Whose stock is up? Whose stock is down? My week 1 recap:
Heisman Watch
This year should be a wide open race as no one in the offseason was really an obvious favorite, so this will be an interesting award race to watch in the early parts of the season. Here are some of the top week 1 performers in no particular order:
QB Shedeur Sanders and WR/CB Travis Hunter (Colorado)
26/44, 445 yards, 4 TDs (Sanders) — 7 rec, 132 yards, 3 TDs, 2 tackles (Hunter); vs NDSU
These guys put up huge stats in week 1, and they are two of the biggest names in college football. They’re gonna put up big numbers like this all year. They should Heisman contenders if Colorado keeps winning.
RB Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
20 att, 267 yrds, 6 TDs; at GASO
Jeanty could carry the Broncos to the playoffs this year. He was amazing yesterday, and he should already be in the Heisman discussion. That was one of the best performances at RB that I’ve seen in a while.
WR Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona)
10 rec, 304 yards, 4 TDs; vs UNM
This might be the best receiving stat line I have ever seen. He was dominant, and Arizona’s offense as whole looked electric. If Arizona’s defense improves over the season, the team may be good enough to keep McMillan in contention as he racks up stats.
QBs Dillon Gabriel (Oregon), Carson Beck (Georgia), Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Quinn Ewers (Texas), Jalen Milroe (Alabama), and Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee)
41/49, 380 yards, 2 TDs; vs Idaho (Gabriel) — 23/33, 278 yards, 2 TDs; vs CLEM (Beck) — 22/27, 418 yards, 5 TDs, 6 att, 27 yards, TD; vs FUR (Dart) — 20/27, 260 yards, 3 TDs, INT; vs CSU (Ewers) — 7/9, 200 yards, 3 TDs, 10 att, 79 yards, 2 TDs; vs WKU (Milroe) — 22/28, 314 yards, 3 TDs; vs UTC (Iamaleava)
All of these QBs had great performances for their playoff contending teams. We’ll see how they do as their competition gets harder, but for now, they’re all Heisman contenders.
Stock Up
(Every week I will pick three teams whose stock went up after a good game)
Nevada Wolfpack
After nearly beating SMU in week 0, the Wolfpack beat Troy 28-26 on the road yesterday. I was expecting Nevada to be pretty terrible out of the gate this season, but they have really exceeded my expectations. They’ve got a test next week when Georgia Southern comes to town. Before these first two games, I would have said that Nevada winning against GASO would be a stretch, but now I think a win is definitely within reach.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
A lot of the time when a top 10 team gets upset by an unranked opponent, it is because of something fluky, or the underdog got lucky, but this was not the case in week 0. Georgia Tech dominated Florida State in the trenches which was supposed to be the Seminoles’ strength. The Yellow Jackets then turned around and dominated Georgia State as they should. They play at Syracuse next week.
My Picks
Not to toot my own horn, but I killed it with my locks this week. OKST, Bama, and BYU all covered as I predicted, Eastern Michigan won comfortably over UMass, and Notre Dame got the W against A&M. Starting the year undefeated feels good.
Stock Down
Florida Gators
Florida was the most disappointing team in week 1 in my opinion. Miami dominated them in the Swamp from the very first snap. I thought the Gators were a Top 25 team, but they’ll have to turn things around quickly if Billy Napier wants to keep his job. They play Samford next week before they have to play Texas A&M in week 3.
Virginia Tech Hokies
I wasn’t as high on Virginia Tech as other analysts, but I still expected them to handle Vanderbilt. They ended up making things interesting in the end, but losing to Vandy is a bad look. It doesn’t affect them in the ACC standings at all, but this hurts the ACC’s image big time. The Hokies play Marshall next week, who should be easier.
South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina was down in the 4th quarter against Old Dominion. An SEC team like South Carolina that recruits so well should never have to get a go-ahead touchdown against Old Dominion in the last 6 minutes of a game. A lot of people think Shane Beamer is on the hot seat, and this certainly isn’t helping his case to be the coach next year.
Game of the Week
New Mexico at Arizona 39-61
This wasn’t the best game in a traditional sense, as it ended up being a 22 point game, but it was really fun to watch. Arizona’s offense was unstoppable as Noah Fifita was on point the entire game, but New Mexico QB Devon Dampier stole the show. He may just be one of the most fun QBs to watch in CFB. He threw for 260 yards and 3 TDs while he added another 130 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. His two picks allowed Arizona to seperate themselves in the second half, but it was a valiant effort from the Lobos.
Player of the Week
RB Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
Grinder of the Week
QB Devon Dampier (New Mexico)
JacobErwin.com 