Welcome to Week One Midweek Musings! This column replaces Things We Learned In College as a weekly wrap-up, as well as a look at how last week’s happenings could affect the upcoming week’s games.
Friday
Let’s start on Friday night. Stanford faced San Diego State and won 31-10. However, the Cardinal was held to 50 yards on the ground. Heisman Trophy candidate Bryce Love carried the ball for just 29 (he also had three catches for 18 yards). The passing game was more successful, as quarterback K.J. Costello threw for 332 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. His favorite target, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, accounted for 226 of those yards and three of the touchdowns on just six catches. If this game provides future opponents with ideas about how to slow the vaunted Love, it also provided a blueprint for how *not* to defend the Cardinal passing game.
Saturday
Maryland 34, Texas 29 It wasn’t quite the barnburner we saw last year, but Texas again opened with a loss to Maryland. Unlike last year, Maryland was reeling from the (entirely preventable) death of a teammate and subsequent staff shakeup. Kudos to offensive coordinator and interim head coach Matt Canada, who had an excellent game plan in place in a difficult situation.
While Texas took a lead with 4:14 left in the third quarter, Maryland quickly answered. Then Mother Nature chimed in, causing a lightning delay of well over an hour. Texas returned to the field without the same spark, and the Terps forced them into errors. The final ten points of the game were scored by Maryland to take the lead and the victory.
Looking ahead: Maryland has some tough games down the stretch, but if they can avoid the injury bug for once, I could see them improving to six wins or so. The ‘Horns swung wildly between good and bad in this game; I still have no idea what to expect from them over the course of the season.
Notre Dame 24, Michigan 17 New quarterback Shea Patterson had an up-and-down debut for the Wolverines. His numbers- 20 of 30 for 227 yards and an interception- were actually better than I would have guessed having watched the game. The bigger problem for Michigan was Notre Dame’s complete shutdown of their run game. No team is going to win many games with 58 rushing yards, Stanford notwithstanding.
On the other side, dual-threat quarterback Brandon Wimbush was giving the Michigan defense fits. The Irish passing attack wasn’t anything to write home about overall, but Chris Finke and Chase Claypool each caught three passes that averaged over 15 yards apiece. Having to account for Wimbush’s scrambling potential, along with the deep threat, was clearly causing problems.
(I have to ask, did anyone else start singing songs from “Aladdin” when Notre Dame’s Jafar Armstrong got the ball? Just me? Ok then.)
Looking ahead: Notre Dame-Virginia Tech is now a can’t-miss game. (More on the Hokies later). Can Michigan tidy things up in time for conference play?
Kentucky 35, Central Michigan 20 I only watched a bit of this game, but it was much closer than the final score makes it look. At halftime, Kentucky’s lead was just 21-20. One thing that stood out to me was the turnover battle. The Wildcats will continue to be SEC basement-dwellers if they keep turning the ball over like they did in this one. Four turnovers to none for the opponents is not going to fly in conference play- frankly, they’re lucky to have beaten the Chippewas.
Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 27 The big story from this one is the high-ankle sprain suffered by Tech QB McLane Carter in the first quarter. Freshman Alan Bowman played reasonably well in relief, but after a game against Lamar, they face some tough teams. Carter will likely miss games against Houston, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia at the very least.
Sunday
LSU 33, Miami 17 LSU QB Joe Burrow didn’t have to win this game for the Tigers. He just had to not lose it. While his completion percentage was lacking, Burrow avoided mistakes and let running back Nick Brossette take over. After waiting behind Leonard Fournette and then Derrius Guice, the senior scored his first and second collegiate touchdowns in what looked like a blowout through three quarters.
It was too little, too late for the ‘Canes, who scored twice in the fourth quarter to make the score respectable. The Tiger defense harassed quarterback Malik Rosier relentlessly, picking him off twice and returning one for a touchdown. I hate to start singling out defenders for praise, because a lot of them deserve it, but I wanted to point out K’Lavon (pronounced KAY-la-von) Chaisson. The 6’4″, 238-pound sophomore linebacker was all over the field. Unfortunately, the injury he suffered in the second half turned out to be a season-ender, as per his Twitter account. Major loss for the Tigers, but they should still have a very good defense.
Monday
Virginia Tech 24, Florida State 3 ‘Noles QB Deondre Francois didn’t receive the welcome back I’m sure he hoped for. After suffering a season-ending injury in last year’s opener, Francois threw three picks against the Hokies’ swarming defense. Add in two fumbles and just 94 yards rushing, and you have a recipe for disaster. Presumably, this is not how new coach and Florida native Willie Taggart pictured his first game at the helm either.
Between Miami’s disastrous Sunday, and Virginia Tech’s dominant Monday, the ACC Coastal got a little more interesting. The two face each other November 17.
And that’s week one Midweek Musings! You can look for this column on Wednesdays throughout the college football season. Have a great week everyone!
