What to Watch, Week 2: Michigan State and Oregon will have College Football Playoff implications

College football is only a week old and we already have College Football Playoff drama, Heisman contenders and a couple coaches who might find themselves in the unemployment line before the year concludes.

If you spent college football’s first weekend on a boat, at work or trying to extinguish the fire from grilling gone bad, here’s what you might have missed:

Georgia running back Todd Gurley emerged as a top candidate for the Heisman after rushing for 198 yards and two scores and taking a 100-yard kickoff return to the house against Clemson.

Meanwhile, Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill became the new hot name to emerge as a potential Heisman candidate after throwing for 511 yards and three touchdowns in a 52-28 upset of South Carolina.

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner had a rough start to the 2014 season, but still managed to provide at least one highlight:

Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty cracked two bones in his back in a gimme game against SMU (but can still play this weekend) and Texas quarterback David Ash suffered yet another concussion, leaving his college future in doubt.

Auburn looked impressive, as did Baylor, Michigan, Notre Dame and USC. But Oregon State, Washington, Texas Tech and UCLA all have some work to do.

This coach lost to a FCS team for the second consecutive season and might be on his way out of Ames:

Louisiana-Monroe actually wore this uniforms (if you can see them **camo joke**)

Youngstown State showed us how to send a punt into the rear end of a teammate:

Eastern Michigan took almost 20 seconds to get past its own concrete inspired entrance:

And someone needs to add this Auburn ball boy to their roster:

I think that’s everything. Let’s look ahead to this week:

Game of the week:

No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 3 Oregon, 6:30 p.m. ET

If there’s one benefit to the College Football Playoff, it’s that nonconference games like this one will be commonplace and the college football-loving world will be better for it. This game is about Oregon’s offense against Michigan State’s defense and which will reign supreme. Both teams had impressive Week 1 triumphs, but this will be a true test of whether either of these teams in not only ready to win their respective conferences, but to take a spot in the four-team playoff. Oregon returns starting quarterback Marcus Mariota and a slew of weapons while Michigan State lost six starters from its stellar defense a year ago. However, Michigan State plays a similar style of defense to Stanford, a team that his given the Ducks fits the past few years. Oregon should win this game, but it could be closer than many expect.

Game to watch:

No. 14 USC vs. No. 15 Stanford, 3:30 p.m. ET

There’s a lot of animosity between Stanford coach David Shaw and new USC coach Steve Sarkisian, and though both coaches claim that the drama of faking injuries is in the past, their dislike of each other is a strong motivator in this contest. USC was one of the most impressive teams of the opening weekend after shutting out off-field adversity and crushing a decent Fresno State team. The USC defense might have a slight advantage as Stanford continues to adapt to a new offensive line. A lot of focus will be on the quarterbacks. Stanford’s Kevin Hogan was hit-and-miss last season and Cody Kessler had a nice season opener, but expectations are high. Even though USC is the underdog here, it has more to prove in the game.

Also check out…

Michigan vs. No. 16 Notre Dame, 6:30 p.m. ET

Pour one out for this game because it’s the final contest in this current series and there are no plans for these two teams to play again in the near future. It’s hard to know what to make of these two teams. Michigan annihilated Appalachian State and Notre Dame had its way with Rice. If they had switched opponents, the results probably would have been the same. The fact that this game is at Notre Dame is a little bit of an advantage, but I think Michigan is going to be eager to show that it is a better team than many believe it is. Right now, no one has high expectations for the Wolverines, but a win against a ranked Irish team (a team that maybe shouldn’t be ranked) will do wonders for the Wolverines’ outlook. Either way, this game will be close.

Don't waste your time with:

No. 15 Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt, 4:30 p.m. ET

Ole Miss put a scare into its fans with a shaky performance against Boise State in the season opener, but Saturday’s game against Vandy is a chance for a big rebound. Vandy had a miserable season-opening loss to Temple. Vanderbilt has a lot of uncertainty at quarterback and has some ball security issues it needs to address. And to try to correct all of that against an Ole Miss team that’s going to be itching to have a good start to the SEC season probably isn’t going to work out well. Ole Miss wins this one in a romp.

Keep an eye on:

Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State

One overlooked piece in the Oregon-Michigan State game is Spartans quarterback Connor Cook, who came into his own during the Rose Bowl victory against Stanford and played well in the season opener against Jacksonville State. He completed 12-of-13 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns before taking a seat in the second half of the season opener. Cook’s passing ability as well as his repertoire with receiver Tony Lippett, who had four catches for 167 yards and two scores, will keep the Oregon defense honest and open up the running game for Jeremy Langford and Nick Hill.

Upset alert:

Western Kentucky (+6) at Illinois, 12 p.m. ET

Western Kentucky looked impressive in its season opener against the reigning Mid-American Conference champion Bowling Green. Coach Jeff Brohm appears to have picked up where former coach Bobby Petrino left off and that spells trouble for an Illinois team that seems like it’s still getting its bearings with new starting quarterback Wes Lunt. The Illini struggled to a come-from-behind 28-17 win against Youngstown State because of Lunt’s slow start. If the Illini have a similar start against Western Kentucky, the Hilltoppers will capitalize and it won’t end well for Illinois. I think WKU wins this one straight up.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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