By: Luke Brumm
WINNERS
Colorado
The Buffs proved many wrong this weekend when they went to #17 TCU and beat them in a 45-42 game. Shedeur Sanders lit up the Horned Frog defense, going 38 for 47 for 510 yards and four touchdowns. Travis Hunter played 144 total snaps on both offense and defense. He accumulated eleven receptions for 119 yards, added a pass breakup, and an incredible interception.
https://twitter.com/mfscollege/status/1698044143795142952
True Freshman RB Dylan Edwards also had a big debut performance with 159 total yards and four scores, mostly from receptions. Deion Sanders already surprised the country with this win and he will get praise whenever he wins, given the very tough schedule. Overall, Colorado looked good given the offseason and are definitely winners in week one.
Florida State
#5 LSU vs. #8 Florida State was supposed to be a thriller and the game of week one. It ended up being a 45-24 rout which saw the Seminoles pull away in the second half. Jordan Travis went 23 for 31 with 342 yards passing with four touchdowns.
Florida State’s receiver duo had an amazing game as well. Johnny Wilson had seven receptions for 107 yards and Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman went off for 122 yards and three touchdowns on just nine receptions. They look like the front runners in the ACC right now, especially after Clemson’s performance (more on them later).
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Washington & Tennessee
Washington and Tennessee had similar week ones. They played similar caliber opponents in their home state and beat them handedly. The Vols dismantled Virginia 49-13 in Nashville and Washington ran over Boise State 56-19 at Husky Stadium.
Some people thought these could be trap games and could end up being close. These teams put those thoughts to rest quickly. Tennessee racked up 287 rushing yards and Washington had 490 passing yards. Two very different offensive approaches that produced similar results on the scoreboard and in the win column.
Duke
Duke had the primetime spotlight on them last night and they took full advantage of that. The entire country saw them beat Clemson 28-7 in a game that honestly should have been a lot closer. The Tigers shot themselves in the foot multiple times and Duke didn’t, it’s as simple as that.
Blue Devil QB Riley Leonard had 175 through the air and added another ninety-eight yards and a TD on the ground. I’m very interested to see how Duke does the rest of the season. They have reached their highest AP rank since 2014 and are legit ACC Championship contenders.
LOSERS
Florida
The Gators did not look good on Thursday. They lost 24-11 to an injury-riddled Utah team. The offense looked flat, the defense looked slow, and there were constant mental mistakes. I’m concerned about Florida moving forward. Fans are already calling for Billy Napier‘s job and for his own sake, he needs to bounce back in a big way soon.
LSU
Brian Kelly came out and said that LSU was going to “Beat the heck out of Florida State” and that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The Tigers were outplayed, especially in the second half. They looked sloppy and just couldn’t get it going on offense.
WR Brian Thomas Jr. was probably their only bright spot as he had 142 yards receiving and a touchdown. Coach Kelly needs to re-evaluate and fix a couple of things for LSU to be able to repeat last year’s success.
Boston College, Texas Tech, Baylor, & Purdue
These teams were all favored to win, but got upset to a GO5 opponent. First, Boston College and Texas Tech both lost in 2OT. Northern Illinois beat the Eagles 27-24, while the Red Raiders lost at Wyoming 35-33. Meanwhile in Waco, Baylor lost to the TJ Finley-led Texas State Bobcats 42-31. Lastly, Purdue was upset by Fresno State at home by a score of 39-35.
Credit where it’s due to the GO5 teams pulling off upsets, but it’s not a good start to the 2023 season for these four P5 programs.
Clemson
Lastly, we have Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers. As I said already, they lost 28-7 to Duke on Monday and looked horrible. The receivers again couldn’t get separation and dropped a lot of passes. The defense missed way too many tackles. Freshman kicker Robert Gunn III even went 0 for 2 on field goals.
Clemson drove the ball inside the Duke ten-yard line three times in a row and came away with ZERO points. The first time, they shanked a chip shot field goal. Then they fumbled on the next two times. I’m really starting to think that Clemson is falling off. This was an embarrassing performance for a team who thought they were playoff contenders again.
