College football Week 2 winners and losers: No. 6 Oregon’s upset loss to Oklahoma State is bad, but doesn’t immediately end the Ducks’ playoff hopes

No. 6 Oregon could find itself outside the AP Top 25 on Sunday after a shocking upset loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday.

But the Ducks’ College Football Playoff hopes are far from over, even if their margin for error is a whole lot slimmer after Oklahoma State’s 39-31 win as a 24-point underdog.

After a Week 1 win over Boise State that was far from pristine, Oregon was sloppier and even more undisciplined against the Cowboys. Yes, the defense got a pick-6 and set up another touchdown with an interception, but if both of those deflected passes fall harmlessly to the turf, the Ducks wouldn’t have been in a position to force overtime with two minutes to go.

But in an incredibly fitting finish for Oregon’s offense, Dierre Hill dropped a simple toss from QB Dante Moore and Oklahoma State made a game-sealing fumble recovery.

An Oregon offense that features the potential No. 1 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft in Moore had just 50 total yards at halftime, went just 5-of-14 on third downs and failed on all three of its fourth down attempts.

And that final fourth down was bizarre. With just under seven minutes to go and Oklahoma State up five, Oregon needed eight yards for a first down at its own 33 yard-line. Coach Dan Lanning left the offense on the field. Moore’s pass fell incomplete.

Minutes later, Oklahoma State was up eight.

Was Lanning unable to trust his defense? Oklahoma State averaged nearly 6.7 yards a play and ran 83 plays on a 95-degree day in Stillwater. A week ago, Oklahoma State averaged 4.3 yards per play and scored 10 points in a 14-point loss to Tulsa.

Even if you believe that Oklahoma State is much improved thanks to new coach Eric Morris, QB Drew Mestemaker, RB Caleb Hawkins and a host of other transfers from North Texas and other schools, it was an embarrassing loss for the Ducks even without accounting for Oregon’s blowout win over Oklahoma State a season ago. In Week 2 of the 2025 season, Oregon pasted Oklahoma State 69-3 in a sure sign that Mike Gundy’s time at Oklahoma State was quickly approaching its expiration date.

You don’t find many 74-point swings from year to year in college football.

Yet for how bad Saturday’s defeat is, we already have multiple examples through the first two years of the 12-team College Football Playoff of heavy favorites losing outright and still making the postseason field. If Oregon corrects its numerous mistakes from the first two weeks — and that’s admittedly no guarantee — the loss can be overcome.

Through the first two seasons of the expanded playoff, four teams have made the CFP after losing as at least a two-touchdown favorite. And the teams on the wrong end of the two biggest upsets met for the national championship in January of 2025.

In Week 2 of the 2024 season, Northern Illinois pulled off one of the biggest upsets in modern college football with a 16-14 win over Notre Dame as a 28.5-point underdog. Notre Dame’s offense was horrific in the loss. But the Irish found their footing, won their last 10 regular season games and then won three playoff games before losing to Ohio State.

The Buckeyes’ embarrassment came a bit later in the season and Ohio State fans would appreciate not being reminded of it. OSU ended the regular season with a 13-10 loss to Michigan as a 19.5-point favorite. But despite starting the playoff as the No. 8 seed, Ohio State went on a tear in the playoff that included a Rose Bowl blowout of Oregon to win its first national title in 10 seasons.

That Ohio State team isn’t too dissimilar from Oregon, as players like Denzel Burke, Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson and Tyleik Williams returned for another season instead of going pro in 2024. Along with Moore, who could have been the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Oregon retained DE Mateo Uiagalelei, DL Bear Alexander, TE Jamari Johnson and others in its pursuit of the national title.

Will it work out for Oregon like it did Ohio State? The odds are still stacked against the Ducks. But they also aren’t zero, either.

Here are the rest of this week’s winners and losers

Winners

Duke: The Blue Devils won the ACC a season ago and have already beaten two teams they lost to in 2025. Duke started last season 1-2 thanks to losses to Illinois and Tulane. A week ago, Duke’s defense dominated in a 17-3 win over the Green Wave. Saturday, the Blue Devils outscored the Illini 17-3 over the final 35 minutes of the game for a 31-27 win. After rushing for 227 yards against Tulane, Nate Sheppard had 147 yards and a TD against Illinois while also adding 41 receiving yards and two TD catches.

No. 23 Missouri: The Tigers scored their first win at Kansas since 2001 with a 38-21 win over the Jayhawks on Friday night. Kansas got the game a ton of attention during the week with its video that invoked the Civil War roots of the rivalry. And, according to Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, it led to his decision for Missouri to throw for a TD with less than a minute to go while leading by 17. The 2025 iteration of the game was the first time Missouri and Kansas had played each other since the Tigers left the Big 12. And they’re not scheduled to meet again until 2031.

South Florida: USF is now 2-0 under new coach Brian Hartline after a 28-24 win at Army in an early American Conference matchup. Former LSU QB Michael Van Buren accounted for all four of USF’s touchdowns and scored twice in the final four minutes as the Bulls overcame a 10-point deficit. Van Buren scored on a 24-yard run with 3:13 to go to cut Army’s lead to three before leading USF on a 10-play, 81-yard drive that culminated in a 38-yard TD pass to Joshua Porter with 19 seconds to go.

Losers

Rutgers: We have to include the Scarlet Knights in this category for another week after a 28-21 loss to Boston College on Friday night. Rutgers has few contenders for the status of worst power conference team in the country at the moment and is staring 0-3 in the face. No. 14 USC visits Piscataway in Week 3. And while FCS opponent Howard may provide a brief respite in Week 4, that game is followed by a home game against No. 5 Indiana in Week 5.

Minnesota: The Gophers had no shot against Mississippi State on Saturday. The Bulldogs scored 14 points in each of the first two quarters as Kamario Taylor picked apart the Minnesota secondary. Taylor finished the game 16-of-22 passing for 227 yards and three touchdowns while a run game that has sustained the Minnesota offense in PJ Fleck’s time in charge was absolutely nonexistent. Even when accounting for the 12 yards lost on sacks of Drake Lindsey, Minnesota rushed 13 times for 25 yards.

Liberty: It’s been a swift fall for a team that was in the Fiesta Bowl after an undefeated season in 2023. Liberty got its first win since Nov. 1, 2025 on Saturday. But it wasn’t an easy one. It should have been. The Flames beat FCS Gardner-Webb 24-23 thanks to a 54-yard TD with 2:34 to go. Liberty entered the game as a 25.5-point favorite as the most well-financed program in Conference USA.

Purdue: The Boilermakers are still searching for their first win over a power conference team since 2023. And they came oh-so-close on Saturday. Wake Forest eked out a 38-36 win in double overtime as Gio Lopez tied the game with a 3-yard run and then converted the game-winning two-point conversion. Purdue scored 10 points in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter and had a great chance for a game-winning TD. But the Boilermakers had to settle for a 20-yard field goal as time expired for the tie.

UNLV: So much for the Rebels’ status as a College Football Playoff sleeper as the group of six representative in the field. After losing to Memphis in Week 0, the Rebels fell to 1-2 with a 44-6 at an overhauled North Texas squad. UNLV fumbled three times as part of four turnovers and had just 301 yards on 72 plays