{"id":999252,"date":"2026-09-13T00:49:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T00:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/999252\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T00:49:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T00:49:05","slug":"college-football-winners-losers-of-week-2-oklahoma-state-gets-last-laugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/999252\/","title":{"rendered":"College football winners, losers of Week 2: Oklahoma State gets last laugh"},"content":{"rendered":"

College football<\/a> delivers major upsets every year, but Week 2 was one for the record books. Oklahoma State<\/a> delivered an earth shattering win over No. 6 Oregon<\/a>, while Michigan<\/a> stunned No. 11 Oklahoma<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Week 1 provided some intrigue, there were great games across the board in Week 2. UTSA used a late touchdown from Brandon High to beat rival Texas State, and No. 10 Texas A&M<\/a> got a few defensive touchdowns to outlast Arizona State<\/a>. The quarterback production was also electric, with more on the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the night slate, there are a few major matchups. No. 1 Ohio State<\/a> travels to face No. 4 Texas<\/a> in a battle for national title favorite. No. 21 Iowa<\/a> also battles first-year Iowa State<\/a> coach Jimmy Rogers for the first time, while No. 13 Texas Tech<\/a> attempts to hold off Oregon State<\/a> on CBS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are the biggest winners and losers of Week 2 heading into the primetime slate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Winner: Oklahoma State<\/p>\n

The Cowboys pulled off one of the most stunning upsets of the 21st Century as Oklahoma State snapped a 21-game losing streak against FBS competition to stun No. 6 Oregon 39-31. A week after dropping a bad loss to Tulsa<\/a>, quarterback Drew Mestemaker<\/a> rose to the occasion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The North Texas<\/a> transfer exploded for 300 yards passing, 100 yards rushing and four total touchdowns against one of the top-ranked defenses in the country. It was Mestemaker’s first time starting against a Power Four opponent. The defense played extremely well too, as 14 Oregon points came directly off turnovers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, the Eric Morris era has new life in Stillwater. Getting through the first two games at 1-1 leaves the Cowboys as a dark horse contender in the Big 12 once more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Loser: Oklahoma<\/p>\n

A road trip to Michigan seemed to be a tone-setter for the 2026 Sooners. Oklahoma returned a healthy John Mateer<\/a> and several key defenders. The program invested to add receiver and running back talent to go with a growing offensive line. Michigan was fresh off a disastrous performance against Western Michigan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, it was Oklahoma that left with major question marks after a 17-10 loss to the Wolverines. The Sooners were shut out in the first half and mustered only 44 rushing yards from running backs. Quarterback John Mateer had a brutal day, including a game-sealing interception.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the next three games alone, Oklahoma plays against No. 2 Georgia<\/a> and No. 4 Texas. Things could spiral quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Winner: QB Kamario Taylor, Mississippi State<\/p>\n

Rumors started to spread around Starkville over the offseason that the Bulldogs might have a transcendent talent at quarterback. In his first game against a Power Four opponent, Taylor looked every bit the part and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sophomore threw for 227 yards, rushed for 86 and scored three touchdowns to decimate Minnesota<\/a> 38-13 on the road. The game marked the first road win against a Big Ten foe since 1980 for MSU. A special season could be in the works for Taylor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Loser: Oregon<\/p>\n

One lackluster performance is forgivable for Oregon. Back-to-back letdowns is a trend. One week after a dogfight against Boise State<\/a>, the Ducks lost a disastrous game against Oklahoma State. Giving up points to Drew Mestemaker and Caleb Hawkins<\/a> can be forgiven as both players will be playing on Sundays. Getting suffocated offensively was unacceptable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ducks rushed for just 90 yards on 3.0 yards per carry against an Oklahoma State squad that gave up 134 yards against Tulsa. Quarterback Dante Moore<\/a>, a projected top NFL Draft<\/a> pick, hit on only three of his first 11 passes and completed fewer than 50% overall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oregon replaced both coordinators after their incumbents left for head coaching jobs, and Dan Lanning looks neutered without them. The talent is still off the page, but the Ducks are suddenly in the danger zone facing a difficult schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Winner: QB Austin Simmons, Missouri<\/p>\n

Kansas<\/a> didn’t hold back any trash talk in the leadup to the rivalry game and jumped out to an early lead against the Tigers. With 30 seconds remaining in the half, the Jayhawks held a seven-point lead. Then, Simmons happened. The senior threw for a pair of touchdowns in the next five minutes\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simmons was regarded as a star in the making during his time at Ole Miss<\/a> before getting nudged out by a little-known transfer named Trinidad Chambliss<\/a>. It turns out, Lane Kiffin might have just had a legendary quarterback room. Simmons looks the part of an SEC star, especially with outstanding receivers Donovan Olugbode<\/a> and Cayden Lee<\/a> alongside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"team
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Loser: UNLV<\/p>\n

Dan Mullen’s Rebels were regarded as a serious contender for the Group of Six’s College Football Playoff bid heading into the season after a promising first year in Las Vegas. Three games into the season, UNLV’s<\/a> national aspirations are completely extinguished.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UNLV lost to North Texas by a stunning score of 44-6, an unexpected beatdown for Neal Brown’s<\/a> squad. The Mean Green posted 444 yards of offense behind a strong performance from quarterback Tayven Jackson<\/a>. North Texas had to replace every single starter after a roster exodus to Stillwater. How is UNLV this far behind?\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"College football delivers major upsets every year, but Week 2 was one for the record books. Oklahoma State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":999253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[20706,70448,69682,331,6446,130913,67726,7,15709,112135,71,7209,7206,49,48,41096,1787,4723,7207,575,21590,1078,65456,1442],"class_list":["post-999252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-austin-simmons","tag-caleb-hawkins","tag-cayden-lee","tag-college-football","tag-dante-moore","tag-donovan-olugbode","tag-drew-mestemaker","tag-football","tag-john-mateer","tag-kamario-taylor","tag-michigan-wolverines","tag-mississippi-state-bulldogs","tag-missouri-tigers","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-north-texas-mean-green","tag-oklahoma-sooners","tag-oklahoma-state-cowboys","tag-ole-miss-rebels","tag-oregon-ducks","tag-tayven-jackson","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-trinidad-chambliss","tag-unlv-rebels"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117260987510535411","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/999253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}