The Associated Press national player of the week in football for Week 2 of the season:
Mestemaker set the tone for the Cowboys' 39-31 upset of Oregon
when he faked a handoff, split two defenders and dashed 75 yards down the sideline on the first play from scrimmage. His 10-yard run, punctuated with a high-flying dive into the end zone, gave the Cowboys the lead for good in the fourth quarter.The North Texas transfer finished with a career-high 109
rushing yards, passed for 317 and had a hand in three touchdowns as the Cowboys won as 24 1/2-point underdogs and ended a 21-game losing streak against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.
Mestemaker, who was 26 of 43 with two interceptions, became the first Oklahoma State quarterback with 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game since Spencer Sanders had 371 passing yards and 125 rushing yards against No. 5 Notre Dame in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl.
Mestemaker has passed for at least 200 yards in 17 straight games, the longest active streak in the FBS.
Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith caught eight passes for 164 yards and a touchdown in the Buckeyes' 24-23 loss at Texas.
Smith, who had a combined seven catches for 46 yards in two previous meetings with the Longhorns, had a pair of 43-yard receptions while amassing the second-most receiving yards in a game in his career. He has 2,873 career receiving yards and goes into Saturday's game against Kent State needing 26 to break Michael Jenkins’ record of 2,898 from 2000-03.
Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor was 16 of 22 for 227 yards with three TDs and also ran for 86 yards on 13 carries in a 38-13 road victory over Minnesota; Tennessee RB DeSean Bishop ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-24 victory over Georgia Tech; Missouri LB Robert Woodyard Jr. fell on a Kansas fumble and the following possession picked off a pass as the Tigers cashed in on both turnovers to break open a 14-all tie in the second half on the way to a 38-21 win; Wake Forest QB Gio Lopez completed 16 of 27 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown and ran for 59 yards and two TDS, including a score and 2-point conversion in double overtime in a 38-36 win over Purdue; Oregon State WR Jesse Legree caught eight passes for 240 yards and two scores in a 35-24 loss to Texas Tech; Illinois WR Collin Dixon had nine catches for 135 yards and three TDs — all in the first half — and finished with 11 catches for 166 yards in a 31-27 loss to Duke; Arizona State WR Reed Harris had nine catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns in a 48-20 loss to Texas A&M.
— Rutgers enters its Saturday home game against No. 12 Southern California with 43 straight losses against Top 25 opponents, the longest streak of its kind among Power Four teams.
— When Michigan State's Cam Edwards fumbled in the fourth quarter against Eastern Michigan, it ended the FBS' longest streak of scrimmage touches without losing a fumble. He had 575 career touches without losing the ball, according to Sportradar.
— New Mexico had six takeaways in its 70-7 rout of Mercyhurst of the FCS, the most in a game since Delaware had six against UTEP last season.
— West Virginia, which has beaten Coastal Carolina and UT Martin, is the only FBS team that has not surrendered first-half points.
— Appalachian State has made 251 consecutive extra points since 2020, the FBS' longest active streak.
— Beau Brungard of Youngstown State of the FCS threw for six touchdowns and ran for another — all in the first half — in a 70-13 win over Duquesne. Brungard accounted for eight TDs in the game.
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AP voters: Aaron Beard, Pat Graham, Mark Long, John Marshall, Michael Marot, Steve Megargee, Eric Olson, Eddie Pells.
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