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I am laboring on this Labor Day Monday as we begin the month of September. The deep South looks forward to heat indexes (hopefully) retreating to less than 100 degrees daily as hurricane season still looms along the Gulf Coast.
The first full weekend of college football has concluded with only tonight’s “Bill Belichick Bowl” game remaining on the schedule.
The legendary NFL coach will lead the University of North Carolina for the first time as the Tar Heels host TCU at 7PM on ESPN. The visiting Horned Frogs are a surprising three point favorite.
The first weekend of college football could be titled “Cupcake Week” as most teams schedule lesser competition for their opening home game.
The results over the weekend confirmed that 83% of the FBS (large division) home teams won their first game.
One of the biggest takeaways from the first week of college football has been from teams which spent a large amount of money to lure new talent to their schools. We’ll analyze that after discussing a few interesting stories from Week #1 in college football.
Hooray! Two long losing streaks have come to an end
Congratulations to FCS member Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA.
The Demons broke a 20-game losing streak to win their first football game since November 5, 2022 with a solid 20-10 win over the Alcorn State Braves of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The 1-0 Demons have their work cut out this week as they travel to play Big Ten member Minnesota on Saturday at 11AM CDT.
The 17-game losing streak of FBS member Kent State in Ohio also came to an end this weekend as well.
The Golden Flashes capitalized on a 100-yard kickoff return with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to secure a 21-17 win over FCS member Merrimack from North Andover, Massachusetts.
The Golden Flashes winning streak will likely come to a screeching halt this week as Kent State visits high-scoring #23 Texas Tech this Saturday at 11AM in Lubbock. The game will be televised nationally on TNT.
A Tale of Two Coaches
The late Saturday afternoon game featuring Alabama traveling to Florida State may have saved one coach’s career while adding tons of weight to the other.
Florida State coach Mike Norvell went 13-1 in 2023 as he garnered several Coach of the Year awards. University of Washington coach Kalen DeBoer went 14-1 as his Huskies finished national runner-up to unbeaten Michigan. DeBoer surprised many by accepting the job to become Nick Saban’s replacement at the University of Alabama.
The year 2024 saw Mike Norvell’s Florida State team implode to a disastrous 2-10 record.
Internet searches for the term “Mike Norvell buyout” dominated the past 10 months.
New Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer went 9-4 in his first season with the Crimson Tide as the team failed to reach the new 12-team college football playoffs.
Oddsmakers made Alabama a two touchdown road favorite to defeat Florida State on Saturday.
That didn’t happen. FSU spotted Bama an opening touchdown and then rolled to a convincing 31-17 win over the Crimson Tide to open the season 1-0.
Google searches for “Kalen DeBoer buyout” skyrocketed this weekend. His contract would require a $69 million payment to terminate his 8-year deal after this season ends.
Coach Brian Kelly finally gets a season opening win at LSU!
The person in charge of scheduling season opening games for the LSU Tigers made life quite difficult for Coach Brian Kelly.
The head football coach for the Bayou Bengals is beginning his fourth season in Baton Rouge.
Season openers in his first three years came against Florida State (a 24-23 loss in New Orleans in 2022), Florida State again in 2023 (a 45-24 pummeling in Orlando), and against Southern Cal in 2024 (a 27-20 defeat in Las Vegas). Kelly was 0-3 heading into Saturday night’s visit to play #4 Clemson in South Carolina.
LSU’s solid 17-10 win on the road at Clemson may have been the most impressive win of college football’s opening weekend. Coach Brian Kelly’s team was stocked with incoming transfer players – especially on the defensive side of the football.
LSU’s NIL spending was reportedly up to $18 million in the offseason.
The Tigers’ defense was a pleasant surprise as they limited Clemson’s running game to just 31 yards on 20 carries. Clemson’s Heisman hopeful quarterback Cade Klubnik was relatively ineffective. He completed 19 of 38 passes for just 230 yards with one interception on the night.
LSU’s running game helped Louisiana’s Tigers dominate the time of possession 37 minutes to just 23 for the home Tigers of Clemson. Sophomore Kaden Durham bounced off Clemson tacklers all night in rushing for 74 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown.
Garrett Nussmeier was accurate and efficient (29 completions in 39 attempts for 230 yards and one touchdown) in guiding the LSU offense to victory.
LSU outscored Clemson 14-0 in the pivotal second half.
Clemson (0-1) has another home game this Saturday at 2:30PM versus Sunbelt Conference member Troy. LSU (1-0) will host its first home football game of the season on Saturday night against intrastate rival Louisiana Tech with kickoff at 6:30PM CST.
Texas Longhorns fall short in a disappointing 14-7 opening loss at Ohio State
Headline – Preseason rankings are worthless.
The Texas Longhorns were given the mythical #1 ranking before the first game had been played this season. Texas went 13-3 last year in advancing to the college football semifinal round. Highly touted redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning from New Orleans would finally get his chance to guide the Horns this season.
Defending national champion Ohio State made life difficult for Manning’s Texas teammates in a taking 14-7 win on Saturday in a defensive struggle.
Manning completed 17 of 30 passes for just 170 yards with a touchdown and one interception in the game.
Texas (0-1) now plays three straight home games against lesser competition as San Jose State, UTEP, and Sam Houston visit Austin during the month of September. The Horns will travel to play the Florida Gators on Saturday, October 4 in Gainesville.
The Ohio State (1-0) schedule is also rather weak. FCS member Grambling State visits this Saturday with Mid-American Conference intrastate foe Ohio University coming to Columbus on the following weekend.
Notre Dame (as usual) was overrated
Sunday night’s #6 Notre Dame at #10 Miami (FL) game featured former University of Georgia quarterback Carson Beck making his debut for the Hurricanes.
Miami dominated most of the game with Beck completing 20 of 31 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Highly touted Notre Dame freshman quarterback C.J. Carr played well at times as he went 19-31 for 221 yards with two touchdowns. Carr had an untimely fourth quarter interception.
The Fighting Irish rallied in the fourth quarter with two scores to tie the game at 24 apiece. Miami kicked a late field goal to take a 27-24 win.
Miami (1-0) flashed a few brilliant offensive and defensive plays on Sunday night. The Canes will host FCS member Bethune-Cookman and the red hot South Florida Bulls prior to playing a fourth straight home game against the University of Florida Gators on Saturday, September 20.
Notre Dame (0-1) takes this week off before traveling to College Station to play Texas A&M on Saturday, September 13 at 6:30PM CDT on NBC. Ouch!
Week 1 Observation – Some of the NIL money appears to have been well spent!
The LSU Tigers spent up to $18 million in NIL loot primarily to improve their defense. A 17-10 win at Clemson on Saturday night confirmed that LSU’s investments have paid dividends through Week #1.
Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck decided against entering the NFL after three years with the Georgia Bulldogs. Instead, he accepted about $4 million worth of NIL incentives to transfer and play his final year of eligibility at the University of Miami. The 27-24 win over Notre Dame on Sunday night advanced Miami to 1-0.
University of Michigan NIL bonus baby quarterback Bryce Underwood appears to be off to a good start with a 34-17 win over New Mexico. Underwood completed 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards and one touchdown in the win. He reportedly was offered about $12 million in NIL cash to forego signing with LSU and play for the Wolverines.
Ohio State’s $4 million NIL deal with wide receiver Jeremiah Smith resulted in six catches for 43 yards in OSU’s 14-7 win over Texas on Saturday. His excellent performance during the 2024 season has defenses paying much closer attention to his pass receiving routes this season.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning’s nearly $7 million NIL worth may or may not prove to be a good investment for the Longhorns. Losing a close game at the home stadium of the defending national champion Ohio State was not very surprising. Manning needs to up his mental game over the next month in preparation for SEC conference play.
Florida State spent a reported $12 million on NIL incentives for transfer players in the offseason. The Seminoles 31-17 trouncing of Alabama on Saturday will entice more Florida State fans to donate money into the NIL collective kitty this week.
Like it or not, welcome to the new world of college football.