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Sports Illustrated

Sport

Richard Johnson

CFB Week 1 Takeaways: North Carolina, Colorado Stand Out As Saturday’s Big Winners

Colorado (Organization) Travis Hunter Carolina (Geopolitical Entity) Drake Maye North Carolina Jalen Milroe Heels South Carolina British Brooks Caleb Williams

I don’t know if this makes sense, but try to follow along. When referring to “Carolina,” I always default to North Carolina unless I’m talking about South Carolina, in which case it applies to the Gamecocks. It makes sense in my heart if not my head. But perhaps North Carolina has asserted itself as the one true Carolina until such time as South Carolina can actually beat them on the football field, which they did not Saturday night, falling to the Heels, 31-17. The clash of two talented quarterbacks didn’t exactly live up to the billing of two great signal-callers.

In a classic example of being unable to separate the performance from the opponent, UNC largely held South Carolina’s offense under wraps, but why? The Gamecocks were unable to run the ball with any effectiveness, and it is not a team that can afford to be one dimensional. Spencer Rattler played OK, but was piloting an offense that sputtered often with multiple three-and-outs and turnovers on downs. It’s not a problem of being too conservative, as the Cocks pressed the issue when more cautious teams would have punted—and even stole a possession with an onside kick out of halftime—but they lacked the cutting edge when it counted.

Without best receiver Juice Wells, Xavier Leggette stepped up at wideout, but South Carolina will need more from the running game. If UNC is going to get at least a competent amount of defense, it may be more than just a chaos agent in the ACC and actually a real team to watch in the ACC race. Eight sacks were the reward for an aggressive front that teed off on Rattler multiple times, especially as the game state got away from the Gamecocks as they were trying to complete a comeback largely through the air.

Drake Maye did live up to his end of the bargain, showing off a complete quarterbacking performance. He improvised on the move, throwing from multiple arm angles and displaying more than just an ability to make deep throws, but also a willingness to zip balls into tight windows. NFL scouts will drool over him from now until April, and his 269 yards through the air got Carolina off on the right foot to start the season. But what’s perhaps more exciting is the emergence of running back British Brooks. Brooks missed the 2022 season with an injury, and pounded the rock 15 times for 103 yards, proving Maye may not have to do everything himself this season.

Top 10 check-in

1. Georgia

The Dawgs dispatched UT-Martin, 48-7. You’re going to hear Georgia fans gripe about offensive coordinator Mike Bobo a bit despite the scoreline. Carson Beck opened his account as a college quarterback by going 21-for-31 fowithr 294 yards and a touchdown. Keep an eye out for wideout Mekhi Mews moving forward, a player small in stature but big on talent.

One to remember for @mekhi_mews_21

Watch live on SEC Network+#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/LMVHyChSw7
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) September 3, 2023

2. Michigan

Michigan paid tribute to their fallen coach Jim Harbaugh with this formation to start the season, an ode to the human centipede-style look they’ve run in the past since he’s taken over as head coach.

Look at this @UMichFootball formation. 👀

💻: Peacock pic.twitter.com/U0BjITrcG0
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 2, 2023

You’d be forgiven if you thought Harbaugh had passed away. Fear not, he hasn’t. He’s just on a self-imposed three-game suspension because the Wolverines remain in a pissing match with the NCAA, which initially gave him a four-game suspension. Michigan rejected the NCAA’s terms and tried to thumb the organization’s nose in it with their own sanctions. A silly storyline will persist until he’s back, but Michigan’s schedule is easy enough that his absence won’t matter much (they crushed ECU, 30-3).

3. Alabama

Welcome to the Jalen Milroe show? Milroe got the nod as starting quarterback and showed out, piloting a Tide ship that used some more tight ends than usual and rolled over Middle Tennessee no problem, 56-7. Alabama doesn’t have to get out of first gear to win a game like this, and they didn’t. Texas comes to town next week, and we’ll see if Milroe won the job with a steady performance in a game Bama was never threatened in.

4. Ohio State

The Buckeyes were squarely in the “playing with food” territory in their 23-3 win over Indiana. The Hoosiers were more than just up for it, using a salty defense to frustrate Ohio State for most of the game before the Buckeyes finally put some distance between themselves and their opponent late in the second half. Ohio State’s defense was the impressive thing, as the mostly Kyle McCord-led offense will get a chance to retool against Youngstown next week. Perhaps there may be more than the few snaps Devin Brown had in this game.

5. USC

A ho-hum 66-14 victory over Nevada. Breaking news: Caleb Williams is a good football player.

Your weekly absurd Caleb Williams highlight.

(🎥: @uscfb) pic.twitter.com/q6lLEb0kAt
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 3, 2023

6. Penn State

Drew Allar’s run began with a nice performance against West Virginia in a 38-15 taking-care-of-business win. This is a huge year for the Nittany Lions, and they got off on the right foot against the Mountaineers.

7. Washington

The Huskies flat out dominated Boise State, 56-19, in the Cris Petersen Bowl. A 28-point second quarter blew the game open, highlighted by three chunk plays to score quick-strike touchdowns on touchdown drives of three, two, and three plays each. A 21-point fourth quarter left no doubt in the end, as Michael Penix Jr. got his Heisman campaign off to a rousing start with a 450-yard, five-touchdown showing.

All three to play on Sunday/Monday:

8. LSU
9. FSU
10. Clemson

SI players of the week: Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Colorado’s Travis Hunter

Normally we’d name two players here on each side of the ball, but why do that when Hunter can do it all? According to Pro Football Focus, Hunter played 129 snaps across both offense and defense on a blisteringly hot day in Fort Worth.

“Somehow, Travis Hunter played every snap, and we had guys that couldn’t,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said to reporters after the game, referencing some players on his team going down with cramps.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, Hunter is the first player in at least 20 years to have 100 yards receiving and an interception. And his interception was an absolute dandy indeed.

Holy Travis Hunter pic.twitter.com/jc2Qsg6SIX
— Richard🇬🇾Johnson (@RJ_cfb) September 2, 2023

Did you see that?

Iowa’s offense is off to an inauspicious start as they chase 325 points, the magic number over a 13 game season that Iowa would need to hit in order to satisfy a clause in offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz’s amended contract. Iowa scored 14 points on their first two possessions including the first opening drive passing TD for the Hawkeyes in over 30 years. Then they only scored 10 more points in the entire game.

And to think some say college football has abandoned tradition pic.twitter.com/KNpsvkwpSI
— Richard🇬🇾Johnson (@RJ_cfb) September 2, 2023

Boston College had a Madden-like fourth down conversion when backup quarterback Thomas Castellanos ran around the world in 80 days to extend a late drive. The Eagles ended up falling to Northern Illinois in overtime.