College football Week 1 roundup with the 5 things that matter, winners and losers, overrated and underrated aspects to the weekend, and what it all means
College Football Week 1 Roundup
College Football Week 1 Roundup
CFN 1-131 Rankings | Bowl Projections
Week 1 Scoreboard | Week 2 Early Lines
What 12-Team Playoff Would Look Like
Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– Stetson Bennett is for real? One Really Big Thing
– Week 1: Most Overrated Thing
– Power 5 teams: Most Underrated Thing
– Well that was fun: What It All Means, Week 1
Winners & Losers From Week 1
Winner: Arizona
Arizona had gone 1-23 in its previous 24 games before starting the 2022 season at San Diego State, and the only reason it got that one victory was because Cal was hammered by COVID in last season’s meeting.
It was supposed to be a joyous day for SDSU as it opened its awesome new Snapdragon Stadium, but Arizona – complete with a total overhaul of talent and transfers – got up fast and won 38-20.
It helped that Arizona was one of the few teams that could handle the …
Loser: Hot weather
It was over 100 degrees in San Diego, which meant the fan base cleared out of Snapdragon early on with Arizona taking charge right away. Aztec fans were there and left – UCLA fans didn’t even show up to a cavernous Rose Bowl for the win over Bowling Green. The matchup had something to do with it, but the heat was a problem, too.
Winner: Syracuse
Syracuse closed out last season with three straight ugly losses when all it needed was one win to go bowling. It was a home underdog against a dangerous Louisville team in the ACC and season opener, was up 10-7 in the first quarter, and rolled from there on the way to a 31-7 shocker of a blowout.
Loser: Army and Navy
Air Force held up the honor of the military academies with a 48-17 win over Northern Iowa. Army has a team – and a schedule – in place to do big things this season, but it needed to start hot. Instead, Coastal Carolina turned the tables by holding the ball for over 36 minutes in a 38-28 win.
Winner: Big 12
West Virginia lost a fun 38-31 game against Pitt, but other than that the conference got off to a great start. There might have been a slew of games against FCS teams, but TCU won at Colorado, too. In all, the conference went 9-1 – and that doesn’t count wins by BYU, UCF, and Houston – by a combined score of 488 to 158. Or, an average score of around 49 to 16.
Loser: Group of Five team in the New Year’s Six Race
Cincinnati played well against Arkansas, but lost. Houston needed a few overtimes in a shaky win over UTSA, Boise State had problems in a loss to Oregon State, and San Diego State struggled in a rough home loss to Arizona. So where’s the star among the Group of Five programs this year?
UCF and Fresno State had few problems against FCS teams, and Coastal Carolina beat Army, but that’s about it among the realistic options outside of the Power Five the hunt for a spot in a New Year’s Six game.
– Stetson Bennett is for real? One Really Big Thing
– Week 1: Most Overrated Thing
– Power 5 teams: Most Underrated Thing
– Well that was fun: What It All Means, Week 1
