College football’s Week 2 was a demolition derby for preseason expectations: Oklahoma State ended a 21-game losing streak against FBS competition by shocking No. 6 Oregon 39-31, and Arch Manning erased a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to steal a 24-23 win over No. 1 Ohio State. Both winning quarterbacks were homework for pro scouts. Both losing ones raised real questions.
📈 Stock Rising
Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State — Bounced back from a dismal Week 1 loss at Tulsa to lead the biggest upset of the young season, outdueling Oregon 39-31. He opened the game with a 75-yard run, then finished 26-of-43 for 317 yards and 2 passing touchdowns, adding 110 net rushing yards and a third score on the ground.
The arm talent and the wheels are both real, and a Week 1-to-Week 2 bounce-back was the unlikely outcome Mestemaker needed to revive his draft stock and transfer hype. He is a scramble-heavy player who has to continue to show he can win from a clean pocket before teams trust him there on Sundays.
Arch Manning, QB, Texas — Despite a shaky start marred by receiver drops and a freaky tipped pass that led to an interception, Arch led Texas to a dramatic 24-23 victory over No. 1 Ohio State in the game of the year (so far). Down by 20 entering the fourth quarter, Manning engineered three consecutive touchdown drives, highlighted by clutch, off-schedule conversions on 4th-and-9 to Emaree Winston and 4th-and-6 to Emmett Mosley V. While his final stat line (23-of-37, 195 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) appears modest, his final two quarters highlight elite traits NFL evaluators will value a ton. He showcased quick decisiveness, elite composure, and anticipation in a high-pressure, adversity-filled game vs. premier competition.
Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole Miss — 23-of-26, 225 yards, 2 TDs in a 41-9 win over Charlotte, following a 41-38 comeback win over Louisville in Week 1. Faces Sam Leavitt and LSU — and his old coach, Lane Kiffin — in Week 3.
Darian Mensah, QB, Miami — Leads the nation with a 91.1% completion rate and has 8 TD passes against just 1 interception through two games (653 yards). Statistically the most efficient quarterback in the country right now.
Jayden Maiava, QB, USC — Started 0-for-3 with an interception against Louisiana, then completed 19 of his next 26 passes for 261 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 49-30 win. Through three games: 80.7% completion, 896 yards, 11 total TDs, 1 INT.
CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame — 16-of-20, 253 yards, 4 TDs in a 52-0 win over Rice, averaging 10.0 yards per attempt on the season.
Kamario Taylor, QB, Mississippi State — Hello, Kamario! 16-of-22, 227 yards, 3 passing TDs plus 86 rushing yards in a 38-13 win over Minnesota. The 19-year-old sophomore won’t be ready until the 2028 NFL Draft, but he has already been a name featured in the Heisman conversation through two weeks.
Josh Hoover, QB, Indiana — 6-of-11, 145 yards, 4 TDs (3 to Charlie Becker) in a 55-0 rout of Howard, following a 13-of-16, 231-yard, 4-TD Week 1 outing against North Texas. He’s thrown 4 touchdowns in each of his first two games.
Hauss Hejny, QB, Colorado State — 18-of-30, 325 yards, 4 passing TDs, plus 85 rushing yards and a 75-yard rushing touchdown in a 58-24 win over Southern Utah. The Oklahoma State transfer has 9 passing TDs and a rushing score through two games and was named to PFF’s national Team of the Week.
Jaylin Carter, RB, Memphis — 9 carries, 95 yards, 1 TD (an 80-yard score, his sixth of the season) plus a catch, against Boise State — held to just 15 yards on his other 8 carries.
Nate Sheppard, RB, Duke — 29 touches, 188 total yards, 3 TDs (24 carries for 147 yards and a score, plus 5 catches for 41 yards and 2 receiving TDs) in a 31-27 comeback win over Illinois — Duke trailed 24-14 in the second quarter before Sheppard took over. Illinois’ Collin Dixon (see below) was every bit his equal statistically, so this was a shootout, not a one-man show, but Sheppard was the one who kept answering.
Three-down back with legitimate receiving-game juice and the contact balance to survive between the tackles at the next level. Already regarded as a potential Round 1 talent in the 2028 class.
Cam Edwards, RB, Michigan State — The UConn transfer carried 21 times for 152 yards and 2 TDs, plus a 5-yard catch, against Eastern Michigan — 22 touches, 157 total yards, in a 35-7 win. He now leads the Big Ten in rushing (250 yards through two games) and had two 30-plus-yard runs in the second half.
Prototypical frame with vision and contact balance that translates against any level of competition. A Day 3 name to track as the schedule gets tougher.
Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State — 8 catches, 164 yards, 1 TD (20.5 YPR) against Texas, earning an 81.5 PFF grade on 15-plus targets — in a game Ohio State ultimately lost. PFN analyst Ian Cummings singled out his release technique specifically, praising how intentional he is selling the vertical stem with a head-fake before breaking off it.
Widely regarded as the best prospect in college football regardless of position, and dominant performances like this are exactly why. If he declares, he’s in the No. 1-overall conversation.
Reed Harris, WR, Arizona State — The Boston College transfer caught 9 passes for 189 yards and 2 TDs against No. 10 Texas A&M, including a 58-yard score, in a 48-20 loss. Through two games he has 15 catches, 326 yards (4th nationally) and 4 TDs (5th nationally) — PFF has him as the No. 2 graded receiver in the country through two weeks, behind only Miami’s Malachi Toney.
6-foot-5 with legit vertical speed and now a two-game sample against a ranked defense. That combination of size, speed and early production is a real Day 2 case, even on a team that’s losing.
Collin Dixon, WR, Illinois — Set an Illinois school record with 3 receiving touchdowns in the first half alone and finished with 11 catches for 166 yards in the loss to Duke — both career highs.
Contested-catch ability and route savvy that shows up even in a losing effort against a good defense. Day 3 developmental profile with WR1 flashes.
Charlie Becker, WR, Indiana — 3 catches, 81 yards, 3 TDs against Howard — scoring on every touch he had — after a 2-TD Week 1 outing against North Texas. He has zero career drops and is averaging 20.7 yards per reception on the season.
Efficiency numbers like this on a run-heavy offense (Indiana called this a run-first script and still fed him 3 touchdowns) suggest a real chain-mover with red-zone trust from his quarterback — traits that carry over regardless of scheme.
Tony Diaz, WR, Iowa — 8 catches, 95 yards in a tight 16-13 win over Iowa State, following an 84-yard, 1-TD debut against Northern Illinois. The UTRGV transfer has 15 catches for 179 yards through two games and looks like Iowa’s clear WR1.
USC’s Offensive Line — Kept Jayden Maiava clean all night against Louisiana, with 6 linemen playing 30-plus snaps and grading 70.0 or better on PFF, while powering a King Miller rushing day that averaged 7.1 yards per carry.
Clev Lubin, EDGE, Louisville — Still no sacks from one of our favorite EDGE rushers heading into the year, but two forced fumbles is the disruption we’ve come to expect Senior who is looking to secure double-digit sack for the first time in his collegiate career (9.5 at Coastal Carolina followed by 8.5 last year with Louisville).
Devon Jackson, LB, Oregon — Chased down Drew Mestemaker from behind to prevent an early touchdown, then five minutes later returned a tipped pass 96 yards for a pick-six and his first career interception.
TJ Dottery, LB, LSU — The Ole Miss transfer led LSU with 9 tackles (6 solo), 2 forced fumbles and a QB hurry against Louisiana Tech, earning PFF’s No. 2 defensive grade on the team (95.1) and a spot on PFF’s national Team of the Week.
Jackson Forrest, LB, Old Dominion — Followed a dominant Week 1 (94.1 PFF grade, 3 sacks, a forced fumble against Norfolk State) with another sack in a tougher matchup at Virginia Tech.
Jyaire Hill, CB, Michigan — With the game tied 10-10, Hill snatched the John Mateer pass out of the air and returned it down the sideline before being pushed out of bounds with 8:40 left in the fourth quarter. Less than a minute later, Michigan scored the go-ahead touchdown.
💎 Non-Power-4 Gem
Hunter Tipton, TE, Memphis — 9 catches, 229 yards, 1 TD (an 87-yard score) against Boise State was the most receiving yards by a Memphis player since 2021 and the second-most in a single game by any FBS tight end in 2026 (just 5 yards off the all-time FBS tight end record). PFF named him to its Team of the Week with a reported 9.96 yards-per-route-run figure and 6 forced missed tackles. Memphis blew a 20-17 halftime lead and fell 38-20 as Boise State scored 32 of the game’s final 35 points. TIpton is 6-foot-5 and is showing the production that gets a Group of Six tight end into Day 3 conversations.
📉 Pump the Brakes
Dante Moore, QB, Oregon — Went 14-of-29 (under 50% completion) in the loss to Oklahoma State, struggling under pressure on critical downs. Oregon’s offensive line issues and multiple receiver drops didn’t help, and a Dierre Hill Jr. fumble compounded things, but inaccuracy from the junior quarterback paired with the massive upset sets the Dante Moore draft discussion back a few steps.
Sam Leavitt, QB, LSU — Leavitt passed for 344 yards but threw 3 interceptions in the first half alone, one of which was returned 100 yards for a touchdown, against a Louisiana Tech team that had allowed 80 points to an FCS opponent the week before. LSU still won 45-14, salvaged by 3 Leavitt rushing touchdowns, but head coach Lane Kiffin called it “a big reality check.”
The rushing juice and arm strength are legitimate NFL traits, but three turnover-worthy plays against a defense this thin is a red decision-making flag. Through two games he has just 2 TD passes.
John Mateer, QB, Oklahoma
17-of-33 for 189 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT and just never had control of the offense or game in a 17-10 loss to Michigan. The fourth-quarter interception that directly set up the Wolverines’ game-winning score capped off a terrible day that started with going 7-of-16 for 52 yards in the first half.
It’s the second straight game with real accuracy and decision-making questions for Mateer. This matchup and other ones like it were certainly important factors for returning to the Sooners. He’ll need to clean a lot up before the Georgia and Texas gauntlet later this month. And keep the helmet on, 10!
Noah Fifita, QB, Arizona — The active FBS career passing-touchdown leader was held to 23-of-31 for 230 yards and 1 touchdown in a tough road loss to BYU, a sixth straight defeat to the Cougars for Arizona.
An undersized senior with this much experience getting neutralized by a decent-to-good BYU defense won’t help Fifita’s draft stock.
Ryan Wingo, WR, Texas — Dropped a wide-open first-half touchdown from Manning while Texas trailed 10-0 — part of a season-long drop problem (8 in 2025) that’s becoming a real trend, not a blip.
Ryan Coleman-Williams, WR, Alabama — Managed just 4 catches for 43 yards vs. Kentucky and is on an 8-game touchdown drought.
David Stone, IDL, Oklahoma — Was a non-factor against Michigan — zero tackles, zero pressures on 29 snaps, continuing a quiet start to 2026.
Rasheem Biles, LB, Texas — posted a career-low 45.2 PFF grade, repeatedly targeted and beaten in coverage by Ohio State’s Julian Sayin for 7 catches and 90 yards.
🔭 Next Week’s Scouting Circle
- Sam Leavitt/LSU at Trinidad Chambliss/Ole Miss (Sept. 19): Lane Kiffin returns to the building he coached in last season. Leavitt needs to show the three-interception night was an outlier against a real defense; Chambliss gets a chance to keep building his Heisman case against a quarterback getting more draft buzz than he is.
- Northern Illinois at Arizona (Sept. 19): A get-right spot for Noah Fifita after the quiet showing against BYU. Worth watching whether the completion rate and TD production bounce back immediately or whether last week’s dip carries over.
- UTSA at Texas (Sept. 19): Arch Manning’s first start off the signature comeback win. The real evaluation question: does the poise from the fourth quarter show up from snap one against a lesser opponent, or was Saturday’s performance more about the moment than a durable improvement?
- SMU vs. Louisville (Sept. 19): Louisville are roughly three point favorites in a matchup that features two exciting quarterbacks in Kevin Jennings and Lincoln Kienholz. Kienholz has gotten off to a strong start for the Cardinals this season, completing 68% of his passes for 639 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. It has been more of the same for veteran Kevin Jennings, leading the Mustangs to an early 2-0 start.
- Michigan State at Notre Dame (Sept. 19): Michigan State is off to a 2-0 start with the aforementioned Big Ten rushing leader Cam Edwards. The Spartans battle a steep jump in competition for the Megaphone Trophy, facing the aforementioned quarterback CJ Carr and a top-15 national defense.
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