10 Biggest Questions Facing Top 25 Teams Heading into Week 3
Week 2 of the 2014 college football season is in the books. Pretty soon, if you can believe it, we'll be one-quarter of the way through the regular season.
Time flies, y'all.
Looking ahead to Week 3, there's only one game between top-25 teams: Georgia's trip to South Carolina. Otherwise, it's a fairly low-key weekend—or is it? Last week, a largely unattractive slate of games turned in some exciting results, including Nebraska's narrow escape over McNeese State.
You never can tell what's going to happen in this game.
Which 10 storylines among the top 25 teams should you keep an eye on? The answers are in the following slides.
The only criterion here is that one of the teams involved has to rank in either The Associated Press or USA Today Amway Coaches Poll.
10. How Much Does Baylor Quarterback Bryce Petty Play (Part 2)?
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Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty didn't dress out in a Week 2 blowout over Northwestern State—and that was the right call by head coach Art Briles.
Petty has two cracked transverse processes in his spine, which he sustained in a Week 1 win over SMU. It's not an injury that requires surgery, but Baylor can afford to play it safe in bringing him back. It ultimately comes down to how well Petty has recovered and how well he deals with the discomfort.
Apparently, he's dealing with it just fine.
As of Monday during the Big 12 teleconference, head coach Art Briles said he expects Petty to play on Friday night against Buffalo. Again, this probably isn't a necessary move, but if Petty feels comfortable, then go ahead and play him.
The Bears have been banged up, so a soft nonconference schedule has been a welcome sight for other players to get in meaningful game reps. Per Shehan Jeyarajah of The Dallas Morning News, Briles provided updates on the following injured players:
"I think Corey [Coleman] will be back. Antwan [Goodley] is probably 50/50 right now. Tre’Von [Armstead] will be back. He could have played a little bit more the other night. So I think everybody will be back except for Clay [Fuller] and Levi [Norwood]. Like I said, Antwan is a little bit of a question mark. And I think Bryce [Petty] will be back. I’ll know more in two days, but right now, I’d say he’ll be back.
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Chances are, Briles won't have to keep Petty in for the entire game. What's more important is how Petty looks throwing the ball. He overshot some of his receivers against SMU, perhaps due to his injury, so Briles undoubtedly wants to see Petty get back into a rhythm.
At the same time, the last thing Baylor would want is for Petty to reaggravate the injury.
9. Should Missouri Be on Upset Alert (Again)?
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Missouri was the trendy team to be upset in Week 2 on the road at Toledo. Could the Tigers be on upset alert again this Saturday against Central Florida?
OddsShark.com has Mizzou as a 10-point favorite over the Knights. But UCF could be one of the better "non-power" schools and barely lost to Penn State on a last-second field goal in Week 1.
Knights coach George O'Leary (rightly) named Justin Holman the starting quarterback after a strong showing against the Nittany Lions in which he threw for 204 yards on just nine completions.
Mizzou didn't give up many big plays of 20 or more yards against Toledo, but when it did, it largely came in the passing game. That could be explained by the fact that the Rockets were playing from behind, but it's something to keep in mind.
The point being, UCF has some big-play ability. If Mizzou quarterback Maty Mauk forces mistakes like he's been prone to do before, the Knights could capitalize and keep the game close.
8. How Much Will Oklahoma Cornerback Zack Sanchez Play vs. Tennessee?
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Oklahoma's 52-7 rout over Tulsa in Week 2 was as easy as they come. However, the Sooners got a scare when starting cornerback Zack Sanchez left the game with a shoulder injury and appeared later with his arm in a sling.
However, according to Jason Kersey of The Oklahoman, X-rays on Sanchez's shoulder came back negative, and Sanchez is expected to play Saturday against Tennessee.
"I got a helmet right to the top of my shoulder, where the most padding is on my shoulder pad," Sanchez said, via Kersey. "It’s kind of a freak thing. I got a little sprain in my shoulder. Nothing serious, nothing major at all."
Sanchez is one of the key members of Oklahoma's secondary, which was the biggest question mark on defense heading into the season. Tennessee, while young, has an impressive group of big, talented wide receivers who could be a matchup problem.
Having Sanchez healthy and ready to play would be a huge help for head coach Bob Stoops.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Does Anthony Jennings Cement Himself as LSU's Starting Quarterback?
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Through two games, it's largely assumed that sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings is the No. 1 guy for LSU. That said, freshman Brandon Harris got some decent playing time in a Week 2 win over Sam Houston State.
With a Sept. 20 game against Mississippi State looming, head coach Les Miles would ideally want the quarterback position to be settled for good after this weekend's game against Louisiana-Monroe.
Jennings' completion percentage is a worrisome 47 percent, and the passing game is still a work in progress. Big numbers against ULM would be a welcome sight but not necessarily an unexpected one.
All the same, it'd be good to see Jennings cement himself as a solid starter going into the game against the Bulldogs. That or Harris has to emerge in a big way. One of the two.
6. Can Stanford Clean Up the Miscues?
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Stanford coach David Shaw took full responsibility for the Cardinal's 13-10 loss to USC in Week 2. As he should have.
Stanford moved the ball fine against the Trojans, entering plus territory in all nine drives. However, the offense only had 10 points to show for it thanks to a combination of penalties, turnovers, missed field goals and questionable play calls. That's up to Shaw to fix.
Army, while 1-0, should be an opponent against which Stanford can clean up some of those miscues.
If there's one thing Stanford showed, it's that it can still be the physical, grind-it-out team despite several key losses on both sides of the ball. No matter the record, Stanford is going to be a tough opponent in every game this year.
But it won't get back to the Pac-12 Championship Game if it can't finish drives and put points on the board, as easy as that sounds. As this team grows together, it has to cut down on the mistakes dramatically.
5. Can Ohio State Stop the Bleeding?
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Ohio State's offensive line problems were exposed under a full spotlight during a 35-21 loss to Virginia Tech last Saturday. For more on what the Hokies coaching staff did to prepare for the Buckeyes, check out this article from Nicole Auerbach of USA Today.
Adding insult to injury, center Chad Lindsay announced this week that he would be stepping away from football due to injuries (h/t Zach Barnett for College Football Talk). That's one less reinforcement the Buckeyes have now.
Ohio State is tied for 121st in the country with eight sacks allowed through two games, per cfbstats.com. That's not even including all the times quarterback J.T. Barrett has had to scramble to evade pressure.
Playing the 0-2 Kent State team will almost certainly get the Buckeyes back on the winning track. The question is whether the offensive line plays any better. Given the competition, will it even be noticeable?
Maybe, but Ohio State has to do a better job of protecting Barrett. That starts in Week 3 no matter who the opponent is.
4. Which Line Wins in Texas-UCLA?
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Texas clearly has a long way to go before that ship turns in the right direction. A 41-7 loss to BYU—which, mind you, has a case as one of the best "non-power" programs in the country—showed the Longhorns still aren't above being outclassed on the field.
That said, Texas' defensive line, which includes Cedric Reed and Malcom Brown, is no joke. Just the opposite, in fact. David Ubben of Fox Sports Southwest explains:
"The Longhorns may be completely dominant there. Through two games, they have 15 tackles for loss, good for 15th-most nationally. That's pretty good considering Texas has played better competition than most teams in college football through two weeks.
UCLA, meanwhile, has allowed 21 tackles for loss through two games against Virginia and Memphis.
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Those are appealing numbers for Texas. It doesn't guarantee the Horns will win, but putting UCLA in 3rd-and-long situations is something Texas' coaching staff will take every time. If the Longhorns offense is going to be a liability, its defense has to play lights-out. The D-line is a good place to start.
3. Does Alabama's Quarterback Battle Reach Its Conclusion?
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It almost has to, doesn't it?
Three games into the season, Alabama will have played three beatable nonconference opponents. With the SEC opener against Florida right around the corner (Sept. 20), the Crimson Tide coaching staff should have its guy behind center by the time next week rolls around.
Jerry Hinnen of CBSSports.com believes Blake Sims is that guy over Florida State transfer Jake Coker:
"But the Tide offense just seems to work better with Sims under center. It was Sims who led the laughably easy opening touchdown drive, capping it himself with a heady scramble on 3rd-and-5. It was Sims who finished the first half a sparkling 8 of 9 for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was Sims who simply looked like he belonged as the team's starter.
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But, as B/R's Alabama lead writer, Marc Torrence, writes, the battle could go on for one more game against Southern Miss.
Alabama gave each quarterback meaningful snaps in a Week 2 win over Florida Atlantic to test what each could and couldn't do—as if you needed any more evidence that some of these nonconference games act as de facto preseason games.
Both quarterbacks have had their good moments and bad moments. But Sims has taken the field first, and the offense has moved well with him. Barring a major development this weekend, it seems Sims has the edge.
2. Will South Carolina Be Able to Stop Georgia's Offense?
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South Carolina is 1-1, but the early returns on defense aren't good. The Gamecocks are 123rd in the country in total defense, according to cfbstats.com.
The move to a 3-4 defense has been nothing short of a disaster, as evident by head coach Steve Spurrier's comments following the season-opening blowout loss to Texas A&M.
"How'd y'all like that 3-4 defense?" Spurrier asked rhetorically (via Brendan Robertson of NBC26). "We got man-handled tonight. We got clobbered. We've got some coaching decisions to make."
So far, South Carolina has had trouble stopping air attacks, but Georgia could present its own set of problems.
The Bulldogs have a strong running attack, and South Carolina has problems getting penetration with its defensive front. If the Gamecocks have to load the box just to stop running back Todd Gurley and Co., quarterback Hutson Mason will be ready to air it out.
This isn't exactly the opponent South Carolina wants to try to turn the corner against. At the same time, what better time to do it?
1. Can Georgia Take a Lead in the SEC East Race?
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Yes, the Georgia-South Carolina game gets two mentions. That speaks to how big this game is by itself and relative to the rest of the weekend.
Georgia moved into the playoff conversation after its convincing Week 1 victory over Clemson. But it can be easy to forget that the Bulldogs had a bye last week and enter Saturday with only one game played.
On paper, this is a matchup that favors Georgia. That was explained in the previous slide.
But, South Carolina had won its previous three meetings against Georgia before last year, and college football is a sport where things can get weird quickly. These are nothing more than head games, but for the past two weeks, all we've heard about is how good Georgia is and how South Carolina can't stop anyone.
Sometimes when you think you have it all figured out, the opposite occurs.
If Georgia wins, and I picked them to win, it gets an early jump in the SEC East race. That race will be far from over, but the Gamecocks would have two conference losses before the end of September. Given how wide open the East could be, even one win could give the Bulldogs an edge later.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
