CFB Week 2 takeaways: Don’t hit the panic button just yet

The drama of college football was in full effect Saturday. Week 2 provided upsets, renewed rivalries and more that make the sport great. 

Here are five takeaways from the week that was.

Take South Florida seriously

The Bulls followed their drubbing of Boise State with a shocking 18-16 win at No. 13 Florida Saturday. That’s a pair of ranked wins for South Florida with a date at No. 5 Miami looming next week.

The American Conference is wide open, with half the league looking like contenders. At this point, South Florida looks like the favorite and perhaps a dark-horse College Football Playoff contender.

The Bulls have done it with defense. They forced three turnovers against Boise State, holding the Broncos to seven points. Saturday at Florida, they picked off DJ Lagway and held the Gators to 4-of-12 on third down.

The Border War delivered

Of conference realignment casualties, there has perhaps been no greater loss than the Missouri-Kansas Border War. The two teams met in Columbia for the first meeting since 2011, and it did not disappoint. Missouri overcame a 15-point deficit to win 42-31.

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels was good again with three touchdowns, but Mizzou’s Beau Pribula proved why he left Penn State to become QB1 elsewhere. He finished 30-for-39 for 334 yards and three touchdowns.

The two teams will probably never play again as conference foes, but they’re slated to play next season in Lawrence. It should be an annual meeting, and Saturday validated why.

Take your hand off the panic button

Several fan bases had a hand on the panic button after Week 1. Whether it was Arch Manning’s disappointing showing at Ohio State, Baylor losing at home to Auburn, Alabama suffering a loss at Florida State or Boise State laying an egg at South Florida, there was plenty of stress following Week 1.

Relax.

Baylor won a thriller on the road against in-state rival SMU, while Boise State and Alabama were dominant in wins. Manning looked every bit of a Heisman contender in a 38-7 win over San Jose State. He was 18-for-30 for 295 yards and four touchdowns.

It’s time to get excited about Florida State

Okay, it was only East Texas A&M, but Florida State could have had a hangover and played sloppily after defeating Alabama last week. Not so. The Seminoles earned the program’s largest victory ever, 77-3.

After a dismal 2-10 2024 campaign, Mike Norvell’s team appears to be closer to the 2023 FSU team that went 13-1 and was snubbed from the College Football Playoff. Quarterback Tommy Castellanos needed only eight pass completions to rack up 237 yards and three touchdowns.

Two very winnable games stand between FSU and an Oct. 4 showdown against No. 5 Miami. Get the popcorn ready.

Tough week for the Big 12

It wasn’t all bad for the Big 12. Iowa State beat Iowa, Baylor defeated SMU and the conference won its games against cupcake opponents. But the bad? Oh, it was bad.

No. 6 Oregon showed just how far Oklahoma State has tumbled in recent years under Mike Gundy, thrashing the Cowboys 69-3. Kansas blew a 15-point lead and lost to Missouri. West Virginia made a rare Power 4 trip to a Group of 6 opponent and lost, 17-10, to Ohio.

Kansas State, a team that many thought would vie for the conference title, dropped to 1-2 by losing 24-21 at home against Army. Finally, No. 12 Arizona State lost at Mississippi State, the SEC’s worst team, 24-20.

The league is deep, but perhaps some of the schools aren’t as good as projected. Conference play should be interesting.

Zach Wadley

Zach Wadley‘s sportswriting career began at the age of 12 when he started covering Little League games for his local newspaper. Since then, he’s worked in the sports information field where he merged his love of writing, social media, and broadcasting. He is a graduate of Anderson University (IN).