College Football Week 1 Round Up
By Ben Wallner
Football is back and so are all our favorite teams and players from the SEC to the American. Many surprises and huge plays from the weekend and to begin let’s look over at Colombus where Ohio State hosted No.1 Ranked Texas.
Both teams debuting brand new Quarterbacks, none more exciting than of course Arch Manning who continues the legacy of his family – however it was not sunshine and rainbows for number 16 of Texas passing for just 170 yards with only a 56.6% completion rate, as well as underthrowing a deep ball which was picked off by Jermaine Matthews of the Buckeyes. A defensive masterclass however was the main story of the game leading to a low scoring affair, just a 14-7 win for Juilian Sayin and the Buckeyes separated by a huge 40 yard TD catch by Carnell Tate.
Over in Tallahassee, Florida State pulled off a huge upset against the Alabama Crimson Tide led by senior Quarterback Tommy Castellanos, who not only completed 9 of 14 in the air but also led his team in rushing yards pulling off huge explosive plays on the ground as the Alabama defense looked shell-shocked the whole game. Ryan Williams also disappointed on opening weekend with just 30 receiving yards. On the bright side for the Crimson Tide was senior receiver Germie Bernard who went off with 8 receptions and 146 yards, but even with this the Seminoles defense soaked up the pressure with junior defensive back Earl Little Jr leading his team with 9 total tackles on the afternoon helping his team crush Bama 31-17.
LSU showed Clemson who the real Tigers were over the weekend hosting a dominant performance for Heisman favorite Garret Nussmeier – passing for 232 yards on 73% completion percentage and really carrying his team to the narrow victory. On the other side another Heisman hopeful Cade Clubnik had a much worse opening weekend completing just 50% of his passes. A bright side for Clemson was junior safety Ronan Hanafin who completed 12 tackles as well as forcing a fumble but this was not enough to compete however with speed demon Aaron Anderson of LSU who had 99 yards through the air.
One incredibly exciting game to watch was Notre Dame at Miami – another match up that featured two brand new Quarterbacks one of which a true freshman CJ Carr who I thought played exceptionally well passing for 221 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception which came on a tipped pass and which I wouldn’t blame on the young QB. He also displayed great pocket presence and movement at times dotting up the Hurricanes defense. Carson Beck who transferred in from Georgie impressed on his Miami debut with great field vision and accurate passing gave him 205 yards which included hitting 2 touchdowns one of which was a stunning catch by C.J Daniels – one handing it into the endzone in traffic. It was certainly the Fighting Irish’s defense that let them down after tying up the game as they could do nothing but watch as Beck and the Hurricanes marched down the field kicking the game winning field goal making it 27-24 much to Notre Dame’s despair.
Elsewhere around the league LaNorris Sellers is my pick for the Heisman torched Virginia Tech as Coach Shane Beamer seems to have further improved the Gamecocks to that next level to make a push for the CFB playoffs. The Oregon Ducks look like natty contenders once more led by Quarterback Dante Moore they torched Montana State 59-13 freshman receiver Dakorien Moore shined also with a huge hurdle play and a pancake block in the endzone, “blocking his ass off” as the Ducks scored a touchdown. Maryland Terps true freshman QB Malik Washington looks like a star in the making with a huge game being named starter just hours before the kickoff he passed for a huge 258 yards with 3 touchdowns and 136.2 QB rating just insane.
What a huge week for college football and hopefully even more to come in the following weeks it is certainly gonna be tough however to dethrone defending champions Ohio State let’s see who’s up to the challenge.