Jhop’s Take: The Weekend in Review in College Football

Well it’s Tuesday and we just had five straight days of college football. Some games were great. Some not so much. But it didn’t matter, every day I turned on the TV and had college football on and I loved it.

Now comes the part where we (media/fans) overreact. That’s just what happens. Excuses will be made for poor SEC performances. Bill Belichick will have to try and convince everyone he took over a rebuild and needs more $upport if NC wants to be a contender. (That’s what Gundy was doing ahead of his upcoming beat down.)

At the end of the day, what you saw is what you saw. Don’t let someone else convince you different, including me. Trust your gut.

Here is what my gut tells me I saw this weekend.

Oregon Is Elite

After watching as much football as I was able to consume, I promise this Oregon team belongs. It’s not without its flaws and areas it needs to improve, but that’s week one for you. No, Oregon didn’t play a top five school but we all know we saw a very talented and deep team. A friend pointed out to me, this Oregon team is the team we used to point to Bama and Georgia and say “we wish our team looked like that.”

Well guess what? They now do.

This team has talent at pretty much every position. They are two-deep or better at every position. The quarterback looks poised to lead this team by simply not making mistakes and taking care of the football. Dante Moore’s season really just relies on him getting the ball to his playmakers consistently.

Oregon will likely be the favorite in every game moving forward minus Penn State. Playoffs well within reach.

Two of Oregon’s next three opponents lost their week one games, save Ok State.

There is NO Clear Dominant Team

It was pretty clear last year Ohio State had a team that was a level above. They had dudes all over the field. This year they return a lot and are certainly a top team in college football. They aren’t quite as talented as last year, but still really good.

Penn State, Georgia, LSU, Miami all looked good with solid opening wins. Right now those schools along with Oregon and Ohio State are a cut above everyone else. It doesn’t mean others won’t improve or injuries couldn’t change the trajectory of those teams, but based on this weekend those are the cream of the crop. Put them in a playoff on neutral fields and we’d have one hell of a tournament.

I like what this means for Oregon because every team feels beatable. A couple years ago it was clear everyone was chasing Georgia. Last year even though Oregon won, it felt like Ohio State was a cut above. (how the hell Michigan beat them is beyond me)

These teams will get better and it’s important Oregon does too. We’ll see where this takes us but it’s hard not to envision Oregon in the playoffs, irresponsibly based on week one.

Just remember, my final question of my ten question series was if Oregon had the ‘luck’ needed to win it all.

Nobody is Out Yet

Even if you lost a game this weekend you are by no means out. Unless you’re Boise State, that might be a tough one to recover from.

Texas should get better and Arch Manning might figure it out. I was never that high on Texas to begin with but better quarterback play probably makes them a viable top ten team. They will need to find that however.

Clemson isn’t cooked and I thought LSU surprised me and looked like a contender. It still pains me to believe in Brian Kelly but he’s got the pieces around him, which has never been an issue before.

Notre Dame leaves us with a lot of questions because I don’t think Miami was all that good. Granted a solid win and they looked solid, but not in the same tier as those schools in the section above. The Irish clearly have some things to figure out and that includes getting Jeremiyah Love the ball a lot more. (10 carries for 33 yards)

Keep most of this in mind because on the chance Oregon loses to Penn State in a few weeks, which will be a top three ranked team, Oregon won’t be out either. And vice-versa should Oregon win. You still have a very manageable path to the playoff for both but can probably only afford one more loss to be safe whether it’s the regular season or conference championship.

Odds and Ends

Rapid fire on most of these.

Washington looked very pedestrian against Colorado State. Take the win, but they lack playmakers on offense beyond Williams and Coleman and the defense is highly suspect.

USC looked very impressive in week one. It’s Missouri State so I’m not going to get too crazy about it just yet. But Maiava managed the game well and did what he should, get the ball to his playmakers. They should be ranked in the top 25 minimum, possibly top 20.

Utah also looked really good. Granted, UCLA sucks. But the Utes should be considered the team to beat for the Big-12 and a top 15 level team.

Alabama’s debut was abysmal. After watching the Dallas Cowboys documentary, this feels like Barry Switzer taking over for Jimmy Johnson. The real question now becomes what happens if Deboer loses four games this season?

Florida is a team to watch. The schedule is brutal but if they can win most of those games they will have an incredible resume. Definitely a case study to watch. They have USF this week which just beat Boise State.

Good for you Florida State. An epic collapse last season, two wins, left for dead and you blast Bama to start this season. They have Miami in early October, Clemson Nov. 8 and finish with Florida. Just win one of those three and you’re likely in the playoffs.

Michigan, Tennessee and Ole Miss are three teams I’m curious to see moving forward. They will be a wrinkle in the college football playoff picture.