I'm a bit late on the week 1 recap, but the long weekend and a Monday night showdown in Blacksburg delayed this post a bit. To sum it up, it was your standard week 1: Boisterous crowds, blowouts, upsets, bad calls, close calls, overwhelming performances, underwhelming performances, it was all back!
Upset Alert!
As is routine, there were a few upsets in the first weekend, nothing near as monumental as an App State over Michigan in the Big House or a JMU over VT, but a few sneaky FCS teams gave teams a scare and if you're Pitt, made you look downright awful. Four FCS teams came away with a victory - Youngstown State over Pitt, Eastern Washington over Idaho, Memphis fell to Tennessee-Martin, and McNeese State beat Middle Tennessee State. Then there were the close calls. Wisconsin needed a late fourth quarter stop to beat Northern Iowa, Wake Forest struggled against Liberty, Maryland needed a late fourth quarter score to beat William & Mary in the day's most exciting game with a score of 7-6. How about the newcomer Texas State? They beat a Houston team that went 13-1 in 2011. The loss was so embarrassing that the offensive coordinator resigned.
I'm going to ignore the Penn State game, because honestly, it's not much of an upset. Given everything that's happened to that program (the distractions, the departures, etc.) the team is probably on the same level of most of the dominant mid-major teams and simply mid-tier in the Big Ten. Ohio is a damn good team and they showed it Saturday. I'm not joining the BCS-buster-bandwagon, but the team should walk through the MAC and win their second consecutive bowl.
Dominating Performances
Alabama - Wow. What more can you say? You can say Michigan was overrated. You could argue Denard isn't an elite quarterback. You could say that Jerry Jones is rigging the games. I would agree to probably all of the above, but Alabama came out and proved they are the team to beat right now. That was one of the most dominating performances I've seen to open a season. This was better than LSU's destruction of Oregon last year in the Cowboy's Classic (see, Jones may just be fixing SEC wins...). All Nick Saban does is rebuild. It's incredible. I thought Eddie Lacy would be the best back in the SEC and maybe even the country, but then T.J. Yeldon comes in and blows everyone away. He was a monster and only a freshman. A.J. McCarron is a confident leader and has progressed since last season. Defensively, well good luck scoring on them.
USC - I know, I know, they played Hawaii, but the dominating performance on defense was what I found incredible. They held Hawaii to 10 points. Norm Chow is considered one of the best offensive coordinators and this offense was suppose to generate some points, but never stood a chance with this USC defense. The offensive performance was expected. No one can cover Woods or Lee, and Barkley was able to hit them all night, but that defense, it was something to watch. I almost dare to say they looked as fast as an SEC defense... Remember, this USC team isn't very deep, but the talent is unreal. If everyone stays healthy all season than it will be tough to outscore the Trojans.
Oklahoma State - A cupcake game? Yes, but this game warrants some attention. This was a statement game for Mike Gundy. No one was giving the defending Big 12 champ any respect. Oklahoma was pegged to win the conference, and newcomer WVU (from the BigEast Mess mind you) was considered the only "real" threat to the Sooners. No one talked about the talent Gundy had returning, but only the talent they lost. Well beating a team 84-0 will turn some heads. Savannah State is no FCS powerhouse. They're actually quite miserable. In fact, this games had the biggest spread in college football history, and the Cowboys covered. I'm not saying Oklahoma State is a Top 10 team, but the score and dominating performance warranted a shout out.
Heisman Hopefuls?
After these performances, can we please stop including them in the Heisman conversation?
Denard Robinson - I don't care what he does the rest of the year, he's not an elite quarterback. An elite athlete? Sure, I would say physically he's one of the most gifted players in college football, but he's not anywhere near the best quarterback, running back, or wide receiver. Let's stop including him and enjoy the flashes of brilliance he occasionally displays.
Landry Jones - He's included every year, yet continues to underwhelm. Frankly, he's not even the best quarterback in his conference. Let's stop the campaign and discussion accept that he's a good quarterback, statistically the best in Oklahoma history, but there are far better players at their positions than Jones.
Not so fast!
Mike Leach was suppose to be an instant success. After all, he had success at a middle-of-nowhere school in Texas, why not Washington? He returned an All-American receiver and talented QB to lead his Air Raid offense. What's to stop Washington State from competing right away? Well, everything else. The run game looked non-existent, allowing BYU to defend the pass, and the defense will be one of the worst in the nation again. That was expected. There will be growing pains, but please hope Washington State gives him some time, because I would promise the Cougars will be contending soon.
Pitt looked absolutely awful in his debut against FCS opponent, Youngstown State. The Panthers never led, and really never competed. They had no answer on defense, and the offense never clicked. Paul Chryst was the offensive coordinator for several successful Wisconsin teams, but those teams were built different. They had power run games and competent quarterbacks. The running backs are talented at Pitt, but the line will have to improve to give them those holes, and Sunseri...well, he's never been competent.
The first week rarely offers Heisman highlights or conference insight, and this opening week was no different. Conference races are still wide open, everyone Heisman hopeful is waiting for their opportunity to shine in primetime, and several upsets await title contenders. If week 1 is any indication of how the 2012 season will be, then hold on, because it's going to be a crazy finish.
Upset Alert!
As is routine, there were a few upsets in the first weekend, nothing near as monumental as an App State over Michigan in the Big House or a JMU over VT, but a few sneaky FCS teams gave teams a scare and if you're Pitt, made you look downright awful. Four FCS teams came away with a victory - Youngstown State over Pitt, Eastern Washington over Idaho, Memphis fell to Tennessee-Martin, and McNeese State beat Middle Tennessee State. Then there were the close calls. Wisconsin needed a late fourth quarter stop to beat Northern Iowa, Wake Forest struggled against Liberty, Maryland needed a late fourth quarter score to beat William & Mary in the day's most exciting game with a score of 7-6. How about the newcomer Texas State? They beat a Houston team that went 13-1 in 2011. The loss was so embarrassing that the offensive coordinator resigned.
I'm going to ignore the Penn State game, because honestly, it's not much of an upset. Given everything that's happened to that program (the distractions, the departures, etc.) the team is probably on the same level of most of the dominant mid-major teams and simply mid-tier in the Big Ten. Ohio is a damn good team and they showed it Saturday. I'm not joining the BCS-buster-bandwagon, but the team should walk through the MAC and win their second consecutive bowl.
Dominating Performances
Alabama - Wow. What more can you say? You can say Michigan was overrated. You could argue Denard isn't an elite quarterback. You could say that Jerry Jones is rigging the games. I would agree to probably all of the above, but Alabama came out and proved they are the team to beat right now. That was one of the most dominating performances I've seen to open a season. This was better than LSU's destruction of Oregon last year in the Cowboy's Classic (see, Jones may just be fixing SEC wins...). All Nick Saban does is rebuild. It's incredible. I thought Eddie Lacy would be the best back in the SEC and maybe even the country, but then T.J. Yeldon comes in and blows everyone away. He was a monster and only a freshman. A.J. McCarron is a confident leader and has progressed since last season. Defensively, well good luck scoring on them.
USC - I know, I know, they played Hawaii, but the dominating performance on defense was what I found incredible. They held Hawaii to 10 points. Norm Chow is considered one of the best offensive coordinators and this offense was suppose to generate some points, but never stood a chance with this USC defense. The offensive performance was expected. No one can cover Woods or Lee, and Barkley was able to hit them all night, but that defense, it was something to watch. I almost dare to say they looked as fast as an SEC defense... Remember, this USC team isn't very deep, but the talent is unreal. If everyone stays healthy all season than it will be tough to outscore the Trojans.
Oklahoma State - A cupcake game? Yes, but this game warrants some attention. This was a statement game for Mike Gundy. No one was giving the defending Big 12 champ any respect. Oklahoma was pegged to win the conference, and newcomer WVU (from the Big
Heisman Hopefuls?
After these performances, can we please stop including them in the Heisman conversation?
Denard Robinson - I don't care what he does the rest of the year, he's not an elite quarterback. An elite athlete? Sure, I would say physically he's one of the most gifted players in college football, but he's not anywhere near the best quarterback, running back, or wide receiver. Let's stop including him and enjoy the flashes of brilliance he occasionally displays.
Landry Jones - He's included every year, yet continues to underwhelm. Frankly, he's not even the best quarterback in his conference. Let's stop the campaign and discussion accept that he's a good quarterback, statistically the best in Oklahoma history, but there are far better players at their positions than Jones.
Not so fast!
Mike Leach was suppose to be an instant success. After all, he had success at a middle-of-nowhere school in Texas, why not Washington? He returned an All-American receiver and talented QB to lead his Air Raid offense. What's to stop Washington State from competing right away? Well, everything else. The run game looked non-existent, allowing BYU to defend the pass, and the defense will be one of the worst in the nation again. That was expected. There will be growing pains, but please hope Washington State gives him some time, because I would promise the Cougars will be contending soon.
Pitt looked absolutely awful in his debut against FCS opponent, Youngstown State. The Panthers never led, and really never competed. They had no answer on defense, and the offense never clicked. Paul Chryst was the offensive coordinator for several successful Wisconsin teams, but those teams were built different. They had power run games and competent quarterbacks. The running backs are talented at Pitt, but the line will have to improve to give them those holes, and Sunseri...well, he's never been competent.
The first week rarely offers Heisman highlights or conference insight, and this opening week was no different. Conference races are still wide open, everyone Heisman hopeful is waiting for their opportunity to shine in primetime, and several upsets await title contenders. If week 1 is any indication of how the 2012 season will be, then hold on, because it's going to be a crazy finish.
How about Le'Veon Ball...he jumped right into the heisman talk with the performance he had. He was a work horse w/ a ton of carries and receptions.
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