For most of the country it was a quiet beginning to the 2024 college football season. Folks in Gainesville, College Station, Clemson, Tallahassee, and Baton Rouge are the exception. For the bulk of the teams in the rankings there wasn’t a whole lot going on as they opened their accounts for another year. So, this week 2 poll isn’t going to be earth shattering different.
We still have lots of fun stuff to talk about, though.
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | NEXT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 1-0 | vs. Tennessee Tech |
| 2 | Oregon | 1-0 | vs. Boise State |
| 3 | Texas | 1-0 | at Michigan |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 1-0 | vs. Northern Illinois |
| 5 | Missouri | 1-0 | vs. Buffalo |
| 6 | Ohio State | 1-0 | vs. Western Michigan |
| 7 | Alabama | 1-0 | vs. USF |
| 8 | USC (+3) | 1-0 | vs. Utah State |
| 9 | Kansas | 1-0 | at Illinois |
| 10 | Ole Miss | 1-0 | vs. Middle Tennessee |
| 11 | Miami (NR) | 1-0 | vs. Florida A&M |
| 12 | Oklahoma State | 1-0 | vs. Arkansas |
| 13 | Arizona (+1) | 1-0 | vs. Northern Arizona |
| 14 | Oklahoma (+1) | 1-0 | vs. Houston |
| 15 | Tennessee (+1) | 1-0 | vs. NC State |
| 16 | Penn State (+1) | 1-0 | vs. Bowling Green |
| 17 | Louisville (+1) | 1-0 | vs. Jacksonville State |
| 18 | Utah (+1) | 1-0 | vs. Baylor |
| 19 | Iowa (NR) | 1-0 | vs. Iowa State |
| 20 | UNLV (NR) | 1-0 | vs. Utah Tech |
OUT:
#9 FSU
#13 LSU
#20 Clemson
National Storylines
No, UNLV doesn’t deserve to be ranked but I put them there because the other options aren’t great (Kansas State? NC State? Boise State?) and it’s important to point out they beat Power 4 conference team Houston this weekend 27-7. Not a great start to the Willie Fritz era! The Rebels held the Cougars to 38 total rushing yards and really got after it on defense.
Check out Iowa looking like an offense with an actual pulse beating Illinois State 40-0!
Our other new team in the 18S Top 20 this week is Miami. Dare I say they look dangerous? Transfer quarterback Cam Ward looks real nice (shades of Everett Golson IMO) in that Canes offense as they torched Florida 41-17 in the Swamp. Big yikes for the Gators as they ran 53 plays for 190 yards outside of a 71-yard running play.
We continue to pray this is finally the beginning of the end of Dabo Swinney at Clemson. The held on for a bit and then were calmly outclassed by Georgia 34-3.
Oregon had a bit of a weird one dominating Idaho with 270 more yards, +1 in turnover margin, and a fantastic day from Dillon Gabriel in his Ducks debut. Yet, they only won 24-14 in Eugene.
Texas (vs. Colorado State), Missouri (vs. Murray State), Ohio State (vs. Akron), and Alabama (vs. Western Kentucky) all won easily by a combined 218-6.
LSU loses yet another opener as USC pulls the 27-20 upset on Sunday night. I think the Trojans are going to be pretty good–let’s hope so because the Irish schedule needs it badly now.
Kansas (who were in my pre-season playoff predictions as the Big XII champion) looked solid in a 48-3 win over Lindenwood.
I was going to publish this poll last night but thought, you know what let’s wait and see what happens to Florida State just in case. Good thing I did! Things are looking dark now for the Seminoles after losing to Boston College by 15 points on Labor Day night. Do we put Bill O’Brien on the Doing Good Things™ list now?
Jaxson Dart threw for 418 and 5 touchdowns as Ole Miss crushed Furman 76-0.
We didn’t rank Michigan in pre-season and they opened up with 269 yards and a +0.2 YPP differential in a 30-10 win over Fresno State.
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is coming off a 1,000 yard season in 2023 and is almost a third of the way there after a dominant 304 yards and 4 scores in the Wildcats’ 61-39 win over New Mexico.
Positive vibes from Penn State who were +211 in total yardage opening up with new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and a 34-12 win at West Virginia.
It’s early days but Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava (22/28 for 314 yards) could be a problem in the SEC. The Vols beat Chattanooga 69-3 in Knoxville.
Opponent Watch
Texas A&M (0-1): Well, suffice to say the Aggies aren’t real happy this week.
Northern Illinois (1-0): In a battle of directional Illinois’ the Huskies beat down FCS Western Illinois 54-15 with quarterback Ethan Hampton now sitting 3rd nationally in passer rating after the performance.
Purdue (1-0): Hudson Card threw for 4 touchdowns in a 49-0 win over Indiana State.
Miami [OH] (0-1): The Fightin’ Chuck Martins opened their season on Northwestern’s makeshift practice field stadium but couldn’t quite pull the upset in a 13-6 loss.
Louisville (1-0): Former Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough threw for 4 scores as Louisville romped up on Austin Peay 62-0.
Stanford (0-1): The Cardinal led at halftime but allowed 24 points to TCU in the 2nd half to fall 34-27.
Georgia Tech (2-0): Back in week 0, the Yellow Jackets physically dominated Florida State and pulled out the 24-21 win. They followed it up with a decent 35-12 win over Georgia State.
Navy (1-0): Bucknell led early but ultimately lost control with Navy beating them 49-21 in Annapolis.
Florida State (0-2): All the complaints about not being selected for last year’s playoff now feel like a million years ago.
Virginia (1-0): The Hoos picked up a solid 34-13 win over Richmond.
Army (1-0): Lehigh were no match for Army in this 42-7 deciding score.
USC (1-0): The Trojans have a breather this week then travel to Ann Arbor. Fight On in week 3!
How did Navy score 49 points on anybody?
You have Stanford at 1-0, not 0-1. Is that because having a halftime lead and only losing by 7 counts as a win for Stanford :)?
Wanted that Stanford upset pick that bad, I guess.
Iowa was only up 6-0 at halftime despite having throwing 0 interceptions and having 0 fumbles (1 turnover on downs). Their matchup with Iowa State this week should make for an interesting study in whether their first or second half was the real fluke in week 1.
Fun fact, if you add up Iowa’s 6 lowest scoring games last year it’s only 33 points, which they just outscored in week one!
Somehow they put up 41 on Western Michigan last year, so still too early to tell which way this year’s squad is going.
AP poll is out. ND is 5th. USC, Louisville, and Georgia Tech are ranked. A&M is top “also receiving votes”. Florida State is unranked and not receiving any votes
We finally found an opinion too embarrassing even for AP poll voters to publish.
Has a coach ever taken more heat for not understanding housing architecture in his area?
I’m loving the UM disrespect, partly because I agree that they aren’t going to be particularly good and partly for the more obvious reason; although I do think Fresno State is going to end up being a pretty decent Mountain West team especially if they limit the number of 90+ yard pick sixes allowed going forward.
Florida State ruining our home night game is kind of a drag, but them having to sit on that 0-2 record during an off week is pretty funny.