Oklahoma plants its flag in payback win at Ohio State

Let's consider this "Show-Me-Something" Saturday. This was a chance for a few of the top teams in the country to give us a little more clarity on who they truly are.

Well, it's pretty clear that Oklahoma isn't going to let Bob Stoops' retirement spoil its chance to make a run to the College Football Playoff. The fifth-ranked Sooners absolutely manhandled No. 2 Ohio State 31-16 in Columbus.

A year after hearing chants of "O-H, I-O" inside their own stadium, the Sooners brought the boom to The Shoe, thanks to a runaway fourth quarter and another stellar performance by Heisman Trophy hopeful Baker Mayfield, who threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns (all three coming in the second half).

On Saturday, Oklahoma looked like a playoff contender -- maybe even the favorite -- while Ohio State was a total pretender, completely out of sorts against a much better Sooners team.

While two of the three national champions in the playoff era have suffered home losses in September (Ohio State in 2014, Alabama in 2015), the Buckeyes still have a lot of defensive issues, and their offense continues to be an inconsistent mess against good defenses.

Oklahoma's Last 6 Games As An Underdog
	OPPONENT	LINE	RESULT
Sat.	at Ohio State	+7.5	Won by 15
2016	Ohio State	+1.5	Lost by 21
2015	at Baylor	+2.5	Won by 10
2013	vs Alabama	+16	Won by 14
2013	at Oklahoma St	+10	Won by 9
2013	at Kansas St	+5	Won by 10

The other sure thing in college football right now is that No. 3 Clemson's defensive front is absolutely the real deal, turning in a magnificent performance against one of the SEC's best offensive lines in a 14-6 win over No. 13 Auburn. Clemson sacked Auburn's Jarrett Stidham -- supposedly the team's savior at quarterback -- 11 times and held Auburn to 117 total yards (15 in the second half), including only 38 rushing yards; both are the lowest for Auburn during Gus Malzahn's head coaching tenure.

Clemson needed only two rushing touchdowns from quarterback Kelly Bryant, but as long as that defense is as dominant as it was Saturday, the offense won't have to carry much water post-Deshaun Watson.

Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois' season-ending injury helped thrust Clemson into the ACC driver's seat, but it's the defense that is going to put the Tigers' paws on that gas pedal.

Clelin Ferrell and Clemson's defensive line suffocated Auburn's offense. Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

Looking like another stock on the rise, No. 6 USC just shot back to the top of the charts in Hollywood. Coming off a disappointingly close win over Western Michigan last week, the Trojans looked every bit the playoff part with a commanding 42-24 win over No. 14 Stanford.

Quarterback Sam Darnold returned to Heisman form, while his rushing duo of Ronald Jones II and Stephen Carr gutted the Cardinal defense for 235 yards and two touchdowns.

With their remaining schedule, the Trojans will be the overwhelming Pac-12 South favorites, but it's important that this defense starts to grow up some. The Trojans' second-half adjustments the past two weeks have been superb, but these slow starts will catch up with them.

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Baker Mayfield's legend grows with swaggering win over Ohio State

With revenge on his mind, the mercurial Oklahoma QB carried the Sooners into Columbus. Three touchdowns, some trash talk and a spiked flag at midfield later, Mayfield added to his legend and gave OU the season's biggest win so far.

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College Football Playoff picks after Week 2

It's never too early for some playoff predictions. And after big wins from Oklahoma and USC, the Sooners and Trojans are popular picks.

The gap between USC and Stanford probably isn't as wide as the score indicated, and few would be shocked to see them meet each other again in the Pac-12 championship game.

Looking for a possible sleeper? Maybe 15th-ranked Georgia is a team to keep an eye on. Even without starting quarterback Jacob Eason, the Dawgs escaped South Bend with a 20-19 win over No. 24 Notre Damebecause of that ravenous defense.

Freshman quarterback Jake Frommwasn't perfect, but he didn't let the moment get too big on the road. This offense currently lacks an identity and much explosion, but the defense more than made up for it. The SEC East might not be overflowing with offensive fire, so keeping things simple on offense and keeping that defense hungry might be all the Dawgs need for a big 2017 run.

It's hard to declare a season-defining win in September, but several playoff contenders cleared difficult hurdles on their schedules and separated themselves from the pack in the process.

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Remember me?

College football has a short attention span, and we are quick to anoint the next big thing. Still, how did we get to the point where we ignore the reigning Heisman Trophy winner even when he returns a season later with the same insanely offensive-minded coach who helped him earn that bronze beauty?

Lamar Jackson is off to another fast start in 2017. AP Photo/Gerry Broome

With Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson struggling at the end of last season and the Cardinals losing their last three games, much of the Heisman focus heading into this season became fixated on Darnold, and Jackson seemed like an afterthought.

We can just stop that nonsense. Jackson shouldn't have been knocked off his pedestal before the season, and he better be atop everyone's list now. He looked like his old self in last week's win over Purdue, throwing for 378 yards and two touchdowns and running for another 107 yards, but Saturday brought another reminder of why Jackson ran away with the trophy last season. In the 17th-ranked Cardinals' 47-35 win over North Carolina, Jackson threw for 393 yards and rushed for 132 more with six total touchdowns (three pass, three rush) to become the second quarterback in FBS history -- and the first from a Power 5 school -- to throw for 300 and run for 100 in back-to-back games.

He bounced off defenders like a pinball, and he's learning how to stand in the pocket like a true dropback passer. He's crazy slippery and smooth with everything he does, and it's time we start realizing it ... again.

North Carolina linebacker Andre Smith said this week the Tar Heels did not want Saturday's matchup to become "a Lamar Jackson show" before adding: "So if he's able to beat us with his arm, then, well, he's not going to beat us at all. I take that back. He's not going to beat us. We're just going to stop anything he tries to do."

So much for that game plan. Jackson seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder this season. He told ESPN's Andrea Adelson this spring that he's using the disappointing finish to 2016 as motivation.

"We didn't finish last year," Jackson said. "A lot of people have seen that and feel like we quit. It wasn't right. I'm still hot about that. I don't like that. I'm just teed off about it. I can't wait to play."

Against UNC, Jackson became the third player in the past 14 seasons to record 500 yards of offense, six touchdowns and no turnovers on the road. He has started the season with 1,010 total yards and eight touchdowns with just one turnover.

Lamar Jackson Through 2 Games Last 2 Seasons
	2016	2017
Pass yards	697	771
TD-Int	7-1	5-0
Rush yards	318	239
Rush TD	6	3

Cardinals receiver Jaylen Smith, who caught nine passes for 183 yards and a touchdown, put it best after the game: "They say the roof is the ceiling here. Lamar has no roof and no ceiling."

Jackson might have been pushed behind a few players in the Heisman Trophy race to start the season -- it's hard to deny he's got formidable competition from Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield -- but he's ahead of the pack after Week 2.

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Three questions for Week 3

How will Hurricane Irma impact games in Week 3?

There were no college football games in Florida on Saturday, and there's nothing that says that won't happen next week, either. The Florida State-Miami game, which was going to be played in Tallahassee, has already been moved to Oct. 7, but depending on the amount of damage caused, it could be tough for schools such as Florida, UCF, USF and FAU to play at home next weekend.

Also, consider that emergency personnel that work games could be unavailable because of relief efforts around the state. Moving Florida-Tennessee out of Gainesville could become a reality, and while UCF-Georgia Tech is still on the schedule, UCF players won't be back together on campus until at least Tuesday and would only have three days to prepare for the Yellow Jackets' triple-option offense. The outcome of these games won't be determined until the full extent of the damage is known.

Will Tom Herman sprinkle fairy dust on Texas for its trip to Hollywood?

Urban Meyer might disagree with Tom Herman about first-year excuses, but if Texas is going to pull a major upset over USC, the Longhorns are going to need that fairy dust Herman was talking about after their loss to Maryland.

Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said a win over San Jose State would show the nation that the Longhorns have "the grit to win a championship." Despite a 56-0 victory over the Spartans, that isn't close to being true. The Longhorns are two weeks removed from surrendering 482 yards and 51 points to Maryland and now face a USC team that just registered 624 yards against Stanford. If you want to show the grit needed to win a championship, beat -- or at least stay competitive -- with a surging USC team on the road.

Is it time for Urban Meyer to consider making a change at quarterback?

Meyer said he isn't ready to make a change, but for some reason, J.T. Barrettjust doesn't look comfortable on the field. He struggled early against Indianalast week and looked disoriented for most of the night against Oklahoma. He was 19-of-35 for 183 yards and an interception Saturday, and when the Sooners brought pressure, Barrett looked overwhelmed. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Barrett was 2-of-10 for 18 yards and an interception when under duress. For now, the No. 2 QB is sophomore Dwayne Haskins, but true backup Joe Burrow could be getting healthier after breaking a bone in his hand in camp.

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Ohio State, Auburn, Notre Dame need to go back to the drawing board

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The Tigers' defense was shutdown Saturday, recording 11 sacks against Auburn and coming up just shy of the school record. (0:58)

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Mark SchlabachESPN Senior Writer

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Auburn fans can measure their disappointment on Saturday by counting the amount of times Jarrett Stidham was sacked. (They needed more than two hands.)

Notre Dame fans can count the amount of failed third-down conversions or one-possession losses they've endured in the past two seasons.

Ohio State fans need only to point to an opposing quarterback planting a crimson-and-cream flag at midfield in the Horseshoe.

After two weeks of the 2017 season, Auburn, Notre Dame and Ohio State are among the biggest disappointments in college football.

And it's not because Auburn lost to defending national champion Clemson on the road or because Notre Dame fell to Georgia by a point or because Ohio State was steamrolled by Oklahoma in the second half at home.

Urban Meyer is still looking for answers for his sagging passing attack. Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

No, these traditional bluebloods have been disappointments in the first two weeks because after an offseason filled with significant changes and declarations about how deficiencies have been corrected, the Tigers, Fighting Irish and Buckeyes look a lot like they did last season.

And that's not a good thing.

Ohio State wasn't a bad team last season, at least not until it played Clemson in a College Football Playoff semifinal. The Tigers clobbered the Buckeyes 31-0, which was the first time an Urban Meyer-coached team was ever shut out.

Following that embarrassment, Meyer replaced his co-offensive coordinators with former Indiana coach Kevin Wilson, who was forced to resign in December following allegations of mistreatment of Hoosiers players.

Wilson, who was regarded as one of the sport's best offensive minds as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator, was hired to inject new life into OSU's offense, and quarterback J.T. Barrett was supposed to flourish in his fourth season as a starter.

But the early results have been alarming: Ohio State scored 13 points in the first half of a 49-21 win at Indiana on opening night, and then scored only a field goal in the first half of a 31-16 loss at home to Oklahoma.

The team that was supposed to contend for a Big Ten title and yet another CFP appearance suddenly looks like the third-best team in its division -- behind defending Big Ten champion Penn State and rival Michigan.

"[Our] offense was bad," Meyer told reporters Saturday night. "So we're going to do what we do, and that's go back to work as hard as we possibly can, starting somewhat tonight and tomorrow, and figure this thing out."

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Week 2 college football bowl projections

Oklahoma's dominating win over Ohio State was just one of several surprising results from a wild Week 2 that forced changes up and down the bowl projections. So where did your favorite team wind up after all the shuffling around?

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Week 2 Power Rankings: Sooners win battle for No. 2

Oklahoma's convincing win at Ohio State elevated the Sooners to No. 2, behind only Alabama. Clemson and USC also aced big tests in Week 2.

Where do the Buckeyes begin? Not with a quarterback change. Meyer remains committed to Barrett, a fifth-year senior, who is 27-5 as a starter and was voted OSU's first three-time captain. But Barrett's struggles in the passing game go back to last season, when he failed to throw for 150 yards in a 30-27 win over Michigan in two overtimes and again in the loss to Clemson in the CFP. In fact, he has thrown for fewer than 200 yards in four of the past five games.

Barrett has been criticized for flourishing in games against overmatched Big Ten foes such as Rutgers and Maryland but struggling in games against more formidable opponents.

Meyer admitted that Barrett is going to receive a lot of the criticism for the offense's early struggles but was adamant he isn't considering a change.

"A lot of it is going to be on him," Meyer said. "But a lot of it, until I watch the tape, that's just the nature of the beast. Last week, we threw the ball decently and had 300 yards passing, and this week we did not. I'm never going to point a finger at a quarterback.

"I'm going to make it perfectly clear, there's not a bull's-eye on J.T. Barrett. It's part of the system and a group that have to get better."

In fairness, Barrett isn't the only one to blame. In Meyer's first 64 games at Ohio State, the Buckeyes averaged 41.9 points and failed to score 20 only twice, according to ESPN's Stats & Information. In the past five games, OSU is averaging 22.4 points and failed to score 20 three times.

Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham was constantly under pressure against Clemson on Saturday night. Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

As bad as Ohio State's offense has looked, Auburn's has performed worse, which isn't good for head coach Gus Malzahn. After the Tigers lost five games or more in each of the past three seasons, Malzahn turned over the offense to new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who transferred from Baylor last year.

After a 41-7 victory over Georgia Southern in the opener in which Auburn's offense still looked discombobulated at times, it imploded in a 14-6 loss at Clemson. Stidham was sacked 11 times and held to only 79 passing yards. Auburn averaged .52 yards per play in the second half and had only 117 yards of offense.

Auburn has allowed 14 sacks in two games, and Lindsey attributes some of them to poor offensive line play, missed blocks by running backs and Stidham's holding the ball too long. The Tigers have new starters at left tackle and right guard.

"We don't hit our quarterbacks in practice," Lindsey said, "so those guys get the comfort of sitting back there and holding the ball."

The Tigers have lost their past four games away from home and seven straight against AP top-three opponents.

"Anytime you have a performance like this, we're going to evaluate everything and get the best plan moving forward," Malzahn said. "We're going to be a good offense before this is all said and done. I promise you that. We will get better, just like we did last year."

Notre Dame did not have much of a home-field advantage against Georgia thanks to a large contingent of traveling Dawgs fans. Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Don't ask Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly about close losses. The Fighting Irish fell to Georgia 20-19 on Saturday, their eighth one-possession loss since the start of the 2016 season, which is most among FBS teams (Texas is the next-closest with five).

The Fighting Irish had the ball in the final minute, but Bulldogs linebacker Davin Bellamy sacked quarterback Brandon Wimbush and forced him to fumble. Linebacker Lorenzo Carter recovered the ball to seal the victory for Georgia, which overcame 12 penalties, two turnovers and was starting a freshman quarterback, Jake Fromm, for the first time.

It was a disappointing outcome for the Irish, who went 4-8 in 2016, which led Kelly to completely overhaul his program. He hired offensive coordinator Chip Long from Memphis, defensive coordinator Mike Elko from Wake Forest and former Nevada coach Brian Polian to oversee special teams. Kelly hired 17 new staff members, including a strength and conditioning coordinator.

Kelly turned over the play calling to Long and vowed to spend more time in the day-to-day oversight of the program. He also promised to be less abrasive and show more of his warm-and-fuzzy side.

Yet, when a reporter asked Kelly on Saturday night about how he would handle another close loss, he repeatedly cut her off and pointed out it wasn't a one-possession loss against Georgia. It was only a one-point loss.

Apparently, that's considered improvement at Notre Dame these days.