College Football is back in our loving arms! Actually, it has been going on for three weeks. Let’s take a look at the biggest storylines thus far.
LSU Can’t Get it Right
The Tigers are 2-1 coming off of an important in-conference win over South Carolina. Unfortunately, the tone for their season was set when they faced another “USC.”
In all three seasons of the Brian Kelly era at Louisiana State University, the Tigers have opened the season with a prime-time Sunday Night game played in neutral territory. They are now 0-3 in those games. To say things were frustrating in Baton Rouge after an opening weekend loss to the University of Southern California would be an understatement.
The highlight of the game, though, was undoubtedly this catch by wide receiver Kyron Hudson. If we’re recapping the first three weeks of College ball, we must include possibly the single best play.
While the South Carolina game was a win, it was more frustrating for Kelly’s side. Mental errors and missed assignments are becoming a theme, and those are symptoms of bad coaching. While Kelly has proven to be a winner at every stop he’s made in the world of big-time College Football, LSU’s passionate fanbase is not in love with him.
Through a season and change, his squad has underperformed, and Kelly is tough to root for when things are going wrong. Just see the video above. This was the case at Notre Dame as well, a reason for the love Marcus Freeman gets. If LSU isn’t a National Title contender soon, fans will grow more restless.
What do you do with Notre Dame?
The Fighting Irish came out of the gate with a massive win over Texas A&M on the road. They held highly regarded Aggie quarterback Connor Weigman to 100 yards passing, 2 interceptions, and completing 40% of his passes. And then they lost their home opener to Northern Illinois. What?
They now sit right behind LSU at No. 17 in the country, and will need to be near perfect to squeeze into the new 12-team College Football Playoffs. There was some real title buzz around Notre Dame after the opening day win against a talented Aggies side, but those feelings are gone. They took a great first step back in the right direction by blowing out Purdue in week 3, 66-7. However, they will not be able to just walk back into title contention, with games against No. 19 Louisville and No. 11 USC on the horizon. Let alone the fact that they showed that a team like Northern Illinois could beat them.
NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock did provide us with the “I’m not crying, you’re crying” moment of the season:
Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame teams seem to always have the right mindset and be building toward something special. We are just waiting for the delivery.
Don’t Mess With Texas
Texas is proving that 2023 was no fluke.
They have followed up a National Semifinal appearance by coming out of the gate as the best team in the country through three weeks of play, according to the AP. Quarterback Quinn Ewers has excelled and is projected to be a high pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He has showed consistent improvement year over year at Texas.
However, the story has become the Longhorns’ other quarterback: Arch Manning. Some would call him the Chosen One since Arch is the son of Cooper Manning and nephew to former legendary NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning. He is the grandson of another NFL standout in Archie Manning, and part of the best quarterbacking lineage known to man.
There has been a whirlwind of hype surrounding Arch since he arrived in Austin, understandably. With Ewers out with an oblique strain, Manning stepped in and lived up to the hype, albeit against University of Texas San Antonio. He showed an ability that neither of his uncles showed in the NFL: speed.
Ewers will unquestionably start going forward when healthy, but Manning’s presence likely means Texas won’t be going anywhere in the future. Consistency has been hard to come by in Austin since quarterback Colt McCoy got drafted, but a dominant week 2 win over defending National Champions Michigan showed that Texas may be a consistent powerhouse again.
Chaos in Florida
Let’s start with the good side, Miami. Transfer quarterback Cam Ward is on heisman watch.
The Hurricanes blew out the University of Florida in week one, throwing their hat in the ring as possible title contenders in 2024. Since the big win in the Swamp, they have beaten up on weaker opponents.
Florida State University has been an absolute disaster. After finishing just outside of the College Football Playoff last year due almost entirely to quarterback Jordan Travis injury, there is no revenge tour.
The Seminoles are now 0-3. An opening day loss to Georgia Tech was bad, but possibly forgivable. A week 2 loss to Boston College was really bad, but FSU wasn’t totally dead until week 3, when they lost to Memphis. Memphis are not a bad program, but they are simply not thought to be on the level of the thee other three teams mentioned. The wheels have come off in Tallahasee.
Finally, Florida Gators Head Coach Billy Napier is back on the hot seat, as his team has started the season 1-2. They were embarrassed at home by Miami in week one and soundly beaten by Texas A&M in week 3 33-20. The state of Florida has always been a volatile one when it comes to football, producing some of the best and worst the game has to offer. Three weeks of the 2024 season have done nothing but prove that.
Georgia is Still Top ‘Dawg
The Georgia Bulldogs have been the major dominant force in College Football for the past three years. They reminded everybody why in Atlanta against Clemson on opening day.
The ‘Dawgs won 34-3 over the now No. 21 Tigers. The player most people expect to dominate college football this year is Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. Now in his second year as the Bulldogs’ starter, Beck threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns on an efficient 23/33. In typical Georgia fashion, Beck spread the ball around, as the game ended with eight Georgia players with multiple receptions.
Since week 1, Georgia blew out Tennessee Tech, predictably, but had to eek out a win against Kentucky, hence their drop in the AP poll. Their true test will occur when they face Head Coach Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama Crimson Tide on Sept. 28. ‘Bama has looked strong three weeks into the post-Nick Saban era. That is the biggest matchup to look forward to as we sit in mid-September.
So much to cover in College Football, and that was just the first three weeks. Savor these moments. All of the good football is still ahead of us.
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