Quick Reactions After Week 1 of College Football

It’s always nice to have college football back and week one is now in the books with a 43-24 Ole Miss win over Louisville last night.  Like always, there were a few surprises and some things that went exactly how we all anticipated.  Let’s take a quick look at some of the results from the first week and react.

1. UConn Football is an Embarrassment to its Fans/Students/Alumni

Jessica Hill/Hartford Courant

UConn actually played their first game two Saturdays ago, part of five games that “officially” kicked off the college football season.  In that August 28th game, they were absolutely manhandled by Fresno State 45-0.  Now, while no one expects big things from UConn football, getting shut out 45-0 by Fresno State is not a good look at all.  But perhaps even more embarrassing is this past Saturday’s 38-28 loss to…wait for it…Holy Cross.  You just cannot lose to an inferior program like Holy Cross, no matter if you’re UConn or not.  It’s no wonder the Huskies’ head coach has already stepped down, just two games into the season.

2. North Carolina Was Overrated

This is coming from a UNC fan, but after losing their opener 17-10 to Virginia Tech, it solidified what I already feared…the Tar Heels were overrated at #10 going into the season.  Like I said, I’m a fan, so I’ve been watching their football games for a very long time.  And throughout those years, I’ve learned to never trust Carolina football.  They always have a lot of talent and potential to do big things, but they just rarely deliver.  But they are really good at getting your hopes up, though.  For the first time I can ever remember, Heisman talk surrounded the program with Sam Howell at quarterback.  There were talks of the team finally getting over the hump this year and earning a New Year’s Six Bowl game.  I think all of that served as a distraction to the team and probably made them unjustifiably overconfident.  They were exposed by Virginia Tech on Friday night.  And this is not a Virginia Tech team of old.  Scoring only 10 points against them in a loss was brutal.

3. Charlotte is Growing Fast as a Football School

newsobserver.com

Before I begin, I do acknowledge that it was Duke that Charlotte beat over the weekend, but still…It was a really big win for the 49ers.  They never had a football program until 2013 and they have already jumped into the FBS, and now have beaten a Power 5 school.  Before Friday night, they had never hosted or beaten a Power 5 school, so they checked both of those things off their checklist in one night.  And while Duke is not very good, they are usually not bottom of the league material either, at least in the David Cutcliffe era.  Head coach Will Healy is doing great things at Charlotte.

4. Alabama is Still Top Notch, Water is Wet, and the Sky is Blue

Alabama will never fall off, at least under Nick Saban.  There’s never rebuilding years in Tuscaloosa, only reloading years.  And that’s the case this year with Heisman finalist Mac Jones and Heisman winner DeVonta Smith in the NFL now.  They played Miami who was ranked #14 and it was supposed to be an interesting game.  But the second quarter had barely started and it was already 27-0, Bama.  The final ended up being 44-13 in favor of the Tide.  Once again, they are the team to beat.

5. Clemson Really Misses Trevor Lawrence

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You could add running back Travis Etienne to this title as well, but Lawrence was the guy.  He was the quarterback, so everything in the offense ran through him.  So, with Lawrence in a Jaguars uniform now, it really showed how much Clemson misses, and needs him, this year.  Now, I know they played a very good Georgia defense, but the Tigers couldn’t find the endzone ONCE!  Their offense is nothing like it was the last several years, and it will show throughout the season, even when they play teams who are not as good as Georgia.  You HAVE To score more than 3 points on the big stage, at Bank of America Stadium which is way more of a home game to Clemson than Georgia.

6. LSU on LSD?

What happened to LSU?  If you’re a consistent powerhouse team every year like they have been recently, you absolutely cannot go to UCLA and lose your season opener.  It might be a long year for the Tigers.

7. Vanderbilt vs. UConn: Who Ya Got?

tennessean.com

I’ve already reacted to UConn.  Now it’s Vanderbilt’s turn.  You are an SEC school, I repeat an SEC school…and you lose to East Tennesee State 23-3.  The Commodores couldn’t even score a touchdown against the much smaller school.  And not to mention, that’s an in-state matchup.  If you’re trying to get recruits from your home state of Tennessee (which is probably about the only place Vandy can get football recruits at this point), you cannot get blown out by East Tennessee State.  Vanderbilt should play UConn with the stipulation that the loser has to fold their football program.

8. Notre Dame is a 2nd Tier Team Once Again

I feel like this has been the case every year for a good while now.  They begin the year highly ranked and at some point in the season, or postseason, they get exposed for being just 2nd tier by losing (or losing badly) to top-tier teams.  Now, that didn’t happen this week.  The Irish beat Florida State.  But just barely.  We all know Florida State is nowhere near the team they used to be.  They are really not that good at all.  But they forced overtime against Notre Dame and almost escaped with a win.  I realize that a lot of emotions were riding on this game for the Seminoles, playing for Bobby Bowden and all, but Notre Dame was very lucky to leave Tallahassee with a win.  And if you’re going to be a tier-1 team, that can’t happen.  So at some point this year, Notre Dame will lose a few games and not make it to a New Year’s Bowl game, or make it there just to get blown out.  I’ve seen it too many times.  I like Notre Dame and wish they would be perennial contenders, but until they prove otherwise, they just aren’t.

Garett