College FB Plus: "New'' kids on block in ACC

October has not arrived and Clemson is unofficially out of the CFP playoff business, Alabama is on the brink and Notre Dame hit the self destruct button in the most crucial moment in a "big'' game.

The 2023 college football season offered its first highlight weekend of contenders vs contenders on Saturday and while there were few defining moments it did offer a view of the immediate future.

Let's start  Clemson, which is now 0-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after it's 31-24 OT home loss to Florida State.

FSU, a once and perhaps future ACC champion, came into the game as a slight favorite, an amazing bit of respect consider the Seminoles hadn't beaten Clemson in Death Valley since 2013.

With wins over LSU and now Clemson, the Seminoles look ready to fill the role of leader of the ACC pack, although a confrontation with Miami on November 11th looms as the 2023 ACC version of "Game of the Year'', which used to be an FSU-Miami staple, both in the  ACC and nationally.

Notre Dame's prime time (not Deion) meeting with Ohio State on Saturday night was the closing end of the CFB entertainment show.

Miami continues to be unbeaten after romping past Temple on Saturday,

It didn't disappoint, ending on the final play of the gamer with a one-yard TD plunge by Ohio State RB Chip Trayunum, ,which gave the  Buckeyes' a 17-14 victory in South Bend

.That would have been dramatic enough, but a coaching mix up resulted in Notre Dame having only 10 players on the field for the game-winning play, which puts ND second year head coach  Marcus Freeman in a spotlight dance he would have preferred to avoid.

Freeman was thrust in his job with NO head coaching college coaching experience.

Now this is on his resume, with a loss which puts Irish on the brink of being eliminated  from the CFP final four.

With games remaining at Clemson and against USC, there are opportunities for redemption, although a win against Clemson does not have as much value as it once  had.

Alabama beat Ole Miss, 24-10 on Saturday which doesn't seem like a big deal, but considering the Tide was coming off a home loss to Texas and a lacklustre win over South Florida with an offensive ineptness not seen in Tuscaloosa in years, it gave Tide fans reason for a bit of optimism that Coach Nick Saban's team (3-1) will still be a factor and provide an end of the season challenge for back-to-back national champion Georgia.

And then there was this: Oregon 42, Colorado 6--It was 35--0 at halftime  Sand the Colorado Prime Time show dominated by Coach Deion Sanders showed all of its flaws.

"An old fashioned butt whipping,'' conceded Sanders, who came to Colorado this season selling his product with a combination of bluster that turned off many people. 

Good for Sanders to not make excuses, and he did offer this,""If you are going to beat us, do it now, because it is the worst we are going to be.''

That sounded very similar to statement made by UConn basketball coach las December when the Huskies hit a snag in their regular season.   UConn, of course, put things together and sprinted to a national championship.

Who's Hot

The Pac 12

The conference is down to two schools (Oregon State and Washington State) for next season, but continues to produce the best football. Oregon, Washington and USC, and Utah all remain unbeaten and legitimate contenders for the Final Four.

Duke

Thee Blue Devils, who began their season by crushing Clemson, rolled over UConn on Saturday, are 4-0, a status which will bring ESPN's Game Day to Durham this weekend.

Syracuse, Missouri, Kansas

All three teams are a combined 12-0. None of them are considered serious contenders in their conferences, but the ride this far has been smooth, although Kansas must travel to Texas next week and Syracuse gets a wounded Clemson team coming to the Dome.

Who's Not

Dabo Swinney and Marcus Freeman.

Clemson and Notre Dame lost games in the final seconds on Saturday and Swinney and Freeman made questionable decisions and mistakes which played key roles in  the losses

Clemson made some bad decisions in OT, which is the responsibility of OC Garrett Riley, but Swinney is the head guy.

Notre Dame was beaten on a game-winning TD by OT with only 10 defensive players on the field.

Boston College, Virginia and Virginia Tech

A trifecta of ACC ineptness continues. Virginia travels to BC this week, so somebody has to  win.

The SEC

No one looks great this season, including two-time defending national champion Georgia, which has played a Cupcake U schedule for a month.

Play it Forward  (Games of note for next week)

USC at Colorado--Last Prime Time show of season?

Georgia at Auburn--Maybe a semi-test for Dawgs

Kansas at Texas--A pair of unbeatens in a semi Big 12 showdown.