2026 College Football's Biggest Surprises After Week 2

The only guarantee in college football each week is that something – and likely multiple somethings – is going to happen to make you shake your head.

Very rarely is this sport status quo. And that's why we love it.

We love to be shocked, and the '26 season already is showing us that it's here to please. Already, we've seen one powerhouse brought to its knees, another one choke away a three-touchdown lead in a slugfest and yet another one see both extremes in a seven-day span – and that's just in the Big Ten.

The rest of college football has brought us baffles as well. These are the biggest "what tha…" things after two weeks.

Oregon's Rapid Regression

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Even before Oregon was suddenly stunned by a 39-31 loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday, there were signs the Ducks were overrated.

Last week, they needed a fourth-quarter rally to beat Boise State. The offense has been slow to start both games, Dante Moore has not been sharp, and it's obvious replacing coordinators Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi – who left for head coaching jobs at Kentucky and California, respectively – is a much bigger worry than previously thought.

Now, they're 1-1. And rather than just saying, "This doesn't look like a national championship contender," the Ducks are staring at an uphill battle just to get back in the conversation. Quarterback Dante Moore went from an early-first round pick to visibly scuffling. 

The Cowboys team that beat them snapped a 12-game losing streak, getting its first win after 21 consecutive losses against Football Bowl Division opponent. It's far and away the biggest upset in the sport this year.

Now, Dan Lanning has to address question marks, and the Ducks have soul-searching to do. This start has crash-and-burn potential.

Texas Tough

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It's not surprising that Texas topped Ohio State this past weekend in the game of the year so far. The Longhorns were actually home favorites, and both of these superior teams have national championship aspirations.

What was most surprising is just how the Longhorns did it. The fourth quarter of that game felt like a turning-point moment for the program.

This has been a team on the cusp of breaking into the "elite" stratosphere since Steve Sarkisian took over. But there has been some softness at moments when they needed to stand up and some disappointment from players expected to do great things.

Just the opposite happened with them on the mat and the count at 9 Saturday. Instead, quarterback Arch Manning led the 'Horns on touchdown drives of 15 plays, 91 yards; 13 plays, 72 yards and 12 plays, 73 yards to win.

All the while, coordinator Will Muschamp's defense rebounded from being punched in the throat for three quarters and held the Buckeyes at bay. 

Now, what Texas does with this momentum remains to be seen. But this didn't feel like "Texas is back." It felt like "Texas is best."

Wolverines Extremes

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Right now, we have no idea who the Michigan Wolverines are, and though some growing pains with new coach Kyle Whittingham should be expected, things being this hot-and-cold are shocking.

All that matters is the Wolverines are 2-0 with all their goals in front of them. How they got there is what's interesting.

Everybody who follows college football knows about the 1-second, Hail Mary do-over that Michigan converted when JJ Buchanan leapt over Western Michigan defenders to grab the game-winner in a 13-12 victory over Western Michigan that has been debated and disputed.

In Week 2, they hosted No. 10 Oklahoma in the Big House as an underdog but dominated much of the game and won 17-10 after building a 10-point lead. Bryce Underwood played much more within himself, and the Wolverines defense was terrific.

They responded to Whittingham challenging them throughout the week's noise. But whether they build on it now or not is anybody's guess. How will they surprise us next?

Big 12 Feels More Open Than Expected

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Don't place the Big 12's crown on Texas Tech just yet. 

The Red Raiders looked like anything but a guaranteed champion on Saturday, winning 35-24 against Oregon State in Corvallis and tacking on a late touchdown to make it look more respectable. 

Coach Joey McGuire's team is loaded with talent, but there were issues on both sides of the ball against the Beavers, and throwing Thomas Castellanos into the fray with Will Hammond at quarterback is an interesting dynamic.

The two member institutions from Utah – the Utes and the BYU Cougars – both have looked incredibly strong so far this season, and Kansas State is rejuvenated with Collin Klein coaching. Don't forget Houston, which travels to Lubbock on Friday for a monster league showdown.

The Red Raiders have an easy schedule and the best roster, so that's normally a winning combination. But this is a much-improved conference, and the early season has shown us some surprising potential for some twists and turns.

Lincoln Riley's Shiny New Toys

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When Lincoln Riley signed the nation's No. 1-ranked recruiting class, it was obvious he was going to have to play some of the kids right away.

But what the young Trojans are doing has been jaw-dropping.

Defensively, end Luke Wafle already is doing some disruptive things, but it's the offensive skill-position players who are turning into superstars.

Right now, Trent Mosley is leading the way at receiver with more than 300 yards and three touchdowns in a 3-0 start, but Kayden Dixon-Wyatt isn't far behind him. Other than Ohio State, USC has the best 1-2 receiving punch in the Big Ten so far – and both are true freshmen.

Not to be outdone, tight end Mark Bowman looks like an NFL player right now. He's an elite blocker, and against Louisiana on Saturday, he grabbed a pair of scoring strikes from Jayden Maiava who is making all this tick. Oh, and Mosley returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown, too.

It's been a long time since a rookie class did this many special things this quickly for a Power Four program.

Bob Chesney's Instant Impact

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A year ago, UCLA's 3-9 record saw the program end the Deshaun Foster era is a hurry and go looking for somebody who could put the once-proud program back on the map.

Following Chip Kelly's struggles and the disastrous year-plus of Foster, the Bruins had fallen far.

The search zeroed in on James Madison's Bob Chesney quickly, and he made the cross-country trip to resurrect the program. Winning ways are back in Westwood.

Sure, it's just a 2-0 start with victories over California and San Diego State, but this is a different football team. The defense is making big plays, and quarterback Nico Iamaleava is playing within himself. 

Things have been far from perfect, but Chesney's handprints are all over this transition. He brought 11 players with him from JMU, and the discipline he's instilled from Day 1 is evident. No matter what the final record winds up being this year, it's shocking how different this team looks.

This is a program transformation that will be clearer as the years progress. Chesney is a proven program-builder, and the Bruins are his latest successful project.

Lincoln Kienholz

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It may have surprised some people when Louisville coach Jeff Brohm – who has made a living after returning to lead his alma mater of rehabilitating transfer quarterbacks – zeroed in on Lincoln Kienholz to lead the Cardinals.

Three years in Columbus didn't yield any real threat from Kienholz to win Ohio State's quarterback job. So, with two years left to play college ball, he bolted.

So far through a 1-1 start that easily could have been 2-0 but for an impressive, season-opening 41-38 loss to Ole Miss, Kienholz is looking like a fantastic find.

The redshirt junior has looked in control, completing 68 percent of his passes for 639 yards and four touchdowns. He also has run for 111 yards and three more scores. Most importantly, he's made big plays in key moments and has zero turnovers.

With the Cardinals' running stars, if they get consistent passing from Kienholz, they can make noise in the ACC.

Nate Sheppard-Led Duke

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When Darian Mensah left Duke in a lurch to make a fortune in NIL at Miami and try to take the Hurricanes to the national championship at a time when it was nearly impossible for the Blue Devils to replace him, it looked like a crippling blow to the program.

Instead, the Blue Devils picked up San Jose State transfer Walker Eget, who has been a revelation during the first two weeks of the season. 

It doesn't hurt that he's got arguably the nation's top running back to hand the ball to in sophomore sensation Nate Sheppard Jr. who has run for 374 yards and five scores in Duke's wins over Tulane and Illinois.

On Saturday, the Blue Devils were a touchdown underdog on the road against the Fighting Illini, but they prevailed 31-27 behind a scoring run from Sheppard and a pair of touchdown grabs by the running back, too.

Coach Manny Diaz is building on the winning ways former coach Mike Elko began in Durham, and even though they lost the guy who is the early Heisman Trophy favorite, Duke just keeps on marching. That's both surprising and impressive.

Billy Edwards Jr. Leading UNC

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You can't talk about Duke without mentioning North Carolina, right? Even on the gridiron, apparently.

So much hype surrounded Bill Belichick's return to coaching last year when the legendary NFL coach decided to take the job at North Carolina. Between his young ex-girlfriend, some off-the-field things that have led to investigations and a 4-8 first season, things got off to a rough start.

Quietly, though, the Tar Heels' on-the-field product has improved tremendously so far in '26.

Don't look now, but UNC is 2-0 with a win over TCU so far. Not only that, transfer quarterback Bill Edwards Jr. has thrown for 476 yards and a pair of scores as Belichick appears to have found a veteran signal-caller who can make everything click.

Hitting a gold mine with the transfer of Ohio State tight end transfer Jelani Thurman has been a coup, too.

There were plenty of folks who believed the drama surrounding the Belichick era in Chapel Hill ultimately would come to an end this year as both moved in separate directions. But that seems like far from a potential option now.

North Carolina may wind up building the program back to being a pretty respectable team. The Belichick era is back, baby!

Worrisome Washington

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With all the attention on Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon this year, many thought the Washington Huskies were a sleeper College Football Playoff contender in the Big Ten.

Demond Williams Jr. returned to Seattle after flirting with the transfer portal, and coach Jedd Fisch had a lot of excitement buzzing around about his team.

Everything is still reachable as the Huskies are 2-0 after Week 2, but they have looked truly awful in each of those victories. 

First, Washington's offense couldn't get moving in a 24-10 yawner of a win over rival Washington State in the Apple Cup to open a season. So, everybody thought they'd get well against Utah State in the second week, right?

Well, the Aggies were throwing into the end zone to try to upset U-Dub at Husky Stadium as time expired in a sweaty 16-14 win for Fisch's team.

It's possible these were look-in-the-mirror moments for Washington that the Huskies can look back on later in a successful season, but right now, this doesn't look anything like a potential contender. And the offense is the culprit.