Week 1 was a blast, and I know we are all so happy that college football is back in full swing. Florida State somehow came out of Week 1 2-0 after a huge win in New Orleans, Old Dominion came off the top rope to stun Va Tech, and Florida had a big win against a top-10 opponent when they beat #7 Utah.
This week has some big matchups, including seeing if Texas can drop Bama from its perch and a high-scoring affair in the making when the 24th-ranked Vols travel to Pitt to take on the 17th-ranked Panthers. As always, CJ Lang 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
Dat’s Not Money, Dude (CJ)
Head coach Brian Kelly started his LSU tenure with a 24-23 loss to FSU this past Sunday in front of what was essentially a home crowd at the Superdome in New Orleans. It’s not like FSU played a bad game. Still, LSU did not help their own cause with two fumbled punt returns, a blocked field goal, a blocked extra point, multiple plays for loss and a really bad miss where star WR Kayshon Boutte had a pass that could have gone for a TD hit him right in the stomach when he wasn’t even looking for the ball.
Arizona State transfer QB Jayden Daniels got no help from his LSU offensive line, who had a combined less than 15 games started. He was sacked four times, and the running game could never get established. In fact, Daniels led the Tigers with 114 yards rushing but those were because he was running for his life. Penn State transfer RB Noah Cain, the team’s primary RB, had seven carries for 23 yards. Star WR Boutte, who started the year on the Biletnikoff Award watch list and ’23 first-round draft hopeful, had just two catches for 20 yards and then subsequently unfollowed all of LSU on his social media (ouch). The Tigers get a bounce-back game this week when they play Southern University in Death Valley, so we will see how this team responds.
Quarterback Battle Royal (Britt)
Off memory, I cannot recall a time in college football when a coach openly admitted to not doing his job, finding the most optimal starting lineup to win games. A new trend that began with Jim Harbaugh in Michigan has begun to leak. Before Week 1, Harbaugh was quoted saying J.J. McCarthy and Cade McNamara would both start a game. Based on those games, it would help signal to him who his starter will be. Facing Colorado State and Hawaii certainly allows a program like Michigan to have this luxury of patience.
Now, out of the woods, we have already seen two other Power-5 conference teams (Ole Miss & TCU) follow in lockstep with their quarterback room. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin reported Luke Altimyer would receive the start against Central Arkansas this week. While TCU head coach Sonny Dyke employed a quarterback-by-committee to find which one deserved the job. Now granted, their opponents are low-level and lack competition. This has me wondering; Is the inability to decide on the starter indicative of a lacking head coach or a trove of untalented players? Either way, I will watch these developments with much joy.
Player Spotlights
Quarterbacks
Quinn Ewers (SO – Texas) 6-3, 206 lbs. (Britt)
Quinn Ewers was one of the more interesting storylines of this offseason. He transferred from Ohio to play at Texas, the NIL incentives he needed were met, and Arch Manning committed to play for Texas in the future. It all felt like it was a culmination of the story’s apex. This week is only going to add an accelerant to that storyline. Ewers had a good day against a very poor opponent, having 225 yards for two touchdowns, one interception and a passer rating of 164.6. This week Ewers will face Alabama. While I expect him to struggle, it’ll be a wonderful opportunity to see how he reacts in tough environments. The stat line is the least of my anticipations. We want to see how he handles pressure in the 4th quarter after a game of people knocking on the door. I want to see how he handles the adversity of this game because there will be a lot of it for him. Moments like this give a glimpse into the type of player Ewers is outside of his talent, and at quarterback, that’s very intriguing.
Spencer Sanders (SR – Oklahoma State) 6-1, 210 lbs. (CJ)
Senior QB Spencer Sanders helped lead the Cowboys to a 58-44 victory over Central Michigan in a shootout game last week. He threw for 406 yards, accounted for six TDs (four passing, two rushing), and had zero INTs. Sanders is a four-year starter for OK State and has had a decent career averaging 2,300 passing yards and 16 TDs in his three seasons. But he has also thrown an average of 10 INTs in that timespan too, so protecting the ball this year will help his cause to make it to the NFL.
He is also a very capable rusher, running for over 650 yards in two of his three seasons. As the eighth-ranked dual-threat QB from the 2018 class, Sanders has shown a lot of maturity over these past three years. With a solid season, he could get some NFL draft hype. He may not get the recognition that C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Tanner McKee get, but the Big 12 is winnable, and a CFP appearance could help his cause. A date with the Sun Devils awaits Sanders and the Cowboys this week. With OK State opening as 11-point favorites, we should see Sanders put on another show.
Running Backs
MarShawn Lloyd (RS SO – South Carolina) 6-2, 225 lbs. (Britt)
Marshawn Lloyd came out of high school last year looking primed to take the starting duties and dominate. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL and received a medical redshirt. Over a year of rehab and increasing confidence has done wonders for Lloyd. In the first week of the season, Lloyd looked to finally be on stable footing. From a rushing perspective, he was underwhelming, averaging 2.7 yards per carry. As a receiver, he made the most of his limited opportunities averaging 15.1 yards per catch. Lloyd also found the end zone twice. As Lloyd gets worked into the offense more, I expect his production to see a similar increase. This week he gets a chance to show off how comfortable he is, facing 16th-ranked Arkansas. I am excited to see Lloyd develop post-ACL injury and see if what he showed in high school translates to college.
Frank Gore Jr. (SO – Southern Miss) 5-8, 195 lbs. (CJ)
It’s not often that any game, let alone a Week 1 game goes into Quadruple overtime, but that is what happened last week to Frank Gore Jr’s Southern Miss Golden Eagles. After a 32 carry, 178 rushing yards, and a two-TD performance, Gore and the Golden Eagles lost to the Liberty Flames in a thriller. His name will definitely ring a bell to football fans as his dad Frank Gore recently retired as an NFL RB following a 15-year career.
Following in his dad’s footsteps, Gore Jr. had a very productive season in ’21 as a redshirt freshman when he had 801 rushing yards, 20 receptions, 155 receiving yards and five TDs. He was not as highly recruited as his dad, receiving offers only from Southern Miss, FAU and Kentucky. Yet, he’s led the team in rushing for two straight years, was selected as Preseason All-Sun Belt and was added to the Doak Walker award watch list. He is a versatile player with a talented skillset utilized in “super back” formations for the Golden Eagles. But it could be some uphill sledding for him this week as he travels back to his hometown to take on his dad’s alma mater as they face off vs. the 15th-ranked Hurricanes. It would be a great opportunity for him to flash in his dad’s old stomping grounds!
Wide Receivers
Ainias Smith (SR – Texas A&M) 5-10, 190 lbs. (CJ)
In his 3-year career at A&M Ainias Smith has played at least 10 games in each season but has never had more than 564 total receiving yards. Last week in a 31-0 defeat of Sam Houston State, Smith had 164 receiving yards and two TDs. That’s over a quarter of what he normally gets in an entire season in one game! Is a breakout upon us? Maybe.
He is a talented return specialist who led the SEC in punt returns in 2020 and was second in 2021. In 2020, he also split time with Isiah Spiller at RB, rushing 49 times for 293 yards. He is a bit undersized to be an NFL RB, but he could work well from the slot and could always be used as a gadget-type player. If he continues on the pace that he is right now, I think he will definitely be in the conversation come draft time. But let’s not jump the gun. Sam Houston State is not an SEC-level team. We can get the hype train steaming when he starts doing it against real competition.
Jermaine Burton (JR Transfer – Alabama) 6-0, 200 lbs. (Britt)
Jermaine Burton got off to a unique start in Week 1, securing five receptions for 35 yards and two TDs. He didn’t have a dominant game from a total-yard perspective, but he was just as impactful. Alabama likely wanted to use a platoon of players to get them more exposure, especially since their opponent lacked serious talent. This week he has a better opponent taking on Texas. I am very interested in watching his role and usage moving forward, as we should see a significant uptick in that department.
Tight Ends
Jake Roberts (SO – North Texas) 6-6, 250 lbs. (CJ)
Jake Roberts is the new-school type of tight end we have seen over the past few years. Long gone are the days of the pass-blockers who could occasionally catch; tight ends these days are just bigger, slower wide receivers who occasionally block. Jake Roberts ranks third in FBS in receiving yards amongst all TEs with 95 receiving yards. Obviously not a huge number, but considering that in his two previous years, the most receiving yards he ever had was 98 yards, I would say he is doing pretty good. He is on the field for 79.2% of the offense’s snaps but is only in on 13.2% of pass-blocking situations, meaning he’s in to catch the ball. He has nine targets on the year and has caught seven of them. It will be exciting to see what he can do as he is integrated more into the offense this season. Keep an eye out.
Ja’Tavion Sanders (SO – Texas) 6-4, 266lbs (Britt)
Here is a fun little blurb for me this week. Ja’Tavion Sanders is someone who I wrote about as a potential Devy sleeper for this year (you can find it here). With the loss of Isaiah Neyor to an ACL and Agiye Hall to disciplinary reasons, the passing attack was wide open. Then he started with a loud bang, netting six receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown. Sanders had the most receptions and the highest yardage total from last week. What was slightly unanticipated was Ewers’s tendency to check down instead of using his legs. That played a large role in Sanders’ usage from Week 1. That is something that isn’t game-dependent which is exceptionally exciting for his long-term prospect. After watching this video, you’ll be even more excited about how he looks once he no longer resembles a newborn giraffe learning to walk.
Games Of The Week
#1 Alabama (-20) vs. Texas (CJ)
Texas is 7-1-1 vs. Alabama, but this doesn’t feel like a Texas team that can knock off Saban’s powerhouse program. They do have an inside track with former Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian now leading the Longhorns. But the Longhorns have had a rough go of it since the Mack Brown days. Since he left in 2013, the Longhorns are 53-46. They haven’t won a National Title since 2005 nor the Big 12 Conference since 2009. Both teams recruit very well, but this game could come down to QB play. On one side, you have Bryce Young for Alabama. He is the reigning Heisman Trophy, Davey O’Brien, Maxwell, and Manning Award winner, plus he was the AP & SEC Offensive Player of the Year. On the other side, you have a 19-year-old Ohio State transfer making his second career start in Ewers. Both teams are coming off big wins versus inferior opponents. The one thing Texas has over Alabama in this game is the crowd, as the game is in Austin. Outside of that, Texas must play the perfect game to have a shot at taking down the Tide. We are all hoping for a close game, but Bama should cover.
#10 USC vs Stanford (+9) (Britt)
USC has me very excited as a bystander. They’ll be under more scrutiny with all of the pageantries that happened this offseason. After handily taking care of Rice in Week 1, the Trojans get their first test of strength. Stanford, while unranked, has always been a notorious thorn in the side of the top Pac-12 teams. A team that plays similarly to Utah, just in a decaf way, always causes hang-ups. This game is so interesting to me because it’ll be close. It will throw people into a frenzy. Being at home for Stanford, I think the defense and ball control by the trees will do just enough to make the Trojans sweat this one out. Either way, the game’s result should not be taken lightly. Stanford is good. This matchup should lead to fascinating analysis for the Trojans in the future.
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