandon Lee (no, not this guy) will miss the first half vs Purdue due to a targeting ejection.

THOUGHTS

If you watched the Clemson-Texas A&M game, you were rewarded with listening to the best play-by-play man in college football (not named Eli). Rece Davis is far superior at calling college football games than Chris Fowler who was busy being ordinary for the tennis US Open.

EYEBALLS

Once again, Birmingham was the No. 1 local market for ESPN’s big prime time game. “The Magic City” registered a 16.0 for the Clemson-TAMU game, distancing cities such as Greenville, Charlotte, and all the Texas markets.

THIS WEEK

We still have a bunch of P5 vs non P5 and FBS vs FCS (18 by my count) but conference schedules are starting to kick in.

ESPN’s GameDay will be on the TCU campus for the Ohio State-TCU game. GO FROGS!

(Below is an abbreviated list of games of interest. If you need to know details about the Delaware State-Western Michigan game, call the Addiction Network. Get the help you NEED.)

Thursday, Sept. 13:

Boston College at Wake Forest 6:30/7:30 ESPN - Check out the Screaming Eagles and let me know if you think they have a shot at blocking Clemson’s path to 12-0 on November 10th.

Friday, Sept 14:

Georgia State at Memphis 6pm/7pm ESPN - It is the footballs.

Saturday, Sept 15:

SEC:

Wow, a real blah weekend for the conference. There are not many reasons for channel changing during commercials this week.

Murray State at Kentucky 11am/noon SECN - UK won’t lose but will there be a bit of a letdown against a 0-2 FCS team?
UTEP at Tennessee 11am/noon SECN - The champions of life hope to add champions of Tennessee to their trophy vault.
Vanderbilt at Notre Dame 1:30/2:30 NBC - Can the ‘Dores pull an upset? Prolly not.
** LSU at Auburn 2:30/:30 CBS - We’re about to find out what kind of teams these two have.
Colorado State at Florida 3pm/4pm SECN - Will the Gators hangover loom?
North Texas at Arkansas 3pm/4pm SECN - 4 out of 5 dentists recommend skipping this mess.
MTSU at Georgia 6:15/7:15 ESPN2 - UGA favored by -31½.
LaLaf at Mississippi State 6:30/7:30 SECN - Bullies favored by -31½.
UL Monroe at Texas A&M 6:30/7:30 SECN - The Aggies need a rebound.
Missouri at Purdue 6:30/7:30 BTN - The The Boilermakers are 0-2 after losing at home to E. Michigan.
Marshall at South Carolina 6:30/7:30 ESPNU - The Thundering Herd are big on passing (550 yards in 2 games). Not so much on rushing (260 yards).

NATIONAL:

Weather Updates:

• UCF at UNC canceled - lazy ADs. Second year in a row for the T-shirt champions.
• WVU at NCSU canceled - lazy ADs. This really sucks.
• ECU at VaTech canceled - lazy ADs.
• Southern Mississippi at Appalachian State - Stupid ADs. The hurricane will be blown out by the time it gets to Boone, North Carolina which is 300 miles from the coast and 15 miles to the Tennessee border.
• Clemson announced that its game with Georgia Southern has been moved up from a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff to Noon - competent ADs.
• Campbell at Coastal Carolina moved to 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday - competent ADs.
• Boston College at Wake Forest: moved from 7:30 p.m. ET to 5:30 p.m. ET on Thursday - competent ADs.
• UVa has moved their game with Ohio to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville - competent ADs. - Admission to that game will be free.
• Liberty vs. Norfolk State already moved to Dec. 1 - competent ADs.

Oklahoma at Iowa State 11am/noon ABC – Okie should smoke the Cyclones, but who knows?
Troy at Nebraska 11am/noon BTN – The Cornhuskers are probably a little ticked off right now.
Hawaii at Army 11am/noon CBSSN – I love all my adopted children equally!
Florida State at Syracuse 11am/noon ESPN – How will FSU screw up this time?
BYU at Wisconsin 2:30/3:30 ABC – Wisky’s first halfway decent challenge.
West Virginia at NC State 2:30/3:30 ESPNU – A battle of NFL QB hopefuls: Will Grier vs Ryan Finley. Trap game for WVU? UPDATE: Game has been canceled due to a hurricane that may or may not even make it Raleigh.
Boise at Oklahoma State 2:30/3:30 ESPN – ELIMINATION ALERT!
Ohio State at TCU 7pm/8pm ABC – Go Frogs!
Southern Cal at Texas 7pm/8pm FOX – One fanbase will be supplying us with a bounty of Meltdown material.

* Check your local listings.

CAN’T SLEEP?

Washington at Utah 9pm/10pm ESPN - The Huskies are on ELIMINATION ALERT!
Arizona State at San Diego State 9:30/10:30 CBSSN - How long can Herm Edwards keep this up? How long until his pep talks get old? At least one more week.

#ALABAMA

Nine true freshman Tide players saw action on Saturday: Eyabi Anoma, Patrick Surtain, Jaylen Waddle, Josh Jobe, Cameron Latu, Ale Kaho, Jerome Ford, Jaylen Moody, Skyler DeLong. Slade Bolden and Xavier Williams played against Louisville but not against Arky Lite. Also getting in on their second game were were juco transfers Savion Smith, Tevita Musika and grad-transfer Austin Jones (though it may be the last we see of Jones).

Saban is now tied with Hayden Fry at 225 FBS/I-A victories. The Ol’ Ball Coach is next. For the record, this list is FBS/I-A wins only. No wins at FCS/I-AA or lower schools.

GAME 3 - Saturday, September 15, 2018, 6pm/7pm

ALABAMA at Ole Miss

ESPN - Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, and Holly Rowe will be in Oxford for the call. SEC Nation will be there as well.

(Texas A&M at Alabama will air 2:30pm CT / 3:30pm ET on CBS with Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson .)

#RollTide and Happy Birthday, Bear Bryant!