After pounding Texas again, how long can BYU stay unbeaten?

You’ll excuse the college football community at large if BYU’s season-opening 35-10 win over Connecticut didn’t raise any eyebrows. Most assumed the Cougars would be a solid team, and most also assumed the Huskies would not be. What does grab attention? How about a 41-7 thrashing of Texas in Austin, featuring a highlight reel play from burgeoning Heisman hopeful Taysom Hill?

Sitting at 2-0 with zero ranked teams and just two Power 5 teams left on the schedule, BYU is looking pretty solid for the rest of the season. One thing stands out when looking at the schedule: the games we thought might pose the biggest challenges all look at least a little less difficult two weeks into the season.

Let’s take a look at the remaining games for the Cougars, ranking them on a difficulty scale of 1-10: 1 for your low-end FBS schools (Miami-Ohio, for example), 10 for elite-level (Florida State, for example).

9/11 vs. Houston -- BYU’s next game is on Thursday night, back in Provo for their home opener. Before the season started, many expected the Cougars to be an AAC contender. A season-opening 27-7 home loss to UTSA has dampened some of those hopes. Houston still has some serious weapons: Kenneth Farrow is averaging 7.6 yards per rush and Deontay Greenberry is averaged 18.7 yards per catch. Difficulty: 5/10.

9/20 vs. Virginia -- After nearly knocking off UCLA in Week 1, Virginia made easy work of FCS Richmond. It’s still hard to figure out what to make of the Cavaliers -- Mike London has brought in high-level talent over the past few years, but that has not yet turned into consistent wins (except against BYU last year, of course). The defense looks legitimate, but there are some major questions at quarterback. Greyson Lambert has been playing more, but Matt Johns has been playing better. The Cavaliers play Louisville next, which should give us a better idea of where they’re at, but they look like a much improved team so far this season. Difficulty: 5/10.

10/3 vs. Utah State -- BYU’s home stretch finishes with a Friday night game against an in-state rival. This is another game that looked a bit more daunting before the season started. The Aggies and Chuckie Keeton were a popular upset pick opening week at Tennessee, but ended up dropping that one 38-7. Even with their star quarterback, it appears Utah State has taken a step back. Difficulty: 5/10.

10/9 at UCF -- The Cougars go back on the road for a Thursday night game, against another team that’s disappointed since the start of the season. UCF has only played one game, but they struggled to move the ball in their Dublin loss to Penn State. Offensive issues were expected in the post-Blake Bortles era, but it’s not just the passing game that has suffered. The Knights averaged 0.8 yards per carry against the Nittany Lions, but we’ll get a better idea after games against Missouri and Houston. Difficulty: 7/10.

10/18 vs. Nevada -- The Wolf Pack are 2-0 after Friday’s home win over Washington State, but that could be more about the 0-2 Cougars than Nevada. They struggled to move the ball against the Cougars but did shut down the air raid, and have a fourth-year starter at quarterback in Cody Fajardo. Difficulty: 4/10.

10/24 at Boise State -- The Broncos are a tough opponent (especially in Boise), but BYU had no trouble with them last year, winning 37-20. Boise has been ... shaky without head coach Chris Petersen. They started the season with a blow out loss at the hands of Ole Miss, but played quite well against the Rebels for the first three quarters. Boise was able to beat a good Colorado State team last week, but a similar pattern emerged: after taking a 37-10 lead into the fourth quarter, the Rams scored two touchdowns to bring the game within reach. Difficulty: 7/10

11/1 at Middle Tennessee State -- The Blue Raiders have impressed early this season, but it’s hard to get a good read on them yet. MTSU blew out FCS Savannah State in their opener and lost a close road game against Minnesota. They went bowling last year and the offense has looked very promising: Austin Grammer is averaging 9.18 yards per pass attempt while Reggie Whatley is at 6.5 yards per run. Difficulty: 3/10

11/15 vs. UNLV -- After making their first bowl game in more than a decade, UNLV started the year by getting blown out by Arizona. The Wildcats are very good, so there’s no real shame in that, but following that up with a close 13-12 win over FCS Northern Colorado? Not so impressive. Difficulty: 2/10

11/22 vs. Savannah State -- BYU’s FCS opponent comes late this season, and it’s one we’ve already seen against two FBS opponents. The Tigers lost 61-7 to Middle Tennessee State and 83-9 to Georgia Southern, giving up a stunning 10 rushing touchdowns in the latter game. Difficulty: 0/10

11/29 at Cal -- Two games into the season, and the Cal Bears have already surpassed their win total from 2013. The Bears are 2-0 after a seven-point road win over Northwestern and a blowout victory against FCS Sacramento State, but questions remain. The offense is clicking (through the air and on the ground), but a tough Pac-12 schedule might tell us more about the vulnerable Bears defense. Difficulty: 3/10

The verdict? Every game on BYU’s schedule is winnable, but there are enough tough contests that it’s hard to see them simply running the table. They’ll probably be favored in every game except maybe two (at UCF, at Boise)