College Football Week One Roundup
After a long and tumultuous offseason, college football returned with a bang this weekend. Week 0 and a riveting Thursday night of action were appetizers to Saturday’s main course. Looking back on the week that was, the top contenders re-asserted themselves as teams to beat while plenty of questions remain in the second tier of teams trying to crash the playoff party.
OHIO STATE 21, NOTRE DAME 10
Things were set up perfectly for Notre Dame to seize momentum as the Irish offense took the field with 14:09 remaining in the third quarter. Notre Dame had out-gained Ohio State in the first half, and the Irish defense held the vaunted Buckeye offense to only 7 first half points and had just forced a three-and-out on the first drive of the second half.
With the ball at the 44 yard-line and a first down gained as a result of a penalty, the Irish had a golden opportunity to put the game away. However, the drive stalled at the Ohio State 36, and Marcus Freeman elected to punt and pin Ohio State back deep. Notre Dame’s offense would run only 14 more plays for 52 yards as the defense eventually wore down and allowed Ohio State to get into the end zone twice and secure the 21-10 victory.
While Notre Dame earned credibility in the national media with its strong showing in a hard-fought loss, the fact of the matter is that Irish fans have seen this movie before and are sick of moral victories. Marcus Freeman gets that – as evidenced by his postgame press conference – but he and his staff have their work cut out for them over the next few weeks before taking on BYU in Las Vegas on October 8th. The first order of business has to be fixing the poor play of the interior offensive line, because nothing cripples an offense more than steady pressure up the middle.
For the Buckeyes, Saturday’s win was a major step forward in their quest to return to the playoff. In addition to securing a win over a top-5 opponent, Ryan Day’s squad proved that they could win a game without the offense firing on all cylinders. In contrast to losses last season against Oregon and Michigan (and even the wins over Utah and Nebraska), Ohio State was the more physical team, and the 14-play, 95-yard drive that took over 7 minutes off the clock and sealed the victory will go down in Buckeye lore. Ohio State should only improve as the season goes on as Jim Knowles establishes a new culture on defense and the young wide receivers continue to improve their timing with CJ Stroud.
FLORIDA 29, UTAH 26
Billy Napier secured a major victory in his first game coaching Florida, as an Anthony Richardson touchdown run with 1:25 remaining gave the Gators a 29-26 lead. Utah drove the ball right down the field in the final minute, but an ill-advised pass from Cameron Rising was picked off in the end zone, denying the Utes a chance to tie the game with a field goal.
Richardson was the best player on the field, throwing for 168 yards and adding another 106 and 3 touchdowns on the ground, and if he proves to be a consistent force, Florida could arrive a year early and challenge Tennessee and Kentucky for second place in the SEC East and potentially a New Year’s Six bowl bid.
This loss stings for Utah, who entered the season with massive expectations aiming for a CFP berth. While the Utes are still favored to win the Pac-12 (especially given Oregon’s performance against Georgia), a one-loss Pac-12 champion would still likely be left out of the playoff.
GEORGIA 49, OREGON 3
Speaking of Oregon, does anyone know if the Ducks thought that because they were playing in an NFL stadium the game was on Sunday? Because it didn’t look like they bothered to show up Saturday. Georgia is really good, but there is no excuse for the #11 team in the country that returns 14 starters to lose by 46.
The Bulldogs scored touchdowns on their first six possessions, went 9-10 on third down, and piled up 571 yards of offense. When Stetson Bennett – who threw for 368 yards and 2 TDs – hit Ladd McConkey for a touchdown with 21 seconds left in the first half, this one was over.
On the other sideline, Oregon fans have to be wondering whether Dan Lanning is the right guy for the job. Mario Cristobal brought back a physicality that had been missing under Mark Helfrich and Willie Taggart to go along with a talented roster, and when he left to take over his alma mater Miami this offseason, Oregon turned to Lanning, who ironically was the defensive coordinator last season at Georgia. The cupboard Lanning inherited from Cristobal was not bare, making it so concerning that Oregon looked disinterested and timid playing for a coach in his first game against the defending national champions. With a game against Eastern Washington next weekend before a showdown with BYU, Lanning should replace Bo Nix with Ty Thompson at quarterback. Nix showed the same flaws in this game that had previously led to his career fizzling at Auburn – inaccuracy and poor decision making. Making the move to the highly regarded Thompson could re-energize a locker room Lanning described as “hurting”.
ARKANSAS 31, CINCINNATI 24
In their first game since the magical 2021 season ended in a CFP loss to Alabama, Cincinnati showed that it is still the class of the American Conference. Ultimately, though, the Bearcats made too many mistakes to win a road game against a quality SEC opponent. Cincinnati had four drives in the first half end in Arkansas territory, missed two field goals, and QB Ben Bryant – who did throw for 325 yards – tossed an interception and overthrew multiple open receivers. The Bearcats, who ranked 118th in the country last year in penalties, picked up right where they left off, drawing 10 flags against Arkansas.
The Razorbacks capitalized on Cincinnati’s mistakes behind the steady KJ Jefferson and a balanced offense. Jefferson threw for 223 yards and 3 TDs while also adding 62 of his team’s 224 rushing yards to go along with another score. Arkansas has a tough schedule, with a road trip to BYU to go along with the SEC West slate, but the Razorbacks do get Alabama, LSU, and Ole Miss at home and draw South Carolina in the crossover game. If Jefferson continues to be a force, the Hogs will be in every game.
McDONOUGH’S MUSINGS
- The college football coaching carousel was crazy this offseason. 29 programs underwent a coaching change during the 2021-22 cycle, the most since 2015. With so many coaches in new places – especially at major programs – let’s check in on how the most prominent new coaches did in their debuts:
- Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame) – Lost 21-10 at Ohio State
- Dan Lanning (Oregon) – Lost 49-3 vs. Georgia
- Brent Venables (Oklahoma) – Won 45-13 vs. UTEP
- Lincoln Riley (USC) – Won 66-14 vs. Rice
- Mario Cristobal (Miami) – Won 70-13 vs. Bethune-Cookman
- Billy Napier (Florida) – Won 29-26 vs. Utah
- Brent Pry (Virginia Tech) – Lost 20-17 at Old Dominion
- Kalen DeBoer (Washington) – Won 45-20 vs. Kent State
- Brian Kelly (LSU) – TBD at the time of writing (LSU plays against Florida State on Sunday night)
- While Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State all got the 2022 season off to a great start with impressive victories, it was a mixed bag for the “next tier” of contenders looking to crash the CFP in 2022. Notre Dame came up short against Ohio State, Texas A&M was sluggish against Sam Houston, Utah lost against Florida, Oregon was blasted by Georgia, Michigan has a quarterback controversy with Cade McNamara openly criticizing how his coaching staff has handled the QB battle in a postgame interview, and NC State needed a missed extra point and missed field goal to survive East Carolina. As of right now, it looks like the “Big Three” and then everyone else.
- They say there are three certain things in life – death, taxes, and the ACC and Pac-12 getting exposed in non-conference play.
- With standard-bearer Clemson not kicking off until Monday night, the rest of the ACC was busy this weekend reminding the nation how average the conference is without the Tigers. Pittsburgh was lucky to survive a mediocre West Virginia team, Virginia Tech lost to Old Dominion, Boston College fell to powerhouse Rutgers, Louisville looked utterly lost in a 31-7 defeat to Syracuse, the aforementioned NC State was lucky to survive East Carolina, and North Carolina tempted the football gods by giving up 40 (!) fourth-quarter points yet somehow still beating Appalachian State.
- Over on the West Coast, what could have been a great weekend for the Pac-12 with USC and Washington starting fast and Arizona and Oregon State notching impressive victories over San Diego State and Boise State, respectively, turned into a nightmare. The favorites to appear in the conference title game – Utah and Oregon – both lost high-profile matchups. The Utes at least had a chance to win the game in a tough road environment, which stands in contrast to the Ducks, who didn’t even belong on the same field as Georgia. Should Utah or Oregon win the Pac-12, they would likely be sitting behind any other one-loss conference champion and even Notre Dame.
- The most impactful news of the weekend was the announcement that CFP board of managers had agreed to move to a 12-team College Football Playoff, which could start as early as 2024. The planned expansion – which was the brainchild of Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson, and former Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, should bring stability to the FBS by granting automatic tie-ins to the six highest ranked conference champions. Additionally, this likely allows Notre Dame to remain independent for the foreseeable future, as the Irish now have access to 6 at-large bids (though they can never receive a top-4 seed).
STOCK UP FROM THE WEEKEND
- The state of Pennsylvania – It was an epic Thursday night in the Keystone state, as both Penn State and Pittsburgh won in thrilling fashion. After controlling the entire first half on the road in West Lafayette before the all-too-typical James Franklin collapse led to Purdue taking a late lead, Penn State managed to reverse the trend behind the right arm of Sean Clifford. The senior signal caller drove the Nittany Lions 80 yards for the game-winning touchdown with just under a minute remaining.
Over in Western Pennsylvania in the first edition of the Backyard Brawl in over a decade, West Virginia held a 31-24 fourth quarter lead. However, Kedon Slovis engineered a 92-yard touchdown drive to tie the game with 3:41 remaining. On the ensuing drive, MJ Devonshire intercepted a JT Daniels pass that went through the hands of the intended receiver and returned it 56-yards for the game-winning score.
- Florida – The Gators are relevant again in Year 1 of the Billy Napier tenure. Napier has energized the fan base and a talented roster. Remember, just 2 years ago Florida gave Alabama all it could handle in the SEC Championship game behind the right arm of Kyle Trask. We will find out if the Gators have staying power next weekend against Kentucky.
- Coastal Carolina – In one of the under-the-radar intriguing games of the weekend, Coastal Carolina outlasted Army 38-28 in a clash between Army’s triple option and Jamey Chadwell’s “modern” version. Grayson McCall – who set the NCAA record for passing efficiency last season – accounted for 4 touchdowns as the Chanticleers took the first step toward earning the Group of Five’s New Year’s Six bowl bid.
STOCK DOWN FROM THE WEEKEND
- Notre Dame – Is there shame in losing a close game at Ohio State? No – especially when the Irish played more competitively than just about every national analyst predicted and showed they belonged athletically with the Buckeyes. Did this loss end Notre Dame’s playoff hope? No – if the Irish run the table they will be in the CFP. However, Notre Dame still finds itself on this list because of the missed opportunity this game represented. If you had told Marcus Freeman that his defense would hold Ohio State to 21 points – their lowest point total since 2018 – Freeman would probably have thought his team would have secured a comfortable victory and be the toast of the nation this week. Instead, though the Notre Dame defense showed that it can keep the Fighting Irish in the game with anyone, major questions remain on the offense, and until the Irish prove they can put points up against the best teams in the country, the heat will rise on offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, one of the last holdovers from the Brian Kelly era.
- Iowa – You could be forgiven for glancing at the ESPN ticker, seeing that Iowa beat South Dakota State 7-3 on Saturday, and then wondering whether college baseball had started early. That would be a disservice to the Iowa baseball team though, which scored more than 7 runs 19 times last season. Iowa couldn’t even muster a touchdown against mighty South Dakota State (which granted is a strong FCS program) and needed two safeties to “pull away” from the Jackrabbits in the end. The Fox Sports broadcast team was hyping up Iowa’s “new look” offense in the pregame, but it looked like more of the same. With a defense that once again will be among the best in the nation, Kirk Ferentz and his staff need to find a way to get more out of senior quarterback Spencer Petras or this will be a long, frustrating – and boring – season in Iowa City.
- NC State – The Wolfpack entered the season expecting to challenge Clemson for the ACC title behind the arm of Heisman hopeful Devin Leary. Instead, NC State is lucky to be leaving Greenville with a win. Leary struggled, completing just 17 of 33 passes for 211 yards and threw a crucial interception. However, East Carolina kicker Owen Daffer missed both the game-tying extra point and a game winning field goal at the end of regulation, allowing NC State to live to see another day. The schedule gives NC State some breathing room, as Charleston Southern, Texas Tech, and UConn should allow Leary and company to get on track before a season-defining game at Clemson.
BEST GAMES OF WEEK 2
- #1 Alabama at Texas, 12pm, FOX
- Tennessee at #17 Pittsburgh, 3:30pm, ABC
- #20 Kentucky at Florida, 7pm, ESPN
- #14 USC at Stanford, 7:30pm, ABC
- #10 Baylor at #25 BYU, 10:15pm, ESPN
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