The 2017 college football season has officially gotten underway and fans have some interesting storylines to follow after Week 1.
What an opening week it was for college football fans. There was plenty to watch for heading into the first week of the season, not including Week 0, and everything seemed to live up to the hype. If Week 1 is any indication, the 2017 season has the feel of a wild, crazy campaign.
Could this be the second coming of the chaotic 2007 campaign? History has a tendency to repeat itself and that might just come in the form of the 2017 season. It is, in fact, the 10-year anniversary of that unforgettable season.
We saw epic comebacks, feel-good moments, major upsets and coaches starting the season with their new teams — some not so well. It was an interesting week of play.
As for the national title contenders, the opening week was business as usual — except for Florida State. The Seminoles lost to Alabama and their starting quarterback, Deondre Francois, has been ruled out for the season with a knee injury.
Clemson looked solid under first-year starting quarterback Kelly Bryant and the Tigers’ quest for back-to-back titles is well underway. Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Michigan and others also took care of Week 1 opponents and there weren’t many upsets near the top of the college ranks.
Let’s take a look at the 10 biggest stories, though, to grace the college football landscape in Week 1.
10. UNLV loses to FCS Howard in biggest upset ever against spread
Mountain West program UNLV isn’t exactly considered a national powerhouse, but it was considered a 45-point favorite in Saturday’s contest against Howard. The Bison came from the FCS as one of the lowly opponents for FBS teams in Week 1, but rose to the occasion.
Who would have thought this upset was even possible? The Bison shocked the Rebels with a 43-40 victory in Las Vegas. It was, in fact, the biggest upset against the spread in college football history. Fitting that it was played in the largest sports gambling city in the country? Probably.
The Bison were led by Cam Newton’s younger brother, Caylin Newton. He was 15-for-26 with 140 yards and a touchdown. However, like his older brother, he made plays with his legs. He rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. The Rebels just didn’t have an adequate answer for him.
The Rebels did, however, finish with over 560 total yards to Howard’s 449, but it’s the final score that matters. This shocked the nation, but yet it wasn’t the biggest story of the week.
9. Michigan State’s Tyson Smith records pick-six after stroke
One of the least-talked about moments from the opening week of college football action happened in East Lansing with junior defensive back Tyson Smith. The local product was sidelined last season for unspecified reasons which he later revealed was due to a stroke.
Not often do you hear about a college athlete suffering a stroke and coming back to play. In fact, doctors gave Smith a 30 percent chance of ever playing football again. How does he respond to that? Just by picking off a Bowling Green pass in the second half and taking it all the way to the end zone for a score.
Michigan State didn’t have much to cheer about in a disastrous 2016 season and even worse offseason, but the pick-six by Tyson was arguably the best moment of the year. It gave fans something to cheer about and the players reacted accordingly.
Smith expects to be a major contributor to Michigan State’s secondary this season and he got off to a nice start with the pick-six. Defying odds.
8. Jacob Eason suffers injury, Jake Fromm impresses
Just a few offensive plays into the season, potential All-SEC sophomore Jacob Eason suffered an injury and was knocked from the team’s opening game against Appalachian State. He gave way to highly-touted freshman Jake Fromm who impressed in the Bulldogs’ first game.
Eason’s injury, although devastating to Georgia’s SEC title hopes, isn’t expected to be season-ending, according to head coach Kirby Smart, though. He is expected to make a full recovery and return soon, but Fromm will be the team’s starter in the meantime.
Is that good news for Georgia? Not exactly, but developing Eason’s eventual replacement is a bright spot to all of this. No, losing a starting quarterback isn’t ideal, but getting younger guys reps will help in the long run.
Don’t worry, Georgia fans, Eason will be back and Fromm is looking solid. He finished his first-career game with 143 yards and a touchdown on 10-of-15 completions. There’s a good chance he has a bright future ahead.
7. J.K. Dobbins dominates in first start with Ohio State
Last year, Ohio State was forced to replace Ezekiel Elliott in the run game. Was it an easy task? Absolutely not, but the Buckeyes made the transition from Elliott to Mike Weber look seamless.
Urban Meyer has been one of the nation’s top recruiters since he’s been at Ohio State and that was obvious during last year’s slew of replacements. He has had to do more reloading this season and he wasn’t expecting to turn to yet another freshman running back in the season opener against Indiana, but he did.
Read Also: JK Dobbins should be the starting running back for Ohio State against Oklahoma
In fact, he was forced to rely on freshman back J.K. Dobbins as Weber was ruled a game-time decision with an injury. He remained out of the game for precautionary reasons, but his replacement, Dobbins, played the game of his life.
Dobbins finished his first career start by breaking some records. He had 29 carries for 181 yards and looked like the team’s best running back. Will he be able to hold onto that starting job when Weber is healthy?
6. Michigan dominates Florida in opener
The first game of the season for between Florida and Michigan was hyped up for months. Florida fans don’t like Michigan fans, and vice versa. Both teams played like they hated each other early on, but they also played like they hated offensive touchdowns.
The Gators’ two scores in the first half were both on interceptions by Wilton Speight returned to the house. They took a 17-10 lead over Michigan and, despite all the offseason suspensions, it looked like Florida was going to defy the odds and upset No. 10 Michigan.
Then the second half started. Michigan struggled offensively behind Speight, who passed for 181 yards and a touchdown with two picks, while the defense dominated. The Wolverines did not allow a single offensive score after the first drive of the game.
Florida opened with a field goal on the first drive and a 3-0 lead, but Michigan closed the door. Jim Harbaugh’s team lived up to the hype, at least on one side of the ball, and came away with a convincing 33-17 victory.
5. Iowa fans start new heart-warming tradition
Rubbing the rock at Clemson, the Seminole spiking the field with a spear, the “12th Man” of Texas A&M standing the entire game, Michigan touching the “Go Blue” banner on the field and Notre Dame smacking the “Play Like a Champion Today” sign on its way out of the locker room. Those are just some of the best traditions in college football.
However, one has just surpassed the rest and it began on Saturday. Don’t believe me? Just ask fans in Iowa.
Want to see what the best new tradition in college football is? Check out what Iowa fans did in unison on Saturday afternoon:
Yes, they’re waving to sick kids at the local children’s hospital just beyond the stadium’s walls. It was quite the site to see over 70,000 fans turn and wave to kids looking out the window from their hospital rooms. Sometimes it’s bigger than college football. This is one of those times.
Iowa fans can get rowdy, that’s for sure, but when it comes time to ensure there are bigger things to life than sports, they just get it.
4. USC’s Jake Olson, a blind long-snapper, gets opportunity
The Western Michigan Broncos gave the PAC-12 front-runners a fight on Saturday afternoon. In the first ever meeting of these two schools the Trojans had to use some fourth quarter scores to pull away to a comfortable lead. After one of those some touchdowns that put the Trojans firmly ahead, a special moment happened.
Jake Olson was brought in from the sideline to snap the extra point. He held the ball, tossed it back and the kick sailed through the uprights. Then his teammates responded euphorically. It wasn’t a run-of-the-mill extra point for the Trojans or for Olson. That’s because Olson is blind.
"Jake Olson, USC’s long snapper who has been blind since age 12, got to snap it live (Video via @Pac12Network) #USC https://t.co/7SyqBoE95q — YourSports (@YourSports) September 3, 2017"
A senior, Olson earned his first chance at game action as the Trojan’s long snapper on Saturday. After a back and forth game full of nerves, it was encouraging to see USC end the game on a high note, both emotionally and on the score board.
There aren’t many occasions for blind football players to make a tangible difference on the field. But if anyone scored Olson’s snaps like the NBA uses plus-minus, he’s a perfect +1.
3. Deondre Francois suffers season-ending knee injury
Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide won the first opening weekend battle of a No. 1 team and a No. 3 team in NCAA history, but the victory came at great cost to both teams. Alabama lost two linebackers to season-ending injuries on Saturday evening, but it was the image of an injured Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois that remains etched in the minds of Seminole fans.
Francois was hammered all night long as the Crimson Tide pass rush routinely overwhelmed the Florida State offensive line. He’d somehow managed to remain upright through the first three quarters. Then he was taken down in the backfield midway through the fourth and didn’t get up.
The news later came out the Francois had suffered a knee injury that will keep him out for the remainder of the year. That sucks. It sucks for Florida State, it sucks for their fans and it sucks for college football. The Alabama and Florida State game was billed as a battle of giants, but it ended in a onesided win for the Crimson Tide, 24-7.
These teams were both College Football Playoff favorites, but now the Noles will be lucky to win their own division, let alone the ACC. Injuries are a part of football. They always will be. But this was one wound that makes college football less enjoyable for everyone this season, regardless of your allegiance.
2. Liberty upsets Baylor
Liberty is currently in the process of transitioning into the FBS from the FCS. The Flames had four wins over FBS opponents in program history. Now they have five. The fifth came in Waco during Baylor head coach Matt Rhule’s first game with the Bears.
ESPN FPI gave Liberty a 2.2 percent chance of pulling the upset. Despite those tremendous odds against them they marched down the field again, again and again against a Baylor defense that had no answers.
The Flames, led by quarterback Stephen Calvert, racked up 48 points against the Bears. Calvert was responsible for three touchdowns and 447 yards passing. That included the 26 yard strike to Spencer Jones to cap off what would be the game winning 11-play, 65 yard touchdown drive.
It was not a good college football weekend for Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M. Two coaches lost home openers as favorites and the third, well, Kevin Sumlin’s seat can’t get any hotter.
1. Josh Rosen comeback victory vs. Texas A&M
By this point you’ve seen just about every angle of this story. Kevin Sumlin choked, again, with the nation watching. Josh Rosen, projected first round pick, led the Bruins on an incredible 34-point comeback. Regardless of who deserves the blame (or credit) for this result, the outcome reverberated around college football.
Week 1 featured games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The relentless wave of college football euphoria reached its peak on Sunday night when the Bruins and Aggies played this pivotal game.
Kevin Sumlin and Jim Mora were both on hot seats entering the 2017 season. While this was an important game, it didn’t look like it would make or break either man’s future employment chances. Then the collapse/comeback happened.
Next: Top 10 national title contenders after Week 1
The Aggies are in trouble. Starting quarterback Nick Starkel might be done for the year and Sumlin might not make it to the end of the season if the Aggies don’t turn it on quickly. You won’t see another game like this in 2017. You might not see anything like it for years to come, but one thing is certain: this was a fun game to watch for everyone, apart from the Aggies.