Late game heroics and dominant performances were the highlights of week one, and make no mistake, it left an aftershock on the first week of the college football season.
Here’s what went down in week one:
Clemson 3 Georgia 34 – What started as a close game ended with a dominant, defensive performance put on by the Bulldogs who held Clemson to 188 total yards. Kirby Smart has his team humming early in the season. For Dabo Swinney, he better find some answers quick because App St comes to Death Valley and they’re no easy out.
NDSU 26 Colorado 31 – Coach Prime’s Buffalos looked great on offense as Quarterback Shedeur Sanders passed for 445 yards and 4 touchdowns, finding his two best options at receiver, Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr. The defense still has a hard time getting off the field. Prime and his team make a trip to Lincoln, Nebraska in week two and that game should catch national attention.
Miami 41 Florida 17– Is the U back? The canes certainly made their case as they made easy work of the Florida Gators. Transfer Quarterback Cam Ward looked a like Heisman contender on Saturday, passing for 385 yards and 3 touchdowns. The defense held their own as well, holding the gators to only 71 yards rushing and two turnovers. Meanwhile, gator head coach Billy Napier has got to find a spark for his offense. Freshman phenom QB DJ Lagway could be that match to light his team up.
Notre Dame 23. Texas a&m 13 – The Fighting Irish came into College Station with a chip on their shoulder, holding the aggies to 13 points and secured two turnovers. The Irish offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage all night and gave transfer Quarterback Riley Lenoard plenty of time to make accurate passes, especially late in the game. For the Aggies, one game does not define a season, but aggie head coach Mike Elko has to rally his team fast because their schedule is going to get tougher.
Penn St. 34 West Virginia 12 – Most home crowds provide hostile environments for visiting teams, but Penn St. didn’t get that memo. The Nittany Lions came into Morgantown and put on a clinic Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd. State Quarterback Dew Allar threw for 3 touchdowns and 216 yards against the Mountaineers.
Georgia St. 12 Georgia Tech 35 – The first meeting between the Yellow Jackets and Panthers, dubbed now the “Marta Bowl” had some early tests for the 1-0 Jackets, who made a fourth and goal stop on their own 1-yard line which set the tone for the rest of the game. The Yellow Jackets improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2016.
Boston College 28 FSU 13 – The home opener for the Seminoles didn’t go the way head coach Mike Norvell thought it would. His Noles defense gave up 263 yards on the ground against first year head coach Bill O Brian’s Boston College team. To make things worse, transfer QB DJ Uiagalelei was off all night, missing wide open targets and turning over the ball which leads to the question- does Mike Norvell really want to ride with him all season?
USC 27 LSU 20 – The Modelo Vegas Kickoff Classic lived up to the hype. It was a great slug fest/tug of war match we all thought it would be. Trojan running back Woody Marks didn’t have his greatest game but it he made plays that changed the trajectory of the game, especially at the end. LSU head coach Brian Kelly is now 0-3 the past three seasons when starting off the year. I still believe the Tigers will have a good season, they just need more consistency on the run game, and with Joh Emry out for the year, it will be tough to find.
