Week 1 College Football Recap

Week 1 Picks

USF +5.5 (-112)

Georgia Tech -4.5 (-108)

Baylor ML (+110)

Baylor +2.5 (-115)

Baylor/Auburn Over 58.5 (-110)

Alabama -14 (-108)

LSU/Clemson Under 57.5 (-110)

Utah -5.5 (-112)

It was an action packed Week 1 of college football to say the least. We had 3 top 10 matchups and enter this week with a new AP #1. If you stuck to your playbook we finished the weekend 5-3. So far on the year we’re 6-4 +2.4 Units but we’ll continue to dial in as we get more data points on these teams. While we weren’t 100% correct we feel good about how the big picture is shaping up.

USF was an awesome way to kick the weekend off and we can all thank Byrum Brown. Just as we predicted we were sharp here on the Go-Go offense provided by USF. What was also nice to see is the physicality of their defense. This was not a fluke win for the Bulls and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them contending for the G5 bid to the playoff.

Georgia Tech took awhile to get going but ultimately sealed the deal. Tech is that physical team we’ve been describing and I think Haynes King plays better with a limp! Seriously, this tech team is feisty and I wouldn’t throw out Colorado stock yet, in fact they looked better than I expected.

This one hurt because we were on it 3 ways but Baylor/Auburn was definitely eye opening. Jackson Arnold made me eat my words and there’s not much else to say about it. Auburn’s roster was no secret, the question was if they could put it together on the field. So far they’ve proven me wrong but consistency is key in the SEC. As for Baylor, Dave Aranda will need to study Arnold’s ability to use his legs from this game. Auburn showed a blueprint that teams like K-State can take advantage of with mobile QBs. If Baylor doesn’t figure out the defense quick, they’re going to be asking Sawyer Robertson to throw for 400+ every week and we saw how that worked out against Auburn.

I said before this game that this was a vibes play. I was really bought in on DeBoer taking Alabama and making it his this year. Well I believe I may have been horribly mistaken. It wasn’t just poor football but poor effort. Not something we’re used to seeing from Alabama. If you recall last year they lacked major discipline as well resulting in a lot of negative penalties. This lack of effort is consistent with the lack of discipline being shown by the program right now and I believe their stock is falling through the floor. On the other side FSU QB Castellano’s stood on every word he said this weekend. This fired up Seminole team flashes shades of that 13-0 team from just two years ago… they’ll be one to watch.

LSU defying the odds and taking home the win at Clemson in Week 1 is HUGE for our season win total over. We hit this one right on the head with the defensive standoff. While ultimately it feels as though Nussmeier and the offense going ahead is what won that game, you can thank the LSU defense for pitching a shutout in the second half. Don’t throw away your Clemson stock yet as they have a great opportunity to coast through non-con play and win out in the ACC for a trip to the playoff. This was a true top 10 matchup and awesome way to start our season as CFB fans.

Last but not least. Utah did exactly what we thought they would. UCLA is not very good and Utah just needed a QB. Dampier is the guy and may find himself labeled a Heisman dark horse later this year depending how Utah’s season unfolds.

Week 1 Superlatives

Winner of the Week : Ohio State

Ohio State returns to AP #1 after as the reigning national champions, after defeating who a week ago many would claim to be the SEC’s champion in Texas. Young QB Sayin survives his first test and will get to ease his way into the season before conference play. Buckeyes have to feel really good about where they sit.

Exclamation Point of The Week : South Florida

Alex Golesh and South Florida put the rest of the G5 on notice this week with their bashing of Boise State. Byrum Brown rushed for two highlight reel TDs and the defense was EVERYWHERE! This South Florida is loaded with a lot of P4 transfers and they put their talent on display this weekend. Keep an eye on them against Florida and Miami over the next two weeks.

They Might Be For Real Team of The Week : Florida State

Tommy Castellanos has been trying to tell us all summer, we just didn’t listen but it’s extremely difficult to blindly get behind this Seminole team after last years 2-10 season. It feels like they’re playing roulette with the transfer portal and when they hit, they hit big. Since this is a new era of college football where you can rebuild rosters overnight, the jury is still out on whether teams like this fold in tough times. But after this weekend, I can assure Florida State fears no one and that must feel good. And when you feel good, you good play good and when you play good they pay good.

Meme Team of The Week - North Carolina

While I also believe Texas fits square this in this category with the Uncle Rico memes and Manning face screenshots, recency bias is a hell of a drug. Bill Belichick also reaches a larger audience with NFL fans and this game was a stand alone on Monday night so the Tar Heels win this one.

Loser of the Week - Arch Manning

Have we not learned our lesson on overrating things yet? While I’ll admit I had some high expectations for Arch, I didn’t expect him to go into The Shoe and just light things up. People refer to his minor experience last year against ULM and Miss State but what they forget to mention is all his snaps were at home. Now don’t get me wrong, Arch looked really bad and some of it was not due to lack of experience. But this guy is getting KILLED on the internet and people are so quick to throw him away! Now I don’t think it will be hard for Arch to bounce back from this but starting your season this way sure is tough.

Spotlight Player of the Week - Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele

JKS as they call him is a 6’3” Hawaiian Freshman QB who starts for the Cal Golden Bears. JKS slung the rock all over the field against Oregon State. Some of those throws were just dropped in a bucket, I recommend checking out the highlights here. He finished the day 20/30 234 yards 3 TDs and 30 rush yards on 2 carries. He won this starting spot over junior QB Ohio State transfer Devin Brown. Cal may want to hold on to this guy!