Mr. CFB: What We Learned, Week 2

The Sun Belt Conference posted three major upsets at Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and Nebraska.

After watching the thrill-a-minute that was Week One of college football, there was No Way—NO WAY AT ALL—Week Two was going to beat it.

But it did.

And here are Five Things We Learned in the process:

1—The Sun Belt is for real, ya’ll.

And they also got paid.

Appalachian State, which had scored 61 points the week before against North Carolina, didn’t just beat Texas A&M 17-14 home. The Mountaineers dominated with 41 minutes time of possession. App State got $1.5 million for making the trip to College Satioon.

Marshall won 26-21 at Notre Dame and was clearly the better team. Mashall got $1.2 million and a ton of national recognition

Georgia Southern went to Nebraska and won 45-42. Georgia Southern got $1.43 million for leaving Statesboro and having a party in Lincoln. Nebraska coach Scott Frost was relieved of his duties after the game.

I Tweeted this Saturday night. With the Sun Belt playing giant killer and the American Athletic Conference sending a team (Cincinnati) to the playoffs last season, this whole Power Five/Group of five designation is going to go away when we go to a 12-team playoff. Remember that old Tony told you this in 2022.

2—Alabama played about as badly as it can play in beating Texas 20-19 at Austin: 

The Crimson Tide had 15 penalties and looked fairly sloppy the entire game. Alabama won because Bryce Young, the reigning Heishman Trophy winner, was simply magic on a final drive that set up a 33-yard field goal with only 10 seconds left.

“When the best was needed he was really good,” said Alabama Coach Nick Saban. “And that’s what was needed.”

“Young is great when greatness is required,” said Joel Klatt on the FOX broadcast of the game.

So should Alabama fans be worried? Not really. Remember at this time a year ago Alabama went on the road to Florida and escaped with a 31-29 win. There would be other close games, including a 41-38 loss at Texas A&M. But Alabama won the SEC championship and made it to the CFP national championship game

But I’m calling my shot now. Alabama has had its scare and will run the table to an undefeated regular season. One caveat: Young has to stay healthy. As much as I like Will Anderson, Young is the irreplaceable piece to the Alabama machine.

3—Mark Stoops made history Saturday night. Now will Nebraska go after him?

Mark Stoops posted his 61st career win at Kentucky Saturday night by beating Florida 26-16 in The Swamp. That moves him past Bear Bryant as Kentucky’s all-time winner. Bryant coached for eight seasons at Kentucky (1946-1953). This is Stoops’ s 10th season in Lexington.

But now Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com has Stoops listed as a potential target to replace Scott Frost at Nebraska. 

Stoops has been very loyal to Kentucky because the administration stuck with him when he started 0-8, 2-6, and 2-6 in the SEC in his first three seasons. Stoops has now beaten Florida in three of the past five outings and won 10 games twice in the past four seasons. He’s a Midwestern Guy, growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, and playing at Iowa.

Stoops is making $5.25 million this year and $6.75 million next season. He will be making $8 million at the end of his contract in 2028.

Nebraska has to hit a home run with this hire. Frost, who led Nebraska to a national championship as a player, could not get it done as coach.

4—Arkansas is the No. 2 team in the SEC West.

 After what happened to Texas A&M and after watching the Hogs beat South Carolina and roll up 467 total yards, there is no other conclusion to draw. We all know about quarterback K.J. Jefferson but the highlight of Saturday’s game was running back Rocket Sanders and his 156 yards rushing in the 44-30 win. He became only the third Arkansas running back (Darren McFadden and Felix Jones were the other two) to rush for 150 yards and score two touchdowns against the Gamecocks.

For the second straight game Arkansas simply wore down the opposition in the fourth quarter with its massive offensive line. Last week Arkansas ran out the last five minutes of the clock to beat Cincinnati 31-24.

“We asked them to control the game (against South Carolina) and I felt like they did,” said Coach Sam Pittman.

Arkansas hosts Missouri State this Saturday and then meets Texas A&M in Arlington on Sept. 24. The Hogs go to Alabama on Oct. 1.

5—Jimbo is not in trouble, but he has some issues that need to be addressed: 

Losing to Appalachian State 17-14 at Kyle Field was bad enough. But in the process the Sun Belt conference power punched Texas A&M in the mouth and the Aggies never punched back. Appalachian State controlled the line of scrimmage and had 41 minutes in time of possession. The Aggies had only 186 total yards against a defense that had given up 63 points to North Caroliina the week before.

Texas A&M has a roster full of four and five-star players, including the nation’s No. 1 2022 recruiting class, considered to be one of the best of all time. Appalachian State has one four-star recruit on its roster.

Appalachian State coach Shawn Clark makes $900,000 per season. Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher makes over $9 million.

Don’t look now but the Miami Hurricanes are coming to Kyle Field on Saturday.

Now having said all that, I don’t believe for a moment that Fisher is in trouble. But Fisher needs to fix a lot that is wrong with this team and at least challenge Alabama in the SEC West. It may be time to give Max Johnson, the transfer quarterback from LSU, a shot.

After Miami, the Aggies have games with Arkansas in Arlington, Mississippi State in Starkville, and Alabama in Tuscaloosa.