Week 2 brings a fuller slate, bigger stages and a handful of games that should tell us a lot more about where things stand early in the 2026 season.
The day starts at noon on Fox with No. 11 Oklahoma at Michigan, a matchup that puts Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood across from what’s being billed as one of Brent Venables’ most aggressive defenders. That one has the feel of a true early test.
A little later, No. 2 Georgia gets back to non-conference business at 12:45 p.m.
ET on the SEC Network, hosting Western Kentucky in the program’s first-ever “Unleashed White Out” game. The Bulldogs are trying to keep the sharp edge while they get ready for their first-ever nine-game conference schedule.
At 3:30 p.m. on CBS, Mississippi State travels to Minnesota in a nonconference on-campus matchup that actually looks even on paper. It’s the first meeting between the schools, and the first time either program has played a regular-season game against a team from the other conference in more than 40 years.
The evening stretch starts at 7 p.m. on ESPN, where No. 18 Tennessee goes to Georgia Tech. After Furman, this is a clear step up in challenge, though that didn’t look so obvious a week ago after the Yellow Jackets were controlled at the line of scrimmage by Colorado.
Then comes the biggest one: No. 1 Ohio State at No.
4 Texas at 7:30 p.m. on ABC. Last season’s Week 1 meeting between these two top-five teams was a dud, so the hope here is that the rematch finally delivers the drama the matchup promised.
Dawgs247’s staff dug into the film and scouting reports and made their against-the-spread picks for the week, along with an upset selection each.
In Other News...
Georgia Is Caught In A Growing SEC Fight Over LSU
The SECs latest round of soul-searching over LSUs roster moves did not produce a clean finish, but it did keep the issue squarely in front of the leagues top decision-makers. Presidents and chancellors held a videoconference to address the controversy surrounding LSU adding former NFL players to its football roster, and the conference came away saying it would keep working toward a resolution as the matter continues to ripple across the league.
For Georgia, the bigger concern is less about the headlines than the precedent. LSUs decision to fill its final two roster spots prevented a vote to expel the school from the SEC, even as legal actions continue and the conference tries to preserve its authority to discipline LSU. At the center of the fight is a basic question of control over a football program, and the SEC is still trying to show it has the power to answer it. [Read more 🡒]
Stetson Bennett Finally Got His NFL Shot But One Rams Question Looms
Stetson Bennett finally got the NFL moment he had been waiting for, and it came with a familiar kind of pressure attached. Named the Los Angeles Rams backup quarterback over rookie Ty Simpson for the season opener, Bennett was in position to back up the starter and then got into the game late, completing two of three passes and adding nine rushing yards in his first appearance.
Sean McVays comments afterward made clear the job is still something the Rams are sorting through, not something that has been handed out for good. The team wants to develop both quarterbacks, which leaves Bennett in a spot Georgia fans know well: on the doorstep of a bigger role, but still needing to hold it off as the season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Georgias Gunner Stockton Is Already Facing A Heisman Tradeoff
Gunner Stocktons opening week was always going to come with a little extra scrutiny, and Georgias decision to keep him on a short leash against Tennessee State only sharpened it. He got just five drives in the opener, a choice Kirby Smart made with health in mind rather than letting his quarterback pile up the kind of numbers that tend to move Heisman conversations early in the season.
The result was a slide in Stocktons Heisman stock, from the top 10 to 16th, but Georgia hardly sounds bothered by the ranking shuffle. Stockton is still in the mix, just in a different way now, with the Bulldogs more interested in keeping him upright and building toward a national championship than chasing an individual trophy in September. [Read more 🡒]