WEEK 2 TALK

Finally, we had football on a Saturday! While some games didn’t live up to the hype, others definitely did. The biggest matchup that most people were looking forward to with Alabama and Florida State ended up being a dub. Alabama dominated the game eventually winning 24-7, while putting Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois out for the season with a knee injury. Ohio State closed well against Indiana, but it did take them more than a half to get rolling. All in all, it was what we expected in a first week of college football. Slow starts by USC and UCLA, but both rebounded and came away with impressive victories. At least we got to see some of our favorite teams before a huge week 2 comes up!

Most Impressive

1 – Michigan’s Defense

Wow! I mean, after losing almost all of their starters from last year’s team, I expected Michigan to take a step back this season. Instead, they put on one of the most physically DOMINATING performances I have seen in a while. Florida couldn’t breathe, and if not for 2 pick 6’s by their own defense, the outcome would have been ugly. Florida struggled to move the ball on the ground and through the air as they even tried multiple quarterbacks to no success. This Michigan defense definitely showed they will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

2 – Baker Mayfield

I know he didn’t play against the best competition but did any other quarterback look more flawless than Mayfield? I know he had a rough offseason with head coach Bob Stoops retiring, and of course his arrest in Arkansas, but those incidents clearly drove him to be even better this year. He was able to put the ball wherever he wanted against UTEP, but we’ll get to see how good he is on Saturday when his Sooners travel to Columbus.

3 – Oregon

I picked Oregon to be really good this year and I know it was only Southern Utah, but wow! They scored at ease and this is a team who last year really struggled to move the ball. It appears new head coach Willie Taggart has quickly made an impact with this roster. Justin Herbert played like the quarterback I believed he could and the skills guys were all great. Oregon travels to Nebraska this weekend.

Least Impressive

1 – Florida State

Wow, you can easily tell that Dalvin Cook is no longer on the field for the Seminoles after Saturday. I watched him literally save FSU numerous times in his career and he’s clearly gone. Florida State’s offense was extremely limited against Alabama as most teams are, but they could hardly move the ball. Talent, speed, athleticism and they did nothing with it. And they lost their quarterback in the process.

2 – Texas A&M

For 3 quarters the Aggies were on the previous list. Up 44-10, and literally doing whatever they wanted to UCLA. And then it all fell apart. The secondary which was great early on completely folded and let Josh Rosen pick them apart as UCLA never scored again and ended up losing their quarterback and the game 45-44. Kevin Sumlin needs to recover quickly and win 10 games this year or he will be gone.

3 – Texas

Texas is still not back after giving up 50+ points to Maryland, yeah, the basketball school. After getting a good recruiting class and inheriting talent from previous head coach Charlie Strong, Texas still didn’t look great. They scored over 40 themselves but couldn’t make the plays they needed to win the game. If that defense which was beyond terrible last year, continues to play the way it did Saturday, we’ll see how long Texas fans go before calling for new head coach Tom Herman’s head.

Primetime Topic of the Week

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer brought up a good point today that I may have never heard. He spoke on how sick he is of hearing coaches and media give a team an excuse when they get a new head coach. This excuse typically being that the new coach needs time to get “his” players in the program, and that once you sign that contract the current players are “your” players.

I never put too much thought into this as I just always went with the flow and when you hear college football analysts repeatedly say “Well once that coach gets a couple recruiting classes in”, or “Once that coach gets guys that fit his system in”, you start to believe it. But after further consideration I agree 100% with Urban Meyer. I hate that excuse. We can’t give coaches a pass just because you’re new. You have been hired to take the talent you’re presented with, and the talent you are able to recruit in year 1 and win. We have seen too many coaches be successful in year 1 to continue letting coaches and media use that excuse. I’m glad Urban came out and said this. It will put more pressure on those 1^st year coaches who feel they get a 2 year window before real progress is expected. For example, I remember when Arkansas hired Bret Bielema and people gave him a pass saying that he was thrown into a bad situation, or that he had rebuild the team/culture. No, he had to win! Here he is years later and Arkansas is still a middle of the road team. Now, do I think the average new coach can go take over a middle of the road program and win a national title in year 1? Probably not, but they should be expected to and have that as a goal. Look at Jim Harbaugh for example. They can’t keep having a goal of coasting until you get “your kind” of players in. We will see if the narrative changes now that Meyer has brought it to the forefront.

Week 2 Picks

This is an exciting week in college football as there are several ELITE games and matchups early in the year! We have a major conference opener in the PAC 12, as well as cross conference matchups that will certainly tell us where some teams are.

TCU 38 Arkansas 24

This should be one of the better games of the day as TCU travels to Arkansas. I remember watching Arkansas win this matchup in overtime the last time they faced off. I don’t expect that to be the case this year as TCU is looking to bounce back from a subpar 2016 season. Quarterback Kenny Trill is a senior and knows this is last year to probably ever be a quarterback so he will be looking to get the ball to his playmakers early and often. I don’t trust Austin Allen of Arkansas to make the plays and I definitely don’t trust his offensive line. I think TCU wins the battle in the trenches and they win the battle on the hill.

Penn State 34 Pittsburgh 17

Revenge game for Penn State as they lost this matchup last year, and possibly their shot at the playoff. They are clearly the superior team and heavy favorites in this game. Trace McSorely and maybe the best running back in the country Saquon Barkley form a tremendously talented backfield, and that defense feels they have unfinished business. The loss of offensive coordinator Matt Canada to LSU will definitely impact Pittsburgh this season, and this game will show that.

Stanford 24 USC 20

Major conference opener here! USC has been picked to go to the playoff, and quarterback Sam Darnold has been picked to win the Heisman. I’m sure David Shaw and his team have heard the buzz as well and look to show they are still contenders in the PAC 12. USC’s defense looked very suspect against Western Michigan last week and Cardinal quarterback Keller Chryst and running back Bryce Love will surely look to take advantage. They should win the line battle and be able to win a close one.

Clemson 31 Auburn 20

This is one of the games I am looking forward to the most. Clemson’s new quarterback Kelly Bryant looked just fine stepping in for Deshaun Watson last week and the defense is still elite. Auburn brings in a team which is very talented as well, with new quarterback Jared Stidham who has been out of football for a year. They have a good running game and a defense but I expect Bryant to make a few big plays on it and the Clemson defense to eventually shut down the Auburn defense. Also, I don’t think you take a year off from football and walk back in and beat the defending champs.

Ohio State 34 Oklahoma 31

I’ll say this. I’m literally only picking Ohio State because they are at home. I think the talent is pretty even all around and I also know Baker Mayfield is MUCH better than JT Barrett, but the home field advantage is what I’ll give the edge too. Ohio State is a better defensive team, but Oklahoma is definitely better offensively. Defense wins games and even though Barrett won’t make some big game winning pass, he’ll at least get them in field goal range to close it.

It’s so great to have Saturdays like this again! After the Florida State-Alabama game failed to live up to the hype, it’s great to have 5 bigtime games on the schedule to make up for it. It’ll be interesting to see how our impressions change after this week as some teams could take a big hit to their playoff hopes with a loss. I’m also looking forward to see what Florida State does at quarterback now that Francois is out, and they have that big game against Miami next week, and Alabama is replacing 2 linebackers. And of course, all season long we’ll be on Sumlin watch at Texas A&M. Until next time…