ACC & Big 12 Week 2 Roundup: Clemson stays on top, Texas falls to LSU at home
Defending CFP champion Clemson won its FBS-leading 17th straight game Saturday, reaffirming their No. 1 ranking with a 24-10 victory over No. 12 Texas A&M. By extending their run to 17 games, the Tigers have also matched the longest such streak in program history, set during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
On Saturday, it was A&M that took an early 3-0 lead, but the Tigers responded with a 24-0 run that included a 30-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Lawrence to Justyn Ross. The Tigers’ other two touchdowns came on a 1-yard run by Lawrence just before the half and a 4-yard carry by Lyn-J Dixon midway through the third.
Overall, the Tigers limited the Aggies to just 92 total yards in the first half, marking the first time in 20 games that A&M was held under 100 yards of offense in the first two quarters.
Texas A&M finally found the end zone again on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Kellen Mond to Jalen Wydermyer with six seconds remaining in the game, but the Aggies simply didn’t have enough firepower to keep pace with Clemson’s vaunted attack.
In the Big 12, No. 9 Texas came up just short in a 45-38 shootout loss to No. 6 LSU at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.
The Longhorns got a huge game out of quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who passed for a career-high 401 yards — the sixth-most passing yards in a game in Texas history — and also tied a career high with five total touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) in the game.
Unfortunately for the sellout crowd in Austin, the ‘Horns were outdone by LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who finished the game with 471 passing yards – the second-most in LSU history behind Rohan Davey’s 528 against Alabama in 2001 – and also tossed four touchdowns in the Tigers victory.
In total, LSU had three players with at least 100 yards receiving in the game, marking the first time in program history the Tigers have accomplished the feat.
Now let’s check out a few more highlights from an exciting Week 2 in the ACC and Big 12:
- Oklahoma (70-14 vs. South Dakota), Kansas State (52-0 vs. Bowling Green), Baylor (63-14 vs. UTSA), Oklahoma State (56-14 vs. McNeese) and Texas Tech (38-3 vs. UTEP) were all big winners from the Big 12 in non-conference matchups this weekend.
- Boston College and Duke each won games by a score of 45-13 this weekend, with the Eagles defeating Richmond in Chestnut Hill, while the Blue Devils toppled North Carolina A&T in Durham, preventing the Aggies from earning a win over an FBS program for the fourth consecutive year. (In the Big Ten, 2019 Citrus Bowl participant Penn State also defeated Buffalo by the same 45-13 score.)
- Scott Satterfield earned his first victory as Louisville head coach, as the Cardinals blanked Eastern Kentucky 42-0.
- Virginia (52-17 vs. William & Mary), Wake Forest (41-21 vs. Rice) and North Carolina State (41-0 vs. Western Carolina) were also dominant in winning efforts in Week 2.
- Miami dropped to 0-2 for the first time since 1978 after a 28-25 loss to North Carolina on Saturday. The ‘Canes have now lost six of eight and will hope to get back on track this Saturday against Bethune-Cookman.
- Florida State escaped Doak Campbell Stadium with a 45-44 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday after Warhawks kicker Jacob Meeks missed a game-tying extra point in overtime.