Monday, September 1, 2014

College Football Week 1 Recap

Game of the Week: Penn State 26, UCF 24

            The best game that took place, in the first week of the College Football season, didn’t even happen in the United States. One had to travel all the way to the pitch, in Dublin, Ireland, to watch the matchup between two top 25 hopefuls, Penn State and UCF. The game was entertaining from start to finish, as Penn State roared out to an early lead behind Heisman underdog Christian Hackenberg.  The sophomore threw for over 450 yards, but two errant interceptions allowed UCF to stay in the game. The Knights, trying to replace All-American, and now NFL rookie sensation Blake Bortles, stumbled across an athletic Justin Holman who brought the Knights back late in the fourth quarter. But it was too much Hackenberg as he brought the Nitney Lions down the field to kick the game winning field goal.



Player of the Week: Kyle Allen, QB, Texas A&M (44-60, 511 yards, 3 touchdowns)

            I am not going to make a “Johnny Football” reference…I’m just not going to do it. But Kyle Allen quickly made A&M fans forget all about…that quarterback that used to play for them…and no I’m not talking about Ryan Tanniehill. Allen gets the nod over Todd Gurley because of the fact that Allen was taking over for “Maroon Superman” in one of the most hostile environments in college football (just in case you didn’t get enough of ESPN pointing it out on Thursday night), when the whole college universe was watching. Allen could not of had a better game, in fact no quarterback in school history ever had this good of first game. Not even “Johnny Backup”.



Disappointment of the Week: Wisconsin

            While losing to LSU is never a disappointment, Wisconsin made it one on Saturday. Up 24-13 in the fourth quarter, Wisconsin allowed LSU to score 15 unanswered points in the fourth to steal one from the Badgers and the Big 10. The reason why this such a disappointment is because the Big 10 needed this game! The Big 10 did score some nice victories over the first weekend, Rutgers beat Washington State (hey its something), Penn State beat UCF (Big 10 still better than the American…have to count it), and Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State all won and somewhat impressively (I stress the word somewhat when mentioning Ohio State). But all the eyes were on Wisconsin, and going into the 4th quarter the Big 10 was poised to score a big win over an SEC team. But it did not happen, and Michigan State, Ohio State or whomever represents the Big 10 champions this year could be pointing to this game, as to why they are left out of the first College Football Playoff.



Game To Watch Next Week: Michigan @ Notre Dame

            In what could be the last matchup between the two for quite some time, this game will be must watch this Saturday. Both Michigan and Notre Dame looked dominate in their opening games, and while their competition was subpar, it is anything but typical for either program to look impressive in their first game. But Devin Funchess looked like the most dominating offensive weapon Michigan has had in some time, the Michigan defense looked strong and intimidating at times, and the running game had a lot of bright spots throughout. For Notre Dame, it was more than refreshing to see Everett Golson back, but the same Golson did not return. Instead, this mature, pocket-poised, playmaking sensation, who wore Golson’s jersey came out to play for the Irish. No longer a game manager, Golson showed serious signs that he could be the quarterback that Notre Dame has pined for during the Brian Kelly era. On Saturday, in their last matchup of their historic rivalry, this Week 2 matchup will answer questions about the future of these two teams for the season. 



Super Bowl Prediction: New England vs. Green Bay

            These two are destined for one another. Green Bay has been too good for too long to not go to the Super Bowl, and the same can be said for New England, who appears to go every other year. This year their courses shall collide.



2015 NFL Mock Draft


Pick
Team
Player
Position
College
1
Oakland
Marcus Mariota
QB
Oregon
2
Houston
Brett Hundley
QB
UCLA
3
Cleveland (from Buffalo)
Amari Cooper
WR
Alabama
4
Dallas
Randy Gregory
DE
Nebraska
5
St. Louis
Jamies Winston
QB
Florida State
6
Atlanta
Leonard Williams
DE
USC
7
Cleveland
Todd Gurley
RB
Georgia
8
Miami
Cedric Ogbuhei
OT
Texas A&M
9
Tennessee
Andrus Peat
OT
Stanford
10
New York G
Shilique Calhoun
DE/OLB
Michigan State

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