College Football Awards, Week 2 (2026) September 14, 2026

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Army, Barry Odom, Big Ten, Bill Belichick, Brian Hartline, Buckeyes, college football, Cy-Hawk, Dabo Swinney, Dan Lanning, Duke, football, Georgia, Hawkeyes, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Jedd Fisch, Jeff Lebby, Jeff Monken, Kansas State, Kent State, Kirk Ferentz, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NCAA, NCAA football, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Purdue, Rice, Ryan Day, SMU, South Florida, Sports, Steve Sarkesian, Texas, Texas Tech, Tulane, UMass, UNLV, Utah State, Washington, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan
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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Glad I’m not him: Ryan Day, Ohio State

Lucky guy: Brian Hartline, South Florida

Poor guy: Jeff Monken, Army

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jedd Fisch, Washington

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dan Lanning, Oregon

Desperately seeking … anything:  Barry Odom, Purdue

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Georgia (defeated Western Kentucky 70-20)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Washington (defeated Utah State 16-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Rice (lost to No. 3 Notre Dame 52-0)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Oregon State (lost to Texas Tech 35-24)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Mississippi State (defeated Minnesota 38-13)  

Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad:  UNLV

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Oregon

Did the season start?  Oregon
Can the season end?  Purdue

Can the season never end? Texas

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 4 Texas 24, No. 1 Ohio State 23

Play this again, too: Michigan 17, No. 11 Oklahoma 10

Never play this again: Houston 77, Southern 6

What?  Illinois State 28, Northern Illinois 24

Huh?  Michigan 17, No. 11 Oklahoma 10

Are you kidding me??  No. 4 Texas 24, No. 1 Ohio State 23

Oh – my – God:  OK State 39, No. 6 Oregon 31

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 3)
Ticket to die for:  No. 8 LSU @ No. 9 Ole Miss

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Tulane @ Kansas State

Best non-Power Four matchup: Western Michigan @ Rice

Upset alert: Michigan State @ No. 3 Notre Dame

Must win: No. 16 SMU @ No. 23 Louisville

Offensive explosion: No. 22 Houston @ No. 13 Texas Tech

Defensive struggle: North Carolina @ Clemson

Great game no one is talking about: Arizona State @ Kansas

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Bill Belichick of North Carolina vs Dabo Swinney of Clemson

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Kent State @ No. 6 Ohio State

Why are they playing? Western Kentucky @ No. 4 Indiana

Plenty of good seats remaining: Stonehill @ UMass

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Northern Iowa @ No. 18 Iowa

Week 2 Thoughts:

The Ohio State-Texas game lived up to its hype, with a miraculous comeback win for the Longhorns over the Buckeyes, a result that has left Buckeye Nation in apoplexy if these articles are of any indication.  Allowing Texas to score three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter is the worst second-half collapse for the Buckeyes in the Ryan Day Era.

Conversely, OSU collapse or none, this is massive win for the Longhorns, one that gets a major monkey off the program’s – and Sark’s – back.  For how long have discussions swirled that Texas cannot win the big game?  Now they have the huge win.

Win or lose, both teams will be able to lick their wounds for a week, what with body bag games coming up for both of them.  Then, it’s on to the season, where Ohio State can no doubt take the Big Ten by storm, and where Texas has the opportunity to prove that this huge win was not a fluke as they face a positively brutal SEC schedule.

Random Thoughts:

As I look back on the random thoughts I offered for Week 2 from last year, I am struck by the interesting parallels and related differences.

For instance, take this week’s Cy-Hawk trophy game between Iowa and Iowa State.  I wrote:

“The only reason the game for the Cy-Hawk trophy ended as closely as it did was because of avoidable mistakes committed by the victors.  Sooner or later, a team that make fewer mistakes shall come along to play Iowa, and when they do, expect a humiliating defeat for the Hawkeyes and a possible end to the Kirk Ferentz era.”

Given how last night’s game was such a low-scoring affair, one could say the exact same thing for this go-around.

Regardless, there’s something about Iowa and their massive trophies.  The Cy-Hawk trophy is so heavy, at 90 pounds, it required two o-linemen to carry it.  If that’s not enough, the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, played for annually between the Hawkeyes and Minnesota, is even heavier at 98 pounds.

But in continuation of the initial observation, in another parallel to last year’s week 2 observations, Illinois played their home half of the home-and-home series with Duke.  But in contrast to last year’s 45-19 ripping victory on the road, this time Duke pulled off an upset on the road, 31-27.  While I observed last year:

“Keep an eye out for Illinois.  They are currently ranked No. 9, and defeated a well-coached Duke team, 45-19.”, the Illini are currently unranked.  I can’t imagine why.

Returning to the Texas-Ohio State game, one thing that allowed for an improved offensive output for the Longhorns in the second half was Sark getting out of Arch Manning’s way.  Let us hope for the sake of that team that their head coach continues to heed this lesson as the season progresses.