College football is back and the season got off to a tremendous start. There were great games across all four time slots.
From Colorado/TCU to South Florida/Western Kentucky and North Carolina/South Carolina to Texas Tech/Wyoming, there were great games.
Buy Vikings TicketsAs a Minnesota Vikings site, why is it important to follow college football? It’s simple. These are future Vikings playing on Saturday afternoons.
As we progress through the season, keeping eyes on what is happening in college football will make an impact on what happens on Sunday’s.
After week one, here are the five most important things that we learned this weekend.
1. Colorado is legit
Coach Prime Deion Sanders went to Boulder to turn around a massively downtrodden Buffaloes program. They did a near 100% roster turnover with 87 new players on the roster with a lot of transfers from Jackson State and an excellent coaching staff. The real question was how impactful they would be in year one.
They answered that question with a 45-42 win over National runners-up TCU in Fort Worth, TX on Saturday. Deion’s son Shedeur Sanders broke out in a big way with 510 yards passing and four touchdowns, showing no signs of needing an adjustment period going from FCS Jackson State.
The other breakout star was 2022’s number-one recruit CB/WR Travis Hunter. He didn’t just play both sides, but played 152 snaps with 11 receptions for 119 yards, one interception and one pass defended. An absolute breakout performance from both Hunter and Sanders that will vault them into the early Heisman Trophy discussion.
2. The quarterback class could be special
We all know about the top two quarterbacks in the draft class Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, but it’s the sheer projected depth of the class that is so intriguing.
Michael Penix Jr., Shedeur Sanders, Bo Nix and J.J. McCarthy all had really impressive season openers with other quarterbacks still viewed highly as well.
It’s too early to have a discussion about this quarterback class potentially being historic, but it’s in the realm of possibility.
3. How concerned should we be about Texas?
Do we need to be worried about Texas and their quarterback situation? Quinn Ewers was my number three quarterback going into the season, but he struggled against Rice. The boxscore looked fine, as Ewers threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns, but he struggles to hit the intermediate levels of the field, a must to take things to the next level for the Longhorns.
4. The Pac-12 is the best it's ever been
In the final year of the conference as we know it, the Pac-12 is arguably the best it’s ever been talent wise. From the reigning Heisman Trophy winner in Caleb Williams to the dynamic teams that are Oregon and Washington along with the charismatic enigma that is Deion Sanders, there is a lot to like about this league.
The underrated elements that are worth watching:
- Jedd Fisch led Arizona to five wins last season after being in the doldrums for a decade. Can they make a bowl?
- Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham and Stanford head coach Troy Taylor have uphill battles to turn around their schools but got out of the gates strong. How high can they rise this season?
- What will happen with Oregon State and Washington State next season?
5. Mike Norvell is the portal king
Florida State vs. LSU in Orlando looked like a fantastic matchup on paper and it delivered in a big way. The game was 17-17 in the early portions on the third quarter and that’s when the Seminoles turned on the juice. Loaded with star transfers Keon Coleman, Jared Verse and Jaheim Bell, they combined to make a huge impact.
Coleman was the breakout star of the game with nine catches for 122 yards and three touchdowns, Bell caught a touchdown and ran one in on a running play as well and Verse dominated on the line of scrimmage. After the legendary spaces that resulted from Travis Hunter flipping from Florida State to Jackson State on signing day in February of 2022, head coach Mike Norvell has made the transfer portal his tool of choice and is looking like that has brought Florida State back.
