Blaring from the top of a Jumbotron, a large, brown chipmunk invades the electric TCF Bank Stadium, causing excitement to all Gopher fans and uniqueness to Jaden Oberkrom, TCU kicker, who had to fire kicks right in front of this viral creature. Unfortunately for Gopher fans, Oberkrom was 3-4, but fortunately for the rest of the world, the unity and fun of college football was finally back.
Week 1 had its usual mania: the duo of rare upsets and enormous blowouts against schools being paid to play against top-tier teams caused for an interesting week. Once we break it all down, the rankings for this week are as follows:
1. Ohio State Buckeyes: The Buckeyes have yet to take the field: they play tonight on the road against Virginia Tech. Still, they are phenomenal, and I am sure will open the season with a bang tonight in Blacksburg.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide: I get it, safety Michael Caputo was injured. But for the sake of the Crimson Tide, did it even matter? Jake Coker’s debut of 15 for 21 and 233 yards, coupled with Derrick Henry’s 147 yards and three touchdowns give proof that the 35-17 win against Wisconsin was no fluke. The Crimson Tide are back where they always have been: at the top.
3. Auburn Tigers: The Tigers’ 31-24 win against Louisville on Saturday was a strong way to open the season, but the injuries the team suffered were not. Roc Thomas and Jovon Robinson will hopefully be able to play by next week, but Carl Lawson may not. Luckily, a date with Jacksonville State awaits, where it will be unnecessary for the Tigers to need a fully healthy, fully rested team.
4. TCU Horned Frogs: The fact that TCU could barely escape Minnesota means that either the Dramatic Chipmunk is incredible, or something is up with the Horned Frogs. Heisman candidate Trevone Boykin looked decent, throwing for 246 yards and a touchdown as well as running for 92 and another TD. He only completed 14.3% of passes thrown when the Gophers put eight men or more into coverage. For the purposes of next week’s test against Stephen F. Austin, this is not an issue, but if Big 12 teams pick up on this, the Horned Frogs could be in trouble.
5. Baylor Bears: A
56-21 win over SMU this past week leaves the confidence that Baylor is for real. Seth Russell will only continue to get better, so the Bears should be happy going into an easy matchup against Lamar this weekend. However, they only got one yard of offense in the second quarter, leaving some questions going forward that coach Art Briles should be addressing immediately.
6. USC Trojans: Having attended last week’s 55-6 thomp of Arkansas State, I will attest that Cody Kessler played lights-out football in the three quarters I saw him (Kessler did not play the fourth quarter out of margin of victory, leaving Max Browne to see time behind center). He went 19/26 for 236 yards and four touchdowns. JuJu Smith-Schuster equally looked impressive with 4 receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown. Adoree Jackson should hopefully be back for next week’s game vs. Idaho.
7. Georgia Bulldogs: Nick Chubb’s 120 rushing yards and Greyson Lambert’s strong quarterback debut led the Bulldogs to a comfortable 51-14 victory over Louisiana-Monroe. The Bulldogs looked sharp and impressive, and will likely continue to do so next week in Nashville against a weak Vanderbilt team. This should amount to a strong start to the year for the Bulldogs.
8. Michigan State Spartans: A 34-27 victory over Western Michigan is closer than expected, but should be of no worries for the Spartans. Madre London, redshirt freshman, scored his first ever touchdown, and Connor Cook was 15 for 31 with 256 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Spartans must pour their heart and soul into the fact that Oregon will be entering East Lansing this Saturday. However, I have no doubts that Mark Dantonio will get the Midwestern-valued crew ready for the high-octane, high-fashion Ducks.
9. Oregon Ducks: Speaking of those Ducks, Oregon had a 61-42 victory last Saturday against Eastern Washington at Autzen Stadium. Vernon Adams had 246 yards and two touchdowns against his former team in the Eagles. Like the Spartans, however, Oregon must focus their efforts on the next week’s game: the trip into East Lansing to take on the Spartans themselves. College GameDay will be watching: and I sure hope the matchup is everything that America is expecting. If it is not, I can count on it to be a lot of green.
10. Florida State Seminoles: The rain delay did not mean squat for the Seminoles, who put up a 59-16 win over Texas State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. Everett Golson’s debut was 19/25 with 302 yards passing and four touchdowns, which is a pretty impressive way to start the year. Furthermore, the Seminoles looked strong as a whole, amounting to a good vibe leading into next week against South Florida.
11. Clemson
12. Notre Dame
13. Georgia Tech
14. LSU
15. UCLA
16. Mississippi
17. Oklahoma
18. Arizona
19. Missouri
20. Arkansas
21. Boise State
22. Texas A&M
23. Tennessee
24. Wisconsin
25. Mississippi State
That’s all for week 1, folks! Week 2 should be another exciting week this weekend, follow back next week to see what my take is on how that weekend went down.
Sources:
All images are from Getty Images.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/game?gameId=400763398
http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2015/09/what_theyre_saying_nationally_21.html
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/auburnauthority/2015/09/06/injuries-highlight-auburn-concerns-after-week-1-win/71820014/
http://espn.go.com/losangeles/college-football/boxscore?id=400756884
Louisiana-Monroe vs. Georgia: Live Score and Highlights
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/spartans/2015/09/04/michigan-state-western-michigan-recap/71740662/
Eastern Washington vs. Oregon: Live Score and Highlights
http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/85083/everett-golson-skillfully-commands-florida-states-offense-with-dalvin-cooks-help