From teams leaving the Pac-12 to a whole new playoff system, college football fans are looking forward to watching this year because of all of the new changes and crazy storylines. In this article, we will discuss weeks zero through four of this wild start to the season.
In week zero, there were only four matchups but three of those games all ended with both teams within 5 points of one another. The most exciting game from that week was most definitely the Florida State vs Georgia Tech matchup that took place in Ireland. Before this season, Florida State went on a dominant run, going 13-0. Undefeated, they fully expected to be in the college football playoffs even with their quarterback being hurt. But, because of his injury, they did not get into the playoffs leading to anger and questioning throughout the college football community. Going into the Dublin matchup, Florida State was confident they would beat Georgia Tech even with some people predicting that the Yellow Jackets would upset them. In Florida State’s first international game, they lost by a game-winning field goal which came as a shock to people, as FSU’s DJ Uiagalelei played horribly, contributing to their loss. Some other close games from the week included SMU barely beating Nevada 29-24 and Montana State upsetting New Mexico State 35-31.
In week one, potentially the most arrogant team in college football, Colorado, took on an impressive FCS team, North Dakota, and barely beat them in spite of a great game on both sides of the ball from cornerback Travis Hunter. Another game that took place that weekend was Georgia vs Clemson, in which quarterback Carson Beck dominated Clemson’s pass defense and had 273 yards which helped them beat Clemson 34-3. Many would say that this game signifies how teams need to use the transfer portal to succeed, as Clemson lacked talent in this game because they have not yet brought a single player in through the transfer portal. In one of the night games, Notre Dame went into College Station to play Texas A&M. Even with Kyle Field’s rowdy environment, Notre Dame walked away with the win 23-13. Some other great games of the weekend include Vanderbilt beating Virginia Tech in overtime 34-27, North Carolina scraping by Minnesota 19-17, and Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillian putting up a magnificent game receiving 304 yards helping Arizona beat New Mexico 61-39.
Week two of college football was just as action-packed of a week with top-25 matchups, crazy upsets, and close games. The Texas Longhorns went north to play the defending national champions, the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan’s previous year was quite a roller coaster as they were involved with a scandal revolving around sign stealing, won the national championship, but lost their coach and all of their stars. Because of all of their program losses, Texas ended up taking care of business winning 31-12. In South Bend, Notre Dame was coming off of a big win against Texas A&M, and it felt like they were going to beat Northern Illinois as if it was nothing. They lost by two. Notre Dame was not the only team that had a hard time with a not-so-good squad after coming off of a win versus a good team. Penn State was coming off of an impressive win vs West Virginia and then almost lost to Bowling Green. Colorado went into Memorial Stadium for a massive rivalry game looking to beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers but true freshman Dylan Ryaola was too much for them, leading his team to a 28-10 victory. When Colorado fan Luke Hamilton was asked about the loss, all he had to say was “No comment.”
Week three had a few unexpected outcomes of games. Toledo traveled to Mississippi State thinking they would get dominated by a mediocre SEC team but ended up dominating them with help from quarterback Blake Shapen, as they won 41-17. Florida State’s struggles continued as they paid 1.3 million dollars for Memphis to come to Doak Campbell and surprisingly lost to said team 20-12, which also made them 0-3 after being ranked tenth to start the season. Georgia went to Lexington to play Kentucky in what they thought would be one of the easier games on their schedule but the game ended up being a nail-biter as they barely won 13-12. Georgia has been a team that has dominated under coach Kirby Smart for the last few years as they have won two national championships and produced elite players. Still, this year they do not look like they will be the best in the SEC as Alabama and Ole Miss are both looking strong this year.
Week four had quite an exciting slate of ranked matchups and decent teams going against each other. Boston College hosted their annual Red Bandana game in which they honored Wells Crowther’s bravery on the tragic day of September 11th, 2001. They hosted Michigan State this year and ended up slipping by them winning 23-19. Boston College fan and attendee of the game, Cole Palek said, “It was a fun time.” West Virginia also took on a Kansas team that people think may win the Big 12, but they don’t look promising as they lost to their Big 12 rivals 32-28. Another Big 12 game that took place was Kansas State losing to BYU 38-9 which came as a big disappointment to Kansas fans as they thought this game would be a cakewalk. USC’s welcome to the Big 10 game at Michigan will be remembered for years to come as Michigan barely survived Miller Moss and the Trojans winning 27-24. Baylor vs Colorado was decided in overtime after Colorado’s miracle Hail Mary was completed to push them into overtime which they won 38-31. When asked about the game, sophomore Luke Hamilton said “Travis Hunter is him, he will win the Heisman.”
The Heisman race so far has been one of the surprises with Miami quarterback, Cam Ward, favored to win it. Ward is a transfer from Washington State, whose PR made a statement against Florida in the first week of the season after having 385 passing yards. My personal opinion on who should win the Heisman is Travis Hunter. Hunter is not only a wide receiver but also an excellent cornerback.
