Week 2 in college football did what it always does: it handed out a few big wins, then left a handful of fan bases stewing in the wreckage. Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma and Minnesota all took their share of the pain, and the reactions were every bit as loud as the results.
Ohio State’s day was the sharpest kind of gut punch. The Buckeyes were on their way to a dominant 23-3 win over Texas before it flipped into a 24-23 loss.
That kind of collapse doesn’t just sting - it lingers. Ryan Day’s team is now 1-3 in its last four games, and the frustration around Columbus was impossible to miss.
“Ryan Day I love him. Love the culture he brings to Ohio State.
But he needs to get angry. He needs to be like Indiana.
Even if your winning by 40 pts doesn’t matter if it’s a bottom feeder or the #1 ranked team, your on the side lines flailing your arms spittin and screaming. …”
Another fan pointed to the recent run against ranked opponents and saw a pattern that’s becoming hard to ignore.
“Ohio State has lost their last three games against ranked teams - Texas, Miami, and Indiana. And they’ve all been pretty similar losses! He’s not learning at all but we’ll hear the same canned answers about toughness and being tested and whatever.”
The comparison to past Ohio State coaches was just as blunt.
“Last 3 Ohio State coaches to lose 3 of the last 4 games: John Cooper (1999)Luke Fickell (2011)Ryan Day (2026)Not good company. #ohiostate #buckeyes #espn #osu”
Oregon’s frustration came from a different kind of disaster. The Ducks didn’t lose to a powerhouse; they fell to an 0-1 Oklahoma State team that had just been rocked by Tulsa and hadn’t shown a pulse in several seasons. Oklahoma State nearly doubled Oregon in yardage and pulled out a 39-31 upset that left Dan Lanning’s roster looking a lot less polished than expected.
The reaction was immediate and harsh.
“No accountability. Very sad to hear this from Dan after this offseason hype tour.
This product is embarrassing to Oregon fans. Zero excuses.
Fix it.”
Another fan went straight to the deepest fear.
“It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if we have half of our team transfer out after this year. It’s going to make me really sad but I would 100% understand it.
Oregon will truly never win a national championship. Ever.
We don’t have the culture for it.”
And then came the shot at the program’s construction.
“Saw this coming when we hired two inexperienced coordinators from inside the program. Oregon will continue to be an unserious program for a very long time. We might as well keep that 0 on the helmets”
Oklahoma’s loss was quieter on the scoreboard but no less ugly for the people wearing crimson. The No.
11 Sooners faced a Michigan team that needed a very helpful bit of timekeeping to get past Western Michigan in Week 1, so the setup looked manageable. Instead, Oklahoma fell 17-10, and much of the anger centered on John Mateer, who was viewed as pedestrian at best.
One fan admitted the game had them holding back.
“I have had a lot I want to say about today’s game, probably best to bite my tongue. I’m just afraid the future at Oklahoma isn’t looking bright, hope it’s not true but we need a major turn around and we need it soon. Sad.”
Another put the emotion right out there.
“My rant is over, this game made me so sad. I don’t know why I continue to buy into the Oklahoma hype train every offseason.”
And one more took aim at both Mateer and Arbuckle.
“I love Oklahoma football but I will not be sad to see Mateer & Arbuckle seek opportunities elsewhere. I can’t remember when we were good on both sides of the football.”
Minnesota’s weekend didn’t come with the same ranking-related spotlight, but the pain was still obvious. The Gophers lost 38-13 at home to a Mississippi State team described as fairly unremarkable, and the numbers told the story: Minnesota was outrushed 252-13 and got pushed around in the trenches.
The reaction from one fan was as dramatic as it was direct.
“That’s it, I am SAD. I’ve been a Minnesota Fan since 2019, and this is the final straw. Until PJ “fraud” Fleck is deported to Ghana by ICE I will no longer be supporting this team.”
Another saw the bigger picture and called for a change.
“Minnesota needs to bite the bullet and move on from the PJ Fleck era. It's year 10 in the program and while he's brought it some consistency, our ceiling should not be 8-9 wins. I know he does a great job developing talent, but wins are too important to ignore any longer.”
And one last post tried to clear the air after all the heat.
“For the record. THIS was NOT me! 🤣 https://t.co/xfbf79wieW”
In Other News...
Gophers Just Triggered An Early Warning Sign In ESPNs Ratings
After two weeks of college football, ESPNs FPI board has already started to shift in ways that say a lot about how thin the margins can be in September. Oklahoma State surged after its upset of Oregon, while teams like NC State and Maryland also got meaningful bumps in the projections. Minnesota, though, was on the other side of that movement, with its rating sliding after a loss as the metric recalibrated what the Gophers start to the season looks like.
For a program trying to build early momentum, those kinds of drops are the sort of warning sign that can linger even this early in the schedule. The Gophers still have plenty of time to change the story, but FPI is already reflecting the kind of result that makes every next game feel a little more important, especially when the national picture is being rewritten week by week. [Read more 🡒]
P.J. Flecks Staff Is Becoming Minnesotas Biggest Problem
Minnesotas rough afternoon in Starkville left plenty to sort through, starting with a 38-13 loss in which Mississippi State scored four straight times early and quickly put the game out of reach. For a program trying to stabilize itself under P.J. Fleck, the bigger concern was how lopsided it all looked, especially in the trenches, where the Golden Gophers were pushed around and never found much rhythm on either side of the ball.
The questions now extend beyond one bad result and into the structure of the staff, with the play-calling and in-game direction drawing the kind of scrutiny that tends to follow an ugly performance. Minnesota needs cleaner answers moving forward, because a setback like this does more than add a loss column mark, it raises doubts about whether the current coaching setup is getting enough out of the roster it has. [Read more 🡒]
Minnesota Suddenly Has Some Uncomfortable Questions After This Blowout
Minnesota left Starkville with far more to sort through than just a lopsided loss, as the Gophers were outclassed in a 38-13 defeat to Mississippi State. The problems showed up early and often, with the defense unable to slow the Bulldogs and the offensive side getting bogged down by penalties while trying to find any rhythm. It was the kind of afternoon that can turn a nonconference game into a much bigger conversation about where a team really stands.
The state of the offense only added to the unease. Darius Taylor was not fully healthy, which left Minnesota trying to manufacture production without one of its most important playmakers at full strength, and the penalties kept stacking up as the game slipped away. For a program that usually leans on structure and toughness, this was a jarring reminder that there are still questions to answer on both sides of the ball. [Read more 🡒]