Death, taxes and Alabama being the best football team in the country
The college football season is officially underway, and after three weeks we have learned some things about the landscape of the college football world.
First, however, I must note that there is still a lot of football to be played, so don’t put a nail in the coffin for teams that have already lost a game. A lot will change between now and the beginning of December.
Alabama looks like Alabama
The Crimson Tide appears to be the class of college football once again. Currently ranked number one in the country, they already throttled an at the time Miami squad that came into the season ranked 14th in the country. Additionally, they went into the swamp and beat 11th ranked Florida.
The Florida win was a great sign for Alabama as they had to fight to the end and squeak out a victory. It was a great test for sophomore quarterback Bryce Young as he’ll have to get used to playing on a big stage if the Tide wants to accomplish their preseason goals.
Two Big Ten teams surging
These two teams may not be who you think they are. So far in this short season, Iowa and Penn State have impressed. The Hawkeyes kicked off the year with a 34-6 beatdown over 17th ranked Indiana. The following week they went on the road and beat 9th ranked Iowa State. As of right now, the Hawkeyes are the class of the Big Ten West.
The other squad that has impressed would be Penn State. The Nittany Lions had as tough an opening game as you could ask for, having to go into Camp Randall to play 12th ranked Wisconsin. Then this past weekend, they welcomed 22nd ranked Auburn to town and won a 28-20 thriller.
We’ll see if Penn State can sustain this hot streak as they will play Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State in a four week stretch in October.
Perennial powerhouses collect early loss
When talking about the best college football programs, Clemson and Ohio State come to mind. However, both of these teams have already seen their hopes at an undefeated season go away. The Tigers kicked off the post-Trevor Lawrence era with a 10-3 loss to Georgia. Sophomore quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei looked overwhelmed at times and wasn’t able to kick the offense into gear.
The offensive struggles haven’t just been a one-off thing either, as Clemson scored just 14 points in their win over Georgia Tech. Dabo Swinney will have to find some ways to put up some points, or it has the makings of a disappointing season for Clemson.
Ohio State on the other hand, has issues on the defensive side of the ball. The buckeye run defense is not where it needs to be. In their 35-28 loss to Oregon, they gave up 269 rushing yards. The Ducks were able to run for 7.1 yards a carry which is unheard of.
While neither of these teams are dead in the water, each team has a pretty substantial red flag that they must address if they wish to make it back to the College Football Playoff.