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AP College Football Poll 2024: Complete Week 2 Rankings Released

Joseph Zucker

Georgia remains the top dog in the Associated Press Top 25 poll following its dominant 34-3 win over Clemson.

The Tigers, meanwhile, fell from 14th to 25th after they were soundly beaten in the second half of last Saturday's contest.

As with Georgia, the rest of the top five remains the same following an opening week with no major upsets.

AP Top 25 Week 2

  1. Georgia Bulldogs (1-0)
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0)
  3. Texas Longhorns (1-0)
  4. Alabama Crimson Tide (1-0)
  5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-0)
  6. Mississippi Rebels (1-0)
  7. Oregon Ducks (1-0)
  8. Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0)
  9. Missouri Tigers (1-0)
  10. Michigan Wolverines (1-0)
  11. Utah Utes (1-0)
  12. Miami Hurricanes (1-0)
  13. USC Trojans (1-0)
  14. Tennessee Volunteers (1-0)
  15. Oklahoma Sooners (1-0)
  16. Oklahoma State Cowboys (1-0)
  17. Kansas State Wildcats (1-0)
  18. LSU Tigers (0-1)
  19. Kansas Jayhawks (1-0)
  20. Arizona Wildcats (1-0)
  21. Iowa Hawkeyes (1-0)
  22. Louisville Cardinals (1-0)
  23. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-0)
  24. North Carolina State Wolfpack (1-0)
  25. Clemson Tigers (0-1)

Clemson perhaps drove more conversation in Week 1 than any other team and for all of the wrong reasons. The Tigers were once a mainstay in the College Football Playoff and they look further away from that level than ever after they mustered just 189 yards of offense against Georgia.

It's easy to chalk the program's predicament up to how little head coach Dabo Swinney has embraced the new normal in college sports. However, the problems go much deeper than that, thus raising the question over whether the current regime has a solution.

Clemson hosts App State in its Week 2 home-opener. Even if the Tigers come out on top, the fan angst is going to reach a fever pitch if the offense fails to light up the scoreboard.

Georgia wasn't under any serious threat in Week 1 despite being without some key players and watching others exit midway through the game.

Carson Beck went 23-of-33 for 278 yards and two touchdowns and Nate Frazier stepped up to run for 83 yards and one score in the place of Trevor Etienne and Roderick Robinson II. Defensively, UGA prevented Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik from having any success deep and held running back Phil Mafah to 3.7 yards per carry.

Notre Dame and Texas A&M were afforded prime-time treatment on Saturday as the Aggies got the Mike Elko era underway.

While quarterback Riley Leonard was the biggest offseason addition to the Fighting Irish's roster, the running game won the day in College Station. Jeremiyah Love carried the ball 14 times for 91 yards and one touchdown, while Jadarian Price (44 yards, one touchdown) was a solid secondary option out of the backfield. Leonard contributed 63 yards on the ground too.

On the other side, it could be a long year in Aggieland. Conner Weigman was 12-of-30 for 100 yards and two interceptions.

There won't be too many overreactions because there was a general understanding Elko inherited a difficult situation from his predecessor, Jimbo Fisher. The Notre Dame loss drove home the scale of the rebuilding job for the new coaching staff.

Speaking of potentially long seasons, LSU.

The first week came to a dramatic conclusion as a 13-yard touchdown run by running back Woody Marks in the last seconds lifted USC to a 27-20 win over the Tigers.

It's too early to say how much firing Alex Grinch as defensive coordinator and hiring D'Anton Lynn helped solve the Trojans' biggest issue. They allowed 421 yards to LSU, including 304 passing yards to Garrett Nussmeier, and the lone turnover they forced came when the game was pretty much over.

The vibes in Los Angeles are at least better than those in Baton Rouge, where LSU doesn't have Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels to paper over the cracks. Head coach Brian Kelly lamented how his team continues making the same mistakes it has in the past.

Florida State plummeted from No. 10 in the preseason poll to unranked after losses to Georgia Tech and Boston College. The Yellow Jackets climbed into the rankings for the first time since 2015 at No. 23 overall.

Looking ahead to Week 2, all eyes will be on "The Big House" as Michigan welcomes in Texas in a battle of Top-10 foes.

The Wolverines earned a straightforward 30-10 win over Fresno State to open their national championship defense. They didn't blow anybody away, but some early growing pains were to be expected for a team that lost so many players to the NFL.

The Longhorns enter as the favorites despite going into a hostile road atmosphere. They shut out Colorado State 52-0 and watched Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning combine to throw for 355 yards and four touchdowns on 33 passes.

Reaching the College Football Playoff showed Texas is well and truly back. Beating Michigan in Ann Arbor could solidify the team as the top threat to Georgia in this year's race for the title. This is the kind of game that could have implications on the Heisman Trophy race depending on Ewers' performance.

   

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