Week 0 has come and gone, and now we can get into the big-time programs getting back onto the field!
Our marquee matchup this week is #5 Notre Dame traveling to the Horseshoe to take on the #2 Ohio State Buckeyes. Last season OSU dropped an early season home matchup to Oregon, so we will see how good their memory is. It’s a pivotal game for both programs and should provide us with some fireworks to end Week 1.
As always, CJ Lang, Christian Welch, and Britt Sanders will guide you this season through all the college football storylines, player profiles and game previews you will need. Enjoy!
Favorite Storylines
Nebraska Has Frozen Over (Britt)
The headliner game of Week 0 was Nebraska’s revamped offense led by Scott Frost facing Northwestern. This being the premier game, came attached with most of the national audience (those who tuned in at least).
Most of the money poured into Nebraska on the back of their new offensive facelift, thanks to the transfer portal. Most of all, the public backed Nebraska because “Scott Frost needed this.” Coming from an elite 2017 year at UCF, where his team went 13-0, Frost came into Nebraska as a highly sought-after name. College football has given Frost a pass for the first few years to let him rebuild Nebraska in his vision. Yet, akin to Greek mythology’s ‘Achilles heel,’ Frost cannot win one-score games. Since his time at Nebraska, he has been 5-20 in one-score games. Last season he lost every one-score game they had.
Coming into this season, with the winds of positive regression, they took flight (literally) to Dublin in hopes of setting a new tone for this season. Nebraska started with a 75-yard TD drive to open the game. Northwestern drove down for a field goal, then Nebraska was back on the offensive only to be stalled by Northwestern’s magnificent stripping of the ball. After that, Nebraska lost all momentum and continued to stall offensively. Going into the half, the Huskers were down by three points. Nebraska started the second half hot. After stopping Northwestern’s opening drive of the half, Nebraska put 14 points up in quick succession. Then, for some inexplicable reason, Nebraska went for an onsides kick. Northwestern went on to score 14 unanswered points. Starting Nebraska’s 2022 season off with a… one-score loss. I am unsure how Frost made it back on the plane; I’d have left him in Dublin.
Michigan QB Situation: Harbaugh Ch. 1 Verse 2 (CJ)
Apparently, the Michigan Wolverines will be utilizing the “SuperFlex 2QB” settings this season because head coach Jim Harbaugh has come out and said that he has decided to name both his QBs the starting QB for the 2022 season. Huh? Yep. And the collective Ann Arbor crowd goes, “Meh.” In a tweet this week Harbaugh said, “Both quarterbacks have played great. Coming out of camp, I just feel like we have two quarterbacks, Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy, that we feel very confident we can win a championship with either of those two behind center.”
So Cade McNamara will start this week vs. Colorado State, and then J.J. McCarthy will start next week vs. Hawaii. Even though Harbaugh said that both QBs will see playing time in all games, the decision on who will start is left to no man as he stated, “No person, that’s biblical, no person knows what the future holds.” Michigan shares the easiest schedule in the Big Ten with Minnesota, so I guess it doesn’t really matter who starts because it’s all divine intervention anyway.
Player Spotlights
Quarterbacks
Anthony Richardson (JR – Florida) | 6-4, 232 lbs. (Britt)
Anthony Richardson was a part of the Devy community ‘what if’ players last year. Someone who showed such dynamic abilities through the ground yet was held back. Whether that was because of Emory Jones or Dan Mullen, I don’t know, but it did create an allure about his prospect projection. Richardson last year had 52 rushes for 401 yards. That was with a plug-and-play utilization. In his career, he has had 58 rush attempts for 462 yards.
I am highlighting Richardson because, despite such a prolific ability on the ground, he is a big unknown through the air. Having just 66 career pass attempts raises all sorts of uncertainty, especially when you add in his adjusted yards per attempt of 6.6. The fact is that a new offense only raises more questions than answers. This week he will face Utah, one of the premier defenses of the Pac-12 (I can’t believe I wrote premier and Pac-12 in the same sentence). Richardson was a high-value Devy asset going as high as the first round in Devy startups. Fans and managers alike will know quickly just what ceiling Richardson possesses.
Cameron Rising (RS-JR – Utah) | 6-2, 218 lbs. (CJ)
In 2021, Utah was the Pac-12 Champs. Not the Trojans, Ducks, or Bruins… the Utes! Led by QB Cameron Rising, they look to start another run at the CFP when they travel to the Swamp on Saturday night. Rising is coming off a great season where he had 2,493 passing yards, 20 TDs, five INTs and a passer rating of 146.7. You can also add that he had 499 rushing yards and six rushing TDs. He is a dynamic playmaker and a modern-day gunslinger who can escape the pocket and make plays out of thin air.
But the air in Florida is thick, and it has one of the loudest in college football. Florida has a lot of question marks on defense after ending last year ranked 74th out of 130 in opponents points allowed per game. We will see if Rising and those 19 returning starters for Utah can make a statement against the Gators in Gainesville and start their march towards a CFP invite.
Running Backs
Raheim Sanders (SO – Arkansas) | 6-2, 225 lbs. (Britt)
Raheim “Rocket” Sanders lived up to his nickname last year. Sanders spent his freshman season sharing the backfield, only logging a backfield dominator rating of 31.8. Despite his lower workload, Sanders logged a dominator rating of 16.6 and 687 total yards off of 125 touches. During the offseason, the Razorbacks lost Treylon Burks and Trelon Smith. Smith was one piece of the three-pronged attack last year in the running back room. With Burks leaving for the draft, even more offensive opportunities have opened up, coupled with the touches Smith has left behind.
Then in Spring practice, fellow Razorback RB Dominique Johnson got injured and had to get surgery. That left Sanders and AJ Green. From then on, it was Sander’s backfield. During the remainder of spring practices and fall ball, the coaches have been raving about Sander’s progress. Given what Sanders did last year with a minimal workload and the opportunity on the horizon, it makes him a breakout candidate this year. He begins that campaign against Cincinnati, who lost a decent amount of their starters this offseason. This week should offer an immediate ‘prove it’ game for Sanders to establish himself.
Kenny McIntosh (SR – Georgia) | 6-1, 210 lbs. (CJ)
Let’s be real. It seems like Georgia is now Running Back U. Senior RB Kenny McIntosh is slated to start for the Bulldogs (finally) and be a part of a two-headed RBBC with Junior RB Kendall Milton. McIntosh has had to wait a while after sitting behind Zamir White, James Cook and D’Andre Swift in his college career while only accumulating 753 rushing yards and six TDs over three years playing. But this is his opportunity to break out!
He leads the defending national champs into a Week 1 matchup against the #11 Oregon Ducks in Athens, Ga. The Ducks do have a capable defense even after losing DE Kayvon Thibodeaux to the NFL. They are projected to have a top-20 defense in the nation and could give Georgia a run for their money. We will see how much head coach Kirby Smart will rely on McIntosh to establish the run game to set up sixth-year senior QB Stetson Bennet and that play-action pass.
Wide Receivers
Kayshon Boutte (JR – LSU) | 6-0, 210 lbs. (CJ)
Kayshon Boutte will be a first-round pick. End of story. He was the #2 ranked overall WR in the nation in the 2020 class behind OSU’s Julian Fleming. Boutte had a stellar freshman season for the Tigers leading them with 735 yards and 5 TDs. In 2021, Boutte had his season cut short due to an ankle injury, but in the six games he played, he went for 509 receiving yards and nine TDs, including a three-TD performance vs. UCLA. If it were not for the injury, he would have been on pace for 1,110 receiving yards and a 19-TD season!
This year he is healthy and will likely be putting every play on tape for the NFL scouts. LSU opens up against the Seminoles in a “neutral site” game in the Superdome. The Noles are coming off a cupcake victory against Duquesne, where they gave up only 71 passing yards, but there was certainly no Kayshon Boutte on the Dukes. What better way to kick off your campaign to be a top draft pick than having a game on National TV on Week 1?!
Jordan Addison (JR Transfer – USC) | 6-0, 175 lbs. (Britt)
Jordan Addison was a star at Pittsburgh, breaking out and making a name for himself nationally. This offseason, he entered the transfer portal and decided to take his talents to Southern California to play for the Trojans. Whether that was motivated financially or due to better opportunities doesn’t really matter. What everyone will be watching when Addison plays is can a star player transfer schools and continue being a star.
Reports came out recently that Addison has struggled to transition to USC. I am one to believe that most of this noise is simply due to writers trying to create content. However, a lot of this rides not just on USC this year but on Addison too. It could cost him millions of dollars in the NFL draft if he stumbles. Luckily for Addison, this week is a warm-up week as the Trojans play Rice at home. The chemistry between him and Caleb Williams will be a talking point next week in the Devy and college communities, so we will see how well he can play in the Coliseum. The talent didn’t disappear, but it may create a buying window for Addison if things are shaky to start.
Tight Ends
Michael Mayer (JR- Notre Dame) | 6-4, 265 lbs. (CJ)
We don’t generally see tight ends drafted high in NFL drafts. The exception would be the Kyle Pitts, freakish athlete-type players. However, Michael Mayer, whether he’s drafted high or not, will be a solid TE in the NFL. He has a similar size to Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews, who are premier TEs in the NFL today, and he has a great ability to catch and run with the ball.
He doubled his production from his freshman to sophomore seasons with the Irish. Last season he had 71 catches, 841 yards and seven TDs. He ended as a John Mackey Award semi-finalist and is easily the favorite to be the first TE taken in the 2023 NFL Draft. He finished last season in the top four in almost all FBS TE categories and has already set multiple single-season Notre Dame TE records as an underclassman. If Notre Dame makes a run this year, Mayer will be at the forefront of the offense. He has a big test this week going into the Horseshoe to start the season.
Arik Gilbert (JR- Georgia) | 6-5, 248lbs (Britt)
Who doesn’t love a good redemption story? Arik Gilbert’s journey to being a Georgia tight end has been quite the whirlwind. It involves transfers, ineligibility and ultimately sitting out the 2021 season. Gilbert is looking to start things out on the right path. Coming in from high school, he was highly recognized as one of the most athletic tight ends coming into college. That part has not been lost according to Georgia’s spring games.
Having only 35 receptions for 368 yards to his career makes this one a particularly fascinating watch. Making his home the new “Tight End U” only adds more punch to this storyline. Being accompanied by Brock Bowers and Adonai Mitchell, Gilbert projects to be involved quickly in the passing attack. We are all very excited to see what Gilbert can do now that he seems back on track chasing his dream of the NFL.
Games Of The Week
#5 Notre Dame vs. #2 Ohio State (-17) (CJ)
If you are a college football fan, you are tuning in for this one. It’s crazy to think that a Week 1 matchup carries so many implications to the national championship landscape, but it indeed does. There has never been a two-loss team selected to the CFP. If Notre Dame loses this game, they will need a lot of help to make it back, considering the rest of their schedule has only three ranked teams in BYU, Clemson and USC.
Ohio State has the added benefit if they lose that they have a much stronger schedule and a conference championship game to help them if they run the table. OSU is incredibly talented on offense as second-year starter CJ Stroud returns at QB, coming off a Heisman Trophy finalist year and 44 TDs. He lost WRs Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave to the NFL but upsteps Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr. Julian Fleming and Emeka Egbuka – all top recruits. Plus, they have a monster RB in TreVeyon Henderson.
Notre Dame has some weapons but will have Sophomore QB Tyler Buchner make his first career start. He did play in 10 games as a freshman and is very talented. Still, the new-look OSU defense – led by incoming defensive coordinator Jim Knowles – might be too much for the young QB making his first start on the big stage. Ohio State should roll in this one. However, if it is close, it may be time to be worried in Columbus.
#7 Utah (-3) vs. Florida (Britt)
This game, while lacking flashy names, has a strong storyline. Florida is finally free of Dan Mullen and can start building towards a more successful future, possibly on the shoulders of QB Anthony Richardson. Utah has predominantly been a silent goliath in the Pac-12. Yet after last year’s Rose Bowl game, they will no longer be overlooked in the college football ranks. Utah has been an underdog for a “sleeper” team that can make this year’s CFP. That road begins through Florida, a team with as much excitement as question marks.
After flirting with their new starting QB, Anthony Richardson, last season, they will officially pass the reigns to him this year. The issue is that the entire Florida offense lacks any premiere offensive talent. A staunch defense followed up with a consistent running game, and explosive play actions make it a tough team to defeat. Utah is what I consider a shaky play to be in the Pac-12 Championship this year, making this game so intriguing. After facing Florida, the seventh-ranked team in the nation won’t face another top-25 team until #14 USC six weeks later. In total, Utah is currently playing three top-25 teams. That is why winning this week is imperative for their bid to the playoffs. Being often overlooked, Utah will need to keep the attention rolling on them for the entire season.
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