Finally, college football is back. After a teaser in Week 0, the first official full weekend of games took place over Labor Day. As we get set to dive into our takeaways from the week, we’ll include both weekends for this case to make it complete and really kick the season in full swing. Here is our recap of the games.
1. SEC offenses steal the college football show
A record four SEC teams scored 60 or more points in one day last Saturday: The Tennessee Vols, Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels. Add in the Arkansas Razorbacks on Thursday, and five scored that many over the weekend. Three scored at least 70. Against good competition, the Vanderbilt Commodores shocked the world with 34 to upset the Virginia Tech Hokies.
2. Georgia the most complete team in college football
Despite not being in the mix of SEC offenses dominating, the Bulldogs still showed why they are the most dominant team in the sport. Kirby Smart’s program had a slow start to the game last Saturday against the Clemson Tigers, the marquee game of the year, only to pull away and win 34-3 in the second half. It was methodical domination, and with Carson Beck leading the way, they may be unstoppable.
3. Clemson will no longer reign over college football
Dabo Swinney’s program is the other side of that UGA beatdown, and it is part of a continued Clemson slide dating back four years. By sticking to a philosophy, Swinney, who was once ahead of the curve, now looks like the old head complaining about changes to college football. That and the rise of the Vols is causing him major problems.
4. Miami, Notre Dame back to top of college football?
Sticking with the ACC and ACC-adjacent, the Miami Hurricanes may be returning to the top of college football after dominating the Florida Gators 41-17. Meanwhile, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish had a huge 23-13 win over the Texas A&M Aggies. Both of these were road games, so could this be a return to the 1980s with these two programs both elite?
5. Florida, FSU combined irrelevancy worst in decades
While Miami is elite, the other two Florida traditional powers are not. We just mentioned UF losing to The U. Well, the Florida State Seminoles are 0-2 after losses to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Boston College Eagles. For the first time since 1973, UF and FSU both lost by at least 15 points in the same weekend. Maybe that’s why Miami is rising?
6. Colorado has two elite players…and nobody else
Deion Sanders will keep the Buffaloes the story of college football, but Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter are carrying them. Both would be Heisman candidates on elite programs, but with no help, CU could barely get past the North Dakota State Bison, so they won’t have enough wins to be there at the end of the year.
7. USC has a defense? Iowa has an offense?
Are we in the matrix? The Trojans beat the LSU Tigers by holding them to 20 points, and the Hawkeyes dropped 40, albeit against the Illinois State Redbirds. USC’s play is more legit among the Big Ten schools, and it’s the one that could turn a team into a national title caliber program, both tell a huge story. LSU pushed the SEC to 2-3 vs. Power Five schools as well this past weekend, a bad look.
8. Penn State the only traditional B1G power to not struggle
USC gets a pass, but the Michigan Wolverines only beat the Fresno State Bulldogs 30-10, and the Ohio State Buckeyes and Washington Huskies led the Akron Zips and Weber State Wildcats by 14 each respectively at halftime. The Oregon Ducks beat the Idaho Vandals 24-14. However, the Penn State Nittany Lions beat the West Virginia Mountaineers 34-12 on the road. Are they the Big Ten favorites now?
9. Heisman race
1. Cam Ward, QB – Miami
2. Carson Beck, QB – Georgia
3. Diego Pavia, QB – Vanderbilt
4. Travis Hunter, CB/WR – Colorado
5. Miller Moss, QB – USC
10. Top 10
1. Miami
2. Penn State
3. Georgia
4. Notre Dame
5. TCU
6. USC
7. North Carolina
8. UNLV
9. Vanderbilt
10. Boston College
REMEMBER: Top 10 and heisman races are based solely on what teams and players have done to this point. Right now, margin of victory and whether or not a program played a Power Five school are the only factors that we can weigh. Others will come in, like schedule strength, as the season progresses.
