The opening weekend of college football season lasts almost
a week, so other than FSU beating Pittsburgh tonight, the opening weekend is in
the books.
The Biggest Story of
the Week: Johnny Manziel
Johnny Manziel was the biggest story of the off season and
the preseason, so why wouldn't he be the biggest story of week one. Manziel
managed to take the heat off of the NCAA by acting like an idiot once he got on
the field, making everyone forget how stupid it was that he was suspended for
only a half. Manziel entered the game and began talking trash to every Rice
player on the field. There were reports that the Rice players had been taunting
Manziel during the first half, so just like our mothers taught us, two wrongs…
Manziel was effective, but in my mind, the story has changed
from how good is he to when will he self-destruct? After taunting the Rice
players again, Manziel got a personal foul penalty and was removed from the
game by Kevin Sumlin. As Manziel walked off the field, Sumlin tried to talk to
his star quarterback, who seemingly ignored his head coach.
Texas A&M will get a challenge this week from college
football powerhouse Sam Houston State, before playing Alabama in week 3. If
A&M loses to Alabama, which I think they will, I think Sumlin will start
lowering the hammer on this kid. Sumlin has to be the head coach after Manziel
goes to the NFL after this season, and if he is going to have any credibility as
a coach, he has to show that he is in charge of the program.
The Biggest Win of
the Week: Clemson over Georgia
In a game that would have been exciting if it weren't so excruciating,
Clemson beat Georgia 38-35 in what was easily the best and biggest game of the
week. Tajh Boyd was absolutely fantastic in leading the Tigers to their biggest
win in a very long time. Clemson is now on track to be 6-0 when they host
Florida State on October 16th. A win over the ‘Noles should clinch a
spot in the ACC title game. Clemson has almost the perfect ACC schedule for
reaching the national title game. They beat Georgia, get FSU at home, and then
play South Carolina at the end of the season in Columbia. By having three good
teams on their schedule, and by having the games spread out so much, if Clemson
runs the table, they should have built plenty of national credibility.
ABC has chosen to follow up the Georgia/Clemson match up with
Notre Dame/Michigan this week, so don’t worry east coast, you don’t have to
stay up late Saturday night.
The Biggest Loss of the
Week: Boise State loses to Washington
I could have said that the biggest loss was defending Big 12
champion Kansas State losing to North Dakota State, but Kansas State wasn't
supposed to be very good anyway, so even though the loss was bad, it doesn't
really affect how the season will play out. Boise State was ranked 19th
and had a shot to crash the BCS party again this year, but now that is not going
to happen.
Washington opened up their newly renovated stadium in style
by dominating Boise 38-6. Now it doesn't matter what Boise does for the rest of
the season, they won’t get into the BCS and will probably play a bowl game in
their home stadium.
The Heisman Winner if
the season ended today: Tajh Boyd
It’s only the first week, but no player made a statement
like Boyd made on national television.
Top Five Teams:
1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Clemson
4. Stanford
5. South Carolina
3 Things to Watch Next Weekend:
-It’s hard to believe that you could have a must win game
this early in the season, but that is exactly what Georgia has when they host
South Carolina Saturday afternoon. Georgia had national title aspirations
coming into the season, and a second loss would pretty much eliminate them from
the title picture. A fourth consecutive loss to South Carolina would also put
Georgia behind the 8 ball in the SEC East. If the Dawgs could manage to win the
game, they could change the entire feel surrounding the program.
-The only other game that features two Top 25 teams in week
two is the Notre Dame/Michigan in Ann Arbor. I can’t say that I know very much
about either of these teams, but two new quarterbacks, no Te’o, and no Everett
Golsten I honestly don’t know how good either of these teams are. I hope I’m
wrong, but I think this game is going to be really boring. There are no good
games on, so it’s either this, or DVR.
-10th ranked Florida travels down south to take on
Miami for a noon kickoff. This will be an interesting test for Florida to see
just how good their offense can be. They didn't show much last week against
Toledo, but maybe Jeff Driskell has improved enough to make the Gators a legitimate
threat in the SEC East. For Miami, they have the chance to put themselves in
the ACC title picture. Georgia Tech and North Carolina are supposed to be their
biggest rivals within their own division. UNC missed their chance to shock the
world against South Carolina, and I don’t think Tech is a real contender, so
the Canes could take a big step towards having a special season.
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