Key questions abound early in season
Cincinnati, Syracuse, Maryland providing some intrigue
Week 1 of the college football season can only tell us so much, often producing more questions than answers.
As we process the overreactions to the biggest storylines from last week, let’s look ahead to Week 2 to see where we might learn a little bit more about the national landscape.
Here are the most intriguing questions for Week 2:
Is Cincinnati ready to beat Ohio State on the road?
After finishing 4-8 in his first season taking over for Tommy Tuberville, Luke Fickell led Cincinnati to 11 wins and a Military Bowl victory over Virginia Tech in 2018. On Saturday, the former longtime Ohio State assistant returns to Columbus, where he served from 2002 to 2016, including as interim coach in 2011 after Jim Tressel was suspended and then resigned.
At Cincinnati, Fickell has laid the groundwork for success on the recruiting trail. His first full class in 2018 was ranked 48th nationally and No. 1 in the American Athletic Conference, according to the 247 Sports Composite rankings, a jump of 26 spots from Tuberville’s last class. After a dip to 79th in 2019, the Bearcats are back in the top 50 with 17 commits for 2020.
Rebuilding programs take time, but Cincinnati is ahead of schedule. Desmond Ridder, the 2018 AAC Rookie of the Year, is among the best young quarterbacks in the nation, and running back Michael Warren II returns after setting school records for overall touchdowns (20) and rushing TDs (19) last season. But what really stands out is the Bearcats defense, which ranked 10th nationally in 2018 after allowing 301.7 yards and 17.2 points per game.
Stopping Justin Fields and the No. 5 Buckeyes’ potent offense is Fickell’s toughest assignment yet, but the Bearcats had no problem shutting down Chip Kelly and UCLA last week, holding the Bruins to 218 total yards and forcing four turnovers.
An upset is unlikely (Ohio State is favored by more than two touchdowns), but a hard-fought game against the perennial Big Ten power would go a long way toward convincing high school players in Ohio and around the country that there’s something special happening in Cincinnati.
Just how good are Maryland and Syracuse?
The Terps couldn’t have asked for a better start under new coach Mike Locksley, nearly breaking the school record for most points in a game in a 79-0 drubbing of Howard.
Meanwhile, the Orange struggled offensively in a 24-0 win over Liberty, averaging fewer than 5 yards per play against a defense that finished among the worst in the Football Bowl Subdivision last season.
And while Maryland’s new starting quarterback Josh Jackson looked poised, throwing for 245 yards and four touchdowns, Syracuse’s new signal caller Tommy DeVito often looked lost, completing just 17 of 35 attempts (48.6%) for 176 yards and two interceptions.
Maybe that’s why the Terps are a two-point favorite at home over the 21stranked team in the country.
We know Maryland’s offense won’t be as good as it looked against the Bison, and Syracuse’s won’t be as bad as it was against the Flames. But it will be fascinating to see how each team adjusts, and whether Locksley can earn his first signature win in College Park that would give his team (and its fans) confidence as the Terps prepare to face one of the nation’s toughest schedules.
Can Texas A&M deliver the first big upset of 2019?
The Aggies almost knocked off Clemson in College Station last season. A Texas A&M lineman has already promised “there will be an upset” this time around in Death Valley.
Jimbo Fisher’s team has the talent to give the defending national champions a scare, with quarterback Kellen Mond capable of neutralizing No. 1 Clemson’s pass rush with his abilities to run and make plays downfield with his arm. The bigger question is whether the Aggies defense is up to the task.
Texas A&M was 98th in the country defending the pass last season, which spells trouble against superstar quarterback Trevor Lawrence. But the No. 12 Aggies corralled four interceptions last week, and Lawrence showed some early rust with two picks against Georgia Tech.
A Texas A&Mvictory would catapult the Aggies into the College Football Playoff conversation and would make Clemson’s final 10 games (plus a likely Atlantic Coast Conference title game appearance) mustwin to have any hope of repeating. You can’t ask for much more from a Week 2 game.
Is Nebraska actually a Big Ten contender?
The No. 25 Cornhuskers didn’t exactly take care of business against Sun Belt also-ran South Alabama, needing a pick-six, a punt return for a touchdown and a fumble return for a score to get by the Jaguars.
Quarterback Adrian Martinez, who had a school-record 295.1 yards of total offense per game last season, was held to 184 total yards with no touchdowns and an interception against a defense that allowed nearly 500 yards and 40 points per game in 2018. Yikes.
On the bright side, the Nebraska defense at least showed it’s capable of causing turnovers and making plays, holding South Alabama to under 4 yards per play.
Now the Huskers are tasked with stopping Colorado and one of the nation’s best quarterback-receiver tandems in Steven Montez and Laviska Shenault Jr. The Buffaloes piled up 475 total yards in a 52-31 win over Colorado State, including 243 on the ground. If Saturday’s game turns into a shootout, Nebraska might not be able to keep up.
An early nonconference loss doesn’t doom the Huskers’ chances at winning the Big Ten West title, but it will certainly raise more questions about when Scott Frost will turn things around in Lincoln.
How important is the LSU-Texas game? Outside of Saturday night’s game in Austin just being a fun, exciting matchup between blue bloods at a campus site (something the sport needs more of during the regular season), it could also factor heavily into the playoff discussion at the end of the season.
Think of a victory here as insurance. If LSU and Texas were to slip up against, say, rivals Alabama and Oklahoma, respectively, and fail to win a conference championship, a victory over a top-10 nonconference foe could convince the committee to put a one-loss LSU or Texas team in the playoff over an undefeated Group of 5, independent or Pac-12 team.
This game could be a fascinating discussion point heading into the unveiling of the final CFP rankings. What happens if Texas and Oklahoma both finish with one loss, with the Longhorns beating LSU and Oklahoma during the regular season but losing to the Sooners in the Big 12 title game? What if Texas loses to LSU but goes undefeated in conference play and wins the Big 12 title over an undefeated Oklahoma? What if LSU loses to Texas but beats Alabama and wins the SEC championship over Georgia? What if LSU beats Texas but loses to Alabama and doesn’t reach the SEC title game?
If the No. 6 Tigers and No. 9 Longhorns put together the kinds of seasons many expect, this game could end up deciding their playoff fates.
Some smaller questions worth asking
Can it get any worse for Tennessee? After an embarrassing loss to Georgia State, the Volunteers get BYU at home and are in danger of starting 0-2 for the first time since 1988. Coach Jeremy Pruitt’s buyout might be the only thing keeping him in Knoxville.
Is Auburn in danger of a letdown? Bo Nix’s touchdown pass in the final seconds to beat Oregon thrust the Tigers into the top 10. Now they face Tulane at home. No problem, right? Well … the Green Wave throttled Conference USA favorite Florida International, 42-14, in Week1, piling up 545 total yards. Auburn still might have a bit of a hangover, and as good as Nix looked at times against the Ducks, he’s still a true freshman. How will he respond to increased expectations?
Is North Carolina an ACC Coastal contender in Mack Brown’s first season? True freshman quarterback Sam Howell led the Tar Heels to an 11-point fourth-quarter comeback over South Carolina in Brown’s debut. With Miami coming to Chapel Hill, UNC has a chance to stake its claim as the team to beat in the wide-open Coastal division. That seemed unthinkable when the 68-year-old Brown was hired in the offseason, but a victory over the Hurricanes would be an undeniable sign of progress.
Is USC’s season already over? The Trojans avoided an upset against Fresno State in Week 1, but lost starting quarterback J.T. Daniels for the season with a torn ACL. It doesn’t get any easier for Daniels’ replacement, true freshman Kedon Slovis, as USC begins a brutal stretch with Saturday’s game against No. 23 Stanford. Following is a trip to Provo against BYU, a home game vs. No. 13 Utah, and back-toback road games against No. 14 Washington and No. 8 Notre Dame. A 1-5 start could be the nail in the coffin for coach Clay Helton.