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College football Week 2 schedule

Analysis by
Staff writer
September 7, 2019 at 9:09 a.m. EDT
Texas A&M will have its hands full, obviously, with top-ranked Clemson. (Chuck Burton/AP)

Everything mostly went according to plan in Week 1. Except at Tennessee. Most decidedly not at Tennessee. Tennessee, what are you even doing?

All times Eastern.

Time
Game
TV
11 a.m.
Ohio at Pittsburgh
ACC Network
Noon
Cincinnati at No. 5 Ohio State
ABC
Noon
Army at No. 7 Michigan
Fox
Noon
No. 21 Syracuse at Maryland
ESPN
Noon
West Virginia at Missouri
ESPN2
Noon
Old Dominion at Virginia Tech
ESPNU
Noon
Charleston Southern at South Carolina
SEC Network
Noon
Rutgers at No. 20 Iowa
Fox Sports 1
Noon
UAB at Akron
CBS Sports Network
Noon
Vanderbilt at Purdue
Big Ten Network
Noon
Bowling Green at Kansas State
MASN2 (in D.C. area)
12:30
Western Carolina at N.C. State
NBC Sports Washington (in D.C. area)
1
Northern Illinois at No. 13 Utah
Pac-12 Network
2
South Florida at Georgia Tech
ACC Network
3:30
No. 12 Texas A&M at No. 1 Clemson
ABC
3:30
No. 25 Nebraska at Colorado
Fox
3:30
Southern Mississippi at Mississippi State
ESPNU
3:30
Central Michigan at No. 17 Wisconsin
Big Ten Network
3:30
Eastern Illinois at Indiana
Big Ten Network
3:30
Grambling at Louisiana Tech
NFL Network
3:30
Illinois at Connecticut
CBS Sports Network
4
New Mexico State at No. 2 Alabama
SEC Network
4
Murray State at No. 3 Georgia
ESPN2
4:15
San Diego State at UCLA
Pac-12 Network
5
Louisiana-Monroe at Florida State
ACC Network
6
Saint Francis (Pa.) at James Madison
NBC Sports Washington (in D.C. area)
7
BYU at Tennessee
ESPN
7
No. 18 Central Florida at Florida Atlantic
CBS Sports Network
7:30
No. 6 LSU at No. 9 Texas
ABC
7:30
Buffalo at No. 15 Penn State
Fox
7:30
Tulane at No. 10 Auburn
ESPN2
7:30
Tennessee-Martin at No. 11 Florida
ESPNU
7:30
Nevada at No. 16 Oregon
Pac-12 Network
7:30
Western Michigan at No. 19 Michigan State
Big Ten Network
7:30
Eastern Michigan at Kentucky
SEC Network
7:30
Arkansas at Mississippi
SEC Network
8
Miami at North Carolina
ACC Network
10:30
California at No. 14 Washington
Fox Sports 1
10:30
No. 23 Stanford at Southern Cal
ESPN
10:30
Minnesota at Fresno State
CBS Sports Network
10:30
Northern Arizona at Arizona
Pac-12 Network
10:30
UTEP at Texas Tech
MASN2 (joined in progress)

Noontime

Despite being separated by only about 100 miles, Ohio State and Cincinnati don’t have much of a football rivalry: They have played 16 times, with only four of those games happening this century. And as you might expect, the Buckeyes have dominated, winning 11 straight since the most recent Bearcats victory in 1897, when Ohio State’s schedule included such powerhouses as Ohio Medical and Columbus Barracks. So, yeah, this is a pretty big deal for Cincinnati Coach Luke Fickell — who not only played at Ohio State but was a longtime Buckeyes assistant and the interim head coach in 2011 — and the 73 Bearcats players on the roster from Ohio, many of whom were not recruited by the titan to the northeast. “It’s Ohio State everything, everywhere,” tight end Josiah Deguara said this summer, before Fickell forbade his players from talking publicly about the game. “You’ve got Cincinnati fans in Cincinnati, but there’s Ohio State fans even in Cincinnati. I think for us we’re just trying to go out and prove there’s not just one team in Ohio. It will be huge for us and huge for our fan base.” …

Ohio State vs. Cincinnati marks a crossroads, with a connection in New Hampshire

Army’s touchdown drives in last week’s 14-7 win over Rice went for 95 and 96 yards. But take away those two scoring sojourns and the Black Knights mustered only 93 yards against one of the nation’s worst defenses in 2018. Michigan, Army’s opponent Saturday, is about 10 steps up in competition and will be getting defensive tackles Michael Dwumfour and Donovan Jeter back after both missed the opener against Middle Tennessee with injuries.

Michigan vs. Army is a guarantee game -- it guarantees worry for both coaches

Midafternoon

If any team has earned the right to feel confident entering its game against Clemson, it’s Texas A&M. The Aggies were one of only two teams to finish within single digits of the national champions last season, falling by just two points in College Station. But there’s confidence, and then there’s this from Texas A&M offensive lineman Jared Hocker on Monday: “There will be an upset.” Aggies Coach Jimbo Fisher quickly tried to erase the bulletin-board material when asked about it later that day: “Jared better play well. It’s great to have confidence, but that doesn’t need to be said." …

Nebraska did little last weekend to dispel the skeptics who thought its preseason ranking was unwarranted: The Cornhuskers scored twice on defense and once on special teams, but their offense was dismal in a 14-point win over South Alabama, generating only 276 yards. Colorado, Nebraska’s former Big Eight and Big 12 rival, should present a more formidable challenge, though the Buffaloes gave up 505 yards in a win over Colorado State to open the season.

The late show

At this point in his coaching career, it’s weird not to mention how good Tom Herman’s teams have fared as underdogs: As head coach at Houston and now Texas, Herman is 13-2-1 against the spread when getting points, winning 10 of those games outright. And wouldn’t you know it, the Longhorns are underdogs at home against LSU, probably for good reason: Unleashing a new spread offense last weekend, Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow threw five touchdown passes before halftime of a 55-3 win over Georgia Southern. Sam Ehlinger almost matched him with touchdown passes on three of the Longhorns’ first four possessions and four scoring strikes total in a similarly easy 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech. But the Longhorns are still mighty green on defense: Just three starters returned from last year, three players made their first career starts against Louisiana Tech, and two were making just their third career starts.

For LSU’s long-outdated offense, it’s finally geaux time

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