No. 1 Clemson might have been off this weekend but there were still plenty of fireworks across the college football world on Saturday. The SEC opened their season, the Big-12 kept stinking it up, and the Canes still think they’re back. It was quite the Saturday in college football.
Clemson: There are two or three teams that are just better than everyone else, and right now Clemson looks to be the best of the bunch. That isn’t to say there aren’t areas of concern, but certainly nothing alarming. The backup offensive line is still a work in progress, but unless there are multiple injuries in that group it shouldn’t be an issue. Those guys will get better with the more reps they get, and they should have ample opportunity against Virginia.
The secondary isn’t as concerning as some may think. Yes, there have been some bumps in the road, but it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Mario Goodrich has yet to play and Derion Kendrick has barely played. When your best two corners on the team aren’t on the field, some issues are to be expected. All in all though, this team is elite, and early on in the season, not many are….. Stock Up
Miami: The Canes rolled Florida State 52-10, giving Miami its fourth straight win over FSU. It was their largest margin of victory in the series since 1976, Bobby Bowden’s first season as head coach. The win moves Miami to 3-0 and they now have wins over one complete scrub, one less than mediocre team, and one G5 team that they struggled to put away in the second half. While they do look to be one of the top two or three teams in the ACC, it is still a little premature to claim that The U is back. Let’s see how they fare against Clemson in two weeks, or Virginia Tech and North Carolina later on in the season….. Stock Up
Big-12: The season is just getting started and what was thought to be the conference’s best team in Oklahoma is very likely already eliminated. Texas barely survived against Texas Tech, and really should have lost. No worries, it is just matter of time though, they will go down. Who knows, maybe this is the year Oklahoma State can finally win the league. On the bright side, Trevor Lawrence’s Heisman hopes got a huge boost with the performance by Spencer Rattler….. Stock Down
North Carolina State: Dave Doeren’s Wolfpack actually had some momentum going for them and in the most Dave Doeren way, they gave it up. Virginia Tech, despite being down more than 20 players and four assistants, including their defensive coordinator, smoked the Wolfpack 45-24. The Hokies had to start a backup, inexperienced quarterback, so it was common knowledge they were coming in one-dimensional. However, the Hokies still went off on the ground, rushing for more than 300 yards. The team that has been plagued by corona virus issues absolutely dominated NC State, and it was glorious….. Stock Down
Alabama: Bama is back, not they ever really went anywhere. After a one year hiatus from the playoff, the Crimson Tide is one of two or three best teams in the country. Yes, they got outscored in the second half, but that was after they had raced out to a 28-3 halftime lead and taken the foot off of the gas. It might have only been Missouri, but Alabama looked really good in the first half, and so did Mac Jones….. Stock Up
Florida: The Gators are good. Ole Miss was able to move the ball on them though and if not for all the red zone turnovers, who knows what might have happened. Florida lost a lot on the defensive side of the ball but there is still a lot of talent left for the coaches to work with. They also had no film to use in their prep for the Rebels, and let’s not forget, Lane Kiffin can coach. With Georgia facing serious quarterback issues at the moment, Florida has to currently be considered the favorite in the East….. Stock Up
LSU: The defending champs quickly proved that they will in fact be a one hit wonder. Anyone thinking they weren’t going to be were kidding themselves. Against Mississippi State on Saturday they only had four starters back from last years team that beat Clemson in the national title game. You just can not have that many losses and not take a step back. LSU should be solid, but playoff caliber? No way. That secondary got lit up like the New York City skyline as the Bayou Bengals became the first defending champ to lose an opener since the 1970’s….. Stock Down
South Carolina: Only the Gamecocks could lose a game the way they lost to Tennessee. You get what you ask for though, and Will Muschamp royally blew it in this one. You are down seven with less than three minutes to go, facing a 3rd and 15 at the Vols 31 and you play it safe? A short screen pass to set up a long field goal? When you need a touchdown either way? You have to be aggressive at some point, but that just isn’t in Muschamp’s nature and that’s why the Gamecocks will never win with him at the helm….. Stock Way Down
I thought Ole Miss had a great showing in game number one under a new coaching staff. Yeah the defense has some things to clean up but they were also playing against what I think will be one of the more explosive offenses in the country
I wish we (ole miss) had a defense. But I am happy we had 600+ yards against Florida.