Mr. CFB: What We Learned. Milton Comeback, Crowds Are Why We Love College Fooball

I don’t know about you, but I enjoyed every single minute of the first full weekend of the college football season.

And if there was a major lesson to be learned, it was this: College football is better—a lot better—with a lot of fans in the stands:

With 71,829 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium to watch Alabama and Miami;

To 76,832 to watch Wisconsin and Penn State at Camp Randall (where they had their first “Jump Around” at the end of the third quarter in 641 days);

To 97,339 at Kyle Field to watch Texas A&M beat Kent State…..

And then on Sunday 68,316 turned out at Florida State’s Doak Campbell Stadium to honor the late coach, Bobby Bowden, and watch a game for the ages. Notre Dame got a field goal in overtime to win 41-38. The game also marked the return to quarterback McKenzie Milton from a horrific leg injury two years ago. Milton came in late and almost pulled out a victory for Florida State.

It was just a marvelous weekend that will finish Monday night with a game between Ole Miss and Louisville.

Here’s something else we know: We’re going to overreact to everything that happened Saturday. And that’s okay. It’s college football. It’s what we do.

So what did we learn?

1—Remember what we said earlier about there being NO WAY that Alabama could be as good as it was last year?

Or that it was going to take the new offense and quarterback Bryce Young some time to settle in?

Or that if anybody was going to beat Alabama THIS was going to be the year, especially with upcoming trips to Florida (Sept. 18) and Texas A&M (Oct. 9)?

Well, forget all that.

After watching the Crimson Tide just overwhelm No. 14 Miami 44-13 it’s clear they are scary good again.

Young, the sophomore from California, is not settling into anything. He was great, completing 27 of 38 passes for 344 yards, four touchdowns, and NO interceptions.

Yes, Miami was vastly overrated but I’m just saying. Like Gene Chizik said on SEC Now, it looked like Alabama had taken a week off after the 2020 national championship season and showed up on Saturday. Wow!

2—Georgia still has some work to do on offense but that defensive front is downright nasty.

Georgia’s defensive dominance in a 10-3 win over No. 3 Clemson was a sight to behold. And I’m just going to say this: I don’t think there is a single human being outside of the National Football League who can block Jordan Davis, No. 99. He is what folks in the football profession call a “grown --- man.”

The victory was the most significant for Kirby Smart’s program since the win over Oklahoma in the CFP national semifinals in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2018.

Yes, the Georgia offense and quarterback JT Daniels, struggled against one of the best defensive fronts in all of college football. Georgia was not explosive on offense and that might catch up with the Bulldogs at some point.

But Georgia found a way to win over Clemson with a pick-six and a field goal. And when they needed to run clock and put the game away, the Bulldogs knocked out two first downs on the ground.

It’s a long season and Georgia had better not mess around with Saturday’s opponent in UAB, a very well-coached team.

3—Florida’s Dan Mullen can deny it all he wants but, at the very least, he has a quarterback “situation.”

Emory Jones, who played in 24 games for Florida, got his first start against Florida Atlantic at the Swamp. He did okay. He ran for a touchdown but had two interceptions.

But Anthony Richardson did better than okay. He had 160 yards on six carries, including a 73-yard touchdown run.

Mullen said after the game that Jones has a better grasp of the entire offense and that’s true.

But which quarterback gives Florida the best chance to hang with No. 1 Alabama, which comes to The Swamp on Sept. 18? That’s the question. Florida goes down I-75 to South Florida on Saturday. What will the conversation be after that game?

4—Transfer quarterback Will Levis lived up to the hype—and more--at Kentucky.

Coach Mark Stoops knew he had to update his offense after the 2020 season. So he flew out to the West Coast and hired OC Liam Coen off Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams staff. Then Kentucky went out and found a new quarterback, Will Levis from Penn State. Then the Wildcats found a Kentucky native, receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, who was ready to leave Nebraska and come home.

The result was a passing game the likes of which the Wildcats have not seen since the days of Tim Couch. Levis threw for 367 yards and four touchdowns. That included touchdown passes of 33 and 15 yards to Robinson.

The Wildcats have a big game on Saturday as they play their SEC opener with Missouri at Kroger Field.

5—It’s Tell The Truth Monday at LSU. So let’s tell the truth: LSU got their butts kicked at UCLA.

I picked LSU to win at UCLA, but only by a field goal (28-25). I certainly thought it was possible that the Tigers could lose, especially after having to pack up their football operation and move to Houston to get away from Hurricane Ida. It just threw a huge monkey wrench into their preparations.

UCLA had already played a game. So I wasn’t going to be shocked if the Bruins won.

But I was shocked to turn on the game and see LSU, and all of its athletes, getting dominated on the line of scrimmage in a 44-34 defeat.

Here’s the reality: After putting together one of the greatest seasons in college football history (15-0) to win the 2019 national championship, LSU is 5-6.

And Joe Burrow ain’t walking through that door.

But the schedule gives Orgeron a reprieve with McNeese State and Central Michigan coming up at home. Then there is a trip to Mississippi State followed by a big home game against Auburn. Get to 4-1 and maybe the heat dies down. But after that the schedule still has Kentucky (on the road), Florida at home, Ole Miss at home, Alabama (on the road) and Texas A&M (at home).

We’ll see.

Note: Above photo is Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton in Sunday night's game with Notre Dame. Photo is credited Alician Devine of the Tallahassee Democrat.