The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs had been having a rough night, trailing their counterparts from Mississippi State, 57-14. Now they faced third-and-goal from the 7.
Their own 7.
You see, on the previous play, second-and-goal from the Mississippi State 6, the ball was snapped over the quarterback’s head. It was promptly chased after and kicked around by members of both teams until Louisiana Tech finally fell on the ball, eighty-seven yards from where the play began. Not surprisingly, Louisiana Tech failed to convert 3rd-and-93 and performed the rarely-seen punt on 4th-and-goal on the next play in an eventual 57-21 loss. Do yourself a favor and look up the YouTube clip of the play, preferably with “Yakkety Sax” playing in the background.
Oklahoma put themselves in the national spotlight in the biggest of ways, taking a 31-16 win over Ohio State in Columbus. The Sooners rolled up 28 points in the second half as Baker Mayfield threw for 386 yards. Mayfield has never lost a true road game with Oklahoma – he’s now 10-0. Conversely, it’s only the third loss (and the largest) at home for the Buckeyes under Urban Meyer, who has coached Ohio State since 2012.
The Lamar Jackson show is back! Last year’s Heisman winner from Louisville put up huge numbers for the second straight week, this time against North Carolina. Jackson went 25 of 39 passing for 393 yards and three touchdowns, and added 132 yards and three touchdowns rushing in a 47-35 win. The Cardinals amassed 705 yards of total offense. All Jackson has done so far in two games this season is account for over 1,000 yards of offense (771 yards passing, 239 rushing). Can Jackson do it again this week? If he does, it’ll be really impressive – he faces Clemson, who is coming off of an 11-sack, 117-yards-allowed defensive performance against Auburn.
People who have followed this column for years know of my affinity for service academy football, and this year’s editions of Army, Navy, and Air Force are all off to great starts! Army came back from ten points down to beat Buffalo, 21-17. Army has won their two games this year despite only 17 yards total passing between the two. The Black Knights are on a five-game winning streak, but making it six might be tough; they travel to Ohio State this weekend. Navy is 2-0 following a 23-21 win over Tulane. Quarterback Zach Abey ran for 108 yards and threw for 132 more. The Midshipmen are off this weekend; they host Cincinnati on September 23. Air Force is 1-0, having beaten VMI 62-0 in their first game. The Falcons rang up 457 rushing yards in improving their record in season openers under coach Troy Calhoun to 11-0. They play Michigan next.
In small-school news, give Saint Scholastica credit. The Saints, one weekend removed from a 98-0 destruction at the hands of St. John’s, defeated Greenville 47-27 on Saturday. A 118-point differential doesn’t happen every week! Saint Scholastica isn’t as bad as that first-week score would make you believe. They have a 26-7 record over the past three seasons. The Saints next play Westminster – who knows what the final margin will be for that one?
Extra-special congratulations to the week 2 winner, JagRag, who picked perfectly this week! They finished with 231 points, one ahead of TuscaloosaGumps with 230. JagAL, BoomBoomTX, and Vern Troyer finished with 229 points.
Standings after two weeks:
| 1st | Chuck Norris | 500 |
| 2nd | TigerEyes17 | 499 |
| 3rd | Paul Herron | 498 |
| T-4th | ralphie | 497 |
| T-4th | JagRag | 497 |
| T-4th | JagAL | 497 |
| T-4th | CrimsonWhite | 497 |
| T-4th | G8rBamaLvr | 497 |
| 9th | Publius | 496 |
| 10th | TuscaloosaGumps | 495 |
With Hurricane Irma’s aftermath still leaving things in doubt in the state of Florida, keep an eye out for more potential game site changes, postponements, and cancelations this week. However, as it currently stands, the first game this week is Illinois at South Florida, Friday, September 15 @ 7 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!