With the first full slate of college football games now over, it is time to look at who won and who lost. While the box score will tell you the result of the game, it doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story. Below are the winners and losers of week 1.

Week 1 Winners:

The FCS: 

Week 1 produced multiple FCS over FBS upsets. The surprising part is that we had three games with double-digit margins in favor of FCS teams.  In one of the games, East Tennessee State beat Vanderbilt fairly easily, not allowing the Commodores to score a touchdown all game. In the other game, we had Holy Cross beat UConn by 10. This would be surprising, but UConn has been masquerading as an FBS team for the better part of a decade now. Finally, we had South Dakota State demolish a Colorado State program that truly needs a fresh start. Maybe next time the program shouldn’t hire a coach because Urban Meyer told it to do so. 

The big upset was Montana winning 13-7 over a ranked Washington team. We also had two other upsets that were close wins. We had UC Davis, led by Dan Hawkins, beat Tulsa 19-17. Finally, we had Eastern Washington, a team with a penchant for knocking off FBS teams, beat UNLV in double overtime. 

Overall an excellent week for the FCS. Would love to see this trend continue as it is good for the game. 

Georgia’s Defense:

This was an absolute masterclass from Kirby Smart, Dan Lanning, and the entire defensive unit. From the first play to the last play, they were in Clemson’s backfield the entire night. They clogged up running lanes and prevented any big plays. The Bulldogs kept the offense in front of them the entire night and stopped DJ Uiagalelei from doing much. Georgia either blanketed the receivers, forced a coverage sack, or hurried DJ into a bad throw. That is exactly what happened on a play before half, where Georgia hurried DJ into throwing an interception to Christopher Smith for a pick-six and the only touchdown scored in the game. 

UCLA:

Welcome back UCLA and Chip Kelly. After sputtering the first few years under Kelly, this team is looking like it is finally putting it together. Between Zach Charbonnet and Brittain Brown, the duo ran for 213 yards with two touchdowns. Combine that with the efforts of Kyle Philips, Greg Dulcich, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the passing game, the Bruins were able to outscore a ranked LSU team. If they keep this up, they will smell roses come January. 

Zeb Noland:

From graduate assistant to South Carolina starter, Zeb Noland had one hell of a journey. Finishing with four touchdowns in what will most likely be his final collegiate start is impressive. 

Steve Sarkisian:

Sark starts off his coaching tenure at Texas with a win.  Beating a good program like Louisiana fairly easily and having the offense look great is good news for Sark. Hudson Card looked good, and Sark got Bijan Robinson involved in a multitude of ways. With the next two games on the schedule coming against Arkansas and Rice, Texas can start 3-0. Outside of Oklahoma and Iowa State, the rest of the schedule is set up well enough for the Longhorns to make a quality bowl.

Gameday Atmospheres and a Regular CFB Slate:

It’s nice to have fans back at games again. Seeing Enter Sandman at Lane Stadium, Jump Around at Camp Randall, and Ralphie running at Folsom Field are a few of the things that make the sport feel normal again. The pageantry just works with fans in the stands. I just hope that the fans are vaccinated so that no waves will exist.

It also feels good to have a complete fall schedule. We do not have to worry about having conferences deciding to opt out for the season. Don’t get me wrong, the pandemic is still real and games might be canceled still, but it feels good that college football is back to normal.

Week 1 Losers: 

The Job Security Dana Holgorsen: 

As for Dana Holgorsen, his seat is warmer. Blowing a 14-point lead against a Texas Tech team that isn’t necessarily good is bad. Going scoreless in the entire second half, leading to Texas Tech winning comfortably after trailing 21-7, is an indictment on him as a coach. Houston still has a chance to go bowling, and the schedule sets the Cougars up favorably, but bowling might not be enough to save Dana’s job. 

Randy Edsall:

After losing to an FCS team by double digits and getting shut out by Fresno State, Randy Edsall was relieved of his duties. First, he was slated to leave at the end of the season, and then it was escalated to Monday. Losing your job that quickly into the season is not ideal for the program. I’m curious as to which direction that UConn will go for its next head coach hire. 

The ACC:

What a tough week for the ACC. All of their ranked teams lost in a different fashion. North Carolina was no match for Virginia Tech’s defense, as the No. 10 team in the nation lost 17-10. VT’s defense generated six sacks and had three interceptions for the night, including a horrendous one that sealed the game. Miami was no match for Alabama. We all expected that. Not much needs to be said here. Finally, we have Clemson. There is no shame in losing to a top 5 Georgia team, but how the Tigers did it was not ideal. While their defense did fairly well, not allowing a touchdown all game, their offense was not good. I’ll explain further later on in this story. 

Other highlights include Georgia Tech losing to Northern Illinois at home when Northern Illinois completed a pass on a two-point conversion. Northern Illinois went 0-6 last year. We also have Duke giving Charlotte its first-ever P5 win.

Pac-12 North:

Speaking of tough weeks, we have the Pac-12 North. The conference went 1-5 this week. Teams lost to the murderer’s row lineup of Utah State, Montana, Nevada, Purdue, and Kansas State. Even Oregon’s win against Fresno State was a struggle, as it pulled it out with a late touchdown from Anthony Brown. If the teams keep this up, we will have a conference winner from the Pac-12 South this year.

Clemson’s Offensive Line: 

Georgia just dominated the offensive line all night. While some of the sacks that DJ Uiagalelei took were due to him holding onto the ball too long, the Clemson offensive line did not help him. Georgia had 7 sacks for the night and countless hurries as well. At the same time, holes were not opening up for Clemson to establish the running game. Clemson only had 48 rushing yards total (not counting the sacks, otherwise the total would be 2, yes, 2 rushing yards). All night, the Tigers were just dominated. The offensive line should be fine for the rest of the season as their schedule eases up considerably. 

Heisman Favorites Outside of Bryce Young/NFL Teams That Need QBs in 2022:

This was an awful week for Heisman hopefuls as well as QB needy teams in the 2022 NFL Draft. Sam Howell, CJ Stroud, Spencer Rattler, JT Daniels, and DJ Uiagalelei all struggled. I mentioned the struggles of Howell and Uiagalelei earlier. Daniels was limited by the conservative nature of Georgia’s offense, but in general, he was not good. JT did not have a touchdown and threw an interception just like DJ did in that game. The only difference is that JT’s interception was not a pick-six. As for Rattler, he was outplayed by Tulane QB Michael Pratt. Having more interceptions than touchdowns at home against Tulane is not ideal. The decisions on the throws were not ideal either. Oklahoma escaped with a five-point win against a G5 opponent. That shouldn’t happen to a Heisman favorite. Finally, we have Stroud. With Stroud, it was a tale of two halves. In the first half, Stroud did not throw any touchdowns and had an interception. His throws were all over the place. In the second half, things changed, as he had four touchdowns on five completions. I’ll chalk it up to a first career start on the road, so he’ll get some slack here. Sidenote here, Chris Olave is the best receiver in the country.

After week 1, the clear front runner is Bryce Young. Throwing for over 300 yards and four touchdowns against a ranked team in his first career start is great. He looked like he belonged from snap one. We still have a long way until the season finishes, so things can change. 

Those That Watched Baylor vs Texas State: 

For once, I’m not talking about the game itself, but the production. Below I have tweets that will explain the issue with this game. 

This is what Baylor fans are dealing with right now. Just so y’all understand how bad this broadcast is actually is.

My life is pain. pic.twitter.com/zZzAPHAgaB

— Dex Hinton (@DexHinton) September 4, 2021

Header text here pic.twitter.com/Kz3psEkeo9

— Taylor Stakes (@taylorstakes) September 5, 2021

Louisiana Tech:

Blowing a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter and losing in regulation makes you a loser of the week. The real indictment was that Louisiana Tech had the ball at the Mississippi State 30-yard line with 40 seconds left. From that point on, Tech called two run plays to set up a field goal that was no good. If Skip Holtz and company decided to go for a touchdown or even move the ball closer, we would not have Tech here, but alas. 

Injuries:

Christopher Allen, Mohamed Ibrahim, Ronnie Bell, and Tate Ratledge are the few names that are now out for the season with injuries that occurred during the game. It is always sad to see talented players not being able to play due to injuries.