Greg McElroy lays out blueprint for ‘miracle’ upset in Week 2 of college football

On his show, Always College Football, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy discussed on Friday morning some of the titular contests headlining the second full weekend of action this Saturday, noting the possibility for one huge upset.

He asked five questions about the Oklahoma State at Oregon game, with the final two centering around the Cowboys and what they need to do in order to pull off the stunner in Autzen Zoo.

"Can Todd Grantham pull off a miracle with this defense?" McElroy asked. "Now, the lone bright spot for Oklahoma State in their season opener was the fact that their defense was really good. Todd Grantham has been around for a long time. They're fast, they're physical, he's aggressive, and they played much better on that side of the ball in game one than they did most of last season."

McElroy continued with his praise for the Cowboy defense after their Week 1 performance.

"They gave up just 225 yards of total offense," he noted. "That was their best defensive performance since 2021. And the only touchdown that the Skyhawks scored last week came on a double-pass trick play."

Buy some stock in this defense, according to McElroy. But yet, even with a strong defensive unit, a road matchup against a top-10 Oregon team is nothing to envy. McElroy believes the road to victory is paved with a little luck.

"The only way Oklahoma State, I think, can win this game is if they force a lot of
mistakes," he shared. "Now, the great equalizer when there's a big mismatch, turnovers. For a massive underdog like Oklahoma State to have any chance of pulling it off, man, they have got to have plus two, maybe plus three in the turnover battle."

If Oklahoma State can't get ahead in the possession battle, the Cowboys could be in for a long afternoon.

"If these two teams keep a clean sheet, it will not be competitive," McElroy added. "But if the Cowboys can somehow generate multiple takeaways, creating a short field, maybe putting some pressure on Oregon, then things can look a little bit different. Positive turnover margin is absolutely vital for Oklahoma State to make this thing very competitive."

Oklahoma State toppled UT Martin in Week 1, winning by a pedestrian 27-7 score, while Oregon handled Montana State 59-13 as their fairly-new roster also looked strong. The Ducks are merely 28.5-point favorites on Saturday, just over four touchdowns, according to FanDuel.

Greg McElroy is right, OSU will need a miracle to win on the road vs. Oregon, at least per that point spread.