The conclusion of most of the Week 1 action showed us why some programs were overrated entering the 2017 college football season.
The first week of college football is wrapping up. There’s three major games yet to be played but we are starting to get a good idea of how things will shape up entering Week 2. The biggest game of the weekend, Alabama vs. Florida State, did not pan out as expected.
Some teams showed that they can be relevant contenders, even if unranked, with their Week 1 performance. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Mississippi State Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks and Iowa Hawkeyes are just a few examples of sleeper teams that showed encouraging signs over the weekend.
Most of the top 10 should stay in tact. Even with Florida State’s loss to Alabama, they should stay ranked, easily, in the top 10. More than anything, the loss of star sophomore quarterback Deondre Francois could cost the Noles.
It’s way too early still to say who is an actual contender for the College Football Playoff. Most top 10 teams got real slow starts in the first half. USC was not able to pull away from Western Michigan until late. Washington kept Rutgers in the game for a while. Wisconsin kept close with Utah State early.
Shaking off preseason rust can take some time. Certain teams get hot at certain points in the season. Last year’s Playoff field featured four teams ranked inside the preseason AP Top 25. Staving off upsets to inferior opponents is the biggest thing some teams need to worry about.
Some teams with high expectations like the No. 23 Texas Longhorns didn’t even make it out of Week 1 without a blemish on their record. The Maryland Terrapins pulled off the upset in head coach Tom Herman’s first game in Austin.
Most teams ranked in the top 10 were put there for a reason. Now, let’s take a look at 10 teams that look like National Title contenders after the conclusion of Week 1 action.
10
Stanford Cardinal Pac-12
Scouting Report
Stanford’s season opener came in the Sidney Cup against the Rice Owls. The Cardinal was supposed to roll over Rice to a huge margin of victory. They did just that behind solid efforts from quarterback Keller Chryst and running back Bryce Love.
Losing Christian McCaffrey did not make a difference in the efficiency of the Stanford offense. Chyrst is much improved from last year and could be one of the better quarterbacks in the Pac-12. Stanford does not need him to do much other than take care of the football.
Related Story: 5 reasons Bryce Love can exceed Christian McCaffrey
Head coach David Shaw is one of the most underrated in the country. He makes the Cardinal competitive each year in the Pac-12. They have the talent on both sides of the ball to make a run at the Pac-12 Championship.
Especially with how lackluster Washington and USC looked in Week 1, Stanford could be the favorite in the conference very soon. Love is also a true Heisman contender with the spotlight solely on him now.
9
Michigan Wolverines Big 10
Scouting Report
No. 11 Michigan notched themselves a huge victory in one of the biggest games of the weekend. Head coach Jim Harbaugh led his squad to a 33-17 win over the No. 17 Florida Gators. Florida was missing some of their best players including star receiver Antonio Callaway and starting running back Jordan Scarlett.
Michigan QB Wilton Speight did just enough to give the Wolverines the edge. He completed less than half of his passes but totaled 186 yard and one touchdown with two interceptions. Michigan did more on the ground than they did in the passing game.
The toughest challenge for Michigan will be dealing with the toughest schedule in the Big Ten. They’re the only Big Ten team ranked in the top 25 that has to face Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Penn State in the regular season. Wisconsin only has to face Michigan and avoids cross division games with the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions.
8
LSU Tigers SEC
Scouting Report
No defense had a more dominant performance than that of the No. 13 ranked LSU Tigers. They faced the BYU Cougars who had a lackluster victory over Portland State in their first game. LSU’s defense did not let BYU past the 50-yard line.
BYU is no Alabama, Auburn, or Georgia, but they are a solid team that should easily make a bowl game in 2017. That type of dominant performance through and through should strike fear into LSU’s opponents.
Related Story: 3 takeaways from LSU's win over BYU
The run game for LSU looks deadly with Heisman contender Derrius Guice and backup running back Darrel Williams. Both Guice and Williams rushed for more than 100 yards against BYU. Yet, the biggest question mark remains the passing game.
First-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada has a tall task in front of him to repair LSU’s broken passing game. Quarterback Danny Etling is a solid quarterback and should give Canada the guy he needs behind center to piece everything together.
7
Oklahoma State Cowboys Big 12
Scouting Report
Oklahoma State played on Thursday against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Quarterback Mason Rudolph looked every bit the part of a superstar as he led the Pokes to a 59-24 victory. Running back Justice Hill could be a monster.
The Cowboy offense should be the best in the country. They have a receiving corps better than any other. Led by senior James Washington, Oklahoma State has an offense that no team can shut down across the board.
One of the biggest concerns for the Pokes is their defense. The cornerbacks are young and inexperienced. There’s potential with A.J. Green as he possesses the tools necessary to possibly succeed at the next level.
Oklahoma State has another weekday game this week as they take on the South Alabama Jaguars. Ole Miss defeated South Alabama handily behind a solid effort from sophomore quarterback Shea Patterson. South Alabama should be no problem for the Cowboys.
6
Wisconsin Badgers Big Ten
Scouting Report
Wisconsin was one of the teams that got off to a slow start this week. Utah State traveled to Madison to take on the Badgers. Nothing came easy to Wisconsin to begin the game. In the second half, Wisconsin stepped it up and delivered a 49-point victory.
Quarterback Alex Hornibrook proved he is the guy for head coach Paul Chryst and the Badgers. That answers one of the bigger questions for Wisconsin’s offense. Since Hornibrook tosses nine touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2016, it was uncertain how he would do this year.
Related Story: 3 takeaways from Wisconsin's win over Utah State
The best part about buying into Wisconsin is the clear path they have to returning to the Big Ten Championship Game. Ohio State and Penn State do not face Wisconsin during the regular season this year. The toughest team they face in conference play is Michigan.
Wisconsin can still lose one game during Big Ten play and make the conference championship game. The minimum loss total for Wisconsin is one to be able to make in the top four for the playoff field.
5
Penn State Nittany Lions Big Ten
Scouting Report
Some you’d ask would say that the Penn State Nittany Lions should have made the Playoff last year. Not only did they defeat Ohio State and give them their only regular season loss, they also won the Big Ten. Yet, they were left playing USC in the Rose Bowl.
Penn State has two of the best offensive players in the Big Ten on their roster. Running back Saquon Barkley showed us all why he is considered the best rusher in the country. He topped the 150-yard mark with two touchdowns in Penn State’s shutout victory over the Akron Zips.
Quarterback Trace McSorley had a solid day as well with 284 passing yards and two touchdowns. McSorley has one of the top five best receiving corps in the nation to throw to. The combination of Barkley and McSorley almost always gives Penn State an edge.
We’ll learn a lot about Penn State next week when they face the Pittsburgh Panthers, a team they lost to last year. Pitt struggled with an FCS team in Week 1 so they’re not as good as they were one year ago.
4
Clemson Tigers ACC
Scouting Report
With the Florida State Seminoles losing their season opener, Clemson should now be the highest-ranked ACC team. The next highest is the Louisville Cardinals and they barely escaped the Purdue Boilermakers. Clemson is the favorite in the ACC once again.
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First-year starting quarterback Kelly Bryant played well against the Kent State Golden Flashes. Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson got some playing time as well. Head coach Dabo Swinney is intent on Bryant as the starter, though.
People doubted Clemson a bit with the departure of legendary quarterback Deshaun Watson. Clemson has not missed a step so far. Next week, they host the Auburn Tigers at Clemson Memorial Stadium in one of the biggest matchups of the weekend.
Another one-loss or undefeated regular season with a third consecutive ACC Championship would give the Tigers enough to get back into the Playoff.
3
Oklahoma Sooners Big 12
Scouting Report
The Oklahoma Sooners entered the season as the favorite to win the Big 12. Quarterback Baker Mayfield had a great effort against the UTEP Miners with more than 300 passing yards three touchdowns.
UTEP was one of the worst teams that the Sooners had on the schedule. No. 2 Ohio State looms in Week 2. Oklahoma was dominated by the Buckeyes in Norman last year. This year, they travel to Columbus. Mayfield has a huge challenge ahead of them.
Related Story: 3 reasons Sooners win Big 12 Title in 2017
If Oklahoma wins a third straight Big 12 Championship, it’ll be in a prime position to get in the field for the Playoff. One of the two years that the Sooners won the Big 12, they made it to the playoff. As long as Oklahoma does not lose more than one game, they’ll be fine.
The biggest challengers to Oklahoma in the Big 12 are Oklahoma State and Kansas State. However, Oklahoma is the clear favorite right now.
2
Ohio State Buckeyes Big Ten
Scouting Report
Led by head coach Urban Meyer, the Ohio State Buckeyes have made the playoff in two of the three years it’s been in existence. Ohio State has a senior quarterback in J.T. Barrett that should be motivated to finally win a National Championship.
Cardale Jones won a National Championship as a starter the year that Barrett got injured before the Playoff against Michigan. The receiving corps needs to figure some things out but Barrett did all the right things in OSU’s season opener.
Ohio State won their first game by pulling away from the Indiana Hoosiers in the second half. IU QB Richard Lagow competed with the Buckeyes for the first two quarters. It took a while for Ohio State to get up to speed on both sides of the ball.
Moving forward, Ohio State should have star sophomore running back Mike Weber to combine with freshman J.K. Dobbins, who had a phenomenal first outing. The secondary, led by Damon Arnette and Denzel Ward, got better as the matchup went along against IU as well.
1
Alabama Crimson Tide SEC
Scouting Report
Did we expect anything else against Florida State? Alabama thoroughly dominated the Noles in the second half after Deondre Francois left the game with a knee injury. The Crimson Tide are the clear favorites to win the SEC and National Championship again.
Related Story: Deondre Francois injury ends Florida State's Playoff hopes
Nick Saban has built a football program and dynasty that is among the best in college football history. Alabama is firing on all cylinders and got their resume boosted by a huge opening weekend victory. Even without Francois, Florida State is still a very good team.
The amount of talented skill position players that Alabama has is utterly amazing. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley and running backs Bo Scarbrough and Damien Harris give QB Jalen Hurts multiple facets to work with on offense.
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Moreover, the defense is dominant like it normally is. Alabama forced the Noles offense to turn the ball over a few times in the second half that sealed the game. The defense is playing at a National Championship level already.