Ohio State, Auburn Escape with College Football Wins

Ohio State and Auburn both escaped with victories in week two of the college football season. The outcomes could have been much different and fourth quarter defensive stops were the only thing that kept the two powerhouses undefeated.

In the Ohio State vs. Toledo game, the Rockets took a 15- 7 lead in the first quarter that made it look like a real upset was brewing. The Buckeyes would come back with two touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 21-15 halftime lead, but a 69-yard punt return was needed in the process. In the second half Toledo took the lead again, but Ohio State scored last to close this one out 27-22.

Though the Ohio State football team is only ranked No. 15 in the nation, this win could probably hurt the school in the two major polls. Beating Toledo by five points isn't good enough for an elite team, and the fact that the Buckeyes only managed 17 first downs is going to make most voters around the nation turn their attention to some of the other teams during the early part of the year.

The Auburn vs. Mississippi State game almost went badly for the defending national champions as well. The Bulldogs came into the game with the better ranking (No. 16 in the nation), but not many experts were willing to predict that Auburn could lose this one at home. The game was hard-fought to the very end though, and quite a few problems became evident to future SEC opponents.

Auburn may have won this game 41-34, but it was about as ugly a win as an SEC team will have this year. The Tigers gave up 531 total yards on defense, including an amazing 333 rushing yards by the Mississippi State running attack. Vick Ballard ran for 135 yards, quarterback Chris Relf ran for 106 yards, and LaDarius Perkins ran for 78 more. That's three guys that almost ran for 100 yards in the game against Auburn, showing that there could be some serious problems with the Auburn defense.

At the end of the day, both Ohio State and Auburn moved to 2-0 this year, but along the way the schools may have lost even more support from voters in the AP Top 25 and USA Today polls. It probably won't matter unless these two teams are competing for a spot in one of the BCS bowl games later this year, but right now it shows that both powerhouses are very vulnerable for an upset or two in the coming weeks.