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monkeymatt1836 Ballot for 2016 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 6, 2016, 6:55 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Preseason polls are dumb, and that is evident in trying to come up with these rankings after Week 1. My rankings are based off of 1) who teams beat and 2) how teams looked. With the crazy amount of ranked teams that lost there is a lot of movement this week in my poll. I wouldn't expect as much movement in future polls all in one week, unless a lot of ranked teams lose/play each other. As this is very early on in the season, my poll may or may not look very different in future iterations. 

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Roll Tide Roll. After being down 3-0 in the second quarter the Tide valiantly fought back and edged the Trojans 52-6. Despite a slow start the Tide easily took care of business. Freshman QB Jalen Hurts made his debut and looked pretty promising. Hurts went 6/11 for 118 yards 1 TD and 1 INT. Blake Barnett was 5/6 for 100 yards and 1 TD in a solid outing. Bama once again looked like the crown jewel of the SEC once they worked the kinks out. I guess USC shouldn't have left Lane Kiffin sitting on the tarmac.
2 Clemson Tigers Clemson took care of a feisty Auburn team that would not go away. WR Mike Williams shined in his return after being out most of last year with a neck injury. Williams was Deshaun Watson's favorite target, hauling in 9 catches for 174 yards. RB Wayne Gallman had a solid night with 30 carries for 123 yards and a TD. Clemson's defense played pretty well for a team who lost a lot of players to the NFL and graduation. They did not give up a TD until the 4th quarter, and only allowed 87 yards on 41 carries. Safe to say Clemson has reloaded on the defense.
3 Florida State Seminoles What a tale of two halves. Florida State immensely struggled in all 3 phases in the first half of the game. Deondre Francois looked like every bit of a true freshman. Dalvin Cook was picking up a fair amount of yards, but dropped a sure TD pass that ended up being turned into a FG. Florida State's season was over before it began. Gunslinger Chad Kelly was carving up the Noles defense. Then the second half started. The Noles went on a 39-6 run to blaze past the Rebels, and looked really good doing it. Francois played lights out, Cook got his act together, and the Noles defense tightened their game up. FSU looked like every bit of that title contender most thought they would be this season. 
4 Houston Cougars Wow. What a performance by the Cougars. Houston probably had the best performance of the weekend in their dispatching of Oklahoma. Houston beat the Sooners in all 3 phases of the game on Saturday, and looked good doing it. It was evident that Tom Herman has his team believing they can play against anyone, and they just might be able to. If they can run the table, which would include a win over Louisville as well, they just might find their way into the playoffs. Don't sleep on Houston, and don't be surprised if QB Greg Ward Jr. (23/40, 321, 2 TD, 0 INT) finds his way to New York in December.
5 Stanford Cardinal Stanford put on a good performance against an always solid Kansas State team. Senior QB Ryan Burns had a very nice debut going 14/18 for 156 yards and 1 TD. Star RB Christian McCaffrey had an ok night with 22 carries for 126 yards and a pair of TDs. He didn't break the 100 yard mark until late in the 4th quarter with a 41 yard TD run to seal the game. Stanford's defense looked good, only giving up a TD and a pair of FGs. Very solid win for the Cardinal in their debut.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State played against an inferior, outmatched opponent and that was evident. JT Barrett tied a school record with 7 total TDs (6 through the air and 1 on the ground). The Buckeyes put up 417 yards through the air and 359 on the ground. Not much else to say except they dominated a lesser MAC team.
7 Michigan Wolverines This game was over before it even started. Michigan played a Hawaii team that played in Australia a week ago and rebounded with a game that was at 6 am Hawaii time. The Wolverines took care of business in their home debut. The biggest takeaway of the day is that Harbaugh went with JR Wilton Speight as his starting QB, who went 10/13 for 145 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT.
8 Iowa Hawkeyes The Hawkeyes put their game against Miami Ohio away 10 minutes into the first quarter. The offense, particularly the run game, came out firing. It only took Iowa 10 plays to secure a 21-0 lead against the Redhawks. Iowa's offense, lead by RBs Akrum Wadley and LeShun Daniels, looked great. Despite JR LB Josey Jewell being kicked out early in the game for targeting, the defense looked pretty good when they weren't sleepwalking through the game. If Iowa repeats this performance, they should blow out hated instate rival Iowa State next weekend.
9 Louisville Cardinals Louisville blew the doors of C-USA Charlotte 49ers 70-14, putting up 56 points in the first half. QB Lamar Jackson put up 8 total TDs in their rout of the 49ers. Not much to say besides total domination of a low level FBS team. The Cardinals are at Syracuse next week, who they should take care of with little issue.
10 Wisconsin Badgers The Badgers had a trademark Wisconsin win against LSU on Saturday. The defense played outstanding, and did a fantastic job of limiting Heisman hopeful Leonard Fournette. The Badger defense limited LSU's offense to only 1 TD. LSU scored their other TD off a pick 6 on a pretty poor throw by Badger QB Bart Houston. Wisconsin's offense had an average day, but that is more so because LSU looks to have a pretty good defense, as always.
11 Georgia Bulldogs Nick Chubb is back and eviscerated the Tar Heels defense in his return from injury, rushing for 222 yards and 2 TDs on 32 carries. Their bell cow looks to have a monster year ahead of him. The QB play however, looked pedestrian at best. Sr. QB Greyson Lambert was below average, and Fr. QB Jacob Eason looked very much like a freshman. New coach Kirby Smart is off to a good start, and should challenge Tennessee for the SEC East title.
12 Oklahoma Sooners Disappointing start to the season for the Sooner faithful. The Sooner started off in control of the game against Houston and were only down by 2 going into halftime. However, Houston took control in the second half and put the Sooners away, despite a late effort to tie the game up. Baker Mayfield actually had a nice day, going 24/33 for 323 yards and 2 TDs. Oklahoma couldn't get the run game going. Dual headed monster Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine only had 12 combined carries for 71 yards and 1 TD. The Sooners definitely didn't look bad in their loss to the Cougars, but they did not look like they will be challenging for a spot in the CFP this week. The Sooners have Ohio State in 2 weeks, and the outcome of that game could determine the course of their season.
13 Texas Longhorns Hook Em Horns, welcome back Longhorn nation. DKR was a madhouse under the lights. The Longhorns looked night and day better than last year, and edged out what should be a good Notre Dame team in 2OT. Texas's new Baylor style offense worked very well against ND's mediocre defense. They had a nice little 1-2 punch with Fr. Qb Shane Buechele and Sr. Bulldozer Tyrone Swoopes. Texas looks dangerous once again, and Charlie Strong finally has his time believing they can win games. Look for Texas to make some noise in the Big 12 this year. The defense might not be able to get them to win a Big 12 Title though.
14 Washington Huskies The Huskies came out swinging in their season debut and never let Rutgers get into the game. The Huskies looked good in all 3 phases. The offense put up 4 TDs, and the Huskies had a pair of TDs on a KR and PR, respectively. The Huskies should continue looking good against Idaho next week. Chris Peterson has this team believing in themselves.
15 TCU Horned Frogs The way the Horned Frogs defense played against FCS South Dakota State I would expect them to be in some fun shootouts in the Big 12 this year. QB Kenny Trill made his TCU debut and had a good night, going 33/49 for 439 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 INTs. The offense put up 662 yards and 59 points as a whole. The defense however, gave up 461 yards and 41 points. If TCU can tighten up their defense before conference play, they could make a run at the Big 12 title.
16 Michigan State Spartans This years Spartan squad is off to a slow start. While they only beat FCS Furman 28-13, they were never in danger of losing the game. New QB Tyler O'Connor and RB LJ Scott both looked pretty average. The bright spot was the defense, who did their job well. Furman only put up a little over 200 yards all together. With an upcoming BYE week, they have some extra time to work out their kinks before their Week 3 matchup with Notre Dame under the lights in South Bend. If they look like they did against Furman, the Spartans could be in for a long night.
17 Oklahoma State Cowboys The Cowboys took care of business against Southeastern Louisiana. They took care of business in all 3 phases of the game, as they should against an FCS team. The Cowboys won't get a challenge until Week 3 when they Pitt. They should take care of Central Michigan in Week 2 no problem.
18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish This loss rests on the shoulders of Brian Kelly and DC Brian Van Gorder. Kelly wasn't lying when he said Kizer and Zaire would both be seeing significant snaps, and it hurt the team more than helped. The offense did not move the ball very well while Zaire was on the field, and the play calling did not help in his defense. Kizer is clearly the guy, however. ND's offense was straight lethal when Kizer was out there, who accounted for 6 total TDs. You have to wonder if Kizer played the whole game would this have even gone to overtime? Also, a non called targeting penalty that caused Torii Hunter Jr. to sustain a concussion and be removed from the game was a game changer. ND would've had the ball on the 1, 1st and goal, but instead had to kick a FG that was blocked. The defense was as bad as many Irish fans feared. They could not stop Beuchele or Swoopes. The Texas WRs routinely got behind ND's slow secondary. BK admitted in the post game press conference this defense couldn't even properly run a Cover 3. The defense is what is going to hold this team back in the long run. This offense could be one of the best in college football, and if Notre Dame wants to make an NYE6 Bowl they are going to have to score a ton of points with this defense.
19 Texas A&M Aggies The Aggies had a really solid performance in and OT thriller against the UCLA Bruins to start their season. Despite a late UCLA comeback, QB Trevor Knight lead his new SEC team to their first victory of the season. The Aggie defense did a good job of disrupting Soph QB Josh Rosen, who didn't have the best day of his career. Can Kevin Sumlin, who is rightfully on the hot seat, get his team to compete with the big dogs of the SEC though?
20 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee managed to win this game because App State's kicker could not make FGs. Frankly speaking, Tennessee had one of the worst performances of the weekend. Star QB Josh Dobbs had a bad night and went 16/29, 192 yards, 6.6 AVG, 1 TD, 1 INT and a QBR of 26.3. Luckily for the Vols, aside from Georgia the SEC East looked bad as a whole. That being said, if Tennessee doesn't get their act together soon it might be a long season for them.
21 Ole Miss Rebels Chad Kelly and the Rebel came out swinging in the first half, and looked to have landed the knockout blow to FSU. At one point, Ole Miss had a 28-6 lead, and many thought the game was over. Ole Miss forgot there was a second half. The stout defense that easily stopped the Noles offense suddenly looked like swiss cheese. Kelly started committing mistakes such as staring down his receivers and forcing the ball. Ole Miss is going to have to complete a full game if they want to win the SEC West title. 
22 Oregon Ducks Different year, same Oregon. The Duck offense, lead by new QB Dakota Prukop, put up 53 points on FCS UC Davis. UC Davis however, put up 28 points on Oregon's defense, which should be concerning. If Oregon wants to challenge for the PAC 12 title and an NYE6 bowl they simply must get better on the defensive side of the ball. It'll be interesting to see how the Oregon defense performs against UVA next week, who just lost to FCS Richmond by 17.
23 LSU Tigers Les Miles' seat has got to be one of the hottest in the country. The talk of the offseason for LSU was all about how the offense was going to improve so they can make a run at the national title. Well guess what, none of that happened. Brandon Harris might be the worst starting QB in the college football. LSU had 64 yards in the first half. Leonard Fournette didn't break 100 yards until late in the third quarter. LSU's defense, as always, looked good. They had to make up for the stagnant offense by getting LSU back into the game with a pick 6. If LSU simply does not get better offensively it is going to be a long year in Baton Rouge, and they will be looking for a new coach.
24 Miami Hurricanes Mark Richt started off his tenure as the Hurricanes head coach with the biggest win of his career, a 70-3 trouncing of Florida A&M. Miami had 3 100 yard rushers against the Rattlers. Star QB Brad Kaaya went 12/18 for 135 yards and 4 TDs. It'll be interesting how Miami's rushing attack does once they play some solid teams, as that was a glaring issue coming into this season.
25 Pittsburgh Panthers Pitt had a decent performance against FCS Villanova, winning 28-7. Pitt didn't do much offensively, but they weren't in trouble of losing the game. In a feel good story, RB James Conner got a pair TDs in his first game back after beating cancer. Pitt has hated rival Penn State next weekend.

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