College Football: Week 1 Review

Five Headlines of Week 1
  1. #5 Georgia holds DJ Uiagalelei, #3 Clemson to 3 points in Week 1 win in Charlotte
  2. Bryce Young (344 yards, 4 TD) carries #1 Alabama to win over #14 Miami in his debut 
  3. Six FCS teams upset FBS teams, headlined by #20 Washington's 13-7 loss to Montana
  4. Virginia Tech upsets Sam Howell, #10 North Carolina 17-10 in Blacksburg
  5. Despite blowing an 18-point lead, #9 Notre Dame holds off a returning McKenzie Melton, Florida St 41-38 in OT
College Gameday's Game of the Week- #5 Georgia 10, #3 Clemson 3 (Duke's Mayo Classic in Charlotte, NC) 
On the surface, this matchup had all the makings of an opening week classic. The end result was a defensive struggle that saw only 13 points scored and zero offensive touchdowns. Neither quarterback (Clemson's DJ Uiagalelei and Georgia's JT Daniels) stood out and the offenses were extremely underwhelming. Clemson totaled 180 total yards of offense, with only two yards rushing. The real story of the game was Georgia's defense. The only real spark in the game was the 74-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Christopher Smith that provided the touchdown of the game. Along with picking off Uiagalelei, Georgia's defense sacked him seven times and holding him to 19 for 37 (51.4%) passing. It exposed a lot of Clemson's weaknesses and will be big moving forward. 

My Game of the Week- #9 Notre Dame 41, Florida State 38 (OT)
A game between Notre Dame and Florida State has a big fight feel to it given the pedigrees of each program. It's a shame Florida State has struggled in the past few seasons. Notre Dame was starting transfer QB Jack Coan from Wisconsin, while Jordan Travis got the start for Florida State. Notre Dame seized control early with a touchdown on their opening drive, but Florida State held strong until late in the first half. Notre Dame took a 17-14 lead into halftime, The Irish ended the third quarter with a 38-20 lead and looked to be in complete control. After Travis led the team to a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, he threw his third interception and gave way to former UCF standout McKenzie Milton. Milton hadn't played in a game since 2018 with UCF after suffering a gruesome injury that left many questioning whether he'd be able to play again. He drove the team down the field to bring them within three points and then did it again to set up the game-tying field goal with 40 seconds left to force overtime. Their comeback fell short with FSU missing a field goal, only to be followed up three plays later by Notre Dame kicking a field goal to win. It was a great almost comeback with a huge return for an injured player that almost led to another top-10 upset.

Teams of the Week
  1. #5 Georgia- When you're playing in the game of the week and beat the third-ranked team in the country, it's a pretty big deal. Even bigger when you hold that team to only 3 points. 
  2. #19 Penn St- After finishing below .500 last season, it was big for them to open the season with a win on the road against a ranked conference opponent.
  3. #1 Alabama- With a new quarterback leading the way, the defending champs opened with an emphatic win over a ranked team. Bryce Young came out of this week looking like a potential Heisman favorite.
  4. #18 Iowa- Not only did they win, but they demolished Indiana, allowing only 6 points and picking off Michael Penix III three times in a truly dominant performance. 
  5. Virginia Tech- Hosting a top ten team to open the season is tough enough, but holding a potential Heisman candidate to 10 points and picking him off three times.
Most Disappointing Teams of the Week
  1. #10 North Carolina- Many felt they were already over-ranked, but this only validated their opinions and made them look like another over-hyped team that can't handle the pressure.
  2. #20 Washington- They have the honor of joining the list of only six teams to be ranked in the Top 25 and lose to an FCS team, putting up only 7 points against Montana. 
  3. #3 Clemson- Their offense looked really bad, granted against a top-tier defense, but you'd expect a better performance from a team that has been one of the best teams in college football that last several years.
  4. Vanderbilt- Vanderbilt was already going to be a bad team, but this was another FBS team to lose to an FCS school, losing 23-3 to East Tennessee State University. 
  5. #16 LSU- LSU has fallen off after their National Championship win, but this is another disappointing loss from Ed Orgeron and his team.
My Top 25 Going into Week 2 (Not the Official AP Top 25)
  1. Alabama (1-0; W 44-13 #14 Miami)
  2. Georgia (1-0; W 10-3 #3 Clemson)
  3. Oklahoma (1-0; W 40-35 Tulane)
  4. Ohio St (1-0; W 45-31 Minnesota)
  5. Texas A&M (1-0; W 41-10 Kent St)
  6. Clemson (0-1; L 10-3 #5 Georgia)
  7. Iowa St (1-0; W 16-10 Northern Iowa)
  8. Cincinnati (1-0; W 49-14 Miami (OH))
  9. Notre Dame (1-0; W 41-38 (OT) Florida St)
  10. Oregon (1-0; W 31-24 Fresno St)
  11. Florida (1-0; W 35-14 Florida Atlantic)
  12. USC (1-0; W 30-7 San Jose St)
  13. Iowa (1-0; W 34-6 #17 Indiana)
  14. Penn St (1-0; W 16-10 #12 Wisconsin)
  15. Texas (1-0; W 38-13 #23 Louisiana)
  16. Wisconsin (0-1; L 16-10 #19 Penn St)
  17. Miami (0-1; L 44-13 #1 Alabama)
  18. Coastal Carolina (1-0; W 52-14 The Citadel)
  19. UCLA (2-0; W 38-27 #16 LSU)
  20. North Carolina (0-1; L 17-10 Virginia Tech)
  21. LSU (0-1; L 38-27 UCLA)
  22. Utah (1-0; W 40-17 Weber St)
  23. Arizona St (1-0; W 41-14 Southern Utah)
  24. Ole Miss (1-0; W 43-24 Louisville)
  25. Virginia Tech (1-0; W 17-10 #10 North Carolina)
Week 2 Games to Watch
  1. #12 Oregon v. #3 Ohio State
  2. #10 Iowa v. #9 Iowa State
  3. Appalachian State v. #22 Miami
  4. Washington v. Michigan
  5. Stanford v. #14 USC

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