Texas Stuns Ohio State; Oregon Falls to Oklahoma State — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Texas upset No. 1 Ohio State 24-23 in Austin despite the Buckeyes averaging 6.5 yards per play and producing five red-zone trips to Texas' one in the first half, as Arch Manning rallied the Horns with three touchdown drives
- Ohio State coach Ryan Day's ultra-conservative tempo (28.5 seconds per snap in the first half) has created a close-game problem, with the Buckeyes losing four of their past five games decided by 10 or fewer points
- Oklahoma State, a 24.5-point underdog, stunned No. 6 Oregon by eight points in Stillwater, outgaining the Ducks 353-101 in the first half while sacking Dante Moore twice and posting a 65% rushing success rate
- Oregon's offensive line concerns — the author's biggest preseason worry — were confirmed, as the Ducks managed just a 33% rushing success rate in the first half and now face a scarier trip to Ohio State in November
- Five teams (Florida Atlantic, Kennesaw State, NC State, Oklahoma State and Utah State) have already both overachieved and underachieved against SP+ projections by at least 20 points in a single game through just two weeks
- Ohio State punted on fourth-and-4 from the Texas 39 on their first drive of the second half despite leading 20-3, a passive call the author identifies as the turning point that let Texas back into the game
Why it matters: Two of the sport's top three teams lost in Week 2, reshaping the College Football Playoff picture barely two weeks into the season. Ohio State now faces a three-game October gauntlet at Indiana, at USC, and home against the Ducks — all projected close — and has lost four of its last five such games. Oregon's trip to Columbus in November was supposed to be a title-path showcase; a beat-up Ducks offensive line makes that far less certain.
Ask SkimNews
