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College Football Awards, Week 1 (2024) September 4, 2024

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Lincoln Riley, USC

Glad I’m not him: Brian Kelly, LSU

Lucky guy: Mack Brown, North Carolina

Poor guy: P.J. Fleck, Minnesota

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Dan Lanning, Oregon

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Brent Key, Georgia Tech (Week 0)

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Norvell, Florida State

Desperately seeking … anything:  Mike Norvell, Florida State

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Tennessee (defeated Chattanooga 69-3)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oregon (defeated Idaho 24-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Temple (lost to No. 16 Oklahoma 51-3)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Stanford (lost to TCU 34-27)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Miami, FL (defeated Florida 41-17)  

Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad:  UConn

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  N/A

Did the season start?  Florida State
Can the season end?  Rice

Can the season never end? USC

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 23 USC  27, No. 7 LSU 20

Play this again, too: No. 7 Notre Dame 23, No. 20 Texas A&M 13

Never play this again: Auburn 73, Alabama A&M 3

What?  Vanderbilt 34, Virginia Tech 27 (OT)

Huh?  Georgia Tech 24, No. 10 Florida State 20 (Week 0)

Are you kidding me??  No. 23 USC  27, No. 7 LSU 20

Oh – my – God:  Boston College 28, No. 10 Florida State 13

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 2)
Ticket to die for:  No. 4 Texas @ No. 9 Michigan

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Boise State @ No. 3 Oregon

Best non-Power Four matchup: Liberty @ New Mexico State

Upset alert: Iowa State @ No. 25 Iowa

Must win: Colorado @ Nebraska

Offensive explosion: Arkansas @ No. 17 Oklahoma State

Defensive struggle: Iowa State @ No. 25 Iowa

Great game no one is talking about: BYU @ SMU

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Bret Bielema of Illinois vs Lance Leipold of Kansas

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Tennessee Tech @ No. 1 Georgia

Why are they playing? Samford @ Florida

Plenty of good seats remaining: Merrimack @ UConn

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Texas Southern @ Rice

Week 1 Thoughts:

The 2024-’25 college football season has already gotten off to an interesting start.  Already there has been a noticeable upset (Georgia Tech triumphing over Florida State on Week 0, in Dublin, Ireland, no less).  Already we have also seen the Miami Hurricanes reassert themselves in a big way in the Swamp, trouncing the Gators 41-17.  Either the Canes are “back”, or Florida has a long way to go to return to their championship-caliber days under Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer.

But the first full week has also been hit-and-miss.  Most of the matchups scream “[W]hy are they playing?”  To wit:  New Hampshire @ UCF; Chattanooga @ Tennessee; Austin Peay @ Louisville; Temple @ Oklahoma; Murray State @ Missouri; Southern Utah @ Utah; Lehigh @ Army; Alabama A&M @ Auburn; Western Carolina @ NC State; and that is just the short list.  Only the last listed game was remotely competitive (the Wolfpack won, but only 38-21).

These are way too many body bag games for teams that are now in expanded conferences, and are now vying for berths in a new 12-team playoff system.  No more excuses.  After all, what is the point in teams joining expanded conferences, if said teams are not to engage their newfound rivals?  It is time for so many of these teams to start giving fans more quality matchups at the beginning of the season, and to play more teams in-conference.  Too many snoozefests at the beginning of the season is bad for the sport.  Period.

All that said, some games did stand out, some for the wrong reasons. 

Idaho @ Oregon:

Pursuant to the matter noted above, sometimes a “gimme game” can backfire.  Case in point:  Idaho got a payday to come to Oregon to play the Ducks.  Though ranked No. 3 in the country going into the game, all the Ducks could do was squeeze out a 24-14 win over the Vandals, an FCS team.  If the Ducks want us to believe they belong at the No. 3 ranking, they better start playing like it.

All that said, three games did stand out of the right reasons:

North Carolina @ Minnesota

This game proved to be a good one.  It remained close throughout, and the results went down to the wire, where in the end, the Golden Gophers had a chance to win it, but missed a field goal at the buzzer.  This game also doubled as an honorable mention Intriguing Coaching Matchup, what with PJ Fleck vs Mack Brown.

Notre Dame @ Texas A&M

This game did live up to the hype, and Notre Dame proved they are a more-than-respectable team.  The only thing that disappointed was the outcome for the A&M.  Had the Aggies a better QB, the game could very well have ended in their favor.  A concern going forward:  given the Irish’s rather favorable schedule (the only ranked teams they play are Florida State and USC, at the end of the regular season), will they be overhyped and put into the playoffs, only to be crushed in the first round?

USC vs LSU in Las Vegas

What a way to start the college football season:  a primetime, marquee matchup in Vegas.  The game was a thriller from wire to wire, and if USC’s performance is any indication, they are instant playoff contenders, and could very well give Ohio State a tough contest for B1G champion.  On the other side of the ball, LSU had chances to get ahead, but execution errors hobbled them, much to Brian Kelly’s expressed frustration, post-game.

College football is back in full-swing.  Now for us to wade through more body bag games next week so we can proceed with conference schedules in earnest.