College football blitz: Week 2 recap

[NICK WAGNER/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]

Texas wide receiver Collin Johnson (9) can’t complete a catch as LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. (24) defends during an NCAA football game on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, in Austin, Texas.

Noah Powers, Sports Editor
September 10, 2019

Week two of college football’s 150^thseason is in the books and following this weekend’s madness, there are a few new faces on the come up.

For starters, we saw Army nearly take down a 7^th-ranked Michigan squad in Ann Arbor, Maryland topple no. 21 Syracuse by 43 points and Mack Brown’s Tar Heels take care of business in their first ACC Coastal matchup of the season. A big weekend of football no doubt, and plenty of headlines to go around. So, let’s get into it…

Syracuse @ Maryland

The Terrapins unleashed a beating, topping Howard 79-0 to open the season last week. However, it would take a dominant win over a bigger opponent to get their point across — and get their point across they did.

No. 21 Syracuse was the unlucky team that made its way to College Park on Saturday.

The Orange took a pair to the end zone in the first two quarters, tossing 13 on the board after a failed extra point. Maryland on the other hand, took six to the house and with no failed PATs, the Terps held a comfortable 42-13 lead at the intermission.

The third quarter was sluggish for both squads, which only scored a touchdown a piece, before a two touchdown fourth quarter put UM up 63-20.

Tommy DeVito passed for 330 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in the Orange’s 20-point performance, while Maryland’s Josh Jackson threw for 296 yards, three touchdowns and a pick.

It did not raise many eyebrows when the Terps shut out Howard because those are the types of games we are used to seeing in week 1, but to see the no. 21 team in the nation knocked off by over 40 points — well, Maryland may just be that good.

LSU @ Texas

This was a frontrunner for game of the week and with good reason.

LSU has been a staple of SEC football for years and Texas — though it has had its off years, is one team everyone thinks of when they think of college football. One more thing that fueled this matchup even more was the fact that both teams were in the top 10 on Saturday.

No. 6 LSU walked into Austin coming off an impressive 55-3 win over Georgia Southern. No. 9 Texas also boasted a big win in week 1, holding off Louisiana Tech 45-14. So, it only makes sense that two teams we could potentially see in the College Football Playoff be given game of the week honors — at least in my book.

The Tigers strong-armed Texas in the first half mounting a 20-7 lead heading into the halftime. The Longhorns would not go down quietly, however, busting out a 14-point third quarter and holding LSU to three points. Both teams played a strong fourth quarter, combing for 39 points. The Tigers would outlast Texas, winning by a close margin 45-38.

Joe Burrow passed for 471 yards while the run game brought the Tigers to 573 total yards of offense.

The Longhorns were not far behind as Sam Ehlinger passed for 401 yards. Texas totaled out at 529 yards.

There is still plenty to be seen from both of these squads, and it is not far-fetched to think we could potentially see both of these clubs playing in January.

Texas A&M @ Clemson

This was a game that we all hoped would be closer than it was.

No. 1 Clemson, now on a 17-game winning streak, owns the world of college football as it stands. But as soon as we saw no. 12 Texas A&M on the docket for the defending national champions, we felt that maybe, just maybe TAMU could pull off the unthinkable.

But dethroning the top dog, even if just for a week, is no walk in the park — or no walk through Death Valley rather — as the Aggies saw on Saturday as Clemson took down Texas A&M 24-10.

The Aggies’ Kellen Mond threw 24-42 for 236 yards. Not a terrible performance until you take a look at Trevor Lawrence’s stat line. The Clemson sophomore hit the 268-yard mark and threw 24-35 — over 11% better.

The run game was much more lopsided than the quarterback battle. Lyn-J Dixon rushed for 79 yards on 11 carries helping carry the Tigers to 121 yards on the ground. Jashaun Corbin hit 34 yards on 13 carries and made up a majority of the Aggies’ ground game as TAMU finished with only 53 yards rushing.

It will be interesting to see how next week plays out for the Tigers as they take on a wounded Syracuse team. Taking down the Orange has not been an easy task for Dabo’s bunch either, as the last two games between the squads have been decided by one possession, including a Tigers loss two years ago.

Florida State on heels in close win vs. UL-Monroe

For the second week in a row, Florida State cannot keep its wits about it as it lets UL-Monroe not only knock on the door, but nearly kick the door down.

It took overtime for FSU to take down UL-Monroe by a point. 45-44 was the final.

Just last week, the Seminoles were taken down by Boise State — a good Broncos team no doubt. But that same BSU team nearly lost to Marshall at home on Saturday. So the question now becomes: is Florida State just not that good?

The Seminoles are under the tutelage of second-year head coach Willie Taggart, and though last year the ‘Noles only went 5-7, they still picked up solid wins over Louisville, Wake Forest and no. 22 Boston College. So, this should be the year of improving on that.

Instead, FSU finds itself at risk of falling further down the ladder of the ACC — barely knocking off UL-Monroe and falling in Tallahassee to Boise State.

The ‘Noles still have key matchups with N.C. State, Boston College, Florida and of course Clemson. It will be interesting to see how Taggart’s team moves forward in the face of adversity.

No. 7 Wolverines BARELY make it past Army

While we are on the theme of overtime, it took two of them for no. 7 Michigan to beat Army.

The Black Knights were up 14-7 at the half, and after a third-quarter answer and a scoreless final period, we went to OT no. 1.

7-7.

A field goal in 2OT gave Michigan the uncomfortably close 24-21 win. Definitely not the outcome those in Ann Arbor were expecting.

North Carolina scores

Wake Forest 41 Rice 21

N.C. State 41 Western Carolina 0

Duke 45 N.C. A&T 13

North Carolina 28 Miami 25

East Carolina 48 Gardner-Webb 9

Appalachian State 56 Charlotte 41