We have just about completed a month of college football and it’s already shaping up to be a roller coaster season. There have been some incredible upsets, while there have been some heartbreakers. If you’re feeling good about your teams current position, don’t get too comfy because things can change on a dime. And if you’re feeling down about your team, never fear, it’s early in the season and there’s still plenty of time to right the ship.
Let’s see what happened over the weekend:
Clemson 21 NC State 27 – I had a bad feeling about the Tigers going into Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday. They narrowly escaped Georgia Tech last week and they can’t get consistent Quarterback play out of D.J. Uiagalelei. Here’s a stat for you- Clemson had 10 first downs, NC State had 31! The wolfpack also outgained the Tigers on offense with 386 yards to 214 yards. NC State simply made plays when it mattered, and now they’re sitting nice in the Atlantic division. For Clemson, something is obviously wrong with the Tigers offense. Uiagalelei is a great athlete but his timing on his throws are off which is hindering the Tigers to move the ball through the air. Clemson’s defense is great but they can only carry this team so far. BTW, Clemson has 4-0 Boston College coming to town on Saturday. Great win for Coach Doren and the wolfpack.
Texas a&m 10 Arkansas 20 -Even after going 3-7 in 2020 and his first season in Fayetteville, head coach Sam Pittman knew he had his hogs on the right path. His players play with discipline and toughness, something that has been missing from the razorbacks from a while. So far in 2021, Arkansas is 4-0, defeated Texas and Texas a&m(first time since joining the SEC), and are 1-0 in the SEC West. For Texas a&m, Jimbo Fisher cannot be pleased with his teams offensive performance. Only 151 yards passing and zero touchdowns is not a winning formula. The Aggies have dug themselves a hole and only winning out will give them a shot at the playoff.
Notre Dame 41 Wisconsin 13– I still haven’t figured out Notre Dame. They barley beat a sorry FSU team, squeak by Toledo, and escape Purdue. But against Wisconsin, they came to play. Defense picked off the badgers Quarterback, Graham Hertz four times and held them to 240 yards in the air. Now they have #9 Cincinnati coming to South Bend. If starting QB Jack Coan can’t go, the Irish should be fine with back up Drew Pyne.
West Virginia 13 Oklahoma 16– Here is a game I thought that would be a typical Big 12 offensive shootout and ended up being a SEC like defensive slug fest. Spencer Rattler didn’t have his best game, throwing an interception and only one touchdown. Hand it to the Mountaineers, they got to Rattler a lot in this game. However, the sooners dished it on defense as well and their kicker, Gabe Brkic nailed a 30 yard field goal at the end of regulation to help the Sooners get the win. Lincoln Riley will be scratching his head this week and try to figure out how to get more points against Kansas State.
UNC 22 Georgia Tech 45– Sam Howell was sacked for a record 8 times in this game, and his team only gained 62 yards on the ground. The Yellow Jackets kept the pressure on Howell all night and contained the #21 ranked tar heels for most of the night. Georgia Tech Quarterback, Jeff Sims displayed the athleticism he was so heavily recruited for, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for two. The kid looked like former Louisville Quarterback, Lamar Jackson. Now, Georgia Tech is 2-2(1-1 ACC) and has a good Pitt team on deck. If they can get by the Panthers, the Yellow Jackets will be sitting nice in the Coastal Division.
Stock check:
Clemson– Trending down. Offense is not clicking with D.J. and they lost their bell cow on defense, Brian Breese for the season. Dabo needs to rally his troops and find a way to salvage this season.
Georgia Tech – Trending up. The Quarterback play of Jeff Sims was special on Saturday. Also, the defense got eight sacks on Sam Howell! If the Yellow Jackets can keep this up on both sides of the ball, look out ACC.
Arkansas – Trending up. Razorbacks are 4-0 and are looking like a dark horse team in the SEC. They have a date with Georgia on Saturday in Athens and that game will tell us a lot about the Razorbacks, win or lose.
Texas a&m – Trending down. I know losing their starting Quarterback Haynes King earlier in the season was not expected, but Jimbo Fisher needs to either simplify the playbook for backup Zach Calzada or look at other options at Quaterback because they’re not moving the ball. The schedule only gets more difficult for the aggies.
Florida – Trending up. The Gators might have lost to Alabama last week, but even in that loss they looked like a team with a lot of firepower and grit. That was a nice win against a Tennessee team who is getting better every week. That’s what it takes to win in the SEC. I believe the gators will continue to surprise a lot of people. That game with Georgia later in the season will be can’t miss television.
Check back later this week for my Week 5 pics and summary of the Georgia/Arkansas game.
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