College Football Risers and Fallers After Week 1 - 2024 College Football

Week 2 of college football was a beautiful encore to opening weekend. We had everything from big-time non-conference matchups to nail-biting wins and mammoth upsets in the second weekend of action.

The wild week started on Friday night with a double-overtime Duke win over Northwestern on the Wildcats’ makeshift field. Saturday’s noon slate was headlined by a dominant Texas win in Ann Arbor, a narrow Penn State win over Bowling Green, a Kansas State goal line stand, and a double-overtime Oklahoma State thriller.

Notre Dame fell victim in an all-time upset on their home turf to Northern Illinois, Iowa State came back on the road to topple Iowa, Alabama ran away late against USF, Oklahoma edged out Houston, and Tennessee and Nebraska turned back the clock as the night wore on. We are back with another edition of the college football stock report following a thrilling Week 2.

Stock Up

MAC

The MAC has long been a running joke in college football. Big teams pay for MAC teams to come and play them, Tuesday night MACtion is a common meme, and none of these teams ever get respect. The conference earned their respect on Saturday.

At noon, Bowling Green played a full four quarters in Happy Valley. The Falcons had a 24-20 halftime lead and ended up losing to Penn State by just seven points. The MACtion wasn’t done for the day, as Northern Illinois played a complete game against Notre Dame. 

The Huskies drove into field goal range and drilled a game-winner as time expired. The MAC has put up fights against power conference opponents this year, and there is a shot that we see a MAC representative in the 12-team playoff come December.

Kyle McCord, QB, Syracuse

The Ohio State castaway has made a name for himself at Syracuse through two games. Kyle McCord has the Orange sitting at 2-0 after picking apart Georgia Tech on his way to a 31-28 win. McCord completed 32-of-46 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns in the win, connecting twice with Oronde Gadsden II and Trebor Pena for scores.

“They are fucking sorry as fuck”

Kyle McCord got out of Columbus and became a new man

pic.twitter.com/tHbKzAWN7I

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 7, 2024

The Orange are legitimate contenders in the ACC in Fran Brown’s first season at the helm.

Rocco Becht, QB, Iowa State

Iowa got out to a 19-7 lead late in the third quarter in a game that felt like the Hawkeyes should have been up by more. After a slow start, sophomore quarterback Rocco Becht never wavered.

Becht finished the day 23-for-35 for 272 yards and two touchdowns, picking apart one of the nation’s best defenses on the road. The Cyclones are now 2-0 and have entered the top 25, emerging as a Big 12 contender. There are shades of Brock Purdy in Iowa State’s young quarterback. Becht has a winning mentality and is the perfect quarterback for Matt Campbell’s system.

Tennessee Volunteers

The Volunteers might just be back! Tennessee absolutely dominated in Charlotte on Saturday night, thrashing North Carolina State 51-10. The defense looked like an SEC-caliber defense, the offense was full of speed, and this team will be gunning for a playoff spot this season.

Nico Iamaleava remains firmly in the Heisman discussion despite throwing two interceptions in the blowout win. Running back Dylan Sampson is the perfect replacement for Jaylen Wright, showcasing just as much speed in the win where he ran for 132 yards and two scores. Tennessee’s season gets real when they travel to Norman in two weeks. Along with that, they have to take down Alabama and Georgia in order to compete for an SEC title.

Stock Down

Notre Dame

Marcus Freeman’s season debut was quickly forgotten by the college football world after the Fighting Irish fell to Northern Illinois on a last-second field goal. After Week 1, the buzz around the Irish was that they were a virtual lock for the playoff with a light schedule ahead. 

After Week 2, the thought is that there is little to no chance. Riley Leonard turned the ball over twice, the defense broke on an 83-yard touchdown, and the Fighting Irish need to win out to even have a chance to make the 12-team field.

Sherrone Moore, Michigan

Michigan’s new head man who is supposedly not even under contract had an embarrassing big-game debut on Saturday, as his Wolverines fell 31-12 in a dominant loss to Texas on their home field. The quarterback play is subpar with Davis Warren under center, and the defense could not slow Quinn Ewers down. 

sherrone moore walking back into work on monday with that “contract” of his pic.twitter.com/vf35mgmhmf

— MSE (@MSE_in_EL) September 7, 2024

The path for Michigan to make the Playoff got a lot harder. The defending champs have to play USC, Oregon, and Ohio State. If the Wolverines continue to struggle, Moore’s time in Ann Arbor may be short-lived.

Utah Utes

Don’t get me wrong, Utah won on Saturday. However, did they really win? Quarterback Cam Rising, who is the catalyst of the Utes’ offense, exited the game with a hand injury with the Utes up 23-0. Utah won 23-12. 

The favorites in the Big 12 did not have Rising last season, which severely hurt their offensive capabilities. The same can be said for this season if he misses time. The veteran quarterback had been dominant in his game-and-a-half back under center, but a hand injury for a quarterback is no joke. Utah’s season is in danger if Rising has to miss time or can’t properly grip the ball.

Deion Sanders, Colorado

Everybody’s favorite (or least favorite) coach suffered a beatdown at the hands of rival Nebraska on Saturday night. Sanders’ Colorado team suffered from poor offensive line play, giving up six sacks in the loss.

The Buffaloes play one more game, taking on rival Colorado State, prior to starting their Big 12 schedule. There is a lot to work on for this team, but it all starts in the trenches if they want to make a bowl game this season.

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