The first week of the college football season is in the books and some teams made big impressions already. While there is still a lot of football left to be played, it is never to early to start looking at what teams are looking like contenders. These rankings will be heavily weighted on who the teams played and beat already, which takes precedence over preseason rankings or future schedule. Here are the rankings:
Playoff Teams:
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
The Crimson Tide challenged themselves in week one and came away with a victory beating Florida State 24-7. While they didn’t necessarily blow out the Seminoles, Alabama controlled the game. They look like the team to beat in college football, but still have their fair share of things to clean up.
The offense had trouble in the game, albeit against a very good Florida State defense. Jalen Hurts threw for under 100 yards and the running game totaled 173 yards. In the future getting Hurts throwing the ball better will be imperative to the success of the offense.
Alabama’s defense performed really well with a lot of new faces on the field. In addition to that Calvin Ridley had a solid start against a very good secondary. Keeping him involved in the offense is going to make Alabama’s offense dynamic.
This Week: vs. Fresno State Bulldogs
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State played a trap game at Indiana on a Thursday night in one of the biggest games in Hoosier football history. They started slow, but finished strong. People who think that Indiana is the team of five years ago, won’t think the win is impressive, but they are a solid Big Ten team now that has made two straight bowl games.
The offense had a good ground game with J.K Dobbins rushing for 181 yards in his debut game. J.T. Barrett showed flashes of his former self, but ultimately his receivers let him down and there were some throws he should have made. Defensively, the run defense was great and the pass rush was unrelenting. The problem is their coverage, as they gave up over 400 yards through the air.
This Week: vs. 5 Oklahoma Sooners
3. Michigan Wolverines
And here is where your typical rankings differ from looking at teams from a College Football Playoff perspective. These rankings will fluctuate. Michigan scheduled tough in week one by playing Florida. Florida is still a solid team, even though they had a lot of players unavailable for this game.
Jim Harbaugh’s defense stepped up and didn’t allow an offensive touchdown, as Florida’s defense was the only unit to find the end zone for the Gators. Wilton Speight was pretty rusty, but doesn’t need to do much if the defense keeps performing and the running game stays potent. They rushed for 215 yards and will need to continue doing so.
This Week: vs. Cincinnati Bearcats
4. Virginia Tech Hokies
As everyone can see, the theme of these rankings is: who’s resume is better? Virginia Tech took center stage on Sunday night with a big win over West Virginia, who started off the year as a top 25 team and will likely end up back in the rankings at some point this season.
Josh Jackson had a great debut as quarterback of the Hokies with 336 total yards and two touchdowns. If he can continue producing it can be a great season for Virginia Tech. Cam Phillips looks like he is ready to be a playmaker with his 138 yards and touchdown in the first game of the season. The defense gave up a lot of yards, but took the bend and not break approach, as they allowed just 24 points.
This Week: vs. Delaware Blue Hens
First Four Out:
5. LSU Tigers
LSU was another team that was without a lot of their players due to suspension, but they still had a dominant performance against BYU in a “neutral site” game that was played in New Orleans. BYU is always a tough team, but did struggle against Portland State in their first game last week.
The Tiger defense looks to be elite as they allowed 97 total yards in the game, headlined by the fact that BYU had negative yards on the ground. Danny Etling looked sharp completing 14 of his 17 passes, but the running game took a lot of pressure off of him. Time will tell if the offense is really more dynamic than in years past.
This week: vs. Chattanooga Mocs
6. Oklahoma State Cowboys
The Cowboys got their offense rolling in their 59-24 victory over Tulsa. Tulsa isn’t a big name program, but has had two straight bowl appearances. They will likely be going bowling again and may approach nine wins on the season if they play up to their potential, making it a solid win for Oklahoma State.
Mason Rudolph, James Washington and Justice Hill all did their parts and the offense is going to be explosive all year. The defense, as always, is going to be the Achilles’s heel of Oklahoma State, as they allowed over 400 yards of offense. If the defense can get some key stops this season, the Cowboys may find themselves in the College Football Playoff.
This Week: at South Alabama Jaguars
7. Georgia Bulldogs
Some experts said to watch out for the Appalachian State Mountaineers to beat the Georgia Bulldogs in week one, but Georgia handled them. The problem is that they lost quarterback Jacob Eason to injury and he won’t be able to play for a while. They still played a good team and won and deserve this spot in the rankings.
Jake Fromm came in to replace Eason and played decently, but there is an obvious talent gap between the two. Both Nick Chubb and Sony Michel had nice starts to their seasons on the ground. The defense gave up fewer than 300 total yards and showed flashes of being dominant later on in the season.
This Week: at 24 Notre Dame
8. Maryland Terrapins
The question you have to ask is: How good is Texas? They have a lot of high expectations and good players to go with their new head coach Tom Herman, but they were a 5-7 team last season. It was still impressive that the Terrapins were able to beat the Longhorns in Austin.
Maryland may not be on many other rankings, but they have a big win on their one data point for the committee to look at so far. Tyrone Pigrome was solid in his first start, although he is now likely to miss the rest of the season, Â and Maryland was able to get the running game going. The defense almost gave up 500 yards and will need some work, especially at stopping the pass.
This Week: vs. Towson Tigers
Next Four Out:
9. USC Trojans
It was sloppy at times, but USC came out with a win over Western Michigan. P.J. Fleck is gone, but there are still some talented players left in Kalamazoo for the Broncos. USC will need to step up their level of play, but they got the win, which is most important.
Sam Darnold and the passing game wasn’t good, while Ronald Jones was good in the running game. Jones had three touchdowns to lead the Trojans’ offense. Defensively, USC needs to stop the run better, as they allowed 263 rushing yards to Western Michigan and will be tested in that regard in the coming weeks.
This Week: vs. 14 Stanford Cardinal
10. Tennessee Volunteers
In one of the many thrilling games of the big weekend in college football, Tennessee’s comeback in their opener really finished the weekend out with bang. Beating Georgia Tech in Atlanta is no small feat, but now the Volunteers must keep this up in order to save this spot in the rankings.
While the Yellow Jackets are a good rushing team, Tennessee has some real holes to fill. They allowed 535 yards rushing to the Georgia Tech and over 650 total yards, not to mention 41 points. Offensively John Kelley and Quinten Dormady both did well in their first major action of their careers. If they can keep this going, it could help them compete for the SEC East.
This Week: vs. Indiana State
11. South Carolina Gamecocks
No this team isn’t even in the AP poll this week, but South Carolina had a good win over NC State in the opener and that is what this list is about: resume. Will South Carolina be moved off of this spot at this time next week? They most likely will, but as of now they have one of the best wins in college football.
While the offense or defense wasn’t dynamic one way or another, the Gamecocks made the most of their opportunity and came out with a victory. Deebo Samuel deserves a lot of credit with his three touchdowns, including one return touchdown. The running game was not viable in this matchup. The defense was much the same, good against the run, but needs a lot of work against the pass.
This Week: at Missouri
12. UCLA Bruins
What a comeback for the UCLA Bruins. Down by 34 points, the Bruins had to get something cooking and that is when Josh Rosen started heating up. It was a tale of two halves for UCLA, but they got a very impressive win over Texas A&M to open up their 2017 season.
Josh Rosen started off looking like something was wrong with him and then went off. He threw for 491 yards and four touchdowns. He needed to do every last bit of that to get the win because the running game wasn’t working for them. On defense UCLA couldn’t stop the run, but were fortunate that Aggie quarterback Nick Starkel got hurt, because Kellen Mond was terrible. He completed three of 17 passes. All the credit to UCLA for making the plays to come back though.
This Week: vs. Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors.
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