2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 1)

Autumn...the only known cure for the summertime blues (no matter who says otherwise). 

Games I watched (some of): 

(11) Oregon 3-49 (3) Georgia

Early on Oregon moved the ball just fine, but they'd get bogged down without putting points on the board; then UGA would get a TD. Oregon would look okay but give it up; then UGA would score a TD. There's a play where the Bulldogs were driving, inside the 20, about to score, had a play break down, Oregon pass rush was flying around, Stetson Bennett is running for his life, when he suddenly he spins back to the other side of the field, flings the ball up....to a dude wide open in the end zone. That's when it became obvious that Oregon's no shot in this game. I really didn't watch much after that, didn't feel I needed to. Oregon tried their hardest, might be a really good squad this year, but it just didn't matter today. Kinda thought Georgia would have a let down after finally winning the big one last year....uhh, doesn't feel like it. 

(7) Utah 26-29 Florida

Didn't watch much of this game, just enough to confirm that the Utes never got their offense going. Didn't feel like either team dominated, but Florida played hard, held the lead the whole way through. Utah just couldn't make plays late in the game, throwing an interception in the end zone is a tough way to go out. Not a season-ender for Utah but an unfortunate opener. Will Florida ride this wave or are they spent? 

Miami (OH) 13-37 (20) Kentucky

Close game at halftime, but I assured my new-to-town friend that the Cats are much better in the 2nd half; he was skeptical (I was, too). But UK ran back the 2nd half kick off for a TD, then quickly got a turnover and turned that into a TD and the close at halftime was not very close just 1 minute later. I would've liked to see Kentucky show clear dominance over Miami on at least one side of the ball, and while UK was the better team throughout, really the score represents a body blow of a momentum swing pretty early in the game. Can UK move the ball? Can they stop a solid offense? Next week in Gainesville will be much more of a test. 

Top 25

Handled their business

(1) Alabama, (2) Ohio State, (3) Georgia, (4) Clemson, (6) Texas A&M, (8) Michigan, (9) Oklahoma, (10) Baylor, (12) Oklahoma State, (14) Southern Cal, (16) Miami, (17) Pittsburgh, (18) Wisconsin, (19) Arkansas, (20) Kentucky, (21) Ole Miss, (22) Wake Forest, (24) Houston (*), (25) Brigham Young

Won but did not impress (*)

(13) North Carolina State

Yeah...Wolfpack should've lost, East Carolina gacked away multiple opportunities to finish the game in the 4th quarter. East Carolina on the road isn't exactly a cupcake, but if NC St was really worth a top-15 pre-season ranking, then I'd expect a more decisive W (or else East Carolina is actually pretty good....?).

Bad beat

(5) Notre Dame

They were still up 10-7 late in the game and while they clearly didn't have the offense to hang, they clearly have a D that can put the brakes on what appears to be one of the best offenses in college football. Not getting totally trucked by the Buckeyes is a pretty good opening. If the Irish keep their eye on the ball, this L doesn't put them out of the mix. 

(7) Utah

Probably should've come away with a W but Florida has a pretty strong home field advantage and Utah did well to push the Gators to the final minute. Really good start for Florida, Utah's gotta hope that the Gators ride the wave and beat Georgia (and, hell why not, Alabama, too). Not impossible but Utah's road into the final mix is all uphill from here. (Oh, doesn't look like Florida will be beating Georgia this season, but we'll see) 

(23) Cincinnati

Bearcats probably should've come out of Arkansas with a W, but gotta respect that they picked a hard way to open the season. And a loss to the SEC West is probably as lenient an L as someone can get and they didn't get blown out. This loss is a not a great start but not (yet) a death blow to the Bearcat championship hopes. 

Next week's intriguing matches:

(1) Alabama - Texas (gonna be fun because our TV overlords have assured us it will be...okay)

(24) Tennessee - (17) Pittsburgh (probably gonna be more fun that it sounds)

(20) Kentucky - (12) Florida (if Florida is for real then this will be easy, if Kentucky is for real then this will be a fun match)

(9) Baylor - (21) Brigham Young (future conference match up?)

(*) I chose not to include (24) Houston in the Won but did not impress category, because I think UT-San Antonio is actually a pretty good squad (somewhere around #26, I'd say) and for the Cougars to finally best them on the road in triple OT is actually a pretty impressive W.