Week 1 what have we learned so far?

s--k

Goodbye to Romance College Football
Charlie Brewer has been a fantastic addition for Utah. The score does not accurately explain how well he played. He is highly concussion prone, I hope he stays healthy all season.

Minnesota played Ohio State pretty well between the hashes, but OSU just blew their doors off with the athletes outside and in space. Minnesota looked very slow in space, and of course OSU has elite athletes so I guess no surprise. I am not sure yet how good this OSU D is, they don't really get challenged often by top flight offenses and didn't yesterday either obviously.

Bowling Green competed better than I anticipated. There might be an opening for a new worst team in football this year if BG has actually found a pulse. Tennessee looked about as good as a top-end MAC team.

ECU is still bad, and probably always will be. App State still a beast.

Eastern Washington got the result they deserved with a 3 OT win, but man, they need a new FG kicker. Tough loss for UNLV can back to score 14 straight with a 2pt conversion to tie and force OT.

I do not like this new overtime rule. Actually I hate it. First OT, normal. Second OT, teams must go for 2pt conv. Third OT and so-on are just the 2pt conv tries. I feel it puts a lid on the drama, it forces the end too soon. I admit that college OTs have and can carry on too long, but I also feel like this is too much of a change.

Arizona State was quite ugly to watch. Very very sloppy football. Poor. I do give a ton of credit to Southern Utah because that team looked dead to the world week 0 and that coaching staff had them playing to the best of their ability last night. I lost some money on an ASU bet but can't lie, I actually liked seeing the SUU kids compete.

Tulsa lost to Dan Hawkins and UC Davis. For some reason that doesn't surprise me (Phillip Montgomery).
 
Brought this up in the in-game but I'm interested in opinions of CJ Stroud. The media agenda seems to be to cast him in as strongly a light as possible..."Heisman candidate." lauded profusely for throwing to utterly wide open guys. To what degree was he just suffering season-opening nerves, to what degree is he being overrated?
 
Brought this up in the in-game but I'm interested in opinions of CJ Stroud. The media agenda seems to be to cast him in as strongly a light as possible..."Heisman candidate." lauded profusely for throwing to utterly wide open guys. To what degree was he just suffering season-opening nerves, to what degree is he being overrated?
Road game, tough environment.

I think overall it was a successful start.

He admitted nerves, which leads to overthrows.

Another good test next week.
 
Charlie Brewer has been a fantastic addition for Utah. The score does not accurately explain how well he played. He is highly concussion prone, I hope he stays healthy all season.
Yes, he took a beating at Baylor. I'm honestly surprised he is still playing. One concussion may be it for him this season. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Great kid, great family in Austin.
 
Brought this up in the in-game but I'm interested in opinions of CJ Stroud. The media agenda seems to be to cast him in as strongly a light as possible..."Heisman candidate." lauded profusely for throwing to utterly wide open guys. To what degree was he just suffering season-opening nerves, to what degree is he being overrated?
He did what he needed to do. Is he supposed to throw to the guys who are covered instead of the wide open guys? I'd be more worried about the tOSU defense. I guess it won't matter much in conference play, but I could see them struggling against the better passing offenses like last year
 
Something to look for as these games play out is the impact of the so-called super seniors. I heard a take on a podcast that I thought was interesting, in that it will raise the floor of the G5 teams and lower-level P5 teams. Minimal impact on the upper crust, but maybe some of these larger spreads don't get covered? Think I may tread lightly this weekend on those games
 
Jeff Scott isn't half the coach as Charlie Strong. Strong had at least a mediocre but half decent and competitive program - couldn't pass but alright d and good running game and they had an identity. Now Scott has come in and everything has regressed dramatically and to boot the the passing game is so bad he is trying to go back to what strong did running the qb.

App State was a great matchup to do what they did - dominate the line of scrimmage but everyone says ecu is most improved every single year - even though the are a bottom 10 defensive line ? Overall that game showed not much has changed from last year - same with usf - and most of these games imo. If the trend continues I think Temple is gonna get blown out and Duke is gonna roll charlotte.
 
The transfer rule has made college football a lot more interesting. They said last night there are still more than a thousand players left in the portal who didn't get an offer. And they pointed out that one guy--I think it was a Bowling Green CB, but I was watching so many games I'm not sure--only got an offer a week ago, showed up for the end of camp, and started last night.

The Boise State/UCF game was one of the best of the night. I wondered if Boise would be as well coached with a new guy and the answer is yes. They are same as always, tough guys who hit hard every play, rarely make mistakes, play hard all game. Really good defense that outsmarted UCF and them on crucial plays half a dozen times. The Mountain West is going to be a tough conference this year, but it's going to be hard for anyone to beat Boise

UCF was all over the map. A ton of speed, lots of transfers, liable to do anything on any play. They have better athletes than Boise and they play hard, but made some real bonehead plays, including a gambler killer when the had a first and goal at the Boise 3 and the QB threw it right to a Boise player who took it 103 yards the other way
 
Shout out to Mars pointing this out in the week 1 discussion thread and giving us a winner. WKU is a completely different team! The previously offensively inept squad has a whole new air raid attack curtesy of bringing in new staff and pretty much all the skill players off houston baptist! Dunno how long it will be till books catch up to their totals but last night they hung a 50 burger in basically 3 quarters! Think it worth keeping a eye on their totals in the coming weeks!
 
Brought this up in the in-game but I'm interested in opinions of CJ Stroud. The media agenda seems to be to cast him in as strongly a light as possible..."Heisman candidate." lauded profusely for throwing to utterly wide open guys. To what degree was he just suffering season-opening nerves, to what degree is he being overrated?

pretty tough to evaluate based off last night, gotta give him credit for stepping up and making the throws in the 2nd half after looking like ass in the 1st. Gotta say he at least had the mentality to succeed imo. Far as guys running wide open I gotta think that gonna be a theme for osu all year in the big10, they have a stable of crazy good athletes!
 
He did what he needed to do. Is he supposed to throw to the guys who are covered instead of the wide open guys? I'd be more worried about the tOSU defense. I guess it won't matter much in conference play, but I could see them struggling against the better passing offenses like last year

i agree bout the defense being a concern. That game might have turned out different had gophers rb not gotten hurt, he was killing osu on the ground, I can’t recall hardly any runs the 1st defender made the tackle. He a heck of a back tho, unfortunately looks like his season over. That said the osu tackling and run defense was awful!! Far as the passing defense I couldn’t believe how many times that rpo fake then throw the slant worked! Even after gophers rushing threat left the game and it was obvious passing situations that play was open every time!! Def a concern.
 
Jeff Scott isn't half the coach as Charlie Strong. Strong had at least a mediocre but half decent and competitive program - couldn't pass but alright d and good running game and they had an identity. Now Scott has come in and everything has regressed dramatically and to boot the the passing game is so bad he is trying to go back to what strong did running the qb.

App State was a great matchup to do what they did - dominate the line of scrimmage but everyone says ecu is most improved every single year - even though the are a bottom 10 defensive line ? Overall that game showed not much has changed from last year - same with usf - and most of these games imo. If the trend continues I think Temple is gonna get blown out and Duke is gonna roll charlotte.

i didn’t realize ppl were so high on Ecu till I saw how much money they must have took to drop that line the way it did!! I agree Rutgers should roll temple, don’t know enough bout duke to say on that game.
 
The transfer rule has made college football a lot more interesting. They said last night there are still more than a thousand players left in the portal who didn't get an offer. And they pointed out that one guy--I think it was a Bowling Green CB, but I was watching so many games I'm not sure--only got an offer a week ago, showed up for the end of camp, and started last night.

The Boise State/UCF game was one of the best of the night. I wondered if Boise would be as well coached with a new guy and the answer is yes. They are same as always, tough guys who hit hard every play, rarely make mistakes, play hard all game. Really good defense that outsmarted UCF and them on crucial plays half a dozen times. The Mountain West is going to be a tough conference this year, but it's going to be hard for anyone to beat Boise

UCF was all over the map. A ton of speed, lots of transfers, liable to do anything on any play. They have better athletes than Boise and they play hard, but made some real bonehead plays, including a gambler killer when the had a first and goal at the Boise 3 and the QB threw it right to a Boise player who took it 103 yards the other way

boise just continues bringing in new head coaches that understand the culture snd they just keep the train rolling. I do not like their qb tho! That last pick he threw to end the game was awful!! He could have gotten a few yards and had a 4th and short instead of throwing up that terrible pass, I could have swore he was already past the Los when he threw it but guess not since wasn’t a flag! I’m bullish on San Jose st winning the mountain west (if not them then it be Nevada imo), it is pretty likely either one will be facing Boise in the championship game tho. Lucky for Boise they on opposite side of those 2 teams!
 
boise just continues bringing in new head coaches that understand the culture snd they just keep the train rolling. I do not like their qb tho! That last pick he threw to end the game was awful!! He could have gotten a few yards and had a 4th and short instead of throwing up that terrible pass, I could have swore he was already past the Los when he threw it but guess not since wasn’t a flag! I’m bullish on San Jose st winning the mountain west (if not them then it be Nevada imo), it is pretty likely either one will be facing Boise in the championship game tho. Lucky for Boise they on opposite side of those 2 teams!

yeah I don’t like their qb either. They were gifted 14 points in that game. It could have been a 3-4 score blowout.
 
The targeting rule continues to really suck! If they want to throw a flag for it in some instances where it blatant fine but kicking kids out of the game and sometimes 1st half the following week is so asinine!! You can tell it has served its purpose, you rarely see the hits anymore where kid head hunting, launching/leading with helmet! Almost all the ones being called these days are good football plays where the offensive player ducks last second! Just redic they eject kids and sometimes totally change the game cause of a play like that!!! Enough already!!!

I was super proud the refs in the osu/Minny game for not calling it on the last Minny play that resulted in a fumble. Overall I thought the refs were awful/inconsistent in that game but I forgive them simply for not calling targeting on that great hit, despite Joe klatt in the booth carrying on like a moron saying it was targeting!! No it wasn’t Joe!!!

there was another in the boise/ucf game on a punt return where tv guy wanted targeting but the refs did the right thing and picked up flag after review. Tv guy insisted punt returner was a defenseless player but that nonsense! He has the option to fair catch the ball, if he doesn’t do that the defender has to make the hit! What he supposed to do? Let him take it to the house??

Those are 2 I was proud of the refs but the tv guys insisted they call it!! Even tho they made the right call in those 2 instances it annoys me they have to waist time and review good clean hits! And ya know next week those same hits will be called targeting by other refs, at least one of which will terribly impact a game ejecting a teams best player!
 
yeah I don’t like their qb either. They were gifted 14 points in that game. It could have been a 3-4 score blowout.

no doubt. Just the one where ucf shoulda had a td that ended up being a 100 yard pick 6 probably only reason it was close. Other than that last awful pick he threw I thought he was terrible under pressure the entire 2nd half.
 
I’m not sure how I felt about guz malzone offense? Sure seems like ucf took way more downfield shots in previous years. Feel like he gonna get the qb killed running around more!! The run game was really good in the 2nd half tho!! That Bowser kid is a load to bring down!
 
Totally agree. He had like 10 seconds to pass sometimes and did nothing. I hope they are a fave next week vs Pitt. First hammer game I am following

yea i like pitt for sure. on same note i hope mizzou is favored when they face boston college in a few weeks!! i think some these acc teams better than they get credit for.
 
Most teams do return tons of starters and experience back. Note the ones that DO NOT, especially the ones that aren't used to reloading it.

Duke lost 3 guys on D to the NFL draft and a couple other defenders transferred

Northwestern lost 2 multi-year stud LBs and 1st Rd CB

It mattered quite a bit for both tonight.

South Dakota State dominated Colorado State. CSU D was good last year, everyone back, got asses kicked tonight. CSU O sucked last year, still sucked tonight

Kansas led 7-0 HT, South Dakota came back to take lead, KU came from behind to win in final minute...first win in 677 days for KU football
 
I would say it's better to look at the 1h to understand Colorado State, they have a blue print but it's still a couple years away. Very competitive 1h but I kinda think unless you can scheme to negate speed on defense for 4 quarters, most of our teams would see them as a tough opponent. The difference between many G5 and several P5 teams compared to the elite of the FCS is nominal if not worse for the FBS teams because it just sounds bad to lose. SDSU are better than CSU and probably wins that game 8/10 times at least.

We know there are teams that can wear them down but they're better than some teams who will play in bowl games this year.
 
I would say it's better to look at the 1h to understand Colorado State, they have a blue print but it's still a couple years away. Very competitive 1h but I kinda think unless you can scheme to negate speed on defense for 4 quarters, most of our teams would see them as a tough opponent. The difference between many G5 and several P5 teams compared to the elite of the FCS is nominal if not worse for the FBS teams because it just sounds bad to lose. SDSU are better than CSU and probably wins that game 8/10 times at least.

We know there are teams that can wear them down but they're better than some teams who will play in bowl games this year.

I watched the game. CSU OL sucked. CSU run game sucked. CSU QB sucked. CSU DL and pass rush, got close but didn't make many impact plays.

If CSU has a blue print that is a couple years away Addazio won't be around to see it. That team has too much talent to be pissing away. CSU has 3 former BC players on OL, David Bailey who was occasionally beastly at BC. McBride and Wright are for sure first team MWC players and CSU's DL is as good as the MW has to offer. Their run D was tough last year. At one point early 3rd they were yielding 7.0 ypc tonight. No way they should be that bad even vs an elite FCS. South Dakota's strength in theory aligned with Colorado State's proven strength and CSU couldn't handle it.

I felt in watching it that South Dakota State was very well coached and was very confident. Colorado State was neither.
 
Most teams do return tons of starters and experience back. Note the ones that DO NOT, especially the ones that aren't used to reloading it.

Duke lost 3 guys on D to the NFL draft and a couple other defenders transferred

Northwestern lost 2 multi-year stud LBs and 1st Rd CB

It mattered quite a bit for both tonight.

South Dakota State dominated Colorado State. CSU D was good last year, everyone back, got asses kicked tonight. CSU O sucked last year, still sucked tonight

Kansas led 7-0 HT, South Dakota came back to take lead, KU came from behind to win in final minute...first win in 677 days for KU football

I think you could say same thing for unc who lost all their sklll players and it showed (along w crappy coaching, play calling, and not being prepared!). They not one the acc teams who might be underrated, lol.

agree w kj about CSU, really their d biggest problem in 1st half they couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down (didnt watch 2nd), they were good getting pressure last year but just think that offense out schemed them. I think you will see their oline play amd run game continue to improve. The O was able to move SDst around in 1st but once d couldn’t get off field it became way higher scoring than they capable of playing. I expect they show decent at times this year in conf play.
 
I thought CSU had a shot at beating Vanderbilt, I'll wait and see how Vandy looks tomorrow, which they play East Tennessee or some Tennessee Tech, so they will probably look decent. I don't think after what I saw tonight CSU will be beating Vandy...or Toledo...or Iowa. If they start 0-4, I don't know what they can salvage from the season. A run in the MWC? Mabye. With Centeio at QB? Doubtful.
 
The drive to tie it at 7 was a demolition drive for CSU that if they had the athletes to play 4 quarters like that, they probably win the game. Poor 3rd down execution on defense by far by them was their undoing. For me, it all showed in the 2h, not a lot of positive attitude when shit hit the fan and they wilted, not surprising. That's hard to keep up.

The better team did what better teams do. SDSU and NDSU would be awesome in the MWC, bet they both finish top half their first seasons.
 
Are you talking about the 17 play drive? Yeah, a 17 play drive. Their offense is beyond pedestrian and Centeio can't hit open receivers.
 
I felt like UNC's most glaring weakness was OL, not lack of skill players
I think it was play callin, not trusting the rbs like the 2 in the nfl who really drove the train last year. Yes the oline got abused but play calling did them no favors and also didn’t think anyone got open in 1st. Not to mention other than 1 screen the wrs were shit at blocking most the night. So yea oline looked bad I think there were lot of things that coulda helped them like establishing some type of inside run game.
 
I thought d played well enough in 2nd half to give them chance If the offense was close to right. Didn’t get the ball back enough in 1st but we’re better in 2nd imo.
 
They must not have ran at all after halftime. They had 2 pretty good drives rushing the ball, the one after SDst 1st score was 17 plays mostly rushing to tie at 7.,SDst went right back down and scored coveting one 3rd and long after another. CSU had a ok drive for fg to make it 14-10 and SDst scored again before half. You could tell it was over at that point and looking at stats I assume CSU threw a bunch in 2nd, obviously run game was out window after SDst scored before half then after half they were way ahead at that point. CSU gonna have to play way lower scoring clock control games similar to what wyo does a lot.
 
CSU lead back ended up w freaking 19 carries for only 46 yards! Lol. He did have a lot of 1-2 yard runs!
 
Just looking at some of the results, it seems like a lot of teams failed to meet expectations, especially considering it was a "normal" offseason compared to last year.
 
With the ACC embarrassing themselves Clemson will have no legitimate case to be a playoff team even if they run the table. The committee will of course overlook that they won't have any quality wins but last night should eliminate them from consideration.
 
We will find out if Georgia can win on defense and defense alone. Very impressive showing on that side of the ball but once again Kirby has a punchless offense.
 
In opening games always look at big coaching mismatches. With months and months to prepare the incredible difference between say Saban and Mandy produce the results that we saw yesterday.
 
Back
Top