College Football Week 1: A New Era

College Football Week 1: A New Era

The 2024 college football season is the dawn of a new era. Gone are the four-team playoffs and the controversy over who can have a chance to become a national champion. In their place is an open 12-team playoff. For most major programs, Week 1 brought with it 50-point wins and hopes for a playoff spot, but Week 1 was also not without its shocking games or serious question marks. With that said, here are the biggest takeaways from Week 1 of the college football season:

Problems in the Sunshine State

The University of Florida (UF) got off to a lackluster start to its challenging 2024 season with a 41-17 loss to 19th-ranked University of Miami that also involved an injury to its starting quarterback, Graham Mertz. The Hurricanes took a 14-point lead into halftime and never looked back, leaving the Gators with plenty of questions to answer about this upcoming season. The schedule ahead for Florida won’t do them any favors and the pressure on Mertz will only increase as five-star freshman quarterback DJ Lagway waits in the wings.

Florida State suffered a worse blow in its Week 0 loss to unranked Georgia Tech. The Seminoles had a breakout year in 2023 and entered 2024 as the No. 10-ranked team in the country. However, the favorites to top the Atlantic Coast Conference fell far short of all expectations. Transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei failed to inspire and the team lacked explosiveness as the Yellow Jackets outscored them 24-21 with a game-winning field goal. Florida State followed that performance with one that was perhaps worse, falling to unranked Boston College 28-13 in Week 1. This was a game decided in the trenches, as Boston College ran all over the Seminoles’ defense to the tune of 263 team rushing yards. Florida State has an uphill battle ahead of it to overcome two conference losses to open the season and appears to be all but eliminated from the playoff conversation.

The not so mighty ducks?

What was supposed to be a blowout victory turned into a worryingly close contest for the University of Oregon as the Ducks rolled past the University of Idaho with a 24-14 win. The Vandals, an unranked Football Championship Subdivision team, put up a fight against third-ranked powerhouse Oregon, and with less than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Ducks led by just a three-point margin before a late touchdown put them up by 10 points, where the score would stand. It took an efficient, error-free performance from Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel to avoid what would have been an unprecedented upset. Gabriel threw for 380 yards and two touchdowns while completing 41 of his 49 pass attempts. The Ducks will need to right the ship before season-defining matchups against Ohio State and the University of Michigan.

A combative Irish victory

On Saturday, a matchup between Notre Dame and Texas A&M was the game to watch, as the No. 7-ranked Fighting Irish outscored the No. 20-ranked Aggies 23-13 in a defensive battle. Both offenses and quarterbacks struggled to find a rhythm, but in the end, it was two interceptions thrown by Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman and a strong running game by Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love that made the difference. Despite not being in a conference, this win puts Notre Dame in a strong position to qualify for the playoffs, as they won’t play another currently ranked team until November, when they’ll face a currently floundering Florida State team.

Battle in the swamp

Two teams with playoff ambitions met in Sunday’s game between 13th-ranked Louisiana State University (LSU) and 23rd-ranked University of Southern California (USC), and it was everything anyone could have wished for. The game was close throughout the contest, as the Tigers held a narrow 17-14 lead entering the fourth quarter. However, a 30-yard touchdown reception by Ja’Kobi Lane gave USC a 20-17 lead with just a few minutes left on the clock. LSU marched down the field burning four minutes off the clock and was able to tie the game at 20 with less than two minutes remaining. A defensive stop by LSU would have sent the game into overtime, but it wasn’t meant to be; Trojan quarterback Miller Moss orchestrated an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 13-yard Woody Marks run to push the ball into the end zone with just eight seconds left on the clock. The 27-20 final was a huge win for the much-doubted Trojans, putting them firmly on the right path toward their goal of finding a spot in the new playoff format.

Business as usual

For the known powerhouses, there were no controversies this week. The University of Alabama, Ohio State, the University of Georgia (Georgia) and Michigan all went about their business with solid, if not dominant, wins. Alabama dismantled the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 63-0 and wide receiver Ryan Williams had a particularly fun stat line. In total, Georgia had two receptions, both for touchdowns, and 139 yards. Ohio State continued the fun by beating the University of Akron 52-6, with quarterback Will Howard putting together an impressive three-touchdown performance. For Michigan and Georgia, the matchups were a bit more even. Michigan outscored the Fresno State Bulldogs 30-10 with a big fourth quarter to pull away in the contest. Georgia had the most impressive win of the bunch by beating 14th-ranked Clemson University in dominating fashion with a 34-3 victory. Georgia came out slow, leading just 6-0 at halftime, but came out swinging in the second half en route to their big win.