The Three College QB Matchups I’ll Be Watching Closely in Week 2

If there’s anything the beginning of this football season has taught me, it’s that we’re in the Golden Era of the college quarterback. In Week 1 alone, we got to see my top QBs in the 2026 draft class—Garrett Nussmeier and Cade Klubnik—going down to the wire, two inexperienced but high-profile guys in Arch Manning and Julian Sayin playing against elite defenses, and strong showings from Miami’s Carson Beck and Florida State’s Thomas Castellanos that might have both of their respective programs back on track. And there was plenty of other great quarterback play around the nation, from breakout Cal freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s three-touchdown performance to LaNorris Sellers going into hero mode against Virginia Tech. 

We’ve got another excellent slate of QB matchups this weekend, and below I’ll preview three (each involving a ranked team) that I’m excited to watch play out, beginning with Michigan true freshman Bryce Underwood going to Norman to face John Mateer and a new-look Oklahoma. 

A reminder that my McShay Show co-host Steve Muench and I will be live on YouTube this Saturday night toward the end of that game to watch the finish together and recap all of the Week 2 action. Join us in the chat!

Look at this block Michigan true freshman QB Bryce Underwood threw on a rushing touchdown in last week’s win over New Mexico:

Whenever there’s a five-star quarterback that comes in with a ton of hype and expectation, I’m always curious to see what the guy’s football character looks like. I wondered about Underwood coming into the game, but this play told me everything I needed to know. 

The other thing I appreciated most about him in Week 1 is how poised he looked. He made mistakes, but not critical errors, and didn’t get too high or too low throughout the game. I also loved the zip on his throws and how decisive he was on RPOs.

It was a really promising start, and I think we’ll get to see more of his running ability against Oklahoma on Saturday night.

For the Sooners, I can’t get enough of John Mateer’s tape. On the podcast this week, I referred to his game as a “fire drill” and compared it to a Steven Spielberg movie. Muench thought it was more Michael Bay:

And I get it—what can you really learn from the team’s opening win against Illinois State? But Mateer went for 392 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception while completing 81 percent of his passes, and looked comfortable in his first game with the offense. It was especially nice to see him on the same page with the receiving trio of Keontez Lewis, Jaren Kanak, and Deion Burks, who combined for 21 catches, 297 yards, and three touchdowns. 

Mateer slings it with a quick release, and I swear he runs a 4.5-second 40. There’s also not a more competitive player in the sport. And like I said in the above clip, if Oklahoma wins on Saturday night, he’ll be the story of college football.

This is a game featuring two of the most underrated quarterbacks in the nation. 

Illinois QB Luke Altmyer was a standout at the Manning Passing Academy this summer, when I thought he looked much more athletic in person than what I had seen on tape. He has a good arm, is mechanically sound with his feet married to his eyes in the pocket, and goes through his reads as quickly as any QB in college football. He also leads the nation with five career game-winning drives in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime.

Every source I’ve spoken to about Altmyer tells me something to the effect of “he’s one of the guys.” He prepares, has an elite work ethic, and does all the other little things that make up the DNA of a great quarterback. 

And on the other side, I love what I’ve seen from Darian Mensah. He’s a pocket passer with great twitch, and he can throw well on the run. As a starter at Tulane, he led the team to a nine-win season and an appearance in the AAC championship game. He was drilling throws all over the field in his debut for Duke against Elon and had great placement on his deep ball. 

I’m not sure which guy I’d take in this game!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Keep an eye on Sawyer Robertson. He was my biggest positive surprise from the Manning Passing academy over the summer, and he opened the season strong with 419 passing yards and three touchdowns in Baylor’s loss to Auburn. 

Robertson was a little off target (27-for-48 passing) against the Tigers, but he has good size at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, he runs well, and he flicks his wrist and drives the football. He also showcased a beautiful deep ball in the first quarter last week:

He was under a ton of pressure throughout the day against Auburn’s pass rush led by Keldric Faulk, and I give Robertson a lot of credit for taking shots and continuing to keep firing. I really liked what I saw despite the loss. 

Robertson will go up against Kevin Jennings and SMU, who blew out East Texas A&M last week behind Jennings’s three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and 260 passing yards. 

Jennings changes arm angles really well and absolutely rips the ball on RPOs. He’s also so smooth and sudden as a runner. Jennings led the Broncos to a 9-2 record in 2024, and I think this SMU team has a chance to be as good as that team despite losing 14 starters this offseason. 

Robertson has the higher NFL ceiling of the two because of his tools, but I really like what Jennings brings to SMU’s offense.