Every year college football has its fair share of upsets, beatdowns, and surprises. Through all this madness, some of the craziest games all take place on one simple day.
The largest letdown of this season so far has been the Tallahassee travesty. The Florida st. Seminoles, a #10 ranked team going into the season, were defeated in the first two weeks by two unranked teams, Georgia Tech and Boston College. Walking into this season Florida st. had high playoff hopes after missing last year’s playoffs; however, after Weeks 1 and 2, they no longer have a chance of making it into the new 12-team college playoffs. With a new quarterback at the helm, DJ Uiagalelei has been single-handedly to blame for the Seminole’s rough beginning. Through two weeks, the transfer only threw for 465 yards on 69 attempts and a 1:1 TD-to-interception ratio. At this point of the season, the Seminoles are already beginning preparations for next season and holding out hope for a winning record.
On the south side of Florida, the Miami Hurricanes are beginning to send rough winds throughout the NCAA. Miami, having a 7-6 overall record last season, began this season with a monster of a win inside “the swamp,” defeating their state rival Florida Gators with a convincing 41-17 victory. Led by senior quarterback Cam Ward, who passed for 385 yards on 35 attempts, three touchdowns, and one interception; the transfer from Washington State now leads the nation in Heisman rankings, the most prestigious award in CFB, and has single-handedly revived “The U.” With an easy schedule ahead, the Hurricanes look to sweep the ACC and punch their ticket to a bye game in the college football playoffs.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have returned with a better team, a more experienced quarterback, and a hunger for victory. The Buckeyes are a team to be feared this season. In control of this team is senior Will Howard, a transfer from Kansas State. Behind him is a two-headed monster running back room with TreVeyon Henderson and the Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins. The two combined for over 2,500 yards last season and will surely be able to put up similar numbers in this year’s down BIG 10. At the receivers, Howard has some weapons. Senior Emeka Egbuka, sophomore Tate Cornell, and freshman Jerimiah Smith pose quite possibly the most dominant receiving core in all of college football. 18-year-old Jeremiah Smith makes a major impact on this offense. The freak of nature stands at 6’3 215 lbs and was able to rack up two scores in his first collegiate game. On the defensive side, Ohio State is just as stacked, holding defensive end Jack Sawyer and defensive back Caleb Downs, who both are Top 3 contenders at their positions as well as Greenwood native Caden Curry getting reps in at defensive end.
The most exciting aspect of college football is the college football game days. The days filled with Top 25 matchups, rivalries, and gritty football make or break this season, and perhaps the best day of all of these days is Oct. 12. three major rivalries, conference matchups across the board, and multiple Top 25 matchups occur on this day. However, the best matchup of this day is the new BIG 10 matchup of the two Top 5 pre-season power-ranked teams, the Oregon Ducks and The Ohio State Buckeyes. Both teams sport an all-star roster, and the winner of this game is likely to be the winner of the BIG 10 due to a mid conference. This day also features conference rivals Tennessee and Florida, who always make for a shootout of a game, the Magnolia Bowl between LSU and Ole Miss, and the Red River Rivalry fought between top-ranked Texas and QB-powerhouse Oklahoma. I will be having friends over on this college game day to watch possibly one of the greatest college football days in recent history.
The biggest change to this CFB season has been the playoffs expanding from four to a 12-team bracket. This change has come with its fair share of benefits as well as critiques. The expanded playoffs will allow more middle-of-the-pack teams and conference runner-ups to make it in, yet some teams that likely did not deserve the spot in previous years will squeak in. The largest critique is the importance it will take of bigger games. For example, Ohio State vs. Michigan usually decided who made the playoffs, but this year that is no longer the case. In contrast, however, smaller games that were generally lower-end games now matter way more and have influences on making it into the larger playoffs.
