It was letdown week in college football as highly ranked teams across the country faced unexpected challenges following the emotional high of Week 1 victories. The phenomenon was most prominently on display with No. 5 Notre Dame, which suffered a stunning 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois just a week after beating Texas A&M on the road.
The Fighting Irish's national championship odds were +1700 after the momentous Week 1 win. But those odds had slipped to +10000 by the end of Week 2. While Notre Dame was the only national title contender to lose in their letdown spot, others encountered adversity. No. 8 Penn State found itself in a fierce battle with Bowling Green before escaping with a 34-27 win just one week after crushing West Virginia on the road in a high-profile season opener.
Similarly, just a week after scoring at will in a 63-0 win over Western Kentucky to begin the Kalen DeBoer era, No. 4 Alabama needed a huge fourth quarter to pull away from South Florida. No. 15 Oklahoma provided yet another example of a high-powered program struggling as a heavy favorite in Week 2 as the Sooners fought through a 16-12 win over Houston.
Despite those lackluster performances, our report card also features plenty of good grades, especially since some of the teams mentioned above played their way out of our +4000 threshold. Here are the Week 2 grades for each team with national title odds of +4000 or better.
College football grades: Week 1 report card
| Team | Odds | Grade | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| +270 | A | Georgia aced the Tennessee Tech assignment by handling business in a 48-3 win without accumulating much wear and tear ahead of a trip to Kentucky in Week 3. Carson Beck started 11 of 11, and plenty of reserves were able to get in-game reps that will pay off during what could be a 16-game season. | |
| +380 | A | Ohio State quarterback Will Howard started hot, and the Buckeyes' defense was even nastier in a 56-0 win over Western Michigan than it was in a 52-6 Week 1 win over Akron. The visiting Broncos only reached Ohio State territory once and never made it to the red zone. | |
| +550 | A+ | Texas put the country on notice with an all-around dominant performance in a 31-12 win at Michigan. The Longhorns shredded the Wolverines' vaunted defense on third downs and won the turnover battle 3-0. It wasn't until garbage time that the Longhorns finally surrendered their first touchdown of the season. | |
| +1100 | C+ | Things just aren't clicking yet for Oregon, which needed a game-winning field goal as time expired to escape with a 37-34 win over Boise State. The Ducks entered as nearly a three-touchdown favorite but were plagued by some of the same sloppiness that haunted them during a lackluster Week 1 win over Idaho. | |
| +1100 | C- | Don't be fooled by the 42-16 final score of Alabama's win over South Florida. The Crimson Tide struggled mightily until scoring four touchdowns over the final 10:04 to pull away. Penalties were a massive problem as the offense spun its wheels in the mud for much of the night. | |
| +1500 | A | Ole Miss was unstoppable offensively against another overmatched opponent as the Rebels thrashed Middle Tennessee 52-3 behind an SEC-record 24 straight completions from Jaxson Dart. The ending of each half marked the only possessions when the Rebels didn't score. | |
| +2000 | A | Miami just needed to avoid a letdown and keep Cam Ward healthy as it hosted Florida A&M. It did both, scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions en route to a 56-9 victory. The Hurricanes got their reserves some action and did not allow a touchdown to their FCS foe. | |
| +2000 | D | Penn State had to recover an onside kick from Bowling Green in the final minute to secure a 34-27 victory. It was a classic letdown spot for the Nittany Lions following a Week 1 drubbing of West Virginia, and they were fortunate to survive. PSU trailed 24-20 at halftime and went through a concerning offensive lull in the second half. | |
| +2500 | A | Tennessee's defense stole the show as the Volunteers forced three turnovers and held NC State to just 143 yards in a 51-10 throttling of the Wolfpack. Walk-on Will Brooks highlighted the performance with an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter. NC State averaged just 2.9 yards per play. | |
| +4000 | A | Missouri has yet to allow a point through two games after blanking Buffalo 38-0. That's incredibly encouraging when you consider that the Tigers lost five NFL Draft picks and coordinator Blake Baker from last year's defense. | |
| +4000 | C- | It seemed like LSU was still licking its wounds from a Sunday loss to USC and subsequent short week as the Tigers scuffled a bit before putting away Nicholls 44-21. The defense allowed a couple of long touchdown drives in the first half, and LSU's run game was virtually nonexistent. | |
| +4000 | B | Utah beat Baylor 23-12 in its Big 12 debut as the Utes jumped out to a 23-0 lead in the first half. It would have been nice if the Utes had scored in the second half, but they are being graded on a curve since quarterback Cam Rising didn't play after halftime due to a hand injury. |