The moment we all have been waiting for has arrived. The official start of the college football season is upon us and there was no shortage of excitement. We saw a few blowouts, a few defensive battles, new faces in new places and a handful of disappointing starts to the season.
It’s a long season, and week one is almost never indicative of what a program is going to do over a very long season, but it is a snapshot of where teams and players stand at the present time. We’re gonna dive into this head first with some hot takes.
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1. The Devin Leary Hype Train Might Already Be Derailed
Devin Leary was thought of as a dark horse first round pick coming into this season. He played well for the Wolfpack in the 2021 college football season and has the tools to be a top flight QB prospect, but quite frankly he fell flat on his face coming out of the gate.
All due respect to the ECU Pirates playing one heck of a game, but a team of NC State’s caliber and ranking should’ve blown the doors off of them in what was supposed to be a tune up game of sorts. Despite the mismatch, the Pirates took the Wolfpack down to the wire and would’ve won the game had it not been for a missed extra point and field goal in the final three minutes of the game.
Devin Leary was arguably the main culprit of the struggles. The junior QB from South Jersey was erratic with the ball in his hands, it seemed like just about every decision he made was the wrong one. He left a bunch of plays on the field, completed only 51% of his passing attempts, threw an interception and fumbled a ball that was luckily recovered by the NC State offense.
He has some “get-right” games ahead of him with Charleston Southern and UConn in two of his next three contests, but we should be keeping a watchful eye on how he recovers from this subpar week one performance .
2. The Longhorns Offense Could Be Dangerous
Ok ok…. Maybe I should pump the brakes a little bit. This is what a Power Five team should do to a team in the doldrums of the Sun-Belt, but that offense was humming on Saturday.
The highly touted transfer, Quinn Ewers, looked pretty sharp for a majority of the game after a rough first two drives that saw him miss bad on a deep route and throw a pick. In total, his time on the field was solid, going 16 of 24 (67%) for 225 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. It was a relatively conservative game plan, with a lot of his completions coming within 15 yards, but he was getting the ball out quick and accurately. It was nice to see him bounce back after the turnover and not let it rattle him.
Bijan Robinson might’ve gotten even better in the off-season. He touched the ball only 13 times with 10 carries for 71 yards and 3 receptions for 40 yards, he also reached the end zone twice.
The true test for this Texas offense will be next week when they take on Alabama for the first time since their meeting in the 2010 BCS Title Game. There’s no better litmus test for a potential contender than going up against a powerhouse such as the Crimson Tide, so we here at MIP will be waiting eagerly to see the results of that contest.
3. Georgia Hasn’t Lost a Step
I was expecting Georgia to win like most of the country, Vegas odds makers had them as a 16.5 point favorite, but I don’t think anybody thought they would beat the 11th ranked Oregon Ducks by 46 points, holding them without a touchdown in the contest.
The 49-3 beat down was a clear indication that despite the Bulldogs having 15 players drafted in this past year, they are still a force in the landscape of college football. The Georgia offense, led by Stetson Bennett trounced the Ducks from the opening kickoff gaining nearly 600 yards of offense.
The defensive line duo of Javon Carter and Nolan Smith were absolute menaces at the line of scrimmage for the Bulldogs defense. Carter, despite only registering one tackle on the stat sheet, was blowing up gaps and getting pressure in Bo Nix’s face all day long. Smith registered two tackles on the day but was commanding double teams on nearly every passing down and was still helping to collapse the pocket and force Nix into making quick (and bad) decisions with the ball.
This opening game dominance is reminiscent of their 2021 season opener against Clemson that set the tone for the National Championship winning season. It’s a long grind to get back to the college football playoffs but Georgia looks to be in mid-season form already.