Midweek College Football Thoughts
Justin Rowland • CatsIllustrated
@RowlandRIVALS
Every week I'm posting some general thoughts on college football in two separate pieces. One reviewing the previous weekend's action, the other looking ahead to what's on the slate.
Here's a rundown of last week's action and what went through my mind as I watched it all go down.
Georgia is not getting as much attention as some other top teams in the sport ... Or at least that has been my perception. We'll know a lot more after this Notre Dame game, but the Bulldogs are quietly looking great and taking care of business as you would expect. The SEC East is a race for second place. Florida is not close to being able to take down the Bulldogs. Nowhere near good enough on the offensive line and UF's defensive line will struggle against UGA's front as they sometimes did against Kentucky's offensive line.
This is the best start to the season for a trio of SEC teams, in terms of the eye test, that I can remember... Talking about Alabama, UGA, and LSU here. I would have those three teams ranked among the top five in the country, along with Clemson and Ohio State, and Oklahoma at No. 2. I'd probably rank the teams: (1) Clemson, (2) Alabama, (3) Georgia, (4) LSU, (5) Ohio State, (6) OU. But I could legitimately see any of those teams winning the championship, which is a broader pool than I'd usually be comfortable with even this early.
Florida State's woes continue ... After losing to BYU and nearly giving one away to UL-Monroe, the Seminoles squander an opportunity to win at UVA. It's going to be tough for Willie Taggart to salvage much from this season and you could easily see the wheels coming off.
Speaking of UVA ... Bronco Mendenhall did a nice job at BYU and he's doing a great job at Virginia. I grew up watching UVA as one of the nation's most consistently "solid" programs that you never heard much about, but they fell on hard times about a decade and a half ago. It's been a long time coming, but they appear to be a really nice team.
How about Les Miles? ... One week ago I said the former LSU and Oklahoma State coach couldn't work a miracle big enough to turn Kansas competitive in one year. Maybe he can. That 48-24 win at Boston College will go down as one of the shocking performances of the season, considering KU hadn't won a road game against a Power Five conference opponent since ... 2008! Miles will have Kansas as one of the more physical teams in the Big XII (what does that really mean, though?) in short order. The contrast in styles with a lot of other teams in the conference could be interesting to watch.
It's never as good or bad as it seems ... Mack Brown led UNC to wins against South Carolina and Miami as underdogs in the Tar Heels' first two games but they fell behind 21-0 to Wake Forest on the road last Friday and couldn't quite come back. The talent is still not where he needs it to be and the defense has to improve. Wake Forest has quietly been a 7-win program in recent years and the Deacs are now 3-0.
The ACC is terrible ... The conference has gotten positive publicity in recent years with Clemson's rise, but consider: Louisville's decline, Florida State falling off a cliff, Syracuse getting throttled by Maryland two weekends ago, Boston College losing to Kansas, Georgia Tech looking woeful ... and so on. It's the worst Power Five conference and it may not be very close.
Nothing good comes from playing Alabama (unless you're Clemson) ... Louisville found that out the hard way in the season opener a year ago. For South Carolina, the lesson was Saturday. I actually thought the Gamecocks played well and were on the wrong end of some calls that could have made the game somewhat interesting. But when you blink and look at the scoreboard and see "47-23" it serves as a reminder that you gain very little from the anticipation and momentary excitement of having an "upset bid" (psst, you don't have a chance) against the Tide. What's remarkable about the Alabama dynasty is how they never have a letdown. That wasn't true of USC in the 2000's, and it was less true of Florida State in the 90's. It's still the greatest dynasty of all-time.
Four quarterbacks are Heisman contenders ... Trevor Lawrence was the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman coming into this season but he has looked somewhat mortal at times during Clemson's start to the season. He's still a contender for the sport's premier individual honor. So are Tua Tagavailoa of Alabama, Jalen Hurts of Oklahoma, and Justin Fields of Ohio State. It's a great year for quarterbacks at the top.
Darin Hinshaw doesn't get enough credit ... Remember when it was considered a big addition when Kentucky added Hinshaw along with Eddie Gran? He's done a great job in Lexington. The numbers don't jump out, but this is the second time in four seasons a backup quarterback added to the roster late has looked good when called upon to play unexpectedly.
The beat goes on at Washington State ... Things have worked out just fine for Kentucky with Mark Stoops as opposed to Mike Leach, who has always had a portion of the fan base. But what a job he's doing in Pullman. They lose quarterbacks, skill players, defenders, and the beat goes on. The Cougars are 3-0 after a rally win at Houston, and Anthony Gordon passed for 440 yards in the win. It could be another 10-win season for WSU. They were one of my "underrated" picks before the season even though they were in the Top-25.
Penn State showed some flaws against Pitt ... The Nittany Lions destroyed Pitt on the road last season but barely beat the Panthers, 17-10, over the weekend. I really like Penn State's defensive front but quarterback Sean Clifford didn't have a great game and Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett threw for a ton of yards. This is clearly the No. 3 team in its side of the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan, and I don't think they can beat either of those squads.
UCF and Stanford ... Central Florida looks excellent. Stanford, not so much. David Shaw has been quite arrogant in his statements about the SEC and fans of the conference might finally have some laughs at his expense as the Cardinal appear to be floundering this year. The Pac-12 North is unforgiving as well. UCF absolutely drilled Stanford one week after the Cardinal lost to USC.
Remember when everyone was laughing at Herm Edwards? ... They shouldn't have been laughing. Eno Benjamin is a game-changing running back even though his season stats aren't all that impressive but how about the Sun Devils winning a slugfest 10-7 at Michigan State in the kind of game Mark Dantonio feels comfortable coaching.
One game I'm looking forward to ... Iowa eeked out a comeback 18-17 win at Iowa State in a game the Cyclones appeared poised to win. It wasn't pretty, but the Hawkeyes have reached a point where they seem to never lose early season games. I'm really looking forward to Iowa-Wisconsin later this year. That will be the best Big Ten West game in quite a while, in terms of stakes and the quality of teams at the top of that division.
USC loses and we should have seen it coming ... The Trojans' win over Stanford doesn't look quite so impressive now. Losing by three points at BYU isn't something for most programs to be ashamed of, but when USC loses that game and it's not even a big upset it should tell you what you need to know about the future of Clay Helton. BYU has had an eventful season, losing to archrival Utah and then rebounding with wins at Tennessee and against Southern Cal.
Tennessee's win doesn't tell us much ... The Volunteers drilled Chattanooga, but that's one bad Chattanooga team. I did mention on social media that I doubt Kentucky will get the Volunteer team that lost to Georgia State, and I don't think they will. But this one game doesn't tell us too much.
Don't sleep on K-State ... The Wildcats don't seem to be getting much credit for handling Mississippi State in Starkville but that was more impressive than your usual seven point win. If they clean up some things and don't bobble a couple of punts that's potentially a blowout win. K-State may not prove to be a Top-25 team, but they looked like one to me at least for a day.
A big win for Neal Brown ... Can we really call a 44-27 win against NC State at home a "signature win" for former Kentucky player and offensive coordinator Neal Brown? Maybe that's a stretch, but it's a sign the Mountaineers, somewhat limited by personnel after heavy losses, are buying in.
Nebraska's loss to Colorado looks worse ... The Buffaloes rallied to beat Nebraska at home two weekends ago, proving the Cornhuskers weren't Top-25 worthy (shocker!) after four wins last season. Then Colorado followed that up with a home loss to Air Force.
Glory days for service academies ... That's a stretch considering there were national championships "back in the day", but Army, Navy, and Air Force all have quality teams this year.
Interesting days at Purdue ... How much better is Jeff Brohm actually making the Boilermakers? As I've said many times, he's clearly made Purdue more competitive and has brought them some bright moments, notably the blowout win against Ohio State. But Purdue lost to Nevada and just got blown out at home by an unranked TCU team. There was that win against Vanderbilt, but the Commodores will again be at or towards the bottom of the SEC.
Justin Rowland • CatsIllustrated
@RowlandRIVALS
Every week I'm posting some general thoughts on college football in two separate pieces. One reviewing the previous weekend's action, the other looking ahead to what's on the slate.
Here's a rundown of last week's action and what went through my mind as I watched it all go down.
Georgia is not getting as much attention as some other top teams in the sport ... Or at least that has been my perception. We'll know a lot more after this Notre Dame game, but the Bulldogs are quietly looking great and taking care of business as you would expect. The SEC East is a race for second place. Florida is not close to being able to take down the Bulldogs. Nowhere near good enough on the offensive line and UF's defensive line will struggle against UGA's front as they sometimes did against Kentucky's offensive line.
This is the best start to the season for a trio of SEC teams, in terms of the eye test, that I can remember... Talking about Alabama, UGA, and LSU here. I would have those three teams ranked among the top five in the country, along with Clemson and Ohio State, and Oklahoma at No. 2. I'd probably rank the teams: (1) Clemson, (2) Alabama, (3) Georgia, (4) LSU, (5) Ohio State, (6) OU. But I could legitimately see any of those teams winning the championship, which is a broader pool than I'd usually be comfortable with even this early.
Florida State's woes continue ... After losing to BYU and nearly giving one away to UL-Monroe, the Seminoles squander an opportunity to win at UVA. It's going to be tough for Willie Taggart to salvage much from this season and you could easily see the wheels coming off.
Speaking of UVA ... Bronco Mendenhall did a nice job at BYU and he's doing a great job at Virginia. I grew up watching UVA as one of the nation's most consistently "solid" programs that you never heard much about, but they fell on hard times about a decade and a half ago. It's been a long time coming, but they appear to be a really nice team.
How about Les Miles? ... One week ago I said the former LSU and Oklahoma State coach couldn't work a miracle big enough to turn Kansas competitive in one year. Maybe he can. That 48-24 win at Boston College will go down as one of the shocking performances of the season, considering KU hadn't won a road game against a Power Five conference opponent since ... 2008! Miles will have Kansas as one of the more physical teams in the Big XII (what does that really mean, though?) in short order. The contrast in styles with a lot of other teams in the conference could be interesting to watch.
It's never as good or bad as it seems ... Mack Brown led UNC to wins against South Carolina and Miami as underdogs in the Tar Heels' first two games but they fell behind 21-0 to Wake Forest on the road last Friday and couldn't quite come back. The talent is still not where he needs it to be and the defense has to improve. Wake Forest has quietly been a 7-win program in recent years and the Deacs are now 3-0.
The ACC is terrible ... The conference has gotten positive publicity in recent years with Clemson's rise, but consider: Louisville's decline, Florida State falling off a cliff, Syracuse getting throttled by Maryland two weekends ago, Boston College losing to Kansas, Georgia Tech looking woeful ... and so on. It's the worst Power Five conference and it may not be very close.
Nothing good comes from playing Alabama (unless you're Clemson) ... Louisville found that out the hard way in the season opener a year ago. For South Carolina, the lesson was Saturday. I actually thought the Gamecocks played well and were on the wrong end of some calls that could have made the game somewhat interesting. But when you blink and look at the scoreboard and see "47-23" it serves as a reminder that you gain very little from the anticipation and momentary excitement of having an "upset bid" (psst, you don't have a chance) against the Tide. What's remarkable about the Alabama dynasty is how they never have a letdown. That wasn't true of USC in the 2000's, and it was less true of Florida State in the 90's. It's still the greatest dynasty of all-time.
Four quarterbacks are Heisman contenders ... Trevor Lawrence was the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman coming into this season but he has looked somewhat mortal at times during Clemson's start to the season. He's still a contender for the sport's premier individual honor. So are Tua Tagavailoa of Alabama, Jalen Hurts of Oklahoma, and Justin Fields of Ohio State. It's a great year for quarterbacks at the top.
Darin Hinshaw doesn't get enough credit ... Remember when it was considered a big addition when Kentucky added Hinshaw along with Eddie Gran? He's done a great job in Lexington. The numbers don't jump out, but this is the second time in four seasons a backup quarterback added to the roster late has looked good when called upon to play unexpectedly.
The beat goes on at Washington State ... Things have worked out just fine for Kentucky with Mark Stoops as opposed to Mike Leach, who has always had a portion of the fan base. But what a job he's doing in Pullman. They lose quarterbacks, skill players, defenders, and the beat goes on. The Cougars are 3-0 after a rally win at Houston, and Anthony Gordon passed for 440 yards in the win. It could be another 10-win season for WSU. They were one of my "underrated" picks before the season even though they were in the Top-25.
Penn State showed some flaws against Pitt ... The Nittany Lions destroyed Pitt on the road last season but barely beat the Panthers, 17-10, over the weekend. I really like Penn State's defensive front but quarterback Sean Clifford didn't have a great game and Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett threw for a ton of yards. This is clearly the No. 3 team in its side of the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan, and I don't think they can beat either of those squads.
UCF and Stanford ... Central Florida looks excellent. Stanford, not so much. David Shaw has been quite arrogant in his statements about the SEC and fans of the conference might finally have some laughs at his expense as the Cardinal appear to be floundering this year. The Pac-12 North is unforgiving as well. UCF absolutely drilled Stanford one week after the Cardinal lost to USC.
Remember when everyone was laughing at Herm Edwards? ... They shouldn't have been laughing. Eno Benjamin is a game-changing running back even though his season stats aren't all that impressive but how about the Sun Devils winning a slugfest 10-7 at Michigan State in the kind of game Mark Dantonio feels comfortable coaching.
One game I'm looking forward to ... Iowa eeked out a comeback 18-17 win at Iowa State in a game the Cyclones appeared poised to win. It wasn't pretty, but the Hawkeyes have reached a point where they seem to never lose early season games. I'm really looking forward to Iowa-Wisconsin later this year. That will be the best Big Ten West game in quite a while, in terms of stakes and the quality of teams at the top of that division.
USC loses and we should have seen it coming ... The Trojans' win over Stanford doesn't look quite so impressive now. Losing by three points at BYU isn't something for most programs to be ashamed of, but when USC loses that game and it's not even a big upset it should tell you what you need to know about the future of Clay Helton. BYU has had an eventful season, losing to archrival Utah and then rebounding with wins at Tennessee and against Southern Cal.
Tennessee's win doesn't tell us much ... The Volunteers drilled Chattanooga, but that's one bad Chattanooga team. I did mention on social media that I doubt Kentucky will get the Volunteer team that lost to Georgia State, and I don't think they will. But this one game doesn't tell us too much.
Don't sleep on K-State ... The Wildcats don't seem to be getting much credit for handling Mississippi State in Starkville but that was more impressive than your usual seven point win. If they clean up some things and don't bobble a couple of punts that's potentially a blowout win. K-State may not prove to be a Top-25 team, but they looked like one to me at least for a day.
A big win for Neal Brown ... Can we really call a 44-27 win against NC State at home a "signature win" for former Kentucky player and offensive coordinator Neal Brown? Maybe that's a stretch, but it's a sign the Mountaineers, somewhat limited by personnel after heavy losses, are buying in.
Nebraska's loss to Colorado looks worse ... The Buffaloes rallied to beat Nebraska at home two weekends ago, proving the Cornhuskers weren't Top-25 worthy (shocker!) after four wins last season. Then Colorado followed that up with a home loss to Air Force.
Glory days for service academies ... That's a stretch considering there were national championships "back in the day", but Army, Navy, and Air Force all have quality teams this year.
Interesting days at Purdue ... How much better is Jeff Brohm actually making the Boilermakers? As I've said many times, he's clearly made Purdue more competitive and has brought them some bright moments, notably the blowout win against Ohio State. But Purdue lost to Nevada and just got blown out at home by an unranked TCU team. There was that win against Vanderbilt, but the Commodores will again be at or towards the bottom of the SEC.
