Frogs O’ War Staff Picks: College Football Week 2

Week One had some shockers in the Big 12, as three huge favorites fell in non-conference contests. In Week Two, the league is featured in several of the biggest games of the week. Teams looking to bounce back from disappointing debuts and others looking for big upsets to jump up the rankings.

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Big 12

Kansas Jayhawks vs. Illinois Illini - Fri. Sept. 8, 6:30 PM, ESPN2

Miles: Kansas in a close one.

Drew: Kansas in what should be a fun weeknight game.

Russ: Kansas

Anthony: Illinois. The Illini defense does a better job handling Devin Neal than Missouri State did. Even with Jalon Daniels’ expected return at QB for the Jayhawks, it isn’t enough.

Baylor Bears vs. Utah Utes - Sat. Sept. 9, 11:00 AM, ESPN

Miles: If Cam Rising is ready to go I think this one has to go to the Utes. If he isn’t ready to play, the Bears could be looking at an upset.

Drew: Utah wins with or without Rising. Utah has two capable backup options and a solid group of weapons that should be enough to beat Baylor.

Russ: Utah

Anthony: Baylor scores a massive home upset in Sawyer Robertson’s first start. Rising returns but isn’t 100% and Aranda immediately turns the Bears’ season around after the week 1 embarrassment.

Kansas State Wildcats vs. Troy Trojans - Sat. Sept. 9, 11:00 AM, FS1

Miles: Kansas State wins big.

Drew: K-State in a blowout.

Russ: Kansas State

Anthony: KSU wins easily, but will be fun to see Troy RB Kimani Vidal go up against the Wildcats defense after 302 total scrimmage yards vs. SFA last week.

Iowa State Cyclones vs. Iowa Hawkeyes - Sat. Sept. 9, 2:30 PM, FOX

Miles: Iowa in an ugly, defensive struggle.

Drew: Iowa. The Cyclones quarterback room is still a question mark for me and I think Iowa takes a step forward this year with a big improvement at quarterback with Cade McNamara.

Russ: Iowa State with the upset once again.

Anthony: Hawkeyes re-take the trophy and score enough to keep OC Brian Ferentz alive in his race for 325 points

Oklahoma Sooners vs. SMU Mustangs - Sat. Sept. 9, 5:00 PM ESPN+

Miles: Oklahoma wins big.

Drew: OU by a lot.

Russ: Oklahoma by a wide margin.

Anthony: A classic SEC vs. ACC showdown. Sooners cruise.

Cincinnati Bearcats at Pitt Panthers - Sat. Sept. 9, 5:30 PM, CW Network

Miles: Pitt wins a close one.

Drew: Cincinnati gets a very solid road win over the Panthers.

Russ: Cincinnati. Go Big 12!

Anthony: Cincinnati. The Bearcats’ sleeper Big 12 contender case continues as Emory Jones outshines Phil Jurkovec.

Texas Longhorns at Alabama Crimson Tide - Sat. Sept. 9, 6:00 PM ESPN

Miles: I think this is going to be a great game. Sark is going to have some things schemed up. I think it’ll be a whoever has the ball last wins type of game, Give me the Longhorns in a revenge game.

Drew: I think Texas has a very good chance to win this game. Jalen Milroe is still an unknown as a passer and Texas has a very serious group of weapons. That being said, I don’t see Texas winning on the road against Nick Saban and while Milroe is unproven as a passer, his talent as a runner is undeniable.

Russ: Alabama. Not sold on the Texas offense right now.

Anthony: Roll Tide. Texas may be back, but is not yet BACK

Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Oregon Ducks - Sat. Sept. 9, 6:00 PM FOX

Miles: After last week I can’t think of any reason to pick the Red Raiders. Oregon wins and it might get ugly.

Drew: I still think Tech has a solid year despite the bad loss to Wyoming last week, but I do expect the Ducks to roll here behind a big performance from Bo Nix.

Russ: Oregon in a landslide.

Anthony: Texas Tech. Oregon brings Bad Bo to West Texas. Galaxy brain time: both Auburn (where Bad Bo once resided) & Lubbock are known as “the Plains,” the signs are pointing to a screwy one Saturday night, as is often the case at Jones AT&T Stadium, and the Red Raiders somehow win.

UCF Knights at Boise State Broncos - Sat. Sept. 9, 6:00 PM, FS1

Miles: UCF takes down a Boise State team coming off a big loss.

Drew: I am fairly high on the Knights this season and I think they win relatively easily on the Blue Turf.

Russ: UCF wins the tough road game.

Anthony: Boise. The Knights are only favored by 3.5 points despite looking dominant in Week 1 while the Broncos got blasted by Washington. Oddsmakers are suggesting this game will be close and I don’t think that’s fully caused by the home field advantage on the blue turf.

Houston Cougars at Rice Owls - Sat. Sept. 9, 6:00 PM, NFL Network

Miles: Houston wins, but it’s not pretty.

Drew: Houston wins by a large margin, I just don’t have much faith in JT Daniels.

Russ: Houston defeats JT Daniels.

Anthony: Houston. Donovan Smith puts up a better performance vs. the Owls than Quinn Ewers did in Week 1.

Oklahoma State at Arizona State - Sat. Sept. 9, 9:30 PM, FS1

Miles: I’ll take Oklahoma State in a close one.

Drew: Oklahoma State. I think Jaden Rashada is a star in the making but I don’t know if the team around him is there yet.

Russ: Arizona State. Jaden Rashada looked good last week and the Cowboys have no quarterback.

Anthony: I love this game, I cannot wait for it to become a Big 12 match next season, and I have no clue how it’ll play out. Both struggled with FCS foes last week and have big roster question marks, but I’ll take the Sun Devils

Big 12 vs. FCS:
BYU Cougars vs. Southern Utah Thunderbirds - Sat. Sept. 9, 2:00 PM, ESPN+
West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Duquesne Dukes - Sat. Sept. 9, 5:00 PM, ESPN+
TCU Horned Frogs vs. Nicholls State Colonels - Sat. Sept. 9, 7:00 PM ESPN+

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Top National Games

Nebraska Cornhuskers at Colorado Buffaloes, Sat. Sept. 9, 11:00 AM, FOX

Miles: Colorado wins and the hype train keeps rolling.

Drew: Colorado. This game could get ugly as Nebraska did not show a lot on offense in week one and Colorado is incredibly explosive on the offensive side of the ball.

Russ: Colorado moves to 2-0.

Anthony: Nebraska. No longer a “nobody believes in us” team, the Buffs come back down to earth, continuing to make TCU look terrible for having lost last week.

Ole Miss Rebels at Tulane Green Wave, Sat. Sept. 9, 2:30 PM ESPN2

Miles: Ole Miss wins, but it’s closer than people think.

Russ: Tulane with the stunner in New Orleans!

Drew: Give me Tulane at home, I don’t have a lot of faith in Jaxson Dart against what should be a very good defense from Tulane even with Quinshon Judkins playing for the Rebels.

Anthony: If Tulane wins this, it could be on the path towards Playoff contention like Cinci in 2021, having returned much of the roster from the Cotton Bowl winning squad. Unfortunately the Lane Train rolls on and Ole Miss takes this one.

Texas A&M Aggies at Miami Hurricanes, Sat. Sept. 9, 2:30 PM, ABC

Miles: I think this is a much better game this year, but the Aggies are way more talented. Big win for Jimbo and co.

Russ: Miami. The fall of Jimbo Fisher continues.

Drew: In a battle between two programs trying to make their way back to the top, I think the more talented roster in Texas A&M wins, kickstarting the Conner Weigman hype train.

Anthony: The seat is about to get hot for one of these head coaches. Jimbo Fisher gets a reprieve, if only for a moment, and should roll undefeated into SEC play in a couple weeks. Aggies win.

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Frogs O’ War Pick ‘Em Leaderboard

You can get in on the action for Week Two HERE

Staff Standings

Coach Miles knows ball, with Russ and Drew trailing just behind. Even though Anthony suggested scary games for Baylor and Texas Tech, he ultimately didn’t have the guts to pick the upsets and fell to the bottom of the standings.