College Football is back, so naturally that means that your favorite weekly column about college football is back.
For the third straight year, Things I Think We Learned will bring you the random observations and developing plot lines of the college football world. Hopefully this time we get to make it through the entire season. Without further ado…
– I’m not sure what to make of Colorado knocking off TCU just yet. On one hand, this is a 1-11 team taking down the defending national championship runner-up; on the other hand, so many pieces and players have changed that these teams resemble very little from last year. I want Coach Prime to succeed (and def don’t want to be called out for not believing) but can he do this consistently? We shall see. I also expect a long year for TCU. Almost as long as that National Championship game was.
– Tennessee got a defense! And it played well! I was expecting the Vols to need some time to find footing opening weekend, but they look pretty put together. Joe Milton is still struggling with passes that aren’t to a receiver in the next county, but he has time to work on this. Poor Virginia. I think we need to start calling these faux-neutral site games what they are: TV network specials set in big stadiums. Nashville is about as neutral a site for a Tennessee-Virginia matchup as Orlando would be for Florida State. Wait a minute…
– Did you expect Florida State to smack LSU around like they did? The first half was the great, close game we all expected. The second was an absolute beat down. How bad was it? So bad that we missed a huge play coming back from a commercial, and it didn’t even matter in the grand scheme of the game. I don’t know if FSU is back, back—but they look strong. With Clemson getting punked by Duke, the ACC may be between them and North Carolina.
– Speaking of Clemson, yikes. Might be time to dial up the NIL after all. You have to wonder if the Tigers aren’t in danger of falling behind the times.
– I also did not expect North Carolina to walk all over Beamerball like it did. The Tar Heels looked good, and this time it was just contained to their uniform game. It’s hard not to like Mack Brown, and it would be neat to see North Carolina do well this season. With Clemson getting shellacked like they did, Carolina has a chance to make a mark in the ACC this season.
– Alabama and Georgia took care of business, nothing out of the ordinary there.
– Is there such a thing as a jobber in college football? If so, please see Ole Miss. Apparently, the Rebels thought highly of the money spent to host Mercer and worked to get the most out of each dollar. 73-7 is a video game score. Gees.
– Speaking of Ole Miss, they host the 1941 SEC Champion Tulane Green Wave this weekend. I think Ole Miss wins, and probably by 10+, but look for Tulane to be scrappy for a bit.
– Hugh Freeze is nothing if not consistent. Massive offensive numbers, a defense that makes you hold on tighter than noticing a loose roller coaster bolt at times. Auburn looked good at times, and shaky others at the start before getting it together. We shall see how this experiment ends.
– Vandy is 2-0. Halfway to the magic number we said on the preview last week.
– Washington may be a sleeper to make the playoff.
– Also I think the new clock rules (thanks, TV) will affect the game in a not-so-great way. We all look forward to these games, why slow them down? We all know there won’t be less commercials.
I think that’s it for me. What about you? Let’s hear from you!
The Message Pitch 