A long Labor Day weekend stretched the first full week of games out and gave us plenty to talk about now that college football is officially back. Crazy how we are just days away from Notre Dame’s third game and we are now finally getting a new-look to the 18S Top 20 Poll. And, we have shaken things up quite a bit after week 1 saw a variety of performances across the country.
Is Dabo Swinney at home crying right now?
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | NEXT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 1-0 | vs. Ball State |
| 2 | Florida State (+7) | 1-0 | vs. Southern Miss |
| 3 | Washington (+8) | 1-0 | vs. Tulsa |
| 4 | Texas (-2) | 1-0 | at Alabama |
| 5 | Michigan (-2) | 1-0 | vs. UNLV |
| 6 | Alabama | 1-0 | vs. Texas |
| 7 | USC (+1) | 2-0 | vs. Stanford |
| 8 | Utah (+8) | 1-0 | at Baylor |
| 9 | Notre Dame (+1) | 2-0 | at NC State |
| 10 | Penn State (+4) | 1-0 | vs. Delaware |
| 11 | North Carolina (+6) | 1-0 | vs. Appalachian State |
| 12 | Tennessee | 1-0 | vs. Austin Peay |
| 13 | Ohio State (-6) | 1-0 | vs. Youngstown State |
| 14 | Oregon State (-1) | 1-0 | vs. UC Davis |
| 15 | Ole Miss | 1-0 | at Tulane |
| 16 | Oklahoma (+1) | 1-0 | vs. SMU |
| 17 | Duke (NR) | 1-0 | vs. Lafayette |
| 18 | Colorado (NR) | 1-0 | vs. Nebraska |
| 19 | LSU (-15) | 0-1 | vs. Grambling |
| 20 | Houston (NR) | 1-0 | at Rice |
Out:
#5 Clemson
#19 UTSA
#20 TCU
National Storylines
Utah was without starting quarterback Cameron Rising but took care of business against the invading Florida Gators. The Utes used 2 quarterbacks and definitely controlled the game but the final score was a little deceiving as they were out-gained by Florida.
Lance Taylor won his first game with Western Michigan 35-17 over St. Francis.
It looked like Nebraska had a solid road win in the bag to start the Matt Rhule era but Minnesota came back to win 13-10.
True freshman Jaden Rashada threw for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns but Arizona State didn’t exactly impress in a 24-21 win over Southern Utah.
The Hurricanes beat the Redhawks 38-3 in the battle of Miami’s.
Georgia looked fine in their opening game of their 3-peat quest. We’ll keep them at no. 1 for now.
Michigan embarrassed themselves with ridiculous Jim Harbaugh protests to start their game against East Carolina. What a despicable program.
Jalen Milroe got most of the work at quarterback as Alabama defeated MSTU easily. Tyler Buchner played in the 2nd half with 3 completions and a touchdown run.
New Penn State starting quarterback Drew Allar looked sharp with 325 passing yards as the Nittany Lions took care of business against visiting West Virginia.
Washington didn’t score in the 1st quarter and then absolutely exploded offensively to beat Boise State by 37 points. Huskies quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. threw for 450 yards and 5 scores.
Texas also started slow in a comfortable win over Rice.
Virginia played in their first game since the shooting deaths of teammates experienced late last year. They fought hard but were eventually overwhelmed by Tennessee.
Oregon showed no mercy dropping 81 points on poor Portland State. Ditto for Oklahoma shutting out Arkansas State 73-0.
TCU was re-loading this year and may turn out to be not very good. But for one game, it looks like Colorado has enough to easily pull themselves out of the Power 5 doldrums. In an exciting game, Shadeur Sanders threw for 510 yards, Travis Hunter caught 11 passes and made an incredible diving interception while playing both ways, and former Notre Dame commit and true freshman Dylan Edwards totaled 159 yards and 4 touchdowns from scrimmage for the Buffaloes.
Buffalo was competitive with Wisconsin for a while. The Badgers ended up winning by 21 points, though.
South Carolina had zero run game, gave up 9 sacks, and were taken out by North Carolina 31-17 in a game that got away from the Gamecocks in the 2nd half.
Not a great start to the Ryan Walters era at Purdue as the Boilermakers lost to visiting Fresno State.
Northern Illinois beat Boston College in overtime and Jeff Hafley’s hot seat is feeling awfully uncomfortable today.
Army lost as 9.5 point favorites to Louisiana-Monroe by the score 17-13.
The G.J. Kinne era got off to a great start as Texas State went into Baylor and won 42-31. That’s 5 straight losses for the Bears stretching back to last year.
Houston held off UTSA in a close defensive battle 17-14, just like no one expected.
Illinois just barely escaped an upset at home to Toledo, kicking a game-winning field goal to end it 30-28.
Texas Tech is underrated no more after traveling to Wyoming and losing 35-33 in double overtime.
UCLA controlled things and beat Coastal Carolina 27-13 inside the Rose Bowl. Dante Moore didn’t start but saw extended action with 143 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception.
The fresh start for QBDJU at Oregon State looked good as the Beavers took care of business in a 25-point win over San Jose State.
LSU were physically dominated as Brian Kelly starts off his 2nd straight year with a loss to Florida State. We’re putting the Seminoles in the no. 2 spot in our rankings after an impressive performance.
This off-season we published a story with Northwestern as the worst Power 5 job following their disastrous summer of firings and transfers. Losing by 17 to Rutgers backs up that theory the Wildcats are in serious trouble on the football field.
Opponent Watch
Navy (0-1): The Middies took a bye after losing in Ireland
Tennessee State (0-1): After losing to ND, the Tigers play Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the Southern Heritage Classic this weekend.
NC State (1-0): The Wolfpack traveled to UConn for a very vanilla 24-14 victory.
Central Michigan (0-1): Year 5 of Jim McElwain started with a 31-7 loss at Michigan State.
Ohio State (1-0): The Buckeyes didn’t look great in a 23-3 win at Indiana.
Duke (1-0): Looks like we might have a tough little road game this season.
Louisville (1-0): The Cards trailed Georgia Tech at halftime and looked dead before rallying to a 39-34 win.
USC (2-0): Caleb Williams is up to 597 yards and 9 touchdowns through the air this year after USC beat Nevada 66-14.
Pitt (1-0): Phil Jurkovec threw for and ran for a score in a 45-7 win over Wofford.
Clemson (0-1): It’s quite possible Clemson just isn’t that good anymore.
Wake Forest (1-0): New quarterback Mitch Griffis threw for 329 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Deacons beat Elon 37-17.
Stanford (1-0): A new era for the Cardinal started with a 37-24 win over visiting Hawaii.
Week 2 Games to Watch
All time are eastern.
Illinois [+3] at Kansas
Friday, Sept. 8th, 7:30 PM, ESPN2
Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels missed their opener this past weekend and signs point to him suiting up against Illinois with the Jayhawks currently favored to win. Big old Bert nearly lost their first game and there’s some pressure in this Friday night game for Illinois to win with Penn State on deck next week.
Utah [-7.5] at Baylor
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 12:00 PM, ESPN
Baylor’s defense looked terrible against Texas State giving up over 6 yards per play and I would normally believe Utah will be able to roll this weekend. However, the Utes are coming off a physical game against Florida, on the road, and this smells like a quality bounce back for the Bears.
Nebraska [+3.5] at Colorado
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 12:00 PM, Fox
Nobody in the television business is as happy as Fox who gets Colorado in back-to-back weeks in their Big Noon slot. I would imagine the hype in Boulder will be absolutely through the roof. And now suddenly, there’s pressure on Deion Sanders not just to be competitive but to win.
Ole Miss [-7.5] at Tulane
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 3:30 PM, ESPN2
This is an awesome matchup that should feature a ton of offense. Both teams had among the best offensive weekends in their openers and can put up explosive quarterback play. In the summer, I thought this could be a sneaky good ESPN GameDay location but they’ll be in Tuscaloosa.
Texas A&M [-4.5] at Miami
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 3:30 PM, ABC
This match up last year started Miami’s downward spiral during a really poor 2022. The Aggies defended home turf but would bomb the rest of the season, as well. This weekend, the Aggies travel to muggy Hard Rock Stadium in an afternoon ABC timeslot. Surely the heat is going to be turned up on the loser of this one.
Iowa [-4] at Iowa State
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 3:30 PM, Fox
Farmageddon with an over/under of 36.5 points. You have to love college football.
Cincinnati [+7.5] at Pittsburgh
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 6:30 PM, CW Network
The River City Rivalry is back, live on the CW Network! Cincinnati lost a crap ton of starters heading into 2023 which partly explains Pitt being a sizable favorite on their home field. Watch out for 3-time transfer Emory Jones at quarterback for the Bearcats. Can he outplay Phil Jurkovec?
Texas [+7] at Alabama
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 7:00 PM, ESPN
I had Texas really high in the pre-season poll with the belief they are winning this game. Can Sark & Co. actually do it? Alabama has only lost 5 times inside Bryant-Denny Stadium since 2008. Less than half of a home loss per year on average! It hasn’t happened since the Joe Burrow LSU game back in 2019, maybe the Tide are due?
Oregon [-6.5] at Texas Tech
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 7:00 PM, Fox
I probably shouldn’t include this game after the Red Raiders’ loss to Wyoming. However, there’s some bounce back potential and a little bit of night game magic in Lubbock that might make this a really tough game for the Ducks. I would’ve expected Oregon to be 10+ point favorites so I think Vegas believes this is going to be a pretty good game.
Stanford [+28.5] at USC
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 10:30 PM, Fox
This isn’t quite the 41-point underdog upset that we saw back in 2007 but holy cow this is a lot of points given to Stanford visiting the Coliseum. No doubt it’ll be worth staying up late on the East Coast to check in on 2 of Notre Dame’s upcoming opponents in an early Pac-12 matchup.
Thought the inverted colors for Colorado looked really sharp.
Agreed, those gold numbers with black trim popped immediately when I saw them on a TV screen
They remind me of our shamrock series unis.
Colorado is a team that really has always looked good uniform wise imo
I’m interested to see if they also put gold #s on their home look
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F2jPvO2WgAEt7YK?format=jpg&name=900×900
Gotta say, I really like Deion. I wouldn’t begrudge anyone who isn’t a big fan and takes issue with some of his actions, I’m just here for the full fledged spectacle of it all. And man can he motivate; if I were one of his players I’d run through a brick wall for him. At the end of the day I don’t think he’s any scummier than other college coaches, and I’ll take his brash and ostentatious personality over a dweeb like Brian Kelly or a stoic that never smiles like Nick Saban. With the transfer portal open like it is, it’s inevitable that teams in need of change will push every boundary they can; Deion might have earned himself an 7-9 win team this year judging by their schedule.
Now, that being said, he’s no Marcus Freeman… 😉
Colorado seems much better than expected, but TCU might also be much worse. I’d bet that that Colorado gets an early winning streak and a nice ranking, and follows it up with losing most of the conference games and just missing a bowl game.
Weird thought, I think Nebraska has a decent defense, so that will be an interesting contrast to the game CU just played; does TCU tackle?? Does that gives a scrappy matt rhule a punchers chance? In a similar vein, Minnesota finished 6th in scoring defense last year, which I was totally blindsided by.
All that said, shadeur was on point throwing the ball, and they sure proved they can win a shootout. How does CU respond after an emotional win in a different style game?
And yes, Deion is electric, he definitely instills that believe in yourself mentality. That said, the way he left JSU and handling the previous roster at CU irks me. Totally on point though, he cut through the head coach pretension and just came right out doing what he thought was best, for better or worse it sure is exciting.
The JSU stuff, acting like the HBCU savior and then bouncing the second he got a P5 offer, is a little irksome. In the end, it’s not much different than all the small-school coaches that pretend they’re not leaving right up until they do, so whatevs.
It is. Also take a look at Deion’s background with Prime Prep. It isn’t good.
I would really like someone in CFB media to explain what, specifically, Deion is doing that is so wonderful for college football. I bet the players who chose to go to Colorado and were happy with their lives there before being cut would have something to say abou that.
I’ve disliked Deion since the 90’s. Never been a fan of cocky players. There’s a fine line between cockiness and players enjoying themselves while playing and it’s really a “know it when you see it” type of thing. I hope he fails miserably
Same, I am hoping and thinking TCU also just didn’t look that good and the media will eat this up as long as they can
Something something “empowerment”
Kinne, after the win over TCU said “That was pretty fun.” Also, “Really, nobody runs what we do on offense….A bit more of those Gus principles, some Chip stuff and some old school Air Raid stuff.” Is their AD really Don Coryell?
Some great games in Texas. The Pac 12 went 12-0. Penix has a QB rating of 345, completed 93% of his passing with 19.6 yards per attempt against a good Boise State team.
For all the transfers from P5 teams, the Colorado first team offense was comprised of two players from Jacksonville State, two WRs from USF, four true Colorado recruits (including Edwards) with the O line made up of two of those holdovers, two from Kent State and one from Missouri State. Did Travis Hunter really play 160 snaps? Kudos.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham: “You can’t cry and whine about who you don’t have.” The Utah defense held Florida to 1-13 on third down. You don’t win with twelve three and outs. How many of their players do you recognize? How many were blue-chip recruits? Utah Depth Chart
Who picked Wyoming over many peoples preseason darkhorse Texas Tech? Wyoming QB Andrew Peasley: “For this game, it was just take them to the deep end of the pool, and they’re going to fold,” Peasley was beaten up all game but kept bouncing back
Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl after the game said: “Andrew Peasley is as tough as boot leather.”
Yeah, Week 1 was pretty fun.
And this weekend is why, in spite of everything we have (rightly) complained about during the off-season – too many commercials, the portal, conference realignment – I still love college football.
In your rankings, you have LSU at 1-0. Normally wouldn’t care but for some weird reason this matters to me.
Updated 🙂
I don’t really bet on sports, but considering betting the under for El Assico just for the thrill of it all.
I saw it moved up this morning to 6.5
Hafley’s seat is hot and the guy that might take it is on the other sideline this week. BC is on upset alert.
Hey, it’s BC’s big rivalry game, you never know what’s going to happen!