College FB Plus: Big Boys Pile Up Style Points

It's how you win the game as much that counts in the CFP world

Author:
Mark Blaudschun
Publish date:
Sep 18, 2022 7:38 PM EDT

You see it every season among the elite of the college football world.

It's not whether you win the game that counts (it does, of course) but how you do it in the world of a four-team College Football Playoff in which a selection committee will determine a team's playoff worthiness.

The first example of the 2022 college football season came on Saturday.

Not only did the Top 9 ranked teams win their games, they won decisively, with style, which they hope will factor into consideration with the CFP selection committee in the coming weeks.

Granted, most of the wins were against Cupcake U competition, but they were designed to draw attention.

We give you:

No. 1 Georgia 48, South Carolina 7

No. 2 Alabama 63, Louisiana-Monroe 7

No. 3 Ohio State 77, Toledo 21

No. 4 Michigan 59, UConn 0

No. 5 Clemson 48, Louisiana Tech 20

No. 6 Oklahoma 49, Nebraska 14

No. 7 USC 45, Fresno State 17

No. 8 Oklahoma State 63, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 7

No. 9 Kentucky 31, Youngstown State 0

It wasn't until No. 10 Arkansas struggled for survival in a 31-27 win over Missouri State that there was a glitch in the system, one which is sure to affect the Razorbacks in the next rankings and--if they should get to that stage--in the final rankings.

This weekend was important for style points since conference play begins to percolate next week.

As the season advances and the countdown to the Playoff Final Four slots the margin of victories over non-conference opponents will be analyzed.

Georgia helped itself the most since it now has a pair of non-conference victories over credible opponents such as Oregon and South Carolina by a combined margin of 97-10.

But Alabama, after its scare against Texas last week, bounced back with an expected rout of Louisiana-Monroe, while Ohio State and Michigan continue to joust for Big Ten superiority by beating up everyone in their path.

Who's Hot

The four iconic college basketball schools--Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas--are a combined 12-0, which may mean that the frenzy of college basketball season may have to wait for a few weeks.

Carolina and Kentucky have been Top 20 football programs in recent years, but Duke (3-9 a year ago) and Kansas (2-10) have already surpassed their combined victory total of a year ago.

The Pac-12

The much-maligned conference, which has a pair of lame duck schools (UCLA, USC) heading to the Big Ten in a couple of years, are making some noise.tae

Consider:

Start out with USC and UCLA. The Trojans continue to roll along as a genuine Final Four contender with their easy win over Fresno State, but UCLA, which needed a last-second field goal to gain a 32-31 win over South Alabama is 3-0 for the first time since 2015.

UCLA is having a fan problem. The Rose Bowl attendance for the South Alabama game was 28,143, the second smallest gathering since the Bruins started using the Rose Bowl as their home field in !983.

Oregon and Washington displayed their credentials with wins over Top 20 BYU and Michigan State.

More surprisingly, Oregon State and Washington State, a pair of perennial Pac-12 bottom-feeders are also a combined 6-0 after posting wins over Montana State and Colorado State. Oregon State is 3-0 for the first time since 2014.

And it was the first time since 1915 they both started 3-0.

Heading in opposite directions, are Arizona State, which lost to Eastern Michigan and is now 1-2, and Arizona which posted a 31-28 win over FCS power North Dakota State, which was a 2.5 favorite. Arizona is now 2-1.

ASU officials reacted more directly later on Sunday, firing Edwards, which starts a rebuilding process again and again brings the name of Urban Meyer into focus.

Notre Dame

The Irish won their first game of the season and their first game for new coach Marcus Freeman, beating California 24-17. But they had to wear green jerseys (sad, but true).

Appalachian State

Last week's win at Texas A&M brought the Game Day crowd to App State, but it took a Hail Mary TD pass ,on the final play of the game to gain a 32-28 win over Troy and preserve the long shot dream of being the Group of 5 conference rep in a New Year's Six bowl game.

Penn State

The Nittany Lions won their first two games, but the needle didn't move much. Beating SEC opponent in Auburn--the Nittany Lions were slight favorites--may not, but the 41-12 win should be a warning to Big Ten East pals Michigan and Ohio State, that going through State College will still be a task.

Who's Not

FBS football in the state of Colorado

Air Force, regarded as the best of the service academies this season, lost to Wyoming on Friday, while the hapless twins, Colorado and Colorado State, continued to tumble down. Colorado lost to Minnesota 49-7, while CSU was trounced by Washington State 38-7.

Nebraska

The Huskers had a great opening series, stopping Oklahoma in three plays on its first offensive series and then marching the field for a 7-0. That was it in a 49-14 loss in Mickey Joseph's first game as interim Husker coach after Scott Frost was fired last week.

More carnage in Lincoln when Joseph fired defensive coordinator Erik Chinander had been fired a day after the Husker defense yielded 580 yards in the loss to the Sooners.

FYI Fox analyst Urban Meyer was in town, wonder if he was checking out real estate listings?.

Football in New England

It started when Harvard, a pre-season go favorite to win the Ivy League title was trailing Merrimack 21-7 midway through the fourth quarter before waking up to pull off a 28-21 OT victory.

Then UConn was roadkill for Michigan in a 59-0 loss to Michigan, while previously winless Boston College and UMass picked up their first wins with a less than impressive victories over FCS opponents Maine and Stony Brook.

In a push (two New England teams) game, Holy Cross crushed Yale, 38-14.

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