Saturday Superlatives: The best of Week 2 in college football

We're closing Week 2 of the college football season by handing out some superlatives.

Best game

Colorado 34, No. 25 Nebraska 31 (OT)

For most of three quarters, these former Big 12 rivals engaged in a ho-hum reunion that the Nebraska defense dominated.

Colorado didn't get on the board until a Jaren Mangham touchdown run cut the Cornhuskers' lead to 17-7 with 1:42 remaining in the third quarter.

But the fourth quarter and overtime provided Saturday's best entertainment, starting with a 96-yard flea-flicker:

Nebraska responded with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Adrian Martinez to Maurice Washington on the next play from scrimmage. Less than two minutes later, the Buffaloes ended a five-play, 75-yard drive with another touchdown.

Colorado Quarterback Steven Montez, who passed for 375 yards and two touchdowns, then tossed this game-tying beauty to Tony Brown in the final minute:

Colorado was always going to hold the advantage in overtime with Nebraska using punter Isaac Armstrong as its kicker because starting kicker Barret Pickering was out with an injury. Sure enough, Armstrong's 48-yard attempt in the extra frame went well right, and the Buffaloes won 34-31.

For Nebraska, coughing up a 17-point lead against a former rival is as gut-wrenching a start to Scott Frost's second season as one could imagine. The Cornhuskers expected to contend in the Big Ten West this season, but they're now 0-6 on the road since the start of 2018.

Colorado, meanwhile, earned a signature win for head coach Mel Tucker in just his second game. The veteran defensive coordinator has the Buffaloes playing well, and they're a sneaky team in a Pac-12 conference that looks a little more open after Washington's loss to Cal on Saturday night.

Best finish

BYU 29, Tennessee 26 (2OT)

Oh, Tennessee. Just when it looked like things couldn't get worse.

The Volunteers never trailed in regulation against BYU. They led for 49:52, from the time they scored their first touchdown until the one-second mark of the fourth quarter.

Even in the final minute, as Tennessee clung to a 16-13 lead, it held a 99.6% win probability.

Then inexplicably, this happened:

Two overtimes later, BYU walked off with a victory when running back Ty'Son Williams scored from five yards out. For the second straight week, fans exited Neyland Stadium in disbelief.

Tennessee is 0-2 for the first time since 1988, and it began that season 0-6. After playing Chattanooga next week, the Volunteers face Florida and Georgia.

Best celebration

Coastal Carolina makes Kansas its pinata

The Les Miles reclamation project isn't off to the best start.

Coastal Carolina, which is only in its third season as an FBS program, topped Kansas 12-7 to win its first game against a Power 5 opponent.

The game featured plenty of blunders, with Kansas burning its final two timeouts before a failed fourth-down attempt early in the fourth quarter. But the victory was still historic for the Chanticleers' program.

Players of the week

QB Joe Burrow, LSU

A month ago, there wouldn't have been many questions about which team held the quarterback advantage when LSU played Texas.

Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger established himself as a bona fide Heisman candidate by scoring 41 combined touchdowns in 2018 (25 passing and 16 rushing), leaving LSU's Joe Burrow with much more to prove.

Ehlinger played exceptionally well on Saturday, throwing for 400 yards against a talented LSU defense.

Burrow, however, was transcendent.

After years of drab quarterback play, LSU is letting Burrow and the Tigers' offense take off. He went 31-of-39 passing for 471 yards and four touchdowns during his team's 45-38 win. Three of his receivers crossed the 100-yard mark, including Justin Jefferson, who deserves an honorable mention for his nine catches, 163 yards, and three scores.

Burrow's 31 completions and 471 yards were LSU's most since 2001, when Rohan Davey led a Nick Saban-coached Tigers team to a win over Alabama.

WR Rondale Moore, Purdue

A battle between 0-1 teams, Purdue's 42-24 win over Vanderbilt wasn't exactly appointment viewing on Saturday for most.

But perhaps Rondale Moore should always occupy a screen in your setup.

The electric sophomore receiver caught 13 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown as the Boilermakers rebounded from a loss to Nevada.

Through two weeks, Moore has recorded 24 receptions for 344 yards. He leads the nation in both categories.

QB Kedon Slovis, USC

If you watched any of Saturday's game between USC and Stanford, you heard ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay gush over Kedon Slovis during the true freshman's first career start.

Yes, it's one game. But perhaps USC shouldn't be written off so fast in 2019.

Slovis led the Trojans to a 45-20 win over No. 23 Stanford while throwing for 377 yards and three touchdowns. He set a school record for true-freshman passing yards and also completed 84.8% of his throws (28 of 33).

"We understood his talent, and we understood the type of players our quarterbacks are," USC head coach Clay Helton told reporters postgame. "Graham (Harrell) is kind of loose and lets the kids have fun and play fast and play aggressive. Even though he’s young, we named him the No. 2 for a reason. Let’s go cut him loose. That’s not hard for Graham because he’s always ready to cut it loose. It was fun for me to watch."

Best things you missed

Ryan Hilinski's debut

South Carolina freshman Ryan Hilinski made his first career start on Saturday, too. This one, though, carried a lot more weight.

Ryan is the younger brother of Tyler Hilinski, the former Washington State quarterback who committed suicide in January 2018. Sports Illustrated's Greg Bishop and the Los Angeles Times' J. Brady McCullough documented the story in painful detail.

The younger Hilinski wasn't expected to start so early, but he was thrust into the role after Jake Bentley suffered a foot injury during South Carolina's season-opening loss.

Hilinski's debut against Charleston Southern was nearly perfect. He completed 24 of 30 passes for 282 yards with two touchdowns and an interception during a 72-10 win.

North Carolina's statement win

As LSU and Texas went back and forth in the week's marquee game, North Carolina quietly made a statement, showing it could be a contender in the ACC Coastal Divison.

The Tar Heels backed up their win over South Carolina by handing Miami (Fla.) a 28-25 loss, giving the Hurricanes their first 0-2 start in 41 years. Freshman quarterback Sam Howell was sharp, throwing for 274 yards on 24 attempts, and now North Carolina has already matched its 2018 win total.

Virginia remains the Coastal front-runner, but the other likely contenders - Miami, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech - are off to unimpressive starts.

Minnesota's wild comeback

After performing well in Week 1, the Mountain West took two more games from Power 5 conference foes this weekend. San Diego State beat UCLA, while Hawaii improved to 2-0 in Pac-12 play by topping Oregon State.

Fresno State looked like it would win the third game for the conference when the Bulldogs led Minnesota by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter on Saturday. But with overtime games defining the week, Minnesota had another plan.

This fourth-and-13 touchdown throw to tie the game might have been the play of the week:

Minnesota would go on to beat Fresno State 38-35 in double overtime. Antoine Winfield Jr., the son of the 14-year NFL veteran, snatched a game-sealing interception in the end zone.

Mark Cooper is theScore's NCAA writer. You can find him on Twitter @mark_cooperjr.