What to Watch in Week 2

Friday Night 
#11 Oklahoma State @ South Alabama- 8:00 ESPN2 
Ohio @ Purdue- 8:30 FS1 

Oklahoma State rolled over Tulsa in their opener, and now head to South Alabama in a weird game to be playing on the road.  However, as long as Mason Rudolph shows up, the Cowboys should win easily. In East Lafayette, Indiana, Ohio takes on Purdue.  Purdue played Louisville tough last weekend, almost pulling off the upset.  It has yet to be seen if that was an aberration, or if Purdue will be much improved this season.  If they can beat Ohio, an above average MAC team, then this could be the year Purdue climbs out of mediocrity. 

Saturday Day 
Cincinnati @ #8 Michigan- 12:00 ABC 
#17 Louisville @ North Carolina- 12:00 ESPN 
Northwestern @ Duke- 12:00 ESPNU 

Michigan looked strong in its win over Florida last weekend while Cincinnati beat Austin Peay.  If Michigan can get its offense going, it should win easily.  In Chapel Hill, Louisville takes on UNC. Both of these teams struggled in their opening game.  Lamar Jackson played well for Louisville but the rest of the team did not.  Look for them to try to right the ship this weekend.  Elsewhere in North Carolina, Northwestern takes on Duke.  The Wildcats will have to stop Duke Sophomore quarterback Daniel Jones is one of the most underrated players in the country.   

Saturday Afternoon 
#23 TCU @ Arkansas- 3:30 CBS 
Pittsburgh @ #4 Penn State- 3:30 ABC 
Nebraska @ Oregon- 4:30 Fox 

CBS’ opening game of the year is an old Southwest Conference rivalry. TCU enters the game as the lone Texas school ranked, while Arkansas is just outside the top 25.  Last season, these two played an epic which the Razorbacks pulled out in overtime.  It should be another close one this weekend. Over on ABC, Penn State will take on Pittsburgh for the 98^th time.  Last year, Pitt pulled off the upset, which may have prevented the Nittany Lions from making the playoff.  Penn State will be out for revenge, and will use its big play offense to put points on the board.  At 4:30, Nebraska travels to the west coast to face Oregon.  Both of these team had a disappointing 2016 and will try to use this game as a springboard for 2017.   

Saturday Night 
#13 Auburn @ #4 Clemson- 7:00 ESPN 
#5 Oklahoma @ #2 Ohio State- 7:30 ABC 
#15 Georgia @ #25 Notre Dame- 7:30 NBC 
#14 Stanford @ #3 USC- 8:30 FOX 

In a battle of the tigers, Auburn faces off against Clemson.  Last season, Clemson won a close one in Auburn. Clemson starting QB Kelly Bryant looked good in his first start, but has yet to face a defense like Auburns.  Later at 7:30, in one of the biggest matchups of the year, Oklahoma takes on Ohio State. Last season, Ohio State blew out Oklahoma in Norman.  Each team has one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Ohio State’s JT Barrett.  Ohio State may be the more complete team, but they struggled to defend the pass in the 1^st half of their win over Indiana.  Elsewhere on NBC, Georgia makes its first trip above the Mason-Dixon line since the 1960’s as they play Notre Dame.  The Bulldogs lost starting Jacob Eason last weekend to injury, but still managed to beat Appalachian State easily.  Notre Dame starts Brandon Wimbush in just his second career start against a very good Georgia defense.  On Fox, Stanford takes on USC in a battle of top 15 teams.  Stanford has started slow in each of the past 2 seasons with a loss in the first 3 weeks of both.  They will try to stop that streak against Sam Darnold, the Heisman trophy favorite.  The winner of this game will be the favorite to win the Pac 12, and will be a playoff contender. 

Saturday Late Night 
Utah @ BYU- Holy War- 10:15 ESPN2 
Boise State @ #21 Washington State- 10:30 ESPN 

In a bitter rivalry, Utah takes on BYU in the Holy War.  BYU has struggled in its first 2 games of the season, barely beating Portland State, and getting blown out by LSU.  Last year’s game came down to a 2 point conversion.  In a late game on ESPN, Boise State heads to take on Washington State.  Boise beat the Cougars last year, and will try to pull off the upset again. A win will go a long way for Boise’s New Years Six hopes.