Revenge of the Spartans?

Lovely though it was to have college football back, the early results were… underwhelming. The quickly-becoming-traditional kickoff game with South Carolina and North Carolina was a dud. The much-ballyhooed Utah-Michigan contest was boring, with the Wolverines getting outclassed. TCU was tremendously disappointing. Oregon and Baylor played no defense. Boise State played no offense. Even Alabama and Ohio State failed to really inspire.

So, who did look good? There weren’t many teams. Texas A&M beat Arizona State handily, although the Aggies did the same in last year’s opener against South Carolina and it turned out the Gamecocks were just terrible. Northwestern likewise got a big upset of Stanford, but it’s possible the Cardinal have simply regressed to also-ran status. Alabama defeated a ranked opponent in Wisconsin, but no partial observers thought the Badgers were actually on the Crimson Tide’s level.

Week One is tough. It’s easy to overreact to performances good and bad, and any attempt to cobble together a top 25 is laughable at this point. The upcoming week of action should provide a bit more clarity; however, drawing conclusions is still vastly premature until conference play begins in earnest. It’s why I never attempt to make rankings before the end of September.

Week Two promises a great deal more excitement. Programs have begun to grasp the new rules for the Playoff Era – nonconference games against quality teams good, lower-division patsies bad – and started to schedule accordingly. The always entertaining Utah State-Utah rivalry is on Friday (and for those inclined to look for Playoff busters early, keep an eye on Western Kentucky in Thursday’s match with Louisiana Tech).

The weekend begins with a game as interesting as a nonleague contest between unranked teams can possibly be: Oregon State at Michigan, featuring the return of Michigan Man Jim Harbaugh and the big-stage debut of new Beavers coach Gary Andersen. Later in the day in-state counterparts Oregon and Michigan State will meet in East Lansing for a rematch of last season’s barnburner in Eugene, but before that primetime matchup there’s a few nice footbally nuggets to be had.

The Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy is one of the Midwest’s more fun rivalries, and as neither Iowa nor Iowa State figure to be very good this season the game will allow viewers to check both teams off their college football Bingo watch list. A potentially sneaky-good tilt is in the works in Berkeley, where rapidly improving Cal hosts one of the Mountain West’s contenders in San Diego State. Oklahoma and Tennessee are somehow both ranked and playing in Knoxville, LSU is at Mississippi State, and Boise State is visiting BYU in a mid-major clash that has become deliciously contentious in recent years. Good contests abound.

Playoff Poll

As I’ve said, it makes little sense at this juncture to try to predict who will be in the playoff. Of course, that doesn’t stop the media from doing so, which means I might as well form some rough groupings of where teams stand right now.

First Tier

Ohio State

Alabama

Georgia

Clemson

TCU

I’m giving TCU the benefit of the doubt, because there’s a slight chance Minnesota might be good.

Second Tier

Baylor

Oregon

USC

Michigan State

Auburn

The winner of Oregon – MSU this week will vault into the top tier, if not the top spot overall.

Third Tier

Notre Dame

Georgia Tech

Florida State

We’ll see. Not a lot to go on yet. LSU gets left out after the Tigers’ opener was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Pac-12 Report

Ye gods. Well, so much for the Pac-12 challenging the SEC for conference supremacy. Utah got the season started out right by dominating Michigan on Thursday night (the final score was misleading; the Utes controlled from start to finish). From there, it was pretty much disaster after disaster. Arizona looked average pulling away from Texas-San Antonio. Colorado saw its faint bowl hopes go up in flames in Week One, falling to Hawai’i.

Oregon State defeated Weber State on Friday, but the Beavers clearly won’t be a factor in the Pac-12. OSU struggled for three quarters to put the Wildcats away. Washington was actually slightly more promising in defeat against Boise State. Still, that result said a lot more about Boise State (read: overrated) than it did about UW’s chances this season.

Then came the Saturday massacre. Stanford was back to doing Stanford things, such as giving its best effort to embarrass the league by losing a nonconference game with a piddling offensive performance. Washington State lost at home to FCS foe Portland State, probably knocking the Cougars from reasonable bowl contention. Oregon’s defense looked horrendous versus another Big Sky team in Eastern Washington, but at least the Ducks won. That’s more than Arizona State could say, as the Sun Devils dropped in a vintage ASU primetime choke job against Texas A&M. I thought we were past this, ASU! You turned the corner!

UCLA looked good against one of the worst teams in the Power Five conferences in Virginia, which means nothing. USC was excellent against Arkansas State, but that’s hardly something to crow about. Cal put in a nice offensive effort against Grambling… but it was Grambling.

As we stand now, USC looks like the clear favorite in the South, with UCLA the Trojans’ chief competitor. Oregon should win the North in a landslide unless Stanford shapes up in a hurry. At this rate, no team in the league will be good enough to seriously compete in the Playoff. Fortunately, there’s three months left to play, so between now and the start of December at least one squad should show sufficient growth to be included.

Utah State at Utah should be fun this Friday, even if the Utes’ continued evolution has made this rivalry somewhat one-sided. I expect Michigan to handle Oregon State with relative ease, but Washington and Colorado should be able to get into the “W” column with games against Sacramento State and Massachusetts, respectively.

Washington State has a chance for redemption against Rutgers, while Cal and Arizona face off against a pair of Mountain West squads (San Diego State, Nevada). USC and UCLA each get another meaningless tune-up (Idaho, UNLV) and Stanford has a now-intriguing home opener with UCF. Then there’s Oregon at Michigan State.

MSU had the Ducks on the ropes last year, and with Vernon Adams now behind center it’s easy to assume the Spartans have the upper hand. It’s a tough call and a game that could be won be either team, which usually makes home-field advantage that much more important. Still… MSU typically struggles in these big games. Forced to choose, I’ll go with UO; the Spartans have to prove they can knock off an elite team.

Random Thoughts and Observations

Please don’t make anything of Ohio State’s win over Virginia Tech. The Hokies are afforded a tremendous amount of clout for some reason, which is curious given just how bad this team has been the past few years. Season records for Tech since 2011: 7-6. 8-5, 7-6. Ohio State just beat an unranked team. It’s not impressive at all. TCU’s win over Minnesota carries more weight, and it remains to be seen whether the Gophers are any good whatsoever.

The Oregon – Michigan State game promises to be very exciting, but it’s a contest that might not mean as much at season’s end as it will in the short term. If Oregon wins the Pac-12 again, the Ducks will be in the playoff, regardless of the outcome this week. MSU could lose to Ohio State and make a case it deserves to be included with a win over UO, but the Big Ten is viewed so poorly it’s hard to see it happening. The Spartans are going to have to beat OSU.

2015 Stanzi Awards

After last season’s thrilling Stanzi race, will 2015 be able to live up to the award’s rich history? I’m optimistic, as quarterbacks tend to always find new ways to amaze us with their poor decision-making and flair for the inopportune play. As a reminder, here are the rules for all the hopeful signal-callers across the nation:

1) Only QB’s are eligible

2) The QB must have multiple turnovers

3) The game must be close (defined as within two possessions)

4) The QB’s team must win the game

So let’s get things started! Here are the Week One winners, including a #doublestanzi in the first week of the year and old standby Dane Evans of Tulsa:

Jeremy Johnson, Auburn

Opponent: Louisville

Performance: Three INT, won by seven

Dane Evans, Tulsa

Opponent: Florida Atlantic

Performance: Two INT, won by three in overtime

Cody Clements, South Alabama

Opponent: Gardner-Webb

Performance: Two INT, won by 10

Max Wittek, Hawai’i

Opponent: Colorado

Performance: Two INT, won by eight

DOUBLE STANZI ALERT:

Michael Birdsong, Marshall

Opponent: Purdue

Performance: One INT, one FUM, won by 10

Austin Appleby, Purdue

Opponent: Marshall

Performance: Four INT (two for TD), lost by 10

That’s it for Week One. Return next week, when we’ll have results from games that start to have significance.