Week 2 of the college football season brought us highlights galore, some lovable mascots and a number of surprises that nobody could have predicted earlier this year. While we know who won and lost the games from the box score, who really came out of Saturday able to hold their heads high heading into Week 3?
Here are a few of the real winners and losers from Saturday:
Winners
Ameer Abdullah: Nebraska was pushed to the brink by McNeese State, but Abdullah saved the day thanks to his insane catch and run for the deciding victory.
Mark Mangino: A week after struggling in a loss to North Dakota State, Iowa State's offense became much more competitive against Kansas State. The Cyclones took a 28-20 lead into the locker room and almost pulled the upset off until giving up the winning score late in the fourth quarter. Not bad after the embarrassment of Week 1.
Vernon Adams: Even though it was in a loss, the Eastern Washington quarterback threw for 475 yards and SEVEN touchdowns against Washington. The team nearly upset a Pac-12 program yet again early in the non-conference slate.
Pete Lembo: The Ball State head coach nearly beat Iowa on the road. He's a winner because his paycheck should be a lot bigger soon.
Sonny Dykes: Yes it was just Sacramento State, but Cal doubled its win total from last season on Saturday. Most impressive has been how well Dykes' hire of defensive coordinator Art Kaufman has worked out. The Bears won't be as easy an out in the Pac-12 as they were last year.
Virginia Tech: It's rare for the Hokies to be an overlooked team in the ACC, but it certainly felt that way prior to Saturday night. Frank Beamer's squad jumped back into the national conversation in a big way with their upset of Ohio State in a packed Horseshoe with a good mix of defense and big plays when needed. That win is as big as they come for most programs and certainly was good for their conference's reputation.
The state of Utah:BYU and Taysom Hill crushed Texas behind a huge third quarter in Austin. The Utes similarly ran over a Mountain West division favorite in Fresno State, while Utah State got back to its winning ways with a 20-point win. Not too shabby a Saturday.
Losers
The Big Ten: Even before Michigan State and Ohio State fell in marquee primetime games, things did not go well early for the Big Ten. Most of the B1G squads got wins, but it wasn't pretty. Nebraska was nearly upset, Wisconsin was only up 9-3 at halftime, Purdue lost big to a MAC team and Akron made it a very competitive game against Penn State. Not good at all for the league.
SEC fans: Normally, SEC fans are treated to some of the best football in the country. On Saturday, not so much. And that's not because their teams struggled, but because the competition was weak. South Carolina vs. East Carolina might have been the best matchup of the Week 2 slate, which should tell you plenty, even if ECU is a fun team to watch.
June Jones: Less than a week after getting shut out by Baylor, SMU nearly had the same thing happen at North Texas. Were it not for a garbage time touchdown with 0's left on the clock, things would have looked even worse for Jones, who appears to just be cashing checks and not coaching at this point in his career. The Mustangs had only 274 yards of total offense, too.
Pat Haden: The USC athletic director and College Football Playoff Selection Committee member went down to the field in the middle of the second half to argue with officials about the ejection of a Trojans linebacker Hayes Pullard. Not a good look at all, and it was made even worse when he said he got a text from the sideline to come down to the field to discuss things.
David Shaw: Stanford dominated the stat sheet on offense but had seven trips inside the opposing 25 and came away with only 10 points. Plus Shaw punted twice inside the 35.
Brady Hoke: Anytime you're setting historical records at a school like Michigan -- bad records, mind you -- things are not going great. The bludgeoning at the hands of the Irish will do his hot seat no favors.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
