Week one of the college football season came and went with teams around the country getting to shake off the rust while also trying to establish the basis of how their season is going to go. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the results from week one and some of the stories affecting programs going into week two.
Week One Impression Makers
Notre Dame Wins After Sluggish Start: No. 9 Notre Dame was able to put away the Louisville Cardinals despite a slow start on defense. After the first quarter, the score was all even at 14 apiece. From there, though, Notre Dame got to work and only allowed three more points while putting up 21 for a final score of 35-17. Despite an unfortunate incident where he hit a cheerleader with an errant pass, Ian Book went 14 for 23 for 193 yards and a touchdown. He also had 14 rushes for 81 yards and an additional touchdown.
Oklahoma and Houston Combine For 80 Points: As two of the best offenses in college last season, it was no surprise that it was a shootout between the Houston Cougars and the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners. Jalen Hurts got his Oklahoma career started off well as he threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns on 20 of 23 passing. Hurts was also the leading rusher for the Sooners as he had 16 attempts for 176 yards and another three touchdowns. For a team that has produced the last two Heisman Trophy winners, Oklahoma and Jalen Hurts got off to a good start in making it three in a row.
Auburn Upsets Oregon: In what may have been the best game of the week, the No. 16 Auburn Tigers showed they could be a legitimate force after they beat the No. 11 Oregon Ducks, 27-21. In the win, true freshman Bo Nix had some struggles, as he went 13 for 31 with two interceptions, but he also had 177 yards passing and two touchdowns. Still, despite allowing 14 points in the first quarter, Auburn’s defense buckled down after that, only allowing seven more points for the rest of the game. With the upset, Auburn moved up to 10th in the most recent ranking while Oregon dropped to 16th.
No. 1 Clemson Shows Why Its On Top: After winning the national championship last season, Clemson has commonly been assumed to be the best team in all of college football. In their opener, the Tigers did nothing to dispel this notion, beating Georgia Tech 52-14. Trevor Lawrence went 13 for 23 for 168 yards and a touchdown. He also had three rushes for 24 yards and another touchdown. The real story of the Clemson offensive attack was running back Travis Etienne, who had just 12 rushes but amassed 205 yards and three touchdowns, including breaking off a 90-yard rush at one point. As exemplified in this win, Clemson looks good in its quest to repeat.
Pair Of Quarterbacks Go Down
It was not good news for every program in week one. Unfortunately for South Carolina and USC, their starting quarterbacks will not see the field in week two.
For South Carolina, it appears as if starting quarterback Jake Bentley is going to be out for the foreseeable future with a significant foot injury. While the final prognosis is not known, the belief is that he could be out six to eight weeks if he does not need surgery and possibly the whole season if he does. In a 24-20 loss to North Carolina, Bentley played through the pain after suffering the injury and finished with 142 yards and a touchdown on 16 of 30 passing. He also had two interceptions.
Unfortunately, South Carolina had big hopes for Bentley, especially after he threw for over 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns last year. At least for the time being, it will be freshman Ryan Hilinski taking over duties under center.
While Bentley has a possibility of returning this season, the news is much worse for USC. Quarterback JT Daniels is out for the season after tearing his ACL and meniscus in the season-opening 31-23 win over Fresno State. It happened in the second quarter of the game, and freshman Kedon Slovis had to finish the contest.
Prior to the injury, Daniels had thrown for 215 yards and a touchdown. He also had one interception. After coming into the game, Slovis threw for 57 yards on 6 of 8 completions and had one interception. While it is a huge blow to the program and the season, USC hopes that Slovis can step up to the challenge.
Texas To Play Shorthanded
Texas has a big matchup coming up in Week 2 against LSU, but if it is going to succeed, it is going to have to do it shorthanded at the running back position. With Kirk Johnson and Daniel Young already out from injuries in the preseason, the running back corps took another blow when head coach Tom Herman announced that Jordan Whittington suffered a sports hernia and will require surgery that will put him out until at least next month.
For now, Keaontay Ingram remains healthy and the No. 1 back for the Longhorns. In their 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech, Ingram had 11 rushes for 78 yards and a touchdown. Still, behind him will now be a third-string quarterback (Roschon Johnson) and a freshman linebacker (David Gbenda). Needless to say, Herman is really hoping that Ingram can stay on the field.
