Week 2 College Football: Dante Moore's Oregon Return Struggles, Arch Manning Rallies Texas

Dante Moore should have left for the NFL after last season.

Frankly, that'd probably be true even if Oregon's offense looked more explosive and efficient than it did a year ago (spoiler: It doesn't). As a potential top-3 draft pick, Moore could be preparing for his first NFL game right now. Maybe it'd be with the New York Jets. Or maybe in Arizona as the future of the Cardinals' organization. It is nearly unprecendented nowadays for a top-3 pick to eschew the pros , even in the NIL era.

Instead of preparing to make his NFL debut Sunday afternoon, Moore is fending off criticism after No. 6 Oregon's stunning 39-31 loss to Oklahoma State . Moore threw two touchdowns but was 14 of 29 and finished with a 26 QBR. If the season goes into the tank, he's going to end up leaving precious guaranteed NFL money on the table.

The word "stunning" can be overused at times but this is an Oklahoma State team that was a 24-point underdog and lost to Tulsa last week. A program that last beat a FBS opponent in 2024, hadn't beaten a top six opponent since 2022 and had lost its last 12 games. The Cowboys hadn't scored more than 30 points in a game since November 2024.

Relative to the lofty preseason expectations Oregon entered this season, it's the worst loss of the Dan Lanning era in Eugene. And it immediately calls into question Lanning's decision to internally promote Drew Mehringer to offensive coordinator and Chris Hampton to defensive coordinator rather than bringing in an outside voice. Mehringer had bounced around college football , including being let go at Texas as passing game coordinator, before catching on at Oregon under previous offensive coordinators Kenny Dillingham and Will Stein. Moore's future is in Mehringer's hands now.

There was a lot not to like about an offensive performance that totaled only 281 yards, went 5 for 14 on third downs and looked disjointed against the Cowboys. The nadir was a foolhardy decision to go for it on 4th-and-8 on Oregon's own 33-yard line in the fourth quarter when Moore and the offense looked confused and unprepared to execute the play. It's officially a trend at this point after Oregon struggled a week ago, particularly in the run game, and was 4 for 12 on third down attempts.

The defense wasn't any better giving up 554 yards to Oklahoma State, headlined by quarterback Drew Mestemaker throwing for 317 yards and two touchdowns and running for another 109 yards and a score. Group of 6 program Tulsa did a significantly better job keeping Mestemaker in check a week ago than the Ducks did.

Continuity at the coordinator position is such an underrated component in this current era of college football. It's especially noticeable when you go from one of the game's brightest offensive minds to a retread who seems to struggle making in-game adjustments.

The appeal of the Last Dance run it back to try to win it all is obvious. But through only two games, it is looking equally obvious that Moore should have moved on.

A legendary season brewing for Arch and Texas

No one was going to get spared from the blame.

Not Steve Sarkisian.

Not Will Muschamp.

Not Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman

And certainly not Arch Manning.

Yet again, Texas' offense looked anemic against Ohio State . The Longhorns managed a mere five offensive yards in the first quarter, their fewest since against TCU in 2017, according to the talented CBS Sports research team.

It looked bleak for Texas down 20-3 at halftime. You could feel the hot take narratives building against everyone associated with the program. It was going to get mean -- and yes, I have deleted a lot of copy.

And, then, something improbable happened. Texas battled its way back to one of the great comebacks we've ever seen. In fact, it is the first time a No. 1 team has blown a 20-point lead since 1988.

Manning was at the center of it all, delivering what could be a career highlight fourth-quarter peformance as Texas furiously rallied and scored 21 unanswered points to win. His final numbers don't blow you away -- 23 for 37 for 196 yards, one touchdown and one interception -- but the resolve he showed down the stretch was encouraging. On a day that started with ESPN's College GameDay comparing him to former New York Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch and his famous yips (anybody who's ever had the yips knows you're not supposed to talk about it), Arch kept finding Emmett Mosley V to move the ball down the field on the game-winning drive. If he wins the Heisman Trophy, the indelible moment he left voters with Saturday night will be a big reason why.

It feels crazy to think a game against the No. 1 team in the country is anything close to a must win game. But knowing it was at home and how last season's team disappointed, there was a lot of pressure on Sark and Arch to leave Saturday night with a victory. They overcame all that and a pitiful first half to secure the most impressive win of the season.

If Texas can be much more like the fourth-quarter version of itself and not the first-quarter one, this could be the early start of an epic season in Austin. A CFP appearance is a safe bet. A run to Las Vegas could be in the cards. And with it, Arch has the chance to leave town as an all-time Texas legend.

Oklahoma isn't making the playoff

I was more down on Oklahoma than just about anyone nationally and that take is looking pretty, pretty, pretty good after Week 2. The Sooners were a mess offensively, lost two turnovers and could never overcome falling behind early against the Wolverines. Quarterback John Mateer's fourth-quarter interception that Michigan returned to OU's 6-yard line killed the Sooners in Ann Arbor and could be a harbinger of what's still to come this season.

Oklahoma was a mess at the end of last season offensively, too, and the go-to excuse of Mateer being hurt no longer applies. Soon the finger-pointing will head offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle's way.

Through two weeks Oklahoma is 1-1 and still has the following games left on its schedule: at No. 2 Georgia , No. 4 Texas, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 23 Missouri . And that doesn't even take into account Florida, Mississippi State, Kentucky and South Carolina which all look better than they did a year ago. There's a good chance Oklahoma has three losses before it even travels to Florida in early November. It's why Oklahoma was my preseason pick to start in the top 10 and finish unranked by season's end.

Oklahoma rewarded Brent Venables last month with a big contract extension that makes him $10.5 million annually. If he finishes 7-5 or so this season, that's not going to feel great.

The best QBs are in Mississippi

It's not the Texas 1-2 of Texas'  Arch Manning  and  Texas A&M's   Marcel Reed . Or  Indiana's  combo of the Hoosiers'  Josh Hoover  and  Notre Dame's   CJ Carr . Nor is it the top quarterbacks in the state of  Florida  with  Miami's   Darian Mensah  and Florida's  Aaron Philo .

No, if you want the best 1-2 quarterback combo in the country you must travel to the Magnolia State.  Ole Miss '  Trinidad Chambliss , a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, shouldn't surprise you. Chambliss' late-game heroics over  Louisville  are why Ole Miss is undefeated headed into its much anticipated Week 3 game against former head coach Lane Kiffin.

The revelation has been  Mississippi State's   Kamario Taylor , who has somehow already out-played a hefty helping of offseason hype stemming from a dazzling performance at the Manning Passing Academy.

In a blowout 38-13 road win over  Minnesota , Taylor was terrific. He threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 86 yards. He made it look easy against Minnesota, giving Mississippi State a 2-0 record before its SEC opener against South Carolina. Mississippi State was better than its record indicated last season but struggled to hold on to late leads. With Taylor leading the way, the ceiling feels higher for the Bulldogs than it has in years.

There have been some great quarterbacks who have come through the state of Mississippi. From the Mannings and Jaxson Dart at Ole Miss to Dak Prescott and Will Rogers for Mississippi State. But this feels like a particularly special time in Mississippi with these two guys at the helm. If both can stay healthy, this year's Egg Bowl will be full of offensive fireworks.

Props to Duke

Duke got dealt a particularly unfair blow when Darian Mensah left for Miami just as the transfer portal was closing. Mensah had already announced he was returning to Duke after the star quarterback helped guide the Blue Devils to an ACC Championship in his first season in Durham.

With Mensah's late decision timing, there wasn't much Duke could do to replace him. For a lot of programs, losing a guy who is currently the Heisman Trophy favorite would be devastating.

It's why Duke deserves a special shoutout for starting the season 2-0 with wins over Tulane and Illinois . A road win over what could be a pretty decent Big Ten team feels especially impressive for Manny Diaz's bunch. Walker Eget was a warrior, playing through an injury and finishing with three touchdowns.

With Stanford and William & Mary up next, Duke should be 4-0 headed into Georgia Tech . The ceiling already feels higher than it did before the season started, and that's quite the positive development for a Duke program that never complained over the unfairness of the Mensah situation and just went to work.

Good for Drinkwitz

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz was fired up after his team beat Kansas , 38-21, in the Border War rivalry game.

"I was embarrassed for them, to be honest," Drinkwitz said. "That's why I tried to embarrass them at the end." While up 38-21 with 28 seconds left,  Missouri tried to add an exclamation point with a throw to the endzone that went incomplete.

Why was Drinkwitz so spicy? It stems from what is easily the wildest football game hype video I've ever seen which included references to the Civil War and abolitionist John Brown. Its aggressive nature certainly got people talking -- an insane 37 million people have watched it -- including Drinkwitz, who said he didn't care if the rivalry continued. The two teams aren't scheduled to play again until 2031.

"If they want to have a football game and play the football game, a great rivalry on the border, then awesome, let's do it," Drinkwitz. "But if they want to make it deeper than that, we left Kansas bleeding again and call it good."

> It is that deep. pic.twitter.com/4BEcdbLv7S — Kansas Football (@KU_Football) September 10, 2026

I have no problem with Kansas going all-in with its hype video, just like I have no problem with Drinkwitz being upset and wanting to show his displeasure on the field. If you're going to go there , you have to be prepared for a strong reaction.

Kansas may have won the hype video battle, but Missouri won where it mattered most Friday night out on the field.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-week-2-overreactions-results-dante-moore-oregon-nfl/)._