Thursday
7:30 PM ET ESPN: Cincinnati 1-1 @ NC State 2-0 (-2) - The Wolfpack is no stranger to the Big East. Last season they beat Pitt at home 38-31, in a game that stunned many (me included). Last week at Central Florida, junior QB Russell Wilson was 10/30 (yuck) for 105 yards and 1 TD, while rushing for another 35 yards on 13 carries. True frosh Mustafa Greene (great name) ran for 55 yards on 14 carries with 1 TD. The defense held UCF to only 1 third down conversion (out of 11) and was the beneficiary of 5 Knights turnovers. That defense will be put to the test against the Bearcats passing offense, which is led by junior QB Zach Collaros. Last week against Indiana State, his arm wasn't tested too much as he had only 17 pass attempts. Noticeably absent were junior RB Isiah Pead (sore knee), who should be back this week, and senior WR Vidal Hazelton (left knee), who is done for the year. They still have Armon Binns, who caught 3 passes for 59 yards and 2 TDs last week, and junior WR DJ Woods, but neither is Mardy Gilyard (NFL) or Hazelton. If you're looking at the schedule, the Bearcats get Oklahoma next week. A loss against NC State would almost certainly mean 3 losses, which would match their total from all of last season. This is the first ever meeting between these two teams.
Friday
8:00 PM ET ESPN: Kansas 1-1 @ Southern Miss 1-1 (-5.5) - What a first two weeks for new Jayhawks coach Turner Gil. First his team loses to North Dakota State 3-6 at home, then they turn around and beat 15th ranked Georgia Tech 28-25. Frosh QB Jordan Webb played the second half against ND State and started against GT, where he was 18/29 for 179 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT. After being buried on the depth chart and not playing week 1, frosh RB James Sims ran for 101 yards on 17 carries and 1 TD. Senior LB Justin Springer was named the Big 12 defensive player of the week for his 15 tackle (3 for loss) and 1 sack effort. For Southern Miss, junior WR DeAndre Brown is their most interesting offensive weapon. You might remember him from this disgusting break of his tibia & fibula in their '08 bowl game against Troy. He had 5 catches for 100 yards and 1 TD last week. Last year in this game, Kansas was a 13 point favorite and was leading 28-14, before Southern Miss tied it in the 4th. KU won the game 35-28.
10:00 PM ET ESPN2: Cal 2-0 (-3) @ Nevada 2-0 - I can't wait to see this game because of all scoring that will be going on. Nevada has seniors QB Colin Kaepernick and RB Vai Taua on their side. Kaepernick did it all last week against Colorado State, racking up 402 total yards (241 passing/161 rushing) with 4 TDs. He had 130 more total yards than the entire Colorado State offense. Taua "chipped" in with 118 yards rushing on 15 carries with 1 TD. For Cal, they have senior QB Kevin Riley and junior RB Shane Vereen. Riley, has the 3rd highest QB rating in the nation, which isn't that surprising when you see his numbers through 2 games: 29/44, 455 yards, 7 TD, & 0 INT. Last week Vereen had 77 total yards with 2 TDs. After two games, the Golden Bears have outscored their opponents 104-10, while the Wolf Pack has outscored their opponents 100-30. Defense? Who needs defense when the over/under for this game is 66 points (second highest o/u of the week)?
Week 2 Leaders
Passing:
1. Ryan Aplin (Arkansas State) - 25/45, 438 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT vs UL-Lafayette
2. Ryan Mallet (Arkansas) - 28/43, 400 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT vs UL-Monroe
3. Steven Threet (Arizona State) - 33/49, 391 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INT vs Northern Arizona
4. Landry Jones (Oklahoma) - 30/40, 380 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT vs Florida State
5. Sean Renfree (Duke) - 28/44, 358 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs vs Wake Forest
6. G.J. Kinne (Tulsa) - 27/47, 356 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT vs Bowling Green
7. Jerrod Johnson (Texas A&M) - 25/38, 349 yards, 4 TDS, 0 INT vs Louisiana Tech
8. Brandon Weeden (Oklahoma State) - 29/39, 348 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs vs Troy
9. Bryant Moniz (Hawaii) - 25/36, 343 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT vs Army
10. Trevor Vittatoe (UTEP) - 30/54, 340 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT vs Houston
Rushing:
1. Denard Robinson (Michigan) - 28 carries, 258 yards, 2 TDs vs Notre Dame
2. Bryce Beall (Houston) - 19 carries, 195 yards, 3 TDs vs UTEP
3. Bobby Rainey (Western Kentucky) - 22 carries, 184 yards, 2 TDs vs Kentucky
4. Edwin Baker (Michigan State) - 15 carries, 183 yards, 1 TD vs FAU
5. Marcus Lattimore (South Carolina) - 37 carries, 182 yards, 2 TDs vs Georgia
6. Chandler Harnish (Northern Illinois) - 21 carries, 178 yards, 1 TD vs North Dakota
7. Tauren Poole (Tennessee) - 23 carries, 162 yards, 1 TD vs Oregon
8. Colin Kaepernick (Nevada) - 11 carries, 161 yards, 2 TDs vs Colorado State
9. Stevan Ridley (LSU) - 17 carries, 159 yards, 1 TD vs Vanderbilt
10. Taylor Martinez (Nebraska) - 14 carries, 157 yards, 2 TDs vs Idaho
Receiving:
1. Conner Vernon (Duke) - 8 catches, 181 yards, 2 TDs vs Wake Forest
2. Jermaine Kearse (Washington) - 9 catches, 179 yards, 3 TDs vs Syracuse
3. Kamar Jorden (Bowling Green) - 14 catches, 168 yards, 0 TDs vs Tulsa
4. Markeith Summers (Ole Miss) - 5 catches, 165 yards, 1 TD vs Tulane
5. Kyle Rudolph (Notre Dame) - 8 catches, 164 yards, 1 TD vs Michigan
6. Jeff Fuller (Texas A&M) - 10 catches, 160 yards, 1 TD vs Louisiana Tech
7. Chris Givens (Wake Forest) - 4 catches, 159 yards, 1 TD vs Duke
8. Cody Wilson (Central Michigan) - 7 catches, 153 yards, 0 TDs vs Temple
9. Greg Childs (Arkansas) - 12 catches, 146 yards, 2 TDs vs UL-Monroe
10. Kinsman Thomas (Eastern Michigan) - 4 catches, 133 yards, 2 TDs vs Miami (OH)