NCAAF

• Michigan 51 Colorado State 7
  • I know it’s Colorado State, but after losing a significant amount of talent to the NFL, Michigan appears to still have a good defense. The big question for the Wolverines is at the quarterback position. The team can win with Cade McNamara, but J.J. McCarthy is clearly more dynamic. It’ll be interesting to see who Jim Harbaugh starts against UConn.
• NC State 21 East Carolina 20
  • NC State needs to play MUCH better than it did in this game if it wants to take down the likes of Clemson in the ACC. Devin Leary is good, but his offense was a bit underwhelming yesterday. Luckily, the Wolfpack held on due to some East Carolina missed kicks.
  • East Carolina looked solid enough to show that the program may be able to go on a nice run. The Pirates have a bunch of winnable games up until a three game gauntlet of BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston.
• Iowa 7 South Dakota State 3
  • Iowa has some dudes on defense with Riley Moss and Jack Campbell, but the offense is going to be ugly all year. I find it hard to believe that the Hawkeyes don’t have an option at quarterback better than Spencer Petras.
• Maryland 31 Buffalo 10
  • 31 points isn’t exactly an incredible output, but the Terrapins shouldn’t have to worry too much about their offense this season. There aren’t many better air combinations in the country than Taulia Tagovailoa and Rakim Jarrett. The Big Ten East is no joke, but perhaps Maryland can finish in the middle of the pack.
• Rutgers 22 Boston College 21
  • Say what you want about Greg Schiano, but the coach knows how to get the most out of his players at Rutgers. Isiah Pacheco and Bo Melton were certainly big losses, but maybe this game proves it won’t melt down the program.
  • What a disappointing defeat for the Eagles. Next Saturday should be interesting — both Boston College and Virginia Tech should have sour tastes in their mouths, making for what could be a conference matchup full of bad blood.
• North Carolina 63 Appalachian State 61
  • I need oxygen. North Carolina’s defense may be tissue paper, but Drake Maye is unquestionably the answer at quarterback for the Tar Heels. North Carolina should be able to get past Georgia State next week, leading to a showdown against Notre Dame to follow.
  • Appalachian State fans should be sick. Chase Brice is a solid quarterback and played well, but boy, did he miss a few key throws. Despite this outcome, I’m still intrigued by the Mountaineers’ next game — a trip to College Station to take on Texas A&M.
• Delaware 14 Navy 7
  • Navy football needs to take a look in the mirror. After a special 11-2 finish in 2019, the program has struggled in it’s past two campaigns, and now … this. The Midshipmen will probably get rolled next week by Memphis.
• Air Force 48 Northern Iowa 17
  • It should be an up year for Air Force, and the team proved it as best it could in this contest. Northern Iowa is a strong FCS opponent, but Brad Roberts and company ran the ball down their throats to the tune of 582 yards. The Falcons should dismantle Colorado quite easily next week.
• Iowa State 42 SE Missouri State 10
  • Iowa State should be fine this year — not good, not bad. Xavier Hutchinson, however, will not be just fine. The wide receiver exploded for three scores in this game, and should be in store for a big 2022.
• Texas A&M 31 Sam Houston State 0
  • The Aggies got off to a bit of a slow start in this contest, so that may be cause for concern. Also, electric running back Devon Achane averaged just 2.3 yards per carry. Still, Texas A&M has loads of (young) talent, and should be fine overall, but must improve in order to contend for a national championship.
• UCLA 45 Bowling Green 17
  • UCLA made some progress under Chip Kelly in 2021, and we’ll see if that continues this season. A game against a bottom dweller like Bowling Green won’t show much, but at least the Bruins took care of business. After all, Dorian Thompson-Robinson is in his fifth year with the program, so steadiness should be expected. Speaking of expectations, UCLA should be 5-0 going into the game versus Utah on October 8th.
• Georgia 49 Oregon 3
  • It seems fair to say any doubt about whether or not Georgia could contend in 2022 should be put to rest. Even though guys like James Cook and George Pickens were lost to the NFL, the Bulldogs’ weapons may be better than last year. Stetson Bennett was awesome in this game, and if he can play at an elite level, Georgia will yet again be a nightmare to play.
  • Oregon has some issues. Bo Nix is very blah as a signal-caller, and the ‘stop’ unit allowed seven touchdowns on Georgia’s first seven possessions. Without even considering the league’s other teams, it’s hard to imagine the Ducks competing with Utah or USC in the Pac-12.
• Oklahoma 45 UTEP 13
  • I didn’t catch a ton of this game, but it looked like the Sooners’ were much more physical than they were in previous seasons. Thank Brent Venables for that. Even with the losses suffered by the team via coaching changes and the transfer portal, Oklahoma’s offense is still strong. The Sooners are the Big 12’s best team.
• Arizona 38 San Diego State 20
  • Whoa. I wasn’t expecting this, especially following plenty of dreadful seasons in Tucson. The Wildcats’ imposing wide receiver duo of Jacob Cowing and Tetairoa McMillan is no joke, though. Can the Wildcats pull off another upset next week against Mississippi State? I doubt it, but it wouldn’t shock me, either.
• Miami 70 Bethune-Cookman 13
  • The Hurricanes couldn’t have possibly scheduled an easier game, but the Mario Cristobal era is off on the right foot. Tyler Van Dyke will be a problem for ACC defenses all season.
• Arkansas 31 Cincinnati
  • Arkansas looked FAST in this contest. It’s going to be difficult for SEC teams to stop KJ Jefferson this year, as he’s a capable passer and fierce power runner. Plus, the Razorbacks roster two of the SEC’s best defenders in Bumper Pool and Jalen Catalon. Arkansas should take care of business next week at home with South Carolina.
  • The Bearcats had every opportunity to win this game. The prevailing question at this point: is Ben Bryant the answer at quarterback? The senior signal-caller posted nice numbers yesterday, but he had some critical overthrows. Cincinnati won’t make the playoff again in 2022, but 10-2 seems reasonable.
• Houston 37 UTSA 35
  • If someone called Houston the best team in the AAC, I would take no issue. Clayton Tune and Nathaniel Dell is about as good of an air combination you can have as a Group of Five squad.
  • What a tough defeat for UTSA. Unfortunately, it won’t get any easier for the Roadrunners. The program will visit Army and Texas in the next two weeks. While daunting, I bet UTSA is 1-2 when they take on Texas Southern the week after.
• Nebraska 38 North Dakota 17
  • A good portion of this contest was ugly for Nebraska. It feels inevitable that the tenure of Scott Frost will come to a close soon, especially if the Cornhuskers continue to disappoint. Casey Thompson is a solid quarterback, but he’s giving the team the same maddeningly inconsistent play that Adrian Martinez did.
• Wyoming 40 Tulsa 37
  • Tulsa was pretty frisky in 2021, so this is a discouraging defeat. It’s hard to believe the team lost this game — Tulsa easily outgained Wyoming, and had three receivers go over 100 yards. Despite this loss, the Golden Hurricane will have several opportunities this season to be frisky against ranked opponents, as Tulsa will take on Ole Miss, Cincinnati, and Houston.
• Ole Miss 28 Troy 10
  • The Rebels nearly covered yesterday, but I was expecting a lot more than this. It’ll be hard to compete in the brutal SEC West if this play continues. Thankfully for Ole Miss, the team has a laughably easy non-conference slate, allowing time for Jaxson Dart to get settled in at quarterback.
• BYU 50 South Florida 21
  • BYU is a very consistent program. It seems year after year, no matter the personnel, the Cougars win at a solid rate. Alabama versus Texas may be the sexy pick for next weekend’s game of the week, but Baylor versus BYU should be the better football game. I can’t wait.
• USC 66 Rice 14
  • Not bad. Not bad at all for the beginning of the Lincoln Riley era in Los Angeles. Caleb Williams was a bit overrated as a freshman at Oklahoma, but that doesn’t mean USC’s offense can’t be special this year. Of course, the defense needs to show up week after week, but Trojan fans should have no complaints after this one. Next week’s trip to Stanford should feature some big boy football. We’ll see how well USC handles it.
• Ohio 41 Florida Atlantic 38
  • Very impressive win for Ohio. In this contest, Kurtis Rourke had perhaps his best start as a Bobcat, cementing this upset over an okay Florida Atlantic team.
  • Following an easy game next week, the Owls take on UCF and then Purdue. At risk of sounding too black and white, those two games should dictate how Florida Atlantic’s season goes.
• James Madison 44 Middle Tennessee 7
  • James Madison isn’t messing around. In it’s inaugural game as an FBS member, the former FCS power showed it’s a program that Group of Five teams should take seriously. It wouldn’t shock me if James Madison went 8-4 this year.
• Florida 29 Utah 26
  • Florida probably isn’t a playoff team this year, but that doesn’t mean the Gators won’t be dangerous. Anthony Richardson is amazing as a dual-threat quarterback and the Gators showed they can win a physical football game. Ventrell Miller, Brenton Cox, and Amari Burney is a nice core to build around on defense.
  • The Pac-12 … yikes. Oregon’s loss to Georgia was understandable, but the Utes needed to seize this victory. It’s going to be nearly impossible for Utah to make the playoff, especially if Florida only finishes something like 7-5. Utah is a program that prides itself on toughness and winning in the trenches, but Florida ran all over them. Following the developments in this game, it’s hard to take the Pac-12 seriously.
• Baylor 69 Albany 10
  • This game tells us nothing, so we’ll see how the Bears look moving forward. The media, as evidenced by preseason polls and picks, loves the Bears. Much of Baylor’s season rests on the arm of sophomore signal-caller Blake Shapen.
• Wisconsin 38 Illinois State
  • Yes, it’s Illinois State, but the Badgers should have a vaunted defense yet again in 2022, not to mention an elite run game. Nick Herbig is returning as a defender, and it appears he’ll, as expected, have some help this season.
• Kentucky 37 Miami (OH) 13
  • Miami (OH) is one of the MAC’s better teams, so this is a great win for the Wildcats. Kentucky may be in for the one of the program’s best seasons ever, and the talented Will Levis gave us every reason to believe that’s possible in this game. While Levis is excellent, Kentucky will make its bones on defense with Deandre Square and company. So far, so good, for the defense. Holding Brett Gabbert to 5.9 yards per attempt and zero touchdowns is a great start.
  • Miami (OH) lost tons of a talent on the defensive side of the ball this offseason due to departures by Dominique Robinson, Sterling Weatherford, and Ivan Pace, and it certainly showed last night. The RedHawks may need the offense to do the heavy lifting in 2022.