Some great games this week. Duke beating Clemson was probably the highlight. I went to the Penn State game, and was impressed with Drew Allar. They definitely assuaged some of my fears for the season. The rankings after the first week will have a few big shifts, most because after seeing certain teams, I have changed my mind about them. As a reminder, it goes: School (record)–previous rank–week result–my comments (if necessary).
- Georgia (1-0)–#1–W 48-7 Tennessee-Martin
- Michigan (1-0)–#3–W 30-3 East Carolina
- Alabama (1-0)–#4–W 56-7 Middle Tennessee–The Crimson Tide were able to answer some questions about the QB position. We shall see if Jalen Milroe can score five times against Texas.
- USC (2-0)–#5–W 56-28 San Jose State & W 66-14 Nevada–The defense is shaky, but damn can the score.
- Florida State (1-0)–#11–W 45-24 #7 LSU–If you read my NCAA Predictions, I have FSU in the playoffs, but I ranked them lower because I knew they had a huge test to start the season. They confirmed my beliefs, so they jump up high.
- Penn State (1-0)–#6–W 38-15 WVU–The offense looked great. The kicking game is a bit scary, and the defense looked rusty. Also, I will give props to WVU QB, Garrett Greene, he is someone to keep an eye on this year.
- Ohio State (1-0)–#2–W 23-3 Indiana–The Buckeyes offense does not look great. Only 23 points against Indiana? Yeah, I will need to see more from them to get them back into the top four.
- Texas (1-0)–#8–W 37-10 Rice
- Notre Dame (2-0)–#13–W 42-3 Navy & W 56-3 Tennessee State–I was not sure if Sam Hartman was going to make a difference in this offense, and clearly I was wrong.
- Tennessee (1-0)–#10–W 49-13 Virginia
- Oregon (1-0)–#12–W 81-7 Portland State
- Washington (1-0)–#18–W 56-19 Boise State
- Utah (1-0)–#14–W 24-11 Florida–The impressive thing? The Utes did this with their backup QB.
- Oklahoma (1-0)–#16–W 73-0 Arkansas State–Damn, last year was probably a fluke.
- Kansas State (1-0)–#17–W Southeast Missouri State
- Oregon State (1-0)–#19–W 42-17 San Jose State–Did a change of scenery help DJ Uiagalelei? It looks like it.
- Wisconsin (1-0)–#22–W 38-17 Buffalo
- Ole Miss (1-0)–#21–W 73-7 Mercer
- Arkansas (1-0)–#20–W 56-13 Western Carolina
- Duke (1-0)–NR–W 28-7 #9 Clemson–Riley Leonard and the Blue Devils made a statement on Monday night.
- LSU (0-1)–#7–L 45-24 #11 Florida State–I would normally drop a team a few spots for losing to a high ranked team, but the way the Tigers got beat down helped drop them to #21.
- UNC (1-0)–#24–W 31-17 #25 South Carolina–The defense held Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks to 17 points, that is an improvement over last year.
- Pitt (1-0)–#23–W 45-7 Wofford
- Texas A&M (1-0)–HM–W 52-10 New Mexico
- Colorado (1-0)–NR–W 45-42 #15 TCU–Coach Prime and the Buffaloes take down last year’s runner-up.
Honorable Mention
Miami (1-0)–HM–W 38-3 Miami OH
Maryland (1-0)–HM–W 38-6 Towson
Mississippi State (1-0)–HM W 48-7 Southeastern Louisiana
Clemson (0-1)–#9–L 28-7 Duke–They need to figure some things out, or this could be a rough season.
TCU (0-1)–#15–L 45-42 Colorado
Watch List
James Madison (1-0)–WL–W 38-3 Bucknell
UAB (1-0)–WL–W 35-6 North Carolina A&T
Stanford (1-0)–WL–W 37-24 Hawaii
Minnesota (1-0)–HM–W 13-10 Nebraska
UCLA (1-0)–NR–W 27-13 Coastal Carolina
The big game this week is #8 Texas at #3 Alabama. Last year was a great game, and if Quinn Ewers stays healthy, the Longhorns probably pull off the upset. Can it happen this year? The second game I want to highlight is Appalachian State at UNC. Again, last year these two teams had an amazing game (UNC won 63-61). Can they repeat that kind of offensive output this year? The final game I want to check out is Nebraska at #25 Colorado. Matt Rhule vs. Deion Sanders. Which new coach was the better hire?
