University Football: Georgia Leads Best Week Two Team Rankings

In the post of S & P + selections from Thursday, I asked a question:

Does South Carolina have a legitimate shot, or are we just talking in the Gamecocks because everyone has a chance smaller chance to anger?

On paper, it seemed more recent than the previous ones. Georgia supported this impression in Colombia.

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South Carolina did its best to throw hard shots. Despite almost immediately a 14-0 backlog due to an intercepted / fumbled return score (Deandre Baker took a near home pick, but dropped the ball early, and Juwan Taylor picked it up and scored) and a 17-yard Andre Swift touchdown run, the Gamecocks have responded well. The score was only 17-10 before Rodrigo Blankenship scored a field goal at halftime. Total yards in the first half: SC 191, UGA 183.

Third Yards: UGA 226, SC 75. In the first 12 minutes after half-time, the Dawgs had 75 yards in six games, 75 yards in six games and 86 yards in nine games. Quarterback Jake Fromm had 6 yards passing for 115 yards and a 34-yard touchdown against Mecole Hardman, who was well ahead of star SC Deebo Samuel (seven receptions for 133 yards vs. seven for 32).

Fromm finished 15 wins for 18 for 194 yards, a trio of UGA halfbacks (Elijah Holyfield, Swift and Brian Herrien) 185 yards in 28 runs, and the defense slowly engulfed everything SC was trying to do. 3.4 yards per race and limit quarterback Jake Bentley to 5.5 yards per pass (including bags).

The Cocks scored a decisive touchdown to make it a little more respectable, but in what could have been its biggest test until November (depending on the quality of LSU), Georgia managed brilliantly. The Dawgs of Kirby Smart resisted some blows and eliminated all suspense in a hostile environment.

We do not really know how good South Carolina will be, but in the beginning, you could say that the UGA has proven as much as anyone else in the battle "Who is really an elite (outside of Bama)?"

2. Kentucky (Florida def, 27-16)

As a Missouri fan, I saw my Tigers suffer a series of defeats of more than a quarter of a century in Nebraska before they unhooked the monkey with a perfect fourth quarter in 2003. It's a pity that Kentucky did not finish three decades. and-change the series of defeats in Florida to Lexington, where the home crowd could rejoice together, but as when an NBA team clinches the final on the road, there is still much to be done.

When you have a series of defeats as long, you almost do not believe that the leads are real. They are just time killers until something heartbreaking happens. (And last year, this time killer showed a lot of creativity.) After reducing Kentucky's lead from 21-10 to 21-16, the Gators recovered the ball with 29 seconds and 94 yards at make. This eventual loss in the UK was going to be the most painful of all, right?

False. Josh Allen fired and stripped Feleipe Franks, and Davonte Robinson returned to search for exclamation points after the timer expired. Well done, cats.

3. Stanford (USC defeat, 17-3)

The big winner on Saturday was not a real team – it was the submarine, who scored 34-12-3 against the total in Week 2 action. The conditions were wet and neglected all over.

There was no rain or bad weather in Palo Alto on Saturday night, but Cardinal David Shaw still confused a victory against USC. They beat eight times, including once in USC 34, and won by 14 points all the same. They fired USC quarterback JT Daniels four times and kidnapped him twice. They scored two touchdowns and erased any hope of returning. And they quickly committed to being the best Pac-12 team behind Washington.

4. EMU (Def. Purdue, 20-19)

East Michigan was beaten 0-39 against the Big Ten before beating Rutgers in the last field period last September. They made two goals in a row at West Lafayette on Saturday, taking advantage of a tough defensive defense on their last try – the second time in two weeks that Purdue got caught with late penalties – and again. Bravo Chris Creighton.

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5. Penn State (Def Pitt, 51-6)

Each coach has a small sequence, but the smallness is not as pure as that of James Franklin. His team made a pretty incredible statement, scoring 37 points in the second half unanswered to bring down a rival in the state on the road. again Required a challenge to replay an escape in the last minute. That's what will happen if he has a reason not to like you.

It was a beating. The PSU attack was still not completely absent, but thanks to a stifling defense and a return score, Nittany's Lions rolled.

6. Arizona State (Michigan State Challenge, 16-13)

Hey, S & P + warned you that it was possible. A week after the Michigan State defense threatened to anger the Spartans against Utah State, the Spartans allowed Herm Edwards's Sun Devils 424 yards and only led in the fourth quarter for a series of opportunities. missed.

To the credit of the Sun Devils, they continued to fend for themselves. They reduced their deficit from 13-3 to 13-6 early in the fourth quarter, and then received star receiver N'Keal Harry with a 27-yard score at 8:45. And then they recovered the ball with 4:55 left and shot a Michigan State, eating the rest of the clock and setting up the winning goal on the ground.

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7. Houston (Arizona defeat, 45-18)

The main story of Houston's 27-point destruction of Arizona was that first-year head coach Kevin Sumlin and coordinator Noel Mazzone had at least temporarily ruined quarterback Khalil Tate.

But do not let this rule out the fact that Major Applewhite's Cougars were prepare the Saturday. They gained nearly 200 yards and scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions and took a bewildering 38-0 lead before the Wildcats began to understand things.

Since starting slowly against Rice in the first week, the Cougars offense has scored 73 points in the last three games.

8. State of Colorado (Arkansas, 34-27)

At least, the Rams showed some resistance on Saturday. After losing his first match in Hawaii during a meet on the track and being crushed by Colorado in Denver, Mike Bobo's team found themselves 27-9 in the middle of the third quarter against Chad Morris' Hogs . A 0-3 start was imminent.

But they then scored on four consecutive possessions and forced three consecutive punts to win an unexpected victory and destroyed the first game on Morris's road as the AU head coach. The season began to skyrocket and the CSU rallied.

9. Kansas (UBC, 31-7)
10. ECU (UNC def, 41-19)

Listen, Central Michigan is bad. North Carolina too, apparently. But Kansas and the ECU just beat FBS opponents the same day for the first time since September 20, 2014 (the last time the ECU beat a two-digit power conference team) and KU just won on the road for the first time on the road in 2009.

After defeating Texas in November 2016, the Jayhawks lost 12 straight games against FBS opponents with an average score of 45-17. During this period, they lost at home against CMU by 18.

So yes, any win is remarkable for this duo. Neither was likely to save the head coach's position – David Beaty is now 4-34 years old, and Scottie Montgomery is 7-19 years old. But every fan deserves to be happy from time to time, and the 18,127 participants at Lawrence and regardless of the percentage of the 39,298 spectators present at the ECU have actually had rare opportunities to celebrate.

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