Will LSU-Alabama be the best game of the 2019 college season?
That has to be the big question after No. 6 LSU’s impressive 45-38 victory against No. 9 Texas on Saturday. The Tigers have an offense built around Joe Burrow and new passing game coordinator Joe Brady. That might ignite a real game with No. 2 Alabama down the line on Nov. 9.
Click Here: pinko shop cheap
That isn’t the only story from Week 2. Maryland hasn’t stopped scoring. Florida State hasn’t started playing defense. Wisconsin hasn’t given up a point. With that in mind, here are some buy-or-sell debates, and a few that still need to be decided, heading into Week 3.
MORE: With Joe Burrow, LSU gives SEC look at two Playoff teams
Bama-LSU will be the Game of the Year
BUY. Nov. 9 is two months away, but it has the potential to be the best installment of the rivalry since the No. 1-vs.-No. 2 showdowns in 2011. Burrow has 749 yards, nine touchdowns and an interception through two games. Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa has 563 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. There are ridiculous receivers all over the place, and the stakes will come with the usual SEC West and Playoff implications when the Tigers and Tide meet in Tuscaloosa. Clemson will likely prevent it from being a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, but it already has the makings of the best game of the regular season.
Pencil Clemson in for the Playoff
BUY. The Tigers handled Texas A&M 24-10 at Memorial Stadium, and half of the remaining teams on their schedule already have a loss. Next week’s matchup against Syracuse was supposed to be the marquee game in the conference, and Dabo Swinney will have to spend the entire week guarding against complacency at the Carrier Dome. Still, Clemson simply doesn’t have a loss on the schedule if Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne stay healthy.
Texas’ Playoff hopes are over
SELL. The Longhorns lost a shootout, but it’s a “quality loss” against LSU. Texas would still have to win out, take the Big 12 and hope the SEC doesn’t have a two-team Playoff scenario, but with Sam Ehlinger at quarterback the Longhorns will be in every game. Ehlinger had 461 total yards in the loss. Texas can get back in position as long as it beats rival Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. Speaking of the Sooners. …
MORE: Week 3 College Football Playoff picture
Oklahoma has the nation’s best offense
BUY. The Sooners rolled up 733 yards in a 70-14 victory against South Dakota, and the early returns on Jalen Hurts have been phenomenal. This is the Lincoln Riley effect. Hurts is 34 of 41 passing for 591 yards and six touchdowns through two games and is the early front runner for the Heisman Trophy. UCLA is next, then Big 12 play starts. Of course, we need to see it against an SEC team. You know which one.
Tennessee needs a new coach
BUY. At least until the second half of the season. A 26-23 double-overtime loss dropped the Vols to 0-2 for the first time since 1988, and now a harsh reality sets in. Assuming Tennessee beats Chattanooga next week (who knows?) they follow with Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama. That means the Vols are potentially looking at a 1-6 record heading into the back half of the season, which features the rest of the SEC East and UAB. If Jeremy Pruitt can get the Vols to a bowl game, then he will have a chance. If not, then back-to-back 5-7 seasons might be too much to bear. The question, however, remains the same since Philip Fulmer retired: Who is the right coach for Tennessee?
Florida State needs a new coach, too
SELL. At least for now. The Seminoles were a blown extra point away from going into another overtime with Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, and a 0-2 start might have been enough for the “Fire Taggart” calls to get out of control. FSU did roll up 501 yards of total offense, but the defense is nowhere near the standard. The next four games are interesting. How many can the Seminoles wins out of Virginia, Louisville, N.C. State and Clemson? If Taggart can’t win any of those games, then he’ll be in real trouble in Tallahassee.
Maryland is for real
BUY — depending on your definition of real. The Terps average 71 points per game through two weeks under first-year coach Mike Locksley. The basketball team averaged 71.4 ppg. last season. A blowout victory against Syracuse suggests that, with Josh Jackson under center and four different players who had 60-plus yards rushing Saturday, this offense can give teams fits. Maryland should beat Temple before the bye week and could be ranked for Friday night football against Penn State on Sept. 27. That’s going to be a fun game.
MORE: Can Michigan’s offense evolve in time for Big Ten play?
Michigan’s offense is broke
SELL. Shea Patterson needs to be better with the football. In turn, Josh Gattis and Jim Harbaugh need to have a better offensive game plan when Michigan plays the Badgers after their bye week. That means getting receiver Nico Collins more involved in the offense. The Wolverines were too vanilla in the 24-21 double-overtime victory against Army; for the inside and outside zones to work Patterson — or Dylan McCaffrey — needs to pull the football more often.
Wisconsin is a top-10 team
BUY. Through two weeks, the Badgers have reestablished themselves as the best and most consistent team in the Big Ten West by outscoring opponents 110-0. Jonathan Taylor is right in the thick of the Heisman race. Jack Coan looked the part against Central Michigan, and Wisconsin has a bye week before a home game against the Wolverines on Sept. 21. That’s a rest-of-season-setter for both teams. If the Badgers win there, then they will be ranked in the top 10.
Week 3 doesn’t have a big game
BUY. We can’t sell Syracuse-Clemson. Iowa-Iowa State might be good? UCF-Stanford won’t be between ranked teams after the Cardinal’s loss to USC. Alabama-South Carolina has its limitations. We’ll watch Arizona State-Michigan State closely, which could turn out to be a winner. That’s about the best Week 3 can muster. Then again, every time we say that hell breaks loose. Can we get some of that?