By week 0 standards, it was a pretty fun Saturday on the soft opening of college football season. It’s the final week 0 we’ll ever see, with the NCAA moving to eliminate schedule oddity starting next year. So what did we learn? Let’s dive in.
Pump the brakes on Belichick’s revival
Bill Belichick kicked off the college football season with an ugly, gutty win over TCU in Ireland. It was easily the best win so far of his college career, doing it with mostly underclassmen on his young roster. Through all the noise and the drama, Belichick did
what he’s done so many times — win.
That win was much more about the hapless TCU team that North Carolina played though. TCU’s new pro-style offense looked good to start, but North Carolina overwhelmed them physically in the second half. Harvard transfer Jaden Craig couldn’t get anything going through the air after receiving plenty of hype this offseason.
TCU was missing their top receiver, but it sure looks like the Horned Frogs are in for a long, long season in the Big 12.
Dave Doeren has to go
From the jump in Charlottesville on Saturday afternoon, NC State was simply overmatched. It was a physical beatdown coming from the Cavaliers, as Beau Pribula operated Tony Elliott’s power run game from the quarterback position to perfection. Pribula also hit a couple of passes down the field to step on the throat of the Wolfpack.
Dave Doeren — if you know, you know, Tennessee fans — has been fine in Raleigh. He’s got a 95-71 record overall and in general can get NC State to eight wins most seasons playing in a weak ACC. But if you’re NC State, aren’t you left wanting more? Doeren has a losing record in ACC play, posting a 51-56 record. After 13 seasons, it’s beyond time for some fresh blood.
On the flip side, Virginia looks like they could make some noise again this season.
USC is overrated… again
I know, I know, they took their starters out early in the fourth quarter. Even before that though, where you really impressed? Jayden Maiava was solid yet unspectacular. USC’s run game was about the same. The defense though, now led by Gary Patterson, let up several long drives in the first three quarters with all of the starters still playing. It could have been closer too, if not for a goal line stand by USC in the first half.
The Trojans opened the season at No. 14 in the AP Poll. Are we really supposed to believe that they can go hang with Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon? In a key year for Lincoln Riley, they didn’t really pass the eye test against a San Jose State team that ranked 121st in preseason SP+ rankings.
Obviously the backups came in during the fourth quarter, but a 16-point victory as 38.5 point favorites is an embarrassing way to start the season. Speaking of embarrassing, how about that USC crowd? Riley didn’t exactly prove why anyone should show up on Saturday.
Leftovers
North Dakota State is the frontrunner for the group of six bid. It’s not a big surprise, but they walked the walk on Saturday in the opener against Jacksonville State, which was a nine-win team last season. The Bison ran for over 200 yards and held the Gamecocks to just seven points.
Hawaii has already given us the bad beat of the year. After storming back to take the lead, Stanford answered with a quick score to make it a three-point game. Easy cash for Hawaii +4, right? Wrong.
Florida State looks about the same as the administration tries to raise enough money to move on from Mike Norvell. Another ugly season is upon us in Tallahassee, not that anyone was expecting any different.
College football resumes on Thursday with a handful of matchups, headlined by Colorado at Georgia Tech.
