Week One of the 2019 season somewhat unusually ended up being week 1 and a bit given the first games were played on the 25th August and the final game on 3rd September. There were no major surprises but a couple of top 25 teams struggled against FCS opposition. Anyway, the following gives a rundown of the more interesting results:
The AP Top 25 Results
1 Clemson – Be afraid – be very afraid the Tigers carried on from where they left off in 2018 with a resounding 52-14 win over Georgia Tech. They took their foot off the gas a bit after going 35-0 up early in the third quarter.
2 Alabama – hardly broke sweat ina 42-3 rout of ACC Duke
3 Georgia – decided to open with an SEC game this year and duly routed Vanderbilt 30-6. QB Jake Fromm had a quiet night throwing for 156 yards.
4 Oklahoma – new Sooners quarterback Jalen Hurts had a great night as he passed for three touchdowns and ran for three more in an offense led 49-31 win over Houston.
5 Ohio State – Outclassed C-USA side FAU winning 45-21. 14 of FAU’s points came in the fourth quarter when the game was practically over.
6 LSU – destroyed Sun Belt Georgia Southern 55-3. Georgia Southern only had 98 yards net offence including 24 yards passing!
7 Michigan – an underwhelming 40-21 win over Middle Tennessee where they were outgained in passing yards and gave up two scoring turnovers. Given the spread was 36 points this was disappointing.
8 Florida – a slightly sloppy win over Miami 24-20, who were ranked just outside the top 25. A repeat performance in SEC play will see them pick up a few losses.
9 Notre Dame – Rounded off the week with a comfortable come from behind win at Louisville 35-17.
10 Texas – QB Sam Ehlinger did his bit for Texas throwing four touchdown passes in a comfortable 45-14 win over Louisiana Tech. Giving up 340 yards passing does shine the spotlight on the secondary though.
11 Oregon – Blew a 21-6 third-quarter lead against No 16 ranked Auburn. This 27-21 loss already pretty much puts pay to their hopes of getting into the playoffs.
12 Texas A&M – an easy win over likely Sun Belt also-rans Texas State 41-7
13 Washington – A routine win over a good FCS team in Eastern Washington the 47-14 scoreline reflected the Huskies dominance.
14 Utah – had three scores off of turnovers and ran all over BYU finishing up with an impressive 30-12 road win.
15 Penn State – New starting QB Sean Clifford had a near flawless start in the Lions 79-7 demolition job on FCS Idaho.
16 Auburn- A nice come from behind win over No 11 Oregon.
17 UCF – Former Notre Dame starting QB Brandon Wimbush had an easy night as the Black knights thrashed FCS Florida A&M 62-0. It will get harder from here though.
18 Michigan State – Took care of AAC Tulsa 28-7 thanks mainly to their defense. The offense looked nothing special though.
19 Wisconsin – RB Jonathan Taylor looked special in a statement 49-0 win on the road against USF.
20 Iowa – had a routine win over MAC side Miami (Ohio) 38-14. They will be hard to beat at home this year.
21 Iowa State – Needed a late field goal and then triple overtime to sneak a 29-26 win over FCS Northern Iowa. The Cyclones looked anaemic on offense, only scoring 13 points in regulation.
22 Syracuse – Completely closed down Liberty’s running game in their 24-0 road win. The Flames had -4 yards net rushing!
23 Washington State – had an impressive 58-7 win over FBS Independent side New Mexico State
24 Nebraska – The Cornhuskers looked far from impressive in beating Sund Belt side South Alabama 35-21. They needed Two defensive and one special teams touchdown to bail out a poor offense who only gained 66 second half yards!
25 Stanford – had a solid win over last seasons Holiday Bowl winners and Big 10 West Division, winners Northwestern 17-7.
Overall the top 25 did what was expected and the only loss amongst them was unavoidable given No 11 as playing No 16. That loss has dented Oregon’s playoff chances though. The only bad result was Iowa State, who will struggle to stay ranked after struggling against an FCS side – even if they are from the strong Missouri Valley division.
Racking them up
There were a few big scorers outside of the above led by:
Maryland who beat FSC Howard 79-0
Other big scorers included
Temple 56 – 12 Bucknell
Baylor 56 -17 Stephen F. Austin
Marshall 56-17 VMI
UNLV 56- 23 Southern Utah
Entertaining Game of the Week
Has to go to Oklahoma v Houston – 80 points, 11 TDs & 1094 yards of offense. Defense optional looks like the strategy for these two in 2019.
Honourable mention goes to the other Big 12 team in Oklahoma the Cowboys who served up a similarly entertaining – if lower-profile game with 12 TDs and just over a 1000 yards of offense in their road trip win at Oregon State.
Performance of the Week
Top 25 has to be Wisconsin who are probably still smarting from ending up unranked in 2018 after being pre-season dark horses for the playoffs. They totally dominated a decent AAC side in USF holding them to 26 yards rushing in their 49-0 road win.
Honourable mention goes to Memphis who had a nice 150-10 win over SEC Ole Miss.
Valiant in Defeat
Central Arkansas Bears who were within 59 seconds of holding on for a win at Iowa State. Honourable mention goes to James Maddison who made life hard for West Virginia only losing by a TD in a game where they turned it over three times.
One you might have missed
Central Arkansas Bears 35 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 28. Not only a shock win for an FCS team but a thrilling 4th quarter comeback as they trailed 28-14 at the end of the Third.
Looking Good
Boise State who won 36-31 at Florida State. Ok FSU are not the team of old but this is still a serious win and the Broncos should be ranked next week. Hawaii are also looking good thanks to their 45-38 win over PAC-12 Arizona
Slightly Disappointing
Army – after last seasons exploits only edging past Rice 14-7 at home is a surprise. Still, a win is a win.
Wake Me Up When It’s All Over
Two field goals were all that Weber State & San Diego State could muster between them in a 6-0 win for the Aztecs. The crowd of 40,222 were not entertained.
.