Week one is always an interesting week in the world of college football because you never know quite what to expect out of a team until you've seen them play. Last week gave us everything we hoped for in week one, with Northern Iowa's near upset of Iowa State, Oklahoma Quarterback Jalen Hurts breaking records and a thrilling primetime game between Oregon and Auburn. We will cover all of this and more in this week's recap of week one.
Hurts breaks records at OU
In his first game as a Sooner, he delighted the Oklahoma fans becoming the first college player since Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel in 2012 to throw for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns while rushing for 150 yards and scoring three times on the ground. A dominating 41-17 victory over Houston marked the end of a long road for Hurts who went from Alabama’s starter in 2017 to backing up Tua Tagovailoa in 2018, to graduating and transferring to Oklahoma before the start of the 2019 season. While Hurts could have transferred midseason when he didn’t get the starting job, he earned great respect by sticking around and backing up Tagovailoa. Crimson Tide fans were grateful too, because Tagovailoa was injured in the SEC championship and it was Hurts who led his team to a close win over Georgia. Being in Tuscaloosa for four years and playing under Nick Saban also left a lasting impact on the way Hurts views his team’s performance. Similar to Saban, Hurts isn’t ever satisfied with just a good performance, he is always striving to play better and help his teammates do the same. After the game on Sunday he expressed this attitude saying, “We did some good things tonight, but we gotta continue to take steps to be where we want to be.”
Mack Brown earns his first win at North Carolina
Former Texas coach Mack Brown came out of retirement to become the head coach at North Carolina earlier this year. He earned his first signature win of his career in Chapel Hill with a win over rival South Carolina in week 1. Brown previously coached for the Tar Heels beginning in 1988 and turned the program around, including three straight bowl wins from 1995 to 1997 before heading to Texas. How did he celebrate? With a celebratory dance.
Note: Video courtesy of Best Sports Clips
Bo Nix becomes the biggest man on campus
Many experts overestimated Nix, a true freshman, heading into last Saturday’s opening game against #11 Oregon. He made headlines by becoming the first true freshman to start at Auburn since 1946 and did it in clutch fashion. The game started rough for him,including an interception in the second quarter, but slowly he began to settle in, leading the Tigers to a rally in the second half. They outscored the Ducks 21-7 in the second half, with Nix tossing a clutch 26 yard touchdown to Seth Williams with just nine seconds left to take a 27-21 lead which ultimately won Auburn the ballgame.
“It was the play of the game,” Auburn Head Coach Gus Malzahn said as reported by ESPN.
It was even more amazing for Nix because he won his first career game in his hometown area of Dallas.
Oregon also put up a solid performance, leading 14-6 at the half, but couldn’t keep the momentum going into the second half, and allowed Auburn to take control.
Although Oregon got the ball with seconds remaining in Auburn territory, Ducks QB Justin Herbert tossed the ball past the end zone in a final hail mary desperation pass as Auburn earned the victory 27-21.
Players of the week:
Offense
JaTarvious Winslow, RB, Auburn- 110 yards, 24 carries, 4.6 average yards per carry
Deshaunte Jones, WR, Iowa State- 14 receptions, 126 yards
Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma- 20 completions on 23 attempts, 332 passing yards, 176 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns
Defense
Kenneth Murray, LB, Oklahoma- 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss
Rashad Byrd, LB, Georgia Southern- 16 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss
Special Teams
Matthew Cook, K, Northern Iowa- 4/4 field goals, Longest was 50 yards, 14 total points
Sterling Hofrichter, P, Syracuse- 6 punts, average of 49.2 yards per punt, Longest was 56 yards
Top 2 games of Week 2
#6 LSU @ #9 Texas-Austin hosts College Gameday before one of the most anticipated matchups of Texas’ season, a game Longhorn fans have been excited about since the 2019 schedule came out. Although LSU comes in at #6, Longhorn fans are hoping home-field advantage can be the extra boost to give their team a statement win at home.
#12 Texas A&M @ #1 Clemson- Clemson’s home stadium has been nicknamed “Death Valley” for a reason. It is nearly impossible to win there if you’re not the Clemson Tigers. The last time an opponent won in Clemson was in 2016 when Pittsburgh upset the Tigers. While Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence played well in last week’s 52-14 win over Georgia Tech, so did Aggies’ QB Kellen Mond. Both threw for over 160 yards and scored at least one touchdown while running for at least 25 yards. It’s shaping up to be a battle of the offenses.
Enjoy another week of college football!
Opmerkingen