The Best and the Worst of Week 1 in College Football

There are always surprises and disappointments in the first few weeks of college football and probably more in Week 1 than any other. Here are the five most impressive things about the first week and the five most disappointing things as well.

Most Impressive:

NO. 1 Alabama: Who else could you pick? Talk about impressive. Lose a ton of superstars to the NFL, open against a good team to start 2021, and come out and destroy the opponent like it is no big deal. They make you forget about how good the players were from a year ago because the next group looks even better. Maybe, Miami was overrated (especially by yours truly) but did it really matter? Did anybody see a team that could have handled the Tide? EVERYONE GETS A GAME BALL.

No. 2 Georgia’s Defense: The Bulldogs defense manhandled Clemson and completely controlled the line of scrimmage and made Clemson look bad. The downside is, Georgia’s offense wasn’t much better GAME BALLS TO THE DEFENSE

No. 3. UCLA: I have to give a shout out to fellow dude, Aaron, who when analyzing this bunch in our third podcast, thought that the Bruins were ready to turn the corner. I scoffed at that idea, but after an impressive 38-27 win over LSU in the Rose Bowl, I’m beginning to believe in them. They will break in to my Top-25 for sure. GAME BALLS TO THE ENTIRE TEAM

No.4 Ohio State: I thought the Buckeyes performance against an underrated Minnesota team on the road deserves some recognition. They lost a lot of players from a year ago and had to battle against a well-coached team and managed to win by 14. Their new quarterback made plays and their offense was more than good. There are concerns with the defense down the road that will need to get fixed. GAME BALLS TO THE OFFENSE

No. 5 Penn State: The Nittany Lions went into Madison and out-toughed a good Wisconsin team winning, 16-10. This was an enormous win for Penn State looking down the road and sets them up for a run at the Big-10 title. GAME BALLS TO EVERYONE

Honorable Mention: Iowa, Nevada, Virginia Tech

Biggest Disappointments:

No.1 Clemson Offense and D.J. Uiagalelei: The Clemson offense managed to gain 180 yards total and made just 14 first downs in a futile effort (Georgia wasn’t much better). Heralded freshman D.J.Uiagalelie was 19 for 37 passing for 178 yards and one interception and was anything but impressive. He looked confused, hesitant, and bewildered. To be fair, his offensive line was just awful and added to the problem. Much improvement will have to be made down the road for the Tigers. GRADE: F

No.2 Oklahoma’s defense and Spencer Rattler: Through the entire offseason, all word coming out of the Oklahoma camp, was how good this defense was. Tulane made 24 first downs and gained 396 total yards and came within 5 points of winning. The Green Wave deserve a ton of credit and you won’t find a better-coached team, but Oklahoma should have destroyed them. Sooner quarterback, Spencer Rattler, on the surface, had good enough stats (30 for 39 for 304 yards) but threw 2 terrible interceptions and had a third one that was nullified by a penalty. He was ineffective in the red zone and missed several passes. GRADE: D-

No.3: Washington Huskies: Wow, where do we start? 20th-ranked Washington opened at home against Montana ,a FCS schooland lost 13-7. They managed to gain only 53 yards rushing and quarterback Dylan Morris threw 3 interceptions. It would be hard to find a worse loss than this one in week 1. Grade: F

No.4 Indiana: The Hoosiers were ranked and Iowa is pretty good, but you can’t get beat 34-6. They could only make 11 first downs and gained a pitiful 232 total yards. Indiana was last year’s “feel-good” story, but 2021 started off as a typical Indiana team. GRADE: F

No.5 Illinois: Bret Bielema and the Illini were one of the hits of the season after thumping Nebraska 30-22 on August,28th. On Saturday, Texas-San Antonio came to town and dropped Illinois with a thud. Bye-bye good feelings in Champaign. From the penthouse to the outhouse in one week. That’s life in college football. GRADE: D

Dishonorable Mentions: Northwestern, Navy, Tulsa, North Carolina