With the return of full stadiums, the hype around college football weeks 1 and 2 was huge. While I can’t cover all the games from these past two weeks I will highlight some of the best games and some of the teams that college football fans should look out for. 

Week 1:

OSU v Minnesota: 

Kicking off with the 8/2 and 8/3 games, there were some really exciting matchups. First and foremost, the biggest game of the week before the weekend was the BIG 10 matchup between Minnesota and Ohio State. Going into the end of the first half, one of this year’s national title contenders, Ohio State of course, was trailing to an unranked Minnesota team 14-10. The first half was an eye-opener for Sophmore OSU quarterback CJ Stroud who threw an interception early but would eventually settle down as he went on to throw for 295 yards and 4 touchdowns. As always, star wide-receiver and a potential first-round draft pick from OSU, Chris Olave, didn’t disappoint as he tallied 118 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Along with a stacked wide receiver core, OSU also has some of the best running backs in the country as their running backs totaled big numbers off the catch or carry and were a big part of the offense. The final score of the game would end up being 45-31 with OSU coming out with the win. While OSU won as expected, they looked a little more beatable than people thought and need their star quarterback, CJ Stroud, to settle into his position a little bit more. 

UNC v VT: 

After being ranked no.10 overall for this upcoming season, the North Carolina Tarheels would disappoint in their first game of the season. While away at Virginia Tech, UNC seemed to be a little intimated by the atmosphere at the Hokie’s first home game of the season. With sloppy play and a shaky quarterback, UNC would fall to VT 17-10 and will surely fall heavily in the college football rankings. Sam Howell, UNC’s hyped-up quarterback who is in early conversations for the Heisman this year, did not look so good as he was just 17 for 32 in completed passes, had one touchdown, and worst of all, 3 interceptions. Two of these three interceptions came in 4th quarter which would ultimately seal UNC’s fate. From the looks of it, UNC was out-muscled the whole game as VT’s Amare Barno and Tyjuan Garbutt on the defensive front combined for a total of 9 sacks which disrupted UNC’s offense all night. After being ranked the highest going into the college football season since 1997, UNC surely needs a bounce-back game to prove their early high hopes or it could be a rough season for Tarheel fans. 

Clemson v UGA:

Probably the most anticipated and the best game of week 1 went down in Charlotte at the Carolina Panthers stadium on  Sunday 9/4 as the Clemson Tigers faced off against the Georgia Bulldogs.  After last season which was just in-conference play, this game was very exciting as the best team in the ACC went head-to-head with one of the best teams in the SEC. From start to finish, the game proved to be a defensive battle as there weren’t a lot of big plays from either offense as the final score was 10-3 in favor of the bulldogs. The only touchdown scored during the game was from Georgia safety, Christopher Smith, who had a 74-yard pick-six. The Georgia defense proved to be a force against D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson’s QB, as the Clemson offense only combined for a total of 180 yards(2 of which were rushing). While it was a tough early-season loss for Clemson, they will surely rebound and shouldn’t be counted out of the playoffs just yet. 

Here are some other notable games from week one:

South Carolina 46, Eastern IL 0

Illinois 30, UTSA 37

Florida 35, FL Atlantic 14

UCLA 38, LSU 27

Florida State 38, Notre Dame 41

Week 2:

UofSC v ECU

After going down 14-0 early in the game because of defensive mistakes, turnovers, and penalties, it did not look promising for South Carolina this past Saturday as they played at East Carolina. However, a clutch pick-6 at the very end of the first half by UofSC linebacker, Damani Staley, helped sway some momentum as the 14 point deficit was turned into just 7. UofSC quarterback, Zeb Noland, looked shaky throughout the game, but it didn’t help his case that the South Carolina offensive line could not keep East Carolina’s defense out of the backfield. Even after struggles during the entirety of the game, South Carolina would pull out the win as Parker White hit the clutch 36-yard field goal in the last seconds of the game to secure the win and send UofSC to a 2-0 start under their new head coach, Shane Beamer.

Iowa v Iowa St:

This weekend saw two BIG 10 teams face off against out-of-conference rivals. First, the College GameDay game between Iowa and Iowa State was no short of exciting. The Iowa defense would again prove why they are one of the top teams in the BIG 10 and in the country as they held Iowa State to 17 pts while at home.  Iowa would go on to win their first road game of the season with 27-17 victory in hostile territory. That’s the second-ranked opponent Iowa has beat as they embarrassed a 17th ranked Indiana Hoosier team in week 1(my team sadly :/) and now this week with a huge victory over their in-state rival.

Columbus, Ohio saw another great game this weekend as #3 Ohio State took on #12 Oregon. Ohio State’s offense looked great as always as OSU quarterback, CJ Stroud, would throw for 484 yards and three touchdowns, and three wide receivers finished with over 100 yards receiving. However, the OSU defense had no answer for Oregon running back, CJ Verdell, who totaled 161 rushing yards, 34 receiving yards, and two touchdowns. Oregon would take a 35-28 win as this was a huge statement for this Oregon team going into the rest of the season. 

FSU v Jacksonville St:

Probably the most exciting finish in a while went down in Tallahassee as Jacksonville State would beat Florida State on the final play of the game to win 20-17. Damond Philyaw-Johnson would catch the miracle 57-yard pass and break two defenders to strut into the endzone and walk off the win for Jacksonville State with time running out on the game clock. This loss for Florida State is surprising and leaves many questions about their week one matchup as they went head to head with a good team in Norte Dame. Does that mean that Norte Dame isn’t as good as everyone says as they barely beat an FSU team that lost to a school that isn’t from a power-5 conference? No shade to the Norte Dame fans but it feels as though the Irish are always very overrated every year. Again though, this is only week two of the college football season and it’s too early to tell where many teams will be by the end of the season. 

Here are some other notable games from week two:

Stanford 42, USC 28

Kansas 22, Coastal Carolina 49

Pittsburg 41, Tennessee 34

Norte Dame 32, Toledo 29

SC State 3, Clemson 49

App State 23, Miami FL 25