College football pressure cooker for Week 2 includes Steve Sarkisian, Bryce Underwood
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It’s just Week 2 and we’re already talking Heisman Trophy, hot seats, buyouts and the College Football Playoff.
The pressure is on the best teams, programs and coaches in the Bowl Subdivision to start fast or face early elimination from the national picture. We’ve seen how a bad performance can lead to a quick reevaluation of where things stand — here’s looking at you, Dabo Swinney and Clemson.
Let’s get ready for Saturday by looking at the coach, quarterback, coordinator, playoff contender and program under the most pressure in this Week 2 slate.
That conversation begins with the biggest game of the weekend and what may end up being the most impactful game of the regular season: No. 1 Ohio State at No. 3 Texas.
Coach: Steve Sarkisian, Texas
In the end, last year’s 14-7 loss at Ohio State cost the Longhorns an at-large playoff berth. Assessing this year’s matchup in Austin, the Buckeyes enter Saturday with more room for error than Texas, which will face six teams in SEC play currently ranked in the US LBM Coaches Poll.
This is a must-win game for Sarkisian given the potential fallout from another year short of the playoff. In the expanded-format era, Texas is one of a handful of programs expecting to be in the bracket on an annual basis — and those expectations are even higher in 2026 given what the Longhorns acquired in the transfer portal and the fact that this is expected to be Arch Manning’s final season.
Quarterback: Bryce Underwood, Michigan
No quarterback heads into Week 2 under more pressure to deliver than Underwood, and that includes Manning, who is clearly under a bright spotlight heading into the Longhorns’ matchup with Ohio State.
The controversy over No. 24 Michigan’s last-second escape against Western Michigan hasn’t fueled Underwood’s critics, who point to a continued lack of development after an offseason under Kyle Whittingham and the Wolverines’ new coaching staff.
Against the Broncos, Underwood completed his first five attempts and then his last — that 47-yard bomb to win on Michigan’s second Hail Mary attempt — but went 6 of 16 in between with an interception and a fumble. Going back to last season, the sophomore has completed 59.9% of his attempts with 12 touchdowns against 10 interceptions.
You can see the reasoning behind Whittingham’s noncommittal to Underwood’s future as the starter.
“It's not something that's infinite,” he said on Monday. “At some point, we've got to turn a corner, and we've got to see improvement, as we've got to do with a bunch of stuff.”
Asked about Whittingham’s remarks, a clearly less-than-thrilled Underwood said, “There was comments about that? That’s cool. I didn’t see that.”
It’s clear that his time as the starter is coming to a head just as the Wolverines prepare for a crucial matchup at home against No. 10 Oklahoma and one of the nation's toughest defenses.
Playoff contender: Oklahoma
Oklahoma has turned a corner under Brent Venables, who responded to being placed on the hot seat heading into last season by leading the Sooners to a playoff berth.
As expected, he’s built an elite-level defense. Since the start of last year, OU has given up more than 5.1 yards per play just twice — in wins last year against Tennessee and Alabama — and began this season by holding Texas-El Paso to 198 yards on 3.5 yards per play.
But the Sooners will go only as far as their offense, which struggled down the stretch of last season after an injury to quarterback John Mateer. Healthy and playing in a tweaked offensive scheme under second-year coordinator Ben Arbuckle, Mateer had 225 passing yards and three scores without an interception in the opener.
There’s still reason for skepticism. The Wolverines may have serious deficiencies on offense but the defense has the pieces to be one of the best in the Big Ten, making this a revealing non-conference test for an OU team picked in the preseason as one of the favorites for an at-large playoff bid.
Coordinator: Arthur Smith, Ohio State
The other former NFL head coach on Ryan Day’s staff, along with defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, Smith is working with an NFL-ready lineup headed by Jeremiah Smith and quarterback Julian Sayin.
The early returns are terrific: Ohio State gained 671 yards (237 rushing and 434 passing) in the opener against Ball State and averaged 9.3 yards per play. Smith’s NFL background already seems like a strong fit for the Buckeyes’ wealth of skill talent.
One advantage of opening against a MAC opponent is the chance to look at the second tier of your depth chart; for example, 14 different players made at least one catch in the opener while four players had at least five carries. That could pay off down the line.
For this weekend, however, Smith’s blueprint will be put to the test by a Texas defense that gets far less attention than acclaim than the Longhorns’ offense but has been similarly boosted by a strong transfer class, including preseason All-America linebacker Rasheem Biles.
Program: Clemson
Clemson should win on Saturday, though the team that lost to No. 8 LSU by 41 points could probably lose to anyone, Georgia Southern included.
There’s enormous pressure on Dabo Swinney to quickly turn around the Tigers’ season, but how he plans to do that — or if that’s even a possibility — remains an unknown. One immediate issue is the play at quarterback after longtime backup Christopher Vizzina looked overwhelmed and unready for the moment in Death Valley.
That means the time could be coming for true freshman Tait Reynolds, who made six pass attempts against LSU and didn’t look much better than Vizzina.
And more changes could come on the offensive line as soon as Saturday. To be facing the prospect of an early-season personnel shuffle is the latest indictment of the way Clemson has approached roster management in the transfer-portal era.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football pressure cooker for Week 2 includes Steve Sarkisian, Bryce Underwood
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