The story of the second week of the 2026 college football season can be told in two playcalls.First: Oregon coach Dan Lanning opting to go for fourth-and-8 on his own 33-yard line with 6:53 left in his team’s eventual 39–31 loss to Oklahoma State. The gamble failed, and the Cowboys kicked a field goal on their way to their first win in a calendar year. Second: Texas coach Steve Sarkisian’s ill-fated reverse call on fourth-and-1 late in the second quarter against Ohio State. That turned into a 10-yard loss for wide receiver Ryan Wingo, and a touchdown for the Buckeyes before half’s end.What did these plays have in common? They both showcased two great coaches overthinking. A healthy, statistically supported boldness is one thing, but both Lanning and Sarkisian trafficked in recklessness—Lanning a recklessness of situation, and Sarkisian a recklessness of playcalling.Which of these two coaches ultimately emerged victorious Saturday? The coach that took a deep breath and let the game come to him.Here’s hoping your team remained calm when the chips were down on a hot day from coast to coast. Welcome to this week’s edition of winners and losers.Winner: Arch ManningThis paragraph was originally supposed to fawn over Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who dazzled early and closed with 164 receiving yards on eight catches. As the evening wore on, however, it became clear that the night belonged to Manning. This is weird to say about a fourth-year college quarterback, but Manning truly arrived as he led the Longhorns to an unreal comeback from 23–3 down—particularly on the final drive, when he completed four of five passes for 48 yards before running back Daylan “Hollywood” Smothers punched in the go-ahead score. A No. 1 next to Texas’s name when it hosts UTSA next Saturday seems probable.Arch Manning overcame a rough first half to lead Texas back from a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit and beat Ohio State. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters ConnectLosers: Ryan Day and Arthur SmithOn the other hand, this paragraph was being prepped for Sarkisian (the bit about the reverse in the intro stayed in—it still applies!). Day, however, put together a second-half game plan so conservative it’d rankle College GameDay guest/Senator Ted Cruz. Thanks to Day and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, Jeremiah Smith was nowhere to be found even as quarterback Julian Sayin struggled late. The Buckeyes will be fine—they shouldn’t be seriously tested again until visiting Iowa on Oct. 3—but have a lot of questions to answer.Winner: MichiganThe Wolverines took a hailstorm of flak, including in this space, for committing Grand Theft Western Michigan last Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. This Saturday, at the scene of the crime, Michigan needed no such chicanery—the Wolverines played extraordinary defense and let No. 11 Oklahoma and quarterback John Mateer beat themselves. Quarterback Bryce Underwood was shaky through the air (9-for-17, 111 yards), but ran for 87 yards and a touchdown—showing why offensive coordinator Jason Beck was so eager to orient his attack around Underwood’s skills. Michigan’s schedule is brutal, but Chekhov’s Broncos coming back into play in a CFP debate remains within the realm of possibility.Michigan bounced back from a rough performance against Western Michigan to upset Oklahoma on Saturday. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectLosers: Oregon and Dante MooreAfter carrying the Ducks past Boise State on a bad defensive day a week ago, Moore was off his game in Oregon’s return trip to Oklahoma State (the Ducks won 69–3 last season). He completed just 14 of his 29 pass attempts, managing 191 yards and two touchdowns through the air while his defense. Meanwhile, Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker showed out with 317 yards through the air—and 109 more on the ground. Fixing a defense that allowed 554 yards is a must with a trip to USC on the docket in two weeks.Winner: Kamario TaylorIs calling Taylor the most complete quarterback to suit up for Mississippi State since Dak Prescott crazy? After an offseason of quiet hype—Starkville, Miss., is far from the SEC’s madding crowd—Taylor parlayed a big day against Louisiana-Monroe into a terrific performance against Minnesota Saturday. Taylor’s statline: 16-for-22, 227 yards and three touchdowns through the air; 86 yards on 13 carries on the ground. Take the Bulldogs seriously—they could easily spring an upset during a breakneck Alabama-LSU-Sooners-Longhorns October.Kamario Taylor’s early season hype grows after he led Mississippi State to a win at Minnesota. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectLoser: Arizona StateWith respect to Ohio State, no team in the country blew a bigger opportunity Saturday than the Sun Devils in College Station, Texas. Arizona State hung in with No. 10 Texas A&M for the bulk of the afternoon Saturday (it was within 24–20 late in the third quarter), but absolutely refused to get out of its own way. Thanks to four turnovers and nine penalties, the Sun Devils lost a game where they outgained their opponent 369–255 by 28 points. They would’ve catapulted into the Top 25 ahead of their high-profile rendezvous with Kansas in London, but alas.Winner: TulsaWhile Oklahoma State took apart Oregon, a secret second winner lay in wait—coach Tre Lamb’s Golden Hurricane, 24–10 victors over the Cowboys last Saturday. Tulsa had to work, however, for its status in this column. The Golden Hurricane trailed Sam Houston 14–10 at the half, only taking the lead for good when immaculately named defensive lineman Tristan Lawyer took a fake punt and rumbled 56 yards for a third-quarter touchdown. Tulsa, which visits Arkansas in two weeks, has to be considered a Group of 6 CFP frontrunner.Tre Lamb and Tulsa avoided a letdown game against Sam Houston after beating Oklahoma State. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectLoser: Memphis, Navy and UNLV—three other Group of 6 contendersForecast the mid-major scene at your own risk, as three of its strongest candidates for CFP inclusion lost Saturday. Memphis’s 38–20 road loss to Boise State was not a huge shock, although few foresaw coach Charles Huff’s squad being completely shut out in the second half. More surprising was Navy falling 38–30 to Florida Atlantic, and briefly trailing 38–7 before exploding for 23 unanswered points late. And there was the Rebels’ complete meltdown against coach Neal Brown’s North Texas—a 44–6 verdict that constituted coach Dan Mullen’s program’s worst loss since 2021.Winner: Marty Whims and AkronThe true joy of college football (like all sports) is not to win but to take part—and on Saturday Akron won while Whims took part. Whims, a Cleveland real-estate CFO and longtime Zips fan who won a contest to serve as the team’s offensive coordinator for a series, discharged his duties Saturday against Robert Morris. His drive ended, unfortunately, in a fumble—but Akron cruised to a 45–10 victory, presumably sending Whims home happy. Kudos to the Zips, long one of FBS’s most cash-strapped teams, for thinking outside the box; kudos to Whims for living out the dream of armchair playcallers nationwide.Gameball 🏈#GoZips🦘 pic.twitter.com/n5pHCwQNKR— Akron Football (@ZipsFB) September 13, 2026Loser: ESPN—though one College GameDay feature deserves acknowledgementMedia-crit corner: ESPN committed two party fouls Saturday. First and foremost, Cruz receiving nearly 10 minutes to promote the Protect College Sports Act unchallenged on College GameDay with panelists Pat McAfee and Nick Saban hyping him up was wholly inappropriate, a fact that did not escape the law’s opponents’ notice (any of the bill’s Democratic co-sponsors doing the same would’ve been inappropriate as well). Second, while acknowledging that Mother Nature tied ESPN’s hands, the network ferrying the biggest upset of the day (Oregon-Oklahoma State) between three different stations was a major bummer. At its best, though, College GameDay remains capable of unparalleled storytelling—see its harrowing, poignant feature on Boston College lacrosse player-turned-Sept. 11 hero Welles Crowther.PODCAST: Listen to Sports Illustrated’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s college YouTube channel or on SI TV.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow