Chaos season is underway, and we’re gearing up for another full slate of NCAA college football this weekend.
Week 1 featured its usual share of pushover games, but saved its best for Saturday and Sunday night.
Michigan marched downfield to score on its opening drive against Western Michigan, then waited until “after” the game was over for its next touchdown – a take-two Hail Mary that sealed a win that could be described as truly miraculous, even if the MAC is arguing otherwise.
Twenty-four hours later in Nashville, Trinidad Chambliss shook off a rusty start and Ole Miss’ defence played with fourth-quarter fire, but a walk-off 48-yard-field goal secured a 41-38 win over Louisville.
At LSU, the Lane Kiffin era got started with a thunderous bang – sans pros – in two separate regards, with a pregame storm delaying the start of a 51-10 win over Clemson. Meanwhile, Dabo Swinney, as defiant as ever, is insisting it’s not time to press the panic button – even on the heels of a six-loss season.
This weekend, we’ve got a handful of major non-conference games. Arch Manning faces Ohio State in a rematch of his season-opening trainwreck from last season, but he’s got a year of experience under his belt, and he’ll get the Buckeyes in Austin this time around. If you put stock in his numbers in Week 1 against Texas State, he’s looking prepared.
Watch Texas vs. Ohio State live on TSN2 Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. PT.
Michigan hosts Oklahoma in another marquee Big Ten-SEC clash, which is also a rematch of a game from last season – one the Sooners won, which ended up being instrumental come selection time in December. With both teams’ conference schedules looking like gauntlets, Saturday’s game already appears to be one both teams need.
There’s also Oregon and Oklahoma State, and an early challenge for Alabama, with a trickier-than-it-looks visit to Lexington to face a Kentucky team that has a growing tendency to make life difficult for the SEC’s elite.
A look at storylines for Week 2:
Arch gets another shot at Ohio State
Plenty has changed for Manning over the past 54 weeks.
Last August, he marched into The Shoe with Texas as the Heisman favourite and the already-anointed Chosen One — the next great NFL quarterback, with a famous last name already baked in. He left as an Internet meme, and spent the first month and a half of last season as the biggest lightning rod in the sport.
Manning’s numbers in the Longhorns’ 14-7 loss to Ohio State paint a more flattering picture than the actual story told, and they weren’t even that good to begin with. When the dust settled, he’d passed for 170 yards and a touchdown, though most of that damage came in the fourth quarter with Texas down two scores.
It got worse before it got better – particularly in an ugly non-conference win over UTEP and in a two-pick loss against Florida – but Manning did manage to finish strong in his first season as a starter, accounting for 20 total touchdowns with just two interceptions from Week 8 onward.
This year, Manning has a new top target in Cam Coleman, who was one of the prizes of the transfer portal, and a one-two punch in the backfield in Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown that might be the best in all of college football.
The early returns were eye-popping – 360 passing yards and four touchdowns, including two to Coleman, in a 59-7 thrashing of Texas State in Week 1. Manning also got reacquainted with his best receiver from last year, connecting seven times with Ryan Wingo for 121 yards and a touchdown.
Now, Manning finds himself back in the same spot he was leading up to last season. A Heisman candidate – a genuine, proven one this time around – and potentially the top pick in next April’s NFL Draft. But for the second straight year, he’ll be called upon to prove it against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State had three defensive players drafted out of the first 11 picks last April and seven chosen overall, but replenished both its defensive front and secondary in the portal – a relatively new approach for Ryan Day’s team, but one that’s expected to help it maintain its status as one of the most disruptive units in the nation. Manning and Texas will be its first test, after a cakewalk over Ball State in Week 1.
Of course, the Buckeyes have their annual share of likely first rounders this year as well. Jeremiah Smith affirmed his status as the best pass-catching prospect in decades last Saturday, catching eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns, and Julian Sayin connected on 21-of-25 passing attempts after setting a Big Ten record for completion percentage in 2025.
Things might be about to get worse for Bryce Underwood
Survive and advance, they say.
The Wolverines did manage to escape The Big House with an “extra-second” win – depending on who you ask, at least – over Western Michigan last Saturday, but it left the folks in Ann Arbour with more questions than answers one game into Kyle Whittingham’s regime.
It also makes this weekend’s matchup against Oklahoma seem a lot more overwhelming than it initially did – and it was never looking like it was going to be a picnic, either.
Bryce Underwood’s status as Michigan’s starting quarterback is already up in the air, even after the second of his 47-yard Hail Mary attempts landed in JJ Marshall’s hands as the clock officially expired in Week 1. Whitingham was tepid on Monday, putting his five-star passer on notice, claiming he’d stick with Underwood “right now”, while hinting he needs to be much better – and Underwood’s response two days later wasn’t exactly boisterous.
After passing for just 170 yards and throwing an interception against Western Michigan, turning things around this weekend against what might be the best defence in college football seems like a bit of a big ask.
Oklahoma led the nation with 45 sacks in 2025, and can make life difficult even when it’s not getting to the opposing quarterback. Last year, it sacked Underwood just once in a 24-13 win in Norman in Week 2, but harassed him incessantly, limiting him to just 142 yards on 9-of-24 passing in his second career start.
The Sooners seem to be able to smell blood in the water, and have made a living off making things difficult for opposing passers when they’re most vulnerable. Their signature performance last year was against Auburn and their own former quarterback Jackson Arnold, who they sacked nine times in a win in their SEC opener in September.
It’s an important game for John Mateer as well, after he cruised to three touchdowns in three quarters against UTEP in Oklahoma’s 51-0 win in Week 1.
Mateer had 344 combined yards and three total touchdowns against Michigan last September, but broke a bone in his thumb in that win over Auburn and struggled in conference play after returning just over three weeks later. Oklahoma’s playoff homes might hinge on him standing out in SEC play, and a win over Michigan could end up being crucial on a schedule that includes games against four teams currently ranked in the AP Top 10 (Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss and Texas A&M).
Oklahoma State looks unprepared for Oregon – again
A pair of quarterbacks get together in Stillwater on Saturday, both with first-round buzz – one trending up and the other needing to dig himself out of a giant hole after Week 1.
This game was supposed to serve as a litmus test for the Pokes – a benchmark, or at least a point of reference for where they stand amongst college football’s elite, after bringing in Eric Morris and his record-setting quarterback Drew Mestemaker. But after a been-there, done-that 24-10 loss to Tulsa in Week 1, it feels like this weekend’s meeting with Oregon might resemble last year’s 69-3 loss in Eugene more than it will anything remotely competitive.
The Ducks looked a little unsettled in their own right last weekend, needing a second-half offensive surge to rally from 10 points down against Boise State in their season opener.
Dante Moore passed for a career-high 378 yards – the third-most in Week 1 in program history, albeit 101 shy of Vernon Adams Jr.’s record – and three touchdowns, including a 62-yard go-ahead score to second-year receiver Dakorien Moore, whose stop-and-go juke sent two Bronco defenders sailing out of bounds. Evan Stewart and Jeremiah McClellan combined for 14 catches and 222 yards, and tight end Jamari Johnson – a projected first-round pick next year – had four and 57, as well as a momentum-swinging touchdown right before halftime.
Mestemaker, on the other hand, was under siege most of the afternoon against Tulsa – pressured 17 times, and finishing with 241 passing yards on 49 attempts. Oklahoma State didn’t score a touchdown until late in the third quarter, and Mestemaker threw a pair of interceptions in the fourth, foiling any hope of a comeback. After setting North Texas records for single season and single game passing yards last season (4,379 and 601), he looked overwhelmed in his first game playing for a Power Four team, and it didn’t even come against a Big 12 opponent.
Morris and Mestemaker still have time to flip Oklahoma State’s fate, but a visit from Moore and the Ducks could end up serving as another setback for a program that’s 4-21 since the start of 2024.
The Keelon Russell era is underway at Alabama
The immediate future looks bright in Tuscaloosa, if Russell’s debut was any indication.
Alabama’s five-star quarterback looked every bit the part in Week 1, passing for 256 yards and rushing for a team-high 86 and a touchdown in a 48-10 romp over East Carolina. Russell flashed the upside that won him the starting job over Austin Mack on the first drive of the game, shedding a sack on third down after taking off for a 23-yard run that extended an eventual scoring drive.
This weekend, Russell will get his first SEC test on the road against Kentucky – unquestionably one of the conference’s lesser opponents, but a notorious disruptor nonetheless. The Wildcats are just 9-25 in SEC play since 2023, but have split two games against Ole Miss over the last two seasons while also pushing Georgia and Texas to the limit.
Kentucky also enters the season with plenty of intrigue under new head coach Will Stein, who spearheaded Oregon’s offence the last three seasons, serving in the development of Moore in 2025, and Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel in the two years prior.
Notre Dame transfer Kenny Minchey was near perfect in his first college start against Youngstown State last Saturday, throwing for 301 yards and four touchdowns and leading an all-around offensive demolition that yielded 506 total yards. But Minchey will encounter a whole other beast in Alabama, which boasts arguably the best secondary in college football behind All-SEC corner Zabien Brown, who’s a likely first-round pick, as well as ball-hawking safety Bray Hubbard.
The Crimson Tide are also punishing up front, and limited East Carolina to just two rushing yards last weekend.
If there’s any lingering concern from Alabama’s opener, it’s surrounding wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams, whose Week 1 stat line read pretty much like a microcosm of his college career to this point – five catches, 130 yards, two drops (one negated by an offside penalty) and one lost fumble. Electricity, and plenty of unreliability – particularly after a 2025 season where he led all Power Four receivers in drops (10) and drop rate (16.9 per cent).
This year’s standout true freshman has emerged
Two seasons ago it was Smith at Ohio State, last year it was Malachi Toney at Miami, and through two games it’s looking like USC’s Trent Mosley might continue the now-annual trend of a true freshman wide receiver wreaking havoc on college football.
After shredding San Jose State with seven catches, 118 yards and a touchdown in Week 0, Mosley followed with four grabs, 104 yards and two touchdowns last Saturday against Fresno State.
This weekend, Mosley gets one final tuneup against Louisiana before the Trojans dig into their conference schedule, which opens in Week 3 against Rutgers. After that, it’s Oregon, Washington and Penn State – a three-game stretch that will give us an idea of whether they’re a genuine playoff threat even before they go head-to-head with Ohio State and Indiana in Weeks 9 and 11.
And who said the Big Ten schedule isn’t tough? Thus far, USC is looking like an offensive juggernaut, with quarterback Jayden Maiava picking up right where he left off after a quietly prolific season in 2025. Through two games, he’s completed 48-of-54 passes for 635 yards and five touchdowns. You read that right – Maiava has thrown one fewer touchdown this year than he has incompletions.
Mosley might be the latest in the procession of true freshman receivers, but there’s a passer worth keeping an eye on as well.
Tennessee five-star Faizon Brandon won the starting job in fall camp and an had an historic debut in Week 1, passing for three touchdowns and running in two more in a 56-9 win over Furman – the first SEC quarterback since Cam Newton in 2010 to achieve those passing and rushing feats in his first FBS start.
Brandon’s five total touchdowns also tied the Vols record for most ever by a true freshman quarterback.
