Week Two Best performances: BYU, Louisiana Tech; Texas A&M the top surprise this season

Week Two was full of great performances; these were the best according to our power ratings:

1. BYU 41, Texas 7: The Cougars wiped out Texas in Austin, a week after Texas smoked a decent North Texas team 38-7 (North Texas beat SMU 43-6 today). People are going to focus on how bad Texas might be but they should be asking how good BYU is.
2. Texas A&M 73, Lamar 3: Lamar is an FCS team but a 70-point win is a 70-point win. Lamar was about as good last year as UAB.
3. Baylor 70, Northwestern State 6: Another FCS win makes the list, but this one was at least good for showing that Baylor's offense can function without Bryce Petty.
4. Oregon 46, Michigan State 27: The Ducks pulled away to win but struggled in the middle period when the Spartans scored 20 straight points. The end result is pretty impressive though.
5. LSU 56, Sam Houston State 0: Another FCS triumph, but the Bearkats recently played for the FCS title twice (losing to North Dakota State both times). Compare this result to Nebraska vs. McNeese State.

Here are the top five performances relative to expectations:

1. Louisiana Tech 48, Louisiana-Lafayette 20: By far the most stunning result was this one; we figured ULL to win by 20 at home, making this a near 7-touchdown swing. The oddsmakers were almost as shocked as ULL was a 15.5 or 16 point favorite.
2. West Virginia 54, Towson 0: Towson is not a bad team; they were 13-3 and were runner-up to North Dakota State for the FCS championship. We expected perhaps a two-touchdown win for the Mountaineers; following the tough game they gave Alabama, this big shutout win is a good sign for the team.
3. Clemson 73, South Carolina State 7: SC State isn't Towson, but we figured the Tigers would win by 31 points or so, and they more than doubled that.
4. Georgia Southern 83, Savannah State 9: Everyone beats up on Savannah State, it's true, but usually it's FSU, Miamia, or Oklahoma State. Georgia Southern was in the FCS last year and they won by 74 points yesterday. We figured 49-7 or so. Coupled with their near-upset of NC State, the Eagles are off to a good start.
5. BYU 41, Texas 7: Our power rating suggested a 2-point win; the oddsmakers a 1-point victory. Needless to say, the Cougars surpassed everyone's expectations.

...and the 5 worst performances relative to expectations:

1. Louisiana Lafayette 20, Louisiana Tech 48: The Ragin' Cajuns might have been looking ahead to their big game against Mississippi, or got overconfident as big favorites...or maybe they're just not going to be very good this year.
2. Florida State 37, The Citadel 12: When you see other teams winning effortlessly by 70 points, this really stands out. As the #1 team, we would have expected the Seminoles to rack up 8 or 9 touchdowns and the defense to pitch a shutout.
3. Rutgers 38, Howard 25: Rutgers-Howard should be an actor, not a football game, but the Scarlet Knights regularly play the FCS school. They dominated early and led 31-7 but let the Bison rack up some points in the 2nd half. We figured on a 46-point margin but Rutgers didn't even make it there on offense.
4. Texas 7, BYU 41: As much as we're giving BYU credit, Texas has to take a lot of the blame for this stinker.
5. Michigan 0, Notre Dame 31: In this case, Michigan deserves more blame than the Irish deserve credit. The Wolverines were awful and it could have been a touchdown worse at the very end. Notre Dame almost paid Michigan back for the 38-0 thrashing in 2007; the Irish went 3-9 that year.

Surprising teams: The biggest upside surprise teams over the first two weeks.

1. Texas A&M Aggies (2-0): won @South Carolina 52-28, vs. Lamar 73-3. The Aggies not only proved they'll be alright without Johnny Manziel, but their first two performances suggest they are SEC contenders and probably a top ten squad.
2. West Virginia Mountaineers (1-1): lost vs. Alabama 33-23, beat Towson 54-0. Most of their opponents will fall between these two in quality, but the Mountaineers showed they can hang with anyone. Until they play some teams of normal quality we can't say whether they'll be a top 25 team or not, but they should be back in a bowl game this year.
3. UAB Blazers (1-1): beat Troy 48-10, lost at Mississippi State 47-34. The Blazers dominated the Trojans and then played a respectable game vs. the Bulldogs. No one's putting them in the top 25 but they've proven they don't belong in the bottom 25 where we had them in the pre-season.
4. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (1-1): lost at Oklahoma 48-16, beat Louisiana-Lafayette 48-20. What Oklahoma did to them they did to UL-Lafayette. The first game went pretty much as expected while the 2nd game was a huge turnaround vs. the spread.
5. New Mexico State Aggies (2-0): beat Cal Poly 28-10; won at Georgia State 34-31. The Aggies were a distant #128 in our pre-season rankings, so outperforming wasn't hard. But they're 2-0 now after handling Cal Poly and beating Georgia State on the road. They've made up the gap and aren't in last place anymore, and they'll rise into the top 100 if they keep this up.

...and the teams that have done the worst, relative to expectations, the first two weeks:

1. Houston Cougars (1-1): lost vs. UTSA 27-7; beat Grambling 47-0. We overrated the Cougars big time so they were due for a fall, but we didn't imagine it would be so fast. They lost to UTSA in their home opener and even the Grambling shutout diminished their status (Grambling is comparable to Savannah State). We put Houston in our pre-season top 25 but they might actually sink to the bottom 25 if these two games are an accurate reflection.
2. Florida State Seminoles (2-0): beat Oklahoma State 37-31, The Citadel 37-12. With expectations as high as our pre-season rankings were for the Seminoles it would be hard to live up to them, but FSU has underperformed markedly in the first two games. They're playing more like an "others receiving votes" team than a repeat national championship candidate.
3. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (1-1): beat Southern 45-6, lost to Louisiana Tech 48-20. The first game went as expected, the second one didn't. That was enough to call ULL a disappointment thus far, as a 2-0 start was counted on to add intrigue to their games against Ole Miss and Boise State.
4. Vanderbilt Commodores (0-2): lost to Temple 37-7, Mississippi 41-3. Vandy might be the most disappointing team in most peoples' minds; the only reason they aren't higher on this list is that we had lowered our expectations for them already, ranking the Commodores #78 in the pre-season. Even so, we expected them to beat Temple and give Ole Miss some kind of challenge playing at home.
5. UNLV Rebels (1-1): Lost at Arizona 58-13, beat Northern Colorado 13-12. Not sure which is worse, the beatdown at Arizona or the 1-point win at home vs. Northern Colorado. Combined, they paint a picture of a team that will struggle to meet our 5-win projection in their 13-game schedule.