My pre-season poll was so bad that the top 3 teams, and 4 out of the top 5, all lost in week 1. Phew! And, it could’ve been worse but the no. 4 team played the no. 1 team. How could these teams do this to me? Anyway, a big reshuffle is in order at the top of the polls although as always with college football it may not last long. Don’t expect anything this week, though. While the Irish are on a bye week most of the country pretty much is too. The week 2 matchups are pretty rough for potential upsets.
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | NEXT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State (+3) | 1-0 | vs. Grambling |
| 2 | LSU (+4) | 1-0 | vs. Louisiana Tech |
| 3 | Miami (+6) | 1-0 | vs. Bethune-Cookman |
| 4 | Florida State (NR) | 1-0 | vs. East Texas A&M |
| 5 | Penn State (+2) | 1-0 | vs. FIU |
| 6 | Georgia (+2) | 1-0 | vs. Austin Peay |
| 7 | Texas (-6) | 0-1 | vs. San Jose State |
| 8 | Notre Dame (-3) | 0-1 | BYE |
| 9 | Clemson (-7) | 0-1 | vs. Troy |
| 10 | Oregon | 1-0 | vs. Oklahoma State |
| 11 | SMU | 1-0 | vs. Baylor |
| 12 | Arizona State | 1-0 | at Miss State |
| 13 | South Carolina | 1-0 | vs. South Carolina State |
| 14 | Tennessee (+1) | 1-0 | vs. East Tennessee State |
| 15 | Alabama (-12) | 0-1 | vs. UL Monroe |
| 16 | Pittsburgh | 1-0 | vs. Central Michigan |
| 17 | Texas A&M | 1-0 | vs. Utah State |
| 18 | Louisville | 1-0 | vs. James Madison |
| 19 | Illinois (+1) | 1-0 | at Duke |
| 20 | Iowa State (NR) | 2-0 | vs. Iowa |
Dropped Out:
#14 Kansas State
#19 Boise State
Kansas State lost their opener in Ireland against Iowa State and then needed a late, late touchdown to come back and beat FCS North Dakota 38-35 in Manhattan. We’ll bake in some Dublin hangover in that score. For their part, Iowa State moved to 2-0 already after cruising past South Dakota 55-7.
It was a long time ago now, last Thursday, but Boise getting blown out 34-7 at USF was a huge blow to their efforts to make the playoffs again. The game was a little closer than the score indicated (Boise outgained USF, marginally) but still. They didn’t have much margin for error and still come to South Bend.
Top Games Recap:
In a clash of titans, Arch Manning didn’t look like a top NFL Draft pick at all, and Texas lost a defensive battle 14-7 at Ohio State. The Buckeyes are defending National Champions and now move into the no. 1 spot in all the polls across America.
LSU has won an opener! With a 17-10 win at Clemson the BK Express gets off to a solid start, and the Tigers also outplayed the other Tigers to pick up the road win, as well.
Big trouble in Tuscaloosa as Alabama drops their opener 31-17 at Florida State which has set off panic for Tide fans. But if you watched the game, the lasting impression was that Florida State looks awfully dangerous and miles better than 2024. They shut down Alabama’s run game (87 yards) and ran for 230 yards themselves. Pretty impressive stuff from the Noles.
Steve Angeli threw for 274 yards in his Syracuse debut but the Orange gave up 5 sacks and allowed nearly 500 yards of offense to Tennessee inside the Mercedes Benz Stadium. The Vols won easily 45-26.
Interesting Games to Note:
Nebraska 20-17 Cincinnati: The Corn get the win in front of engaged couple Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
Tarleton State 30-27 Army: Not a great start to the season coming off 12 wins last year for the Black Knights.
Auburn 38-24 Baylor: The Bears threw for 309 more yards than Auburn but allowed the Tigers to run for 307 yards on them.
Georgia Tech 27-20 Colorado: The Bees overcame -3 turnovers to win in Boulder.
Indiana 27-14 Old Dominion: The Monarchs ran for 218 yards on 23 attempts but only had 10 first downs in a weird box score.
Oregon 59-13 Montana State: Our old friend Donte Moore went 18/23 for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first start with the Ducks.
Tulane 23-3 Northwestern: BYU transfer Jake Retzlaff got the start for the Green Wave and they nearly outgained NW by 200 yards.
Kent State 21-17 Merrimack: The nation’s longest losing streak (21 games) if officially OVER.
California 34-15 Oregon State: The Beavers spent $1.5 million to bring in Duke transfer Maalik Murphy but were upstaged by true freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele who threw for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns. JKS led all quarterbacks this past week with a 95.5 passing grade from PFF.
Utah 43-10 UCLA: Late at night, the Utes kept the ball away from the Bruins (they only ran 50 plays!) as Nico Iamaleava’s debut after a sensational off-season transfer results in a gigantic thud.
TCU 48-14 North Carolina: Bellichick’s college debut results in a blowout home loss with the Tar Heels an embarrassing -320 in total yards against the Horned Frogs.
Opponent Recap:
Miami (1-0): Sure would be nice to see Miami play Clemson this year.
Texas A&M (1-0): The Aggies beat UTSA 42-24 in a game that was pretty close overall.
Purdue (1-0): A shutout of Ball State 31-0 gets the Boilers off to a nice start.
Arkansas (1-0): Quarterback Taylen Green threw for 322 yards, passed for 6 touchdowns, and ran for 41 yards in a 52-7 win over Alabama A&M.
Boise State (0-1): The thought that this would be a tough game for Notre Dame looks gone as the Broncos are blown out 34-7 at USF. While missing Ashton Jeanty their 122 rushing yards were the fewest against a non-power program since 10/22/22 in a game versus Air Force.
NC State (1-0): The Wolfpack held off a late rally from ECU to win 24-17. The teams combined for 701 passing yards but not that many points!
USC (1-0): The Men of Troy score 77 points in a beatdown of Missouri State.
Boston College (1-0): Fordham were no match, they were blown out 66-10 by BC.
Navy (1-0): The Middies backup QB Braxton Woodson ran for 180 yards in a 52-7 win over VMI.
Pittsburgh (1-0): Local team Duquesne went home unhappy after visiting Pitt, losing 61-9.
Syracuse (0-1): Angeli might put up some numbers but this Orange defense looks bleak so far.
Stanford (0-1): The Frank Reich interim era got off to a poor start with a 23-20 loss at Hawaii leading to a bye week. The Cardinal mustered 109 passing yards behind Oregon State transfer quarterback Ben Gulbranson.
