Week 2 Stock Up/Stock Down headlined by Illinois and Notre Dame

By Mark Pszonak

There are games every week that are eye openers, both positive and negative. Here are the three teams that have seen their stock rise and fall after the second weekend of action:

Stock Up

Illinois

Coming off a 5-7 season and picked to finish 13 ^th in the 18-team Big Ten, expectations were limited in Champaign this summer. However, that has quickly changed after a 23-17 victory over #19 Kansas, which puts the Ilini at 2-0. With the improved play of quarterback Luke Altmyer , the powerful running of Kaden Feagin and an opportunistic defense that has only given up 17 points in two games, the Illini are suddenly on people’s radars. Plenty of difficult games loom on the horizon, including consecutive road games at Nebraska and Penn State to end the month, but Illinois has already done enough to make them relevant.

Syracuse

This is one that could become interesting this season. New head coach Fran Brown is known as an ace recruiter, but there were obvious questions regarding his ability to be the man in charge for the first time. So far he has passed with flying colors. That is mainly due to the play of transfer quarterback Kyle McCord (Ohio State), who has passed for 735 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception in two wins. This is especially impressive since both wins came against FBS competition, including Saturday’s ACC win over Georgia Tech. And now this could get interesting because Syracuse’s remaining schedule isn’t necessarily a murderer’s row. The Orange avoid Clemson and Louisville, but do play Miami in the season finale at home. An interesting game on the horizon is a Friday night trip to Las Vegas to take on a dangerous UNLV team. But whatever happens Brown has already done a great job turning the trajectory of the program around.

Indiana

I might be jumping the gun on this one, considering the Hoosiers have only defeated FIU and Western Illinois, but I’m a believer in new head coach Curt Cignetti . He arrived after making James Madison a legitimate FBS program after their move from the FCS and now takes on the challenge of rebuilding the Hoosiers. After reloading the roster with transfers, including several from James Madison, Indiana outscored their first two opponents 108-10. The schedule will obviously get tougher but is manageable until at least mid-October. The Hoosiers are heading in the right direction, and with a potentially dynamic offense, they'll be entertaining in the process.

Stock Down

Notre Dame

When you pay a school 1.4M to beat you at home, your stock is definitely going down. Northern Illinois’ win in South Bend was one of those annual college football head scratchers that makes the season exciting. But it isn’t exciting for Notre Dame, who has already lost any legitimate chance to make the playoffs. And I say that even with a schedule that seemed “easy” a few days ago. The Irish offense is anemic and because of that, a trip to Purdue this weekend isn’t a gimme, a visit from Louisville is a likely loss and a trip to Los Angeles to take on USC may get ugly. If the Irish don’t figure out their offense quickly then their stock will continue to plummet.

Kentucky

I didn’t see this one coming - at all. A week after Kentucky dominated Southern Miss 31-0 and South Carolina fought for its life at home against Old Dominion, I definitely didn’t expect a 31-6 beatdown of the Wildcats in Lexington. Quarterback Brock Vandagriff completed 3 of 10 passes for 30 yards and one interception. After getting pulled his backup, Gavin Wimsatt , completed 3 of 7 passes for 14 yards and one interception. So combined, the Kentucky quarterbacks were 6 of 17 for 44 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. And what is next for the Wildcats? Georgia comes to town this weekend. What was supposed to be a huge game and opportunity, suddenly has Kentucky fans hoping that the Wildcats don’t get trampled on their home turf in consecutive weeks.

NC State

If the opener against Western Carolina was concerning, then the thumping against Tennessee was cause for panic. NC State was a team that many (including me) thought would be a contender in the ACC this year and a dark horse candidate for a Playoff bid. Instead, they completely unraveled on Saturday night in Charlotte in a game that many in Raleigh had circled on their calendar for months. They didn’t compete and were completely outclassed. Can they still turn this season around? Sure, especially in an open ACC, but the hopes of a special season are already dead.