NCAA Football

Three non-top 25 match-ups to watch in week 2

In week one we saw seven SEC teams lose their opening game for the first time in conference history, USC get torched by Alabama, the Richmond Spiders beat Virginia, and Kansas fans storm feebly storm the field after the program’s first win in 665 days.

It was a crazy week of foot ball that formally kicked off the 2016 season as we know it.

Unfortunately for us, week two doesn’t have nearly as many intriguing match-ups as week one did. There are no match-ups between two top 25 teams, and the most appealing match-up between top 25 squads involves No. 9 Tennessee and Virginia Tech. The top 25 squads are playing week opponents and its going to be boring as hell to watch.

But there are three potentially entertaining match-ups in week two that deserve your attention, and no…they don’t involve any teams from the top 25.

3) Washington State Cougars vs. Boise State Broncos at 7:15 PM PST on ESPN2

The Broncos are coming off of a 45-10 thrashing of ULL last week, Washington State is still wiping egg off of its face after losing to another FCS squad. Boise State is led by sophomore quarterback Brett Rypien, the Cougars are led by (pre-season) Heisman hopeful Luke Falk.

This match-up is going to have to high-powered offenses trading touchdowns, while the defenses will be left gasping for air in between snaps. Rypien is going to provide a challenge for a defense that surrendered 496 yards through the air to a sophomore quarterback in his first start. If you like points, you’re going to love this game.

Washington State is the most high-profile opponent that will make the trip to Boise this season, and it makes sense that the Broncos will be ready for a fight on their home turf. And it’ll be up to WSU to match the Broncos intensity  if they’re going to avoid a 0-2 start to their season.

2) Ohio Bobcats vs. Kansas Jayhaws at 11:30 AM PST on FSN

Kansas is coming off of the program’s first win in 665 days, and they’ll be going up against an explosive Ohio offense that racked up nearly 560 yards of offense in week one. Ohio is coming off of a 54-56 loss to Texas St in week one.

The fact that the Jayhawks picked up their first win since 2014 should be seen as a reason for optimism in Lawrence, Ky. Kansas’s offense looked explosive in week one against an over matched Rhode Island squad. It’ll be a big test to see if they can keep it up against another FBS team, especially one that has its own explosive offense in Ohio.

With these two explosive offenses, this is a game that has the potential to get very weird….very quickly. And that’s what makes it such an intriguing match-up worthy of your time.

1) Texas Tech vs. Arizona State at 7:00 PM on FS1

The Sun Devils and Red Raiders will face their first test of the young season on FS1. Both teams easily won their first games of their respective seasons and it should be interesting to see how these two explosive offenses match up under the Saturday night lights.

Tech scored 69 points on Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks in an easy victory. The Lumberjacks’ offense was held to 17 points, but they don’t have the talent level to be able to keep up with a Big 10 squad. As a Pac-12 team, ASU should have the talent to be able to keep up with Texas Tech in what should be a shoot out.

This is another game that has the potential to put up all of the points. It should be an exciting game that keeps anyone watching it on the edge of their seat.

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