College Football Week 1: A New Era

 College Football Week 1: A New Era

The 2024 college football season is the start of a new era. Gone is the four-team playoff and the controversy about who can have a chance at becoming National Champions. In its place is a wide-open 12-team playoff. For most major programs, week one brought 50-point wins and hopes of a playoff berth, but the first week was also not without impactful games or serious question marks. With that, here are the biggest takeaways from Week 1 of the college football season:

Trouble In the Sunshine State

The University of Florida (Florida) got off to a lackluster start in their challenging 2024 season with a 41–17 loss to No. 19 ranked University of Miami, which also involved an injury to their starting quarterback, Graham Mertz. The Hurricanes took a 14-point lead into halftime and didn’t look back, leaving the Gators with many questions to answer about this upcoming season. The schedule ahead for Florida will do them no favors and the pressure on Mertz will only increase as five-star true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway waits in the wings. 

Florida State University (Florida State) suffered a worse blow in their Week 0 loss to unranked in-conference Georgia Tech. The Seminoles had a big year in 2023 and entered 2024 as the No. 10 ranked team in the country. However, the favorites to top the Atlantic Coast Conference fell well short of all expectations. Transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was uninspiring, and the team lacked explosivity as the Yellow Jackets bested them 24–21 on a game-winning field goal. Florida State followed that performance with maybe a worse one, falling to unranked Boston College 28–13 in Week 1. This was a game decided in the trenches as Boston College ran all over the Seminoles defense to the tune of 263 team rushing yards. Florida State has an uphill battle ahead of them to overcome two conference losses to open the season and appears to be all but eliminated from the playoff conversation. 

The Not-So-Mighty Ducks?

What was supposed to be a blowout victory became a worryingly tight contest for the University of Oregon (Oregon) as the Ducks scraped by the University of Idaho with a 24–14 win. The Vandals — an unranked Football Championship Subdivision team — put up a fight against the No. 3 ranked Oregon powerhouse, and with less than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter the Ducks led by only a three-point margin before a late touchdown put them up 10 where the score would stay. It took an efficient and error-free performance by Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel to avoid what would’ve been an unprecedented upset. Gabriel threw for 380 yards and two touchdowns while completing 41 of his 49 pass attempts. The Ducks will need to right the ship before season-deciding matchups against Ohio State University (Ohio State) and the University of Michigan (Michigan). 

A Fighting Irish Win

On Saturday, a ranked-on-ranked matchup between Notre Dame and Texas A&M was the game to watch as the No. 7 ranked Fighting Irish bested the No. 20 ranked Aggies 23–13 in a defensive battle. Both offensives and quarterbacks struggled to find a rhythm but in the end, it was two interceptions thrown by Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman and a strong game on the ground by Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love that was the difference. Despite not being in a conference, this victory puts Notre Dame in a strong position to qualify for the playoffs, as they will not play another currently ranked team until November, when they will face the currently reeling Florida State squad.

Battle in the Bayou

Two teams with playoff ambitions faced off in the Sunday matchup between No. 13 Louisiana State University (LSU) and No. 23 University of Southern California (USC), and it was all that anyone could’ve wanted. The game was tight throughout as the Tigers held a narrow 17–14 lead entering the fourth quarter. However, a 30-yard touchdown reception by Ja’Kobi Lane gave USC a 20–17 lead with only a few minutes remaining on the clock. LSU marched down the field burning four minutes off the clock, and was able to tie the game at 20 with less than two minutes remaining. One defensive stop by LSU would’ve sent the game into overtime, but it was not meant to be; Trojan quarterback Miller Moss orchestrated an eight-play 75-yard drive capped off by a 13-yard rush by Woody Marks to punch the ball into the end zone with only eight seconds remaining on the clock. The 27–20 final was a huge win for the much-doubted Trojans, putting them firmly on the right track toward their goal of finding a spot in the new playoff format.

Business as Usual

For the known powerhouses, there were no controversies this week. The University of Alabama, Ohio State, the University of Georgia (Georgia), and Michigan all took care of business with solid, if not dominating wins. Alabama dismantled the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 63–0 and wide receiver Ryan Williams had a particularly funny stat line bringing in only two receptions, both of which resulted in touchdowns and amounted to 139 yards. Ohio State continued the fun, beating the University of Akron 52–6, with quarterback Will Howard putting up an impressive three-touchdown performance. For Michigan and Georgia, the contests were a little closer. Michigan bested the Fresno State Bulldogs 30–10 using a big fourth quarter to pull away in the contest. Georgia had the most impressive win of the bunch taking care of No. 14 ranked Clemson University in dominating fashion with a 34–3 victory. Georgia came out slow; going into the halftime break only up 6–0 but came out swinging in the second half en route to their big win.