College Football Week 2 Puts Mid-Majors in Spotlight

A little tardy, but here are the college football games I will be following today. I welcome your comments.

UMass v. Boston College

Maine at Toledo

Arkansas State at Auburn

ISU at Northwestern

Virginia at Oregon
 
Idaho State at Colorado

South Carolina at Miss. State

Old Dominion at App State

Wyoming at Nebraska

Indiana at Minn

NIU at USF

Texas Tech at Arizona State

North Carolina State at East Carolina

Arkansas at TCU

Virginia Tech at Tenn

Penn State at Pitt

A few thoughts about Week 1 in college football

The first weekend of the 2016 college football season offered several intense contests and a lot of food for thought. I had time to watch several of the televised games. Here are a few of my observations.
 

• We learned again the preseason rankings are predictions, and we know predictions are frequently wrong. Unranked Wisconsin defeated No. 5 LSU, 16-10, No. 3 Oklahoma fell to No. 15 Houston, 33-23, unranked Texas A&M defeated No. 16 UCLA, 31-24, unranked Texas beat No. 10 Notre Dame, 50-47, and at the time of this writing No. 11 Ole Miss was leading No. 4 Florida State 21-6

• The Texas-Notre Dame game is my pick for the best game of the weekend. The Longhorns topped Notre Dame double overtime. Texas needed to make a statement with the game, and accomplished the task. While Notre Dame fans no doubt were disappointed with the outcome, there is much to be cheerful about, including the fact the Irish scored in each quarter and found a away to keep themselves in the game. Notre Dame will host Nevada Sept. 10, and Texas will host UTEP.

• Toledo proved again it is a football program to be reckoned with. The Rockets traveled to Arkansas State and went home with a 31-10 victory. Toledo shows up prepared to play football; it’s a simple as that. The Rockets will host Maine Sept. 10. The Black Bears (0-1) lost to UConn 24-21, but gave the Huskies a serious challenge. Arkansas State travels to Auburn to play the Tigers Sept. 10.

• Appalachian State is another mid-major football program you don’t want to take for granted. The Mountaineers fell to No. 9 Tennessee, 20-13, but gave the Vols a fight and even led the game at halftime, 13-3.  The Mountaineers will host Old Dominion Sept. 10.

• Western Michigan defeated Northwestern, 22-21, and Broncos coach PJ Fleck demonstrated again he can bring out the best in his players, making Western Michigan a force to be reckoned in the Mid-American Conference. Western Michigan will host North Carolina Central Sept. 10.
  

Check back later this week for the games I will be following in Week 2 of the college football season.