Fortuna Files: The scoreboard does the talking
Just ask Oregon, which avoided the Week 2 blues that plagued some of its peers.
Here are 18 thoughts on a Week 2 that left fan bases of several bluebloods wanting more. Except for Oregon’s. The Ducks seemed to figure things out just fine.
1. Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the AP poll all looked underwhelming, didn’t they? No. 2 Penn State beat FIU 34-0 in a game that was just 10-0 at halftime, No. 3 LSU beat Louisiana Tech 23-7, and No. 4 Georgia beat FCS Austin Peay 28-6. If only one of these teams looked sluggish, perhaps that would warrant concern. The fact that all three did — on a weekend that featured far too many FBS-FCS games — is probably nothing more than a case of talented teams working out some early-season kinks.
2. You know who looked outstanding? Oregon, that’s who. But my biggest takeaway from the Ducks’ 69-3 win over Oklahoma State wasn’t necessarily about Nike University. No, this was about the Cowboys, a program that was in the Big 12 title game two years ago, was a yard away from the Playoff just four years ago and had been a perennial top-20 team in the 15 years before that. What the hell happened to the Pokes? How did it get so bad that Mike Gundy was essentially conceding defeat before his team even kicked off in Eugene? (“Oregon is paying a lot, a lot of money for their team,” Gunday said earlier in the week. “From a nonconference standpoint, there’s coaches saying they should play teams that are spending the same amount of money.”)
3. Oklahoma State went 3-9 last season. Gundy, who has led his alma mater since 2005, took a paycut. He’s probably not a candidate to get fired in-season, at least not yet, but if this showing was indicative of what’s to come this season, it’s going to be a long fall in Stillwater.
4. For the record, I thought Dan Lanning’s response earlier in the week was perfect: “And we spend to win. Some people save to have an excuse for why they don’t, right?”