Expectations always seem higher than they should be for a number of teams at the start of the college football season and that creates an even higher level of disappointment when they don’t deliver in Week 1. Whether it was the fact that they were overrated, lost a game they should have won or were simply outmatched, there were a handful of teams looking to get back on track following tough Week 1 losses.
Here is a look at the four teams that bounced back in Week 2:
Longhorns Rebound Versus Rice
Absolutely nothing went right for Texas in its opener against Notre Dame as the Longhorns were thrashed in a lopsided 38-3 loss that left head coach Charlie Strong and his staff disappointed. It also (potentially) led to the firing of Athletic Director Steve Patterson. So when they bounced back with a 42-28 win in Week 2, it didn’t matter that it was against a very mediocre Rice because it was a positive step in the right direction.
That was absolutely huge for a team that had looked lost the week before. Texas has certainly experienced its fair share of lows over the past couple of seasons but redshirt freshman quarterback Jerron Heard looked good along with running backs D’ Onta Johnson and Duke Thomas. They needed to rebuild their confidence and that’s what they did. The Longhorns finally have something to feel good about after their home win in Week 2.
Michigan Wolverines
The Jim Harbaugh era got off to a rough star with a 24-17 loss at Utah in Week 1 but the Wolverines bounced back in a big way in Harbaugh’s first home opener. They registered a 35-7 win over Oregon State.
Running back De’Veon Smith ran for 126 yards and three touchdowns behind a reinvigorated offensive line while the defense held the Beavers to just 59 rushing yards as well as only 79 passing yards. Michigan locked down its first win of the season and it wasn’t just that the Wolverines got the victory as much as the way they did it (so easily). Next up is another winnable game against UNLV on Saturday as the Wolverines look to make it two in a row at home.
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Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers players were probably still having nightmares about their brutal Week 1 loss to Alabama but they wiped the slate clean when they took the field against Miami of Ohio, rolling to a lopsided 58-0 victory. Joel Stave threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns while the defense forced three interceptions in a dominant effort.
After the game, it seemed like the mood had dramatically changed at Camp Randall. Badgers fans went from talking about the terrible loss to talking about how Ohio State lost its opener last season yet still went to the College Football Playoff and won a national title. At the end of the day, a loss to Alabama isn’t the worst thing to have on your resume. The ambitions might be a little too high in Wisconsin but at least they bounced back from that crushing loss.
Stanford Cardinal
Stanford was favored to go in to Northwestern and win in Week 1 but failed miserably with an outright loss. Apologists will point to the fact that it was the first game of the season and they were forced to travel across the country for a 12:00 PM ET start time that would have been 9 AM on the west coast, so it wasn’t a major shock.
Regardless, the Cardinal bounced back in Week 2 with a 31-7 win over Central Florida at home. There was a lot to like about the team’s performance with Kevin Hogan throwing for 341 yards and three touchdowns while the defense limited the Knights to a single score. Stanford’s rebound gets their season on track and if they can somehow upset USC on the road in Week 3, nobody will even be mentioning that ugly loss in Week 1.
