The first official Saturday of the 2024 college football season is done (except for the Sunday and Monday night games because of Labor Day Weekend) and it didn’t disappoint. We had upsets, close calls, and dominant victories. We start on Week Zero with the first game of the season that was the biggest upset of the season so far with Georgia Tech knocking off Florida State.
Talk about a shocker. We should have saw the signs when the people at Vegas had this game as FSU being an 11 point favorite. My model had the Noles heavily favored in that game and Georgia Tech wrecked it. It was a shocking performance for two parts: One, it seemed as though Brent Key has Georgia Tech ahead of schedule and two, I fully expected Florida State to take control in the second half and put Georgia Tech away…..and as you can see on the Advanced Box Score, it was the opposite. Georgia Tech put on a 63% Offensive Success Rate, 61% Rushing Success Rate, and didn’t allow a single sack against the vaunted defensive line of Florida State. Even though it was a three point win for the Yellow Jackets, the post game win expectancy had them winning comfortably.
Miami splattered Florida’s blood all over The Swamp. The ‘Canes looked very good against a Florida team that people expected to have a better showing at home since it was less than field goal spread. Cam Ward for Miami was sensational and as of right now, the ‘Canes look to be the best team in the ACC. That can change in the following weeks, but if you were to have a power rating, I think Miami would be #1. Even ahead of Clemson….
who just so happened to get their blood splattered all over Atlanta yesterday. The game looked exactly as you see on the box score. Both teams struggling to move the ball in the first quarter, but as the game wore on, UGA’s depth on both sides of the ball ended up wearing Clemson down. I thought the Tigers played decent on defense for the most part, but the offense didn’t do them any favors by not putting together enough drives. Another dominant season opener for the Dawgs who looked the part as the top team in the country.
Hats off to Notre Dame for going into Kyle Field and getting out a victory. That is not an easy place to get a W. Riley Leonard didn’t play particularly well, throwing for 158 yards on 5.3 yards per attempt, but he didn’t lose the game for them either adding 63 yards on the ground. It was the Notre Dame defense (especially the secondary) that should get the game ball in my opinion because they had Conner Weigman in the torture chamber. No Power Four QB (especially in the SEC) should throw for less than four yards per pass attempt and that is exactly what A&M got out of him.
Do not adjust your screens…..Vanderbilt beat a team while being a double digit underdog. The casual observer will see this as a huge upset, but the ones who have followed college football will tell you that Vanderbilt had the better coaching staff and a talent advantage over the Hokies. Get used to hearing about Diego Pavia from Vanderbilt. He was 10 passing yards away from putting up 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing yesterday. Virginia Tech didn’t have an answer for him. For those of you who had Vanderbilt as an easy win….you might have to reconsider if Pavia is under center and at 100%.
It was a tight contest between Colorado and North Dakota State and that wasn’t a surprise to be honest. The Bison is a mainstay among FCS competition and they are no pushover. The game came down to one thing: Colorado had Travis Hunter and NDSU did not.
How did the new kids on the SEC block do? Not too bad to be honest. Both teams hung half a hundred, the game was put in garbage time and both teams allowed a total of three points against overmatched opponents. It was what you were supposed to do against an inferior team.
The Kalen DeBoer era got off to fast start as the Tide rolled Western Kentucky. It’s one thing to allow a 0% Success Rate for a quarter….but to do it for a half?! Yikes. I don’t believe I’ve seen that before.
It was 16-10 with 10 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, but Michigan put together two scores (one by the offense and a pick six by Will Johnson when Fresno was threatening to score) to put the game out of reach. With this performance it’s easy to say that Texas is going to roll Michigan in the Big House, but I’m not ready to bury the Wolverines after last night’s game. I think they’ll show up next week a little more focused against Texas. The QB situation needs to be figured out quickly.
It is the yearly buy stock in Drew Allar situation. Last year against WVU, he threw for 325 yards, 11 yards per pass attempt, three touchdowns, and no INTs. Saturday he threw for 216 yards, 12.7 yards per pass attempt, three touchdowns, and no INTs. Everyone is buying the stock right now, but I want to wait and see what he does after this.
Lord have mercy. Texas Tech was this close to losing this game. Ironically, Abilene Christian had six players who were on Texas Tech’s roster and they played like they had something to prove. Next week for Texas Tech…..Washington State…..oh