CFB Blitz Week 2: Two-faced Texas delivers epic win

The weekly CFB Blitz is the spot to catch up on the most important developments from the day's action and examine their significance moving forward.

Two-faced Texas delivers epic win

If there's one team in the country that does not need any help to win a football game, it's Ohio State. That didn't stop Texas from playing the role of friendly host on Saturday. The Longhorns welcomed their visitors with a fumble on the opening play of the game, and further assisted the Buckeyes on one of the weirdest interceptions you will ever see.

Add in a dropped touchdown catch by Ryan Wingo and a mind-numbing reverse call on 4th-and-1 that resulted in a late turnover on downs in the first half, and Texas did just about everything wrong in the opening 30 minutes. It was a maddening performance for Longhorn fans everywhere who had bought into the idea that this year would be different for Arch Manning, Steve Sarkisian and the burnt orange.

A scoreless third quarter for Texas didn't offer much hope, but then the Longhorns totally redeemed themselves with a historic charge in the fourth. Manning finally provided a highlight with a dart to Wingo for a score, and a Texas defense that had been put in terrible position all night rose up. After moving at least 35 yards on six of its first seven drives, Ohio State had back-to-back three-and-outs to open the door a crack.

The throws Manning had missed in the first three quarters were now on target - notably two different fourth-down conversions in his own half. Sarkisian's questionable playcalling in the opening half was long gone, with the veteran coach finding holes in the Ohio State defense. The Longhorns found the end zone on drives of 91, 72, and 73 yards to shock the world.

The finish will do wonders to flip the narrative that Sarkisian and Manning cannot win big games, and also give Texas a massive assist in the CFP race. Sarkisian complained last year that the Week 1 loss to Ohio State cost them a possible spot in the 12-team field. This time around, it will be the largest data point for the Longhorns come November.

Ohio State caps Big Ten's rough day

Ohio State's epic collapse added the final dagger to a very rough day of action for Big Ten programs. While Michigan scored a massive non-conference win over Oklahoma, the rest of the conference didn't exactly cover itself in glory.

While some are explainable, the losses by Oregon and Ohio State will certainly put a pin in the argument that the league's top end teams are better than any rival conference.

The Buckeyes loss is the latest in a tough period against top competition, with Ohio State now losing three of its last four games to eventual champion Indiana, national runner-up Miami, and now Texas. That's not cause for a campus-wide period of mourning, but the Buckeyes don't play each season to just be a top-10 team. With the resources at their disposal, it's championship or bust annually for Ryan Day's program.

Legree is the best WR you don't know

Texas' incredible comeback win over Ohio State likely garnered most of the national attention, but those who also kept an eye on the Texas Tech-Oregon State game likely came away with a new favorite player. The Red Raiders may have won, but 5-foot-10, 172-pound freshman Jesse Legree stole the show for the Beavers. Legree torched Texas Tech for 240 yards on eight catches and found the end zone twice. An incredible 87 yards-after-the-catch shows just how electric he can be in the open field. Legree nearly pushed Oregon State to a shocking upset, actually hauling in a possible go-ahead 4th-quarter grab but was shoved out of bounds before landing.

Bama puts Kentucky in 2nd-half hell

Will Stein wanted noise for his first SEC home game with Kentucky, even imploring fans to bring flasks to the contest versus Alabama.

"Sneak a flask in," Stein said, according to Austin Nivison of CBS Sports. "Sneak a flask in. Again, do whatever you got to do, right?

The flasks must have made it in for the first half, as the Wildcats looked to be the Crimson Tide's equal, taking a one-point lead to the break. Well, the flasks must have run dry after that point, because the second half might as well have been a library in the stands. The result was a second-half boatrace, with Alabama scoring 32 unanswered points and holding Kentucky to just 62 yards of offense.

The attention in Tuscaloosa early this year has been on fabulous freshman quarterback Keelon Russell, but the defense was the star Saturday. That unit registered three forced fumbles, an interception, four sacks, and six tackles for loss in the win.

Stein will be a great personality in the SEC this season and beyond, but Saturday reminded everyone how big the job is of getting the Wildcats up to Alabama's level.

Super Kamario

Kamario Taylor introduced himself to the rest of the country Saturday, showing the upper states exactly what the southern ones have been hearing about all offseason. The Mississippi State quarterback absolutely balled out in his first national TV start at Minnesota, torching the Golden Gophers for 227 yards and three touchdowns through the air while adding 86 yards on the ground. His three scores Saturday bring him to eight on the year.

Standing 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Taylor jumps off the screen at first glance. His elite athleticism is also evident every time he runs with the ball, but it's the ease with which he generates high velocity that truly stands out.

Jeff Lebby has long been one of the top offensive minds in college football, but Mississippi State has lacked a standout quarterback to operate his attack. Taylor provides that, and his dual-threat ability has also awakened the rushing attack. The balance against Minnesota was an impressive 252-227 split between rushing and passing, for 479 total yards and 38 points.

While Mississippi State may not be a team you expect to see in the CFP, Taylor and that offense give them the chance to be live upset threats in any SEC game this year.

BYU's got an air attack

Bear Bachmeier was a beast in his first year of college football, taking BYU all the way to the Big 12 title game with a blend of power running and quick, precision passing. However, two different blowouts by Texas Tech sent the message that the Cougars - with freshman Bachmeier - were a very strong Big 12 team, but not a playoff threat. Early returns this year for suggest that won't be the case again. One solitary throw from Bachmeier in the win over Arizona showed that the sophomore version is a different animal.

A 61-yard touchdown pass - with the ball traveling nearly 60 in the air -midway through the 4th quarter put the game out of reach for Arizona and delivered the victory. That's the type of throw that should have the rest of the Big 12 very worried.

What a difference a year makes

Just 371 days ago, Oregon walked off the field at Autzen Stadium having lit up the scoreboard with a 69-3 beatdown of Oklahoma State. The embarrassing loss essentially ended Mike Gundy's lengthy tenure with the program and showed the massive gap between the two programs in today's college football. Fast forward a year, and we can safely say Eric Morris and Drew Mestemaker are a tandem worth 74 points.

The Cowboys' stunning win over the Ducks isn't the biggest point-spread upset of the college football season - congratulations to Rutgers on its Week 1 setback to UMass for that - but it's without question the most shocking. Oklahoma State hadn't won an FBS contest in two years and just lost to Tulsa last week. Meanwhile, Oregon had won 41 straight against unranked teams and had previously lost its last five games against programs that went on to win the national title that year.

The Ducks also entered among the favorites for the national championship this season with an NFL-bound quarterback leading the offense. Turns out, Oklahoma State has one of those two things, as the competition between Dante Moore and Mestemaker wasn't even close. Mestemaker put up 426 yards of total offense - 145 more than the entire Oregon team - and made play after play to keep Oklahoma State in front.

Morris, Mestemaker, and the influx of North Texas transfers that came to Oklahoma State have immediately injected life into the program. That seemed almost fully extinguished after last week's loss to Tulsa. However, Boone Pickens Stadium is rocking once again, and it looks like the Cowboys will be serious threats in the Big 12.

Oregon misses its coordinators

Lanning is without question one of the top coaches in college football, but it appears even he can't immediately overcome the loss of both coordinators. With Will Stein coaching Kentucky and Tosh Lupoi running Cal, Lanning promoted both offensive and defensive coordinators from within. Through two weeks, it's safe to say it hasn't worked. Oregon escaped against Boise State despite being outplayed for a large portion of the game, but it couldn't save itself Saturday.

The Ducks' offense looked out of sync time and again, with penalties, drops, and missed blocking assignments popping up all over the place. Moore has an NFL arm, but he completed just 14-of-29 passes for 191 yards in the loss. Oregon's running game was also barely alive, finishing with 90 yards on 30 carries. The defense supplied two interceptions - including one for a pick-6 - but posted zero sacks and just one tackle-for-loss. All the talk of the nation's best defensive line residing in Eugene can officially be put to bed after that stat line.

"It wasn't close in a lot of ways," Lanning said afterwards, according to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. "We got our ass kicked in a lot of areas."

Oregon will improve as the roster gets more reps under the new coaching staff, but we've seen enough bad football this season to admit the coordinator losses have hurt more than we expected.

Michigan and Oklahoma are the same team

Fire up the famous pointing Spider-Man meme because Michigan and Oklahoma showed us Saturday that they're essentially the same team. Both have elite defenses, and their quarterbacks have proven they can't be trusted to throw against top competition. The difference is that Michigan knows it, while the Sooners don't - and that's the reason the Wolverines won.

Kyle Whittingham's lukewarm endorsement of Bryce Underwood as Michigan's QB1 this week led to a change in the offense's game plan, with coordinator Jason Beck running the sophomore and running him often. Notably, Whittingham and Beck utilized quarterback Devon Dampier as a runner last year to help Utah lead the nation in rushing. Underwood showed a lot of promise with the ball in his hands Saturday, finishing with 87 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. The game plan also kept him to just 17 passing attempts, a safe approach given his accuracy issues.

Oklahoma took the opposite approach, with John Mateer attempting 33 throws and completing only 17. Outside of a 43-yard completion to Rocky Beers, Mateer threw for just 146 total yards at a minuscule 4.5 yards per attempt. Even his most explosive play - a 22-yard TD pass - was largely made possible by a terrible Michigan coverage bust. However, Mateer's most consequential miscue was an interception, with Jyaire Hill setting up the eventual game-winning touchdown with the pick.

Mateer's struggles with Oklahoma last season were widely attributed to his thumb injury, which he should be commended for playing through. On Saturday, he sailed pass after pass despite being healthy.

Michigan's gotta clean it up

The Wolverines' first home win over an SEC opponent since 2008 should be celebrated and should help them build momentum for the Big Ten portion of their schedule. But Michigan still has plenty to clean up. Whittingham was supposed to be the adult in the room who brought discipline to the program. Although that may be true off the field, the Wolverines' on-field performance has been reckless at times. With 11 more penalties for 90 yards against Oklahoma, the flag count is reaching historic levels.

Two massive unsportsmanlike conduct penalties helped Oklahoma sustain drives in the second half, with one hit after the whistle and one facemask penalty moving the ball for the Sooners. The Wolverines got away with it Saturday, but that won't be the case every week.

15 minutes of fury delivers win for Texas A&M

If you missed the Texas A&M-Arizona State contest and just checked the final score, you'd think it was a comfortable 48-20 win for the Aggies with no stress throughout. However, it was a four-point game heading into the fourth quarter before the A&M closers arrived.

The final 15 minutes were a tour de force by the Aggies, as they recorded a turnover on all four Sun Devils' possessions, including picking Cutter Boley off twice. Three of those turnovers came within a six-play span for the visitors - and that's how a four-point game ends up a 28-point blowout despite Arizona State outgaining Texas A&M by over 100 yards.

An opportunistic defense is a luxury, but the Aggies need to sort out the ground game heading into SEC play. A 2.6-yard-per-carry average against Arizona State is concerning for a team that wants to run the ball as often as Texas A&M.