College Football Week 1 in Review

Top 5 Games:

1)   Miami over Florida State: A game filled with a shocking amount of offense. This game had everything: drama, bad calls, injuries, clutch plays, a coaching chess match. In the end, Jimbo Fisher craps the bed and the Canes walk away winners. These two teams left it on the field. Instant game of the year candidate.

2)   BYU shocks Oklahoma: Unfortunately, by week 6 people will assume that OU only lost this because of Bradford’s injury. The Sooners didn’t do much when Bradford was on the field for the first half of the game. We’re not hearing anyone mention Harvey Unga’s absence for the Cougars. BYU was simply the better team on that day.

3)   Ohio State survives Navy: The Midshipmen just wouldn’t go away. Truly amazing part is that it was the passing game that kept them in it.

4)   Iowa blocks 2 kicks to beat N. Iowa: Kirk Ferentz should have gone to the NFL. Just 1 more example of the horrible weekend that the Big 10 had.

5)   LSU tops Washington in shootout: Lots of offense. We learned two things from this game: 1) John Chavis hasn’t fixed the Bayou Bengals defense, and 2) Sarkisian is going to turn the Huskies into a contender sooner rather than later.

 Top 3 Players:

1)   Jacory Harris: 386 yards passing in one of the few games matching legitimate teams. Harris put the team on his shoulders on numerous occasions.

2)   Jimmy Clausen: 15 of 18 for 315 yards and 4 td’s. Clausen may be in the Heisman conversation when it’s all said and done.

3)   Max Hall: 26 of 38 for 329 yards and 2 td’s. Without Unga the Cougars were 1 dimensional. It didn’t matter as Hall made clutch play after clutch play. BYU would have topped the Sooners by 2 td’s if they could have held on to the ball.

 Honorable Mention: Mark Ingram: 26 carries for 150yards. Rushed for a td and caught one. Bud Foster’s defense rarely allows a back to go for more than 5 ypc against them. This guy will be an NFL starter in 2 years.

 Top Storyline that No One’s Discussing:

 The return of traditional powers. Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami, Auburn, Tennessee, and Nebraska all look like they are back. Michigan and Notre Dame this week could be a freaking gem.

 Team on the Rise:

Michigan: Western Michigan isn’t horrible. They looked like WVU on Saturday.

Team on Brink:

Iowa: Top LB corps in the Big 10. Most experienced QB in the conference. The OL looked lost. This team has problems.