Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....football....(and just like that I'm already convinced no one will touch Alabama).
Games I saw (some of):
(4) Ohio State 45-31 Minnesota
Shoot! I forgot this game was on, so the Buckeyes had already started busting out the whoop ass by the time I joined. I was impressed by the Gophers, they hung in there, played hard. But OSU got TD's whenever they needed one. I feel like Ohio State won't be as good as usual this year but they'll be there in the end, I have no doubt. As for Minnesota, well, they got their toughest game out of the way early.
(1) Alabama 44-13 (14) Miami
Just another casual thrashing to open the season against the toughest non-conference opponent they've probably played in years. Yawn. I kept waiting for Miami to do....anything...but it just didn't happen for them. Tough way to open the season but they can move on now.
Tulane 35-40 (2) Oklahoma
I kept waiting for Oklahoma to take over and they never did. Not sure if we should be impressed that they still easily beat a tougher-than-expected opponent (hey, man, I thought Tulane was pretty good!) without really exerting themselves or worried that they never took control of the game the way a pre-season #2 ought to? Tulane moved the ball and made plays on defense, so my guess is they're just surprisingly better than usual this season. Hard for Oklahoma to get it up for a non-conference nobody, but opening day requires a little more effort than this (looking at you, Coach Riley). This was not an impressive performance all in all, but I think OU is fine, they'll be dominant.
(5) Georgia 10-3 (3) Clemson
Felt to me like UGA was the better team, but that Clemson has more room to get better throughout the year. This was two really good defenses bashing away at each other; not a particularly informative showing from either offense. Good W for the Bulldogs, but it was a pick-6, that's all--their best drive of the game was at the end when they ran out the clock! Clemson should roll through their mediocre schedule and be back in the playoff, while Georgia will likely matriculate up to #2 until they go toe-to-toe with Alabama.
Northern Iowa 10-16 (7) Iowa State
I was impressed with Northern Iowa, they don't suck. As for Iowa State, they survived a scare against an underappreciated opponent and I think they'll be better for it. If they catch the Sooners slipping, they're positioned to sneak into the playoff. (Yeah, seriously) This was a good game.
(19) Penn State 16-10 (12) Wisconsin
Good game! Wow, no offense at all in the 1st half (scoreless at halftime), but both teams got it going in the 2nd half, Penn State was more effective at making plays on defense in the 4th quarter. Both teams are nice, neither team strikes me as too scary for Ohio State (but, if the Buckeyes are down, maybe...), but both should probably hang around top 20 all season long.
(16) Louisiana State 27-38 UCLA
Uh oh, not a good result for LSU. While watching this game I kept asking myself: damn, was Joe Burrow even better than I remembered? Because the Tigers haven't been able to do anything since he left. UCLA moved the ball casually on this LSU defense and that's shocking: LSU always has good safeties, corners and pass rushers--ALWAYS! So for the Bruins to run up and down the field on them must have been making the Bayou faithful reach for the Pepto. This one is hard to tell: is UCLA really good or is LSU gonna suck this year? I'm not sure. It could be that both of these teams are not particularly good.
(9) Notre Dame 41-38 (OT) Florida State
At first I thought Notre Dame would roll (pretty easy peasy opening drive for a TD) and that would be that (apparently that's what Coach Kelly thought, too!). But when the Seminoles quickly took the lead back I was rather surprised. I liked the Seminole QB and the pass rush wasn't bad either. But when the Irish took a comfortable lead in the 3rd quarter, I thought it was over again. Then it wasn't! Next thing I know the game is tied with 40 seconds to go! What? Notre Dame took their foot off the gas in the 4th quarter and let the Seminoles make plays. Notre Dame felt like the better team throughout but they didn't put the game away as they should have. Takeaways: 1) Florida State might not be awful this season (they're not Nebraska, hope isn't yet lost) and 2) Notre Dame is legit but kinda sloppy. We'll see if that holds.
Top 25
Handled their business
(1) Alabama, (4) Ohio State, (5) Georgia, (6) Texas A&M, (7) Iowa State, (8) Cincinnati, (11) Oregon, (13) Florida, (15) Southern Cal, (18) Iowa), (19) Penn State, (21) Texas, (22) Coastal Carolina, (24) Utah, (25) Arizona State
Win but did not impress
(2) Oklahoma. Not trying to sound the alarm but they really didn't do shit in the 2nd half and that's weird.
Bad beat
(3) Clemson. Tough L to Georgia, not the end of the world, though, as Georgia should have a pretty strong season (making for one of the better L's of the whole year) and Clemson should still rip through the ACC.
(12) Wisconsin. 5th straight L to Penn State, a shame they had to take it at home on opening day while being ranked higher, but they've still got matches against Ohio State and Michigan to get them back in the game.
(14) Miami. Getting stomped by Alabama on opening day has been endured by lots of teams and now Miami is one of them.
(17) Indiana. Should they really have been ranked higher than Iowa anyway? Honestly, that feels like sportswriter malpractice.
(23) Louisiana. Good effort, just didn't have enough in the long run. Tough start to the season but I wouldn't be surprised to see Louisiana sneak their way back into the top 25 by the end of the year (in fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see them ahead of Texas when it's all said and done).
Not good
(10) North Carolina. Hmmm...never really looked like they were gonna beat Virginia Tech on opening night, not a good look for a top ten squad.
(16) Louisiana State. I got a bad feeling about the Tigers this year...
(20) Washington. Ohh, that's not good. Getting soundly defeated by Montana at home is probably the death knell for their season, don't ya think?
Next week's interesting matchups
(11) Oregon @ (4) Ohio State (Dang! Another big time matchup in September!)
(18) Iowa @ (7) Iowa State (Fun one for the Iowans, when was the last time these two were both this good?)
(21) Texas @ Arkansas (Interesting test for the Longhorns, might be a tough one)
Stanford @ (15) Southern Cal (I dig these early season conference games, this one should let us know if the Trojans are for real)
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