2025 Week 1 Chaos

Week 1 of college football did not disappoint, to upsets, close games, great environments and the celebration of Lee Corso, the fans had no choice but to make sure they were always by a TV to witness the action. How could I forget? We also have Taylor Swift attending college football games now. I guess we don’t show her enough during NFL games so she needed some more exposure at the college level. Also, is the SEC trending in the wrong direction? 

Starting off the weekend, we finally got to witness the heisman favorite, Arch Manning. Many media members and people around the country thought this was Manning’s coming out party and a showcase of why he is so hyped up. It was the total opposite. Arch underperformed as he was inaccurate with his passes, looked confused by the defense, and eventually had to deal with an early season loss. He should never have been put in this position. Once again as people we tend to overreact to the brand or the name of a certain player. Is Arch going to be a good quarterback? Yes, but he still needs time to develop. College football is all about developing especially at the quarterback position. I don’t think it is fair to him to give these super high expectations because of his name. He is a talented player but, as you saw on Saturday he is not as polished as many people thought he was. Now with saying that, the Buckeye defense is very good. Matt Patricia deserves a ton of credit by scheming up plays to confuse Arch. As a new coordinator with only 6 months of practice and no preseason games it was impressive to see how Ohio State’s defense was able to hold the #1 team in the country to only 7 points. The Buckeyes were able to show poise the whole game with a new starting quarterback and could rely on their stout defense. Ryan Day mentioned after the game that they played conservative when calling offensive plays due to the fact that it was Julian Sayin’s first start. He also mentioned that they could have opened the play book up more but there was no need too. 

The Kalen Deboer era at Alabama may be short lived as the Florida State Seminoles beat the #8 Crimson Tide by two touchdowns. We all just disregarded the Seminoles new transfer quarterback Tommy Castellanos when he said “They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me”. Well it was true, Alabama was not able to stop him as he made plays with his feet and his arm to keep the defense on their toes. This is the second year in a row that the Seminoles have ruined my playoff predictions. Last year I picked FSU to make the playoffs and they ended up going 2-10. This year I had Alabama making the playoffs and the prediction doesn’t look good at this point. On the bright side, I do believe that Florida State is a much better team than the rankings gave them credit for. Alabama may have to rethink the Deboer hire as he has now had the same amount of losses to unranked teams (4) as Saban had in his 17 year tenure. I like Deboer as a head coach but Tide fans aren’t patient people and demand excellence and this was not a good way to open up the season.

The LSU Tigers saved the SECs weekend by going into Clemson and beating the #4 ranked team in the country. Brian Kelly finally gets over the hump as he was previously 0-3 in season openers at LSU all by losing the game in the 4th quarter. This year was the opposite as they were able to go out and win the game late and hold off Clemson. Before the game, Kelly said that they have the best defense he has had and it showed. LSU has always had a great offense under Kelly but the defense always lagged behind everyone else. If LSU can keep this defense up to par they will have a chance to win the SEC. Especially with Alabama losing today and not looking up to everyone's standards. Clemson underperformed to their ranking this week as Heisman hopeful Cade Klubnik looked uncomfortable all night. It didn't help that one of their top receivers in Antonio Williams was injured on Clemson's first drive of the game. I still have high hopes for Clemson this year and I believe they will make the playoffs. 

Before week 1, I believed that the ACC champion would be the only team from the conference to go to the playoffs. Well, after watching actual football this weekend there is definitely a chance for another team to make it in. I still believe in Clemson as they have the most favorable schedule in the ACC. But there is a chance for Florida State and Miami to join the Tigers in the playoffs barring some upsets. The Hurricanes with Carson Beck at the helm looked very good. Beck impressed me as he looked calm in the pocket and knew exactly where to put the ball in a high pressure situation. Their defense was incredible as they were able to stop one of the best backs in the country in Jeremyiah Love. The Fighting Irish did not look like the team that we are accustomed to watching but, you have to give the Hurricanes a lot of credit. Miami has a much tougher schedule than Clemson but I believe those two will be playing in the ACC championship. Both teams will most likely go to the playoffs and if not, Florida State could sneak in. 

College football is back in action and we are now prepared for a phenomenal season. We need to experience these week one matchups every single year. With the new playoff format, there is no reason why we can’t get these matchups year in and out. Each program will be able to benefit even in a loss. The revenue these games generate should be more than worth it. The teams that do lose these big matchups will be able to learn and grow from the loss and will be prepared later on in the season when they have to play tougher opponents. The new format allows teams to develop and get better throughout the season. Nobody wants to go back to watching top teams beat up on lesser opponents in the first week of the season. Hopefully the athletic directors and the coaches can realise the benefits in this situation so us fans can enjoy the sport we have been waiting over 6 months for.