A lot happens on college football Saturdays. It’s hard to keep up with everything.
So this season, in an attempt to bring everybody up to speed — while taking a chance to provide you with some takes in the process — I’m going to rattle off over-arching thoughts from the previous weekend. I’ll also do my best to spring thoughts forward, not just tell you what already happened.
Let’s keep it going with the latest edition of Unfiltered Takes.
1. Penn State Nittany Lions: I spent the entire offseason projecting Penn State would be a legitimate national title contender in 2025. Why? Because after advancing to the College Football Playoff semifinal last season, Penn State got better in the offseason with big-time portal pickups at receiver. Penn State has a nasty defense, an experienced quarterback and now Trebor Pena and Devonte Ross outside. Had the game ended early in the 4th quarter — with Ross and Pena combining for 10 yards receiving to that point — I’d be killing Penn State right now. I’d be completely out, screaming about how the Nittany Lions are the same old team. But Penn State flashed in the 4th quarter and overtime, showing what this team could be later in the season. Ross scored twice, proving to be an option Penn State didn’t have a year ago. Even though Penn State failed to close (again), nobody should come away thinking this team is cooked.
2. James Franklin: I’m so torn on Franklin. On one hand, the coach who can never seem to win the big one didn’t win the big one. On the other hand, when two good teams play, one has to lose. Yes, Penn State lost, and there is no defending it. But it also lost to a team in Oregon that should be viewed as a contender to win it all. Someone has to lose these big-time games. The game went to double overtime, and Franklin built a team that can exist in a heavyweight fight. Penn State still plays Ohio State and will likely make the CFP. If Franklin loses to the Buckeyes and has an early exit from the CFP, I’ll be completely out like many of you are now. Unlike in the past, Franklin actually has the roster this year to get different results. But if your take from the most recent loss is Penn State’s offense sucks and has no chance to win big games, you’re probably fixated on the past and judging what happened in State College through that viewpoint.
3. Analysis projects forward, not backward: If you erased your memory of everything you knew about Penn State and Franklin, would your takeaway from that game Saturday night be Penn State sucks? No, it wouldn’t. You’d think that was a high-level game, and Penn State is a gritty team for fighting back against those mighty Ducks. Many of our opinions are shaped by past experiences. In college football, that’s a mistake. Things change so rapidly from week to week, let alone year to year. Remember, nothing happens for the first time until it happens.
4. Drew Allar: The Oregon game finished the same way the CFP semifinal against Notre Dame did — with a Drew Allar interception. Although it’s hard to blame this loss solely on one player, Penn State’s offense was ineffective for three quarters before Allar finally turned it around. And after Allar got Penn State back into the game, he threw an unnecessary interception that ended it in overtime. The entire country feels as if he is just a painfully average player — that Penn State would be better if it had kept Beau Pribula. But Allar throws a beautiful touchdown pass like the 35-yard strike to Ross in the 4th quarter and you can see the vision. The truth? He has to play so much better for Penn State to have a shot at changing things. He hasn’t been good enough.
5. Oregon Ducks: Penn State is such a lightning rod, and the losers of big games often become the main story. But Oregon? That team is legit. We spent the offseason under-appreciating how much talent is on this Ducks roster. We projected they might be a year away from returning to competing at the highest level. Wrong. This is one of the deepest, most talented teams in the country, and head coach Dan Lanning has been knocking on the door for a few years. Beating that Penn State in one of the toughest environments in college football means something. It means Oregon can beat anyone.
6. Dante Moore: Are we seeing the development of the best quarterback in Oregon history right in front of our eyes? Is Dante Moore the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy right now? Dare I say, yes and yes. It’s hard not to root for this kid. The former five-star prospect went to UCLA before transferring to Oregon knowing full well he wasn’t going to start. He sat behind Dillon Gabriel last season, developed behind the scenes and showed up this year ready to ball. He completed 29-of-39 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns in the toughest environment he’ll see all year. He’s only going to get better. Moore and Oregon are scary.
BONUS: Two years ago, Lanning was known as the cool, up-and-coming coach who couldn’t win the big game. Remember two years ago when he got killed for his bold 4th down conversion attempts against Washington? Now he has beaten Ohio State and Penn State in back-to-back seasons. He has proven he can win the big game. The next step in his career evolution is capturing those wins in the College Football Playoff. One thing’s for sure: he’s one of the best young coaches in the sport.
7. Kalen DeBoer: Three weeks ago, many Alabama fans wanted Kalen DeBoer out the door. Is he Debo again now? Remarkably, his first year-plus at Alabama has been defined by failing to beat teams it should beat while starting 2-0 against Georgia. The good news? Beating Georgia — especially on the road — is harder than winning the games you’re supposed to. If DeBoer can figure out a way to keep his team locked in for every game, maybe he is the man for the job? For all of his faults, he’s 2-0 against Kirby Smart. That means something in Tuscaloosa.
8. Alabama Crimson Tide: If you had no idea how the DeBoer tenure had gone and you tuned into an Alabama game for the first time since he took over, you’d think the program didn’t skip a beat. They looked big, strong, fast and disciplined. The way the Crimson Tide played against Georgia is good enough to win a national title in 2025. Period. The problem? Alabama doesn’t play with passion every week. It certainly didn’t against Florida State in Week 1. Did Alabama unlock something or was it just a good performance in a big game. … just like last year’s Georgia game?
BONUS: If you wanted to outline all the reasons Nick Saban was the greatest coach of all time, it would take all day. But I’m most floored looking back at his reign by how consistently he got Alabama to play angry. It didn’t matter who the Crimson Tide were playing. Week in and week out, Saban’s teams brought it. The truth is, nobody else has really done that. Teams have clunkers. It’s college football. Saban’s teams had bad games, sure, but they always played like they wanted to hurt their opponents. Alabama played like that Saturday. Can it do it again against Vanderbilt? And again against Missouri and Tennessee and South Carolina and Oklahoma?
9. Kirby Smart: Does Kirby Smart have an Alabama problem? Smart is 1-4 against Alabama and 55-2 against everyone else over the last five years. That’s a crazy statistic. But don’t overthink it. Even great coaches lose to other really good teams. If you took all of the best coaches in college football and look at their records against top-tier opponents with equitable talent, those records start to resemble what you’d find in the NFL. The takeaway isn’t some galaxy brain discussion about whether Alabama owns Smart. It’s the realization that Georgia isn’t head and shoulders better than everyone else in the SEC anymore. Alabama isn’t. It’s not 2018 anymore.
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Notre Dame started 0-2, so you know Marcus Freeman wanted to make a point in Fayetteville on Saturday. Boy, did he do it. Even though Notre Dame was winning 42-13 and amassed more than 400 yards of offense in the first half, Freeman faked a punt early in the third quarter to keep pouring it on. Notre Dame wound up beating Arkansas 56-13 to even its record at 2-2. No team in college football needs style points more than Notre Dame moving forward. The Irish have to look sexy.
11. College Football Playoff: Countless Notre Dame fans believe the Irish are a lock to make the CFP if they finish 10-2. That’s not true. They’d have a really good chance of making it, but Notre Dame doesn’t control its own destiny. Notre Dame is immeasurably better than everyone left on its schedule, but regardless of how much it beats teams by, it will finish the year without a true quality win. That’s why USC losing to Illinois on Saturday hurt. The Trojans were Notre Dame’s last chance at a quality win. The Irish need to hope they aren’t involved in a head-to-head debate with a 9-3 SEC team with two quality wins at the end of the season.
12. Sam Pittman: Arkansas’ Sam Pittman has been on the hot seat for what seemed to have been three consecutive years. But that defense the Razorbacks put on the field against Notre Dame was pathetic. It was inexcusable. The end finally came. Pittman was fired on Sunday, which everyone saw coming from a mile away. Stepping in to replace him on an interim basis is, wait for it, former head coach Bobby Petrino. Yes, only in college football could a coach who was fired in disgrace for lying to the administration about a woman on the back of his motorcycle after a crash could return to lead that very same program years later. He’ll have a chance to become the permanent coach, but he’ll have to guide the Razorbacks to some unexpected wins. Arkansas is a good job in one of the two most powerful conferences in the country. There will be plenty of people who want it.
13. USC Trojans: Disappointing. There’s no other word for what happened in Champaign. It’s not just that the Trojans lost; it was how they lost. Every time USC plays a physical and tough football team, it looks like it isn’t up for the fight. Lincoln Riley has the offense going, and defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has dramatically improved the Trojans’ defense the last two years. Still, USC isn’t beating the charges accusing it of being “West Coast Soft.” If USC can’t beat Illinois, what happens when it plays Michigan and, gulp, Notre Dame? How does Riley fix it?
BONUS: Receiver Makai Lemon is one of the best players in college football. I know he’s projected to be a first-round selection in the upcoming NFL Draft, but he has to be one of the most under-appreciated players in the national discourse. The kid is a dog.
14. Ole Miss Rebels: Lane Kiffin said after Ole Miss beat LSU that he was proud the fans didn’t storm the field. Why? Because the program has finally reached a point where those results are expected. Although Ole Miss fell far short of expectations last year, Kiffin has finally brought this program to where its fans believe it belongs. There is still a long way to go in the season, but Ole Miss is currently one of the three favorites to win the SEC. This is a team that can make a run into January.
15. LSU Tigers: Brian Kelly had a meltdown after LSU’s win over Florida when a reporter opened the postgame news conference by asking a critical question about the offense. Kelly wasn’t mad about the question’s placement. He was poked in a sore spot, knowing deep down his offensive inefficiency would catch up to him. It did in Oxford on Saturday. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier was out-dueled by Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss, who transferred to Ole Miss from Ferris State. The Tigers’ lead-rusher had 22 years. It’s bad.
16. Julian Sayin: Ohio State spent the entire first half at Washington playing with its food. It felt like Ryan Day and the offensive staff were protecting Julian Sayin and calling a conservative game. Well, I’ll be the first to say it: Sayin doesn’t need to be protected. Yes, he’s only a handful of games into his tenure as Ohio State’s starter. Still, his poise is almost as off the charts as his talent. Ohio State’s defense is so nasty and the Buckeyes can win games in a variety of different ways. That was evident as it sucked the life out of the Huskies in Seattle. But let the kid throw it. Ohio State has the best receiving corps in the nation and a quarterback who can put the ball anywhere he wants it. Let it rip.
BONUS: Washington is a really good team that was in the game for almost three full quarters against Ohio State. The fact that the Huskies were only an 8.5-point underdog in that game is an indication that Jedd Fisch’s squad deserves to be ranked. With Rutgers, Maryland, Michigan and Illinois coming up in the next month, Washington has a chance to work its way up. I won’t be surprised if it does.
17. Texas A&M Aggies: Texas A&M out-gained Auburn by roughly 250 yards and was still only up by six and playing defense late in the fourth quarter. Texas A&M fans who suffer from Battered Aggie Syndrome were waiting for the team to blow it. That didn’t happen. Texas A&M (rightfully) won the game to advance to 4-0. Mike Elko may be the coach who finally puts an end to BAS. You may be afraid to fully buy in because of a tortured past, Aggies, but it’s time to acknowledge this team is very, very good.
18. Indiana’s intentional safety: Listen, it was probably the right call. But when Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza ran backward 40 yards with mere seconds remaining in the game and took the intentional safety, it narrowed the Hoosiers’ winning margin from seven to five. There were a large number of people sitting on betting slips of Indiana -6.5. That was one of the worst bad beats I’ve ever seen in college football gambling. Gambling anecdote aside, Indiana got a tough win on the road and improved to 5-0. The Hoosiers face Oregon in two weeks. Buckle up.
19. Florida State Seminoles: Mike Norvell‘s Florida State team may turn out to be very good. Maybe good enough to compete for an ACC title. But Friday night’s loss at Virginia was a reminder of just how hard it is to go 11-1. It’s even harder to train a team coming off a 2-10 season to play great football week in and week out. That said, Florida State has a tremendously valuable win over Alabama on its resume and it is far from toast. Miami is coming to town on Saturday and we’ll really get an answer for who Florida State is in 2025. Miami opened as a 4.5-point favorite.
20. Big 12: BYU, which lost quarterback Jake Retzlaff in the middle of the offseason, improved to 4-0 with a win over Colorado on Saturday. Iowa State beat the crap out of Arizona to also improve to 4-0. And Texas Tech, one of the stories of the offseason due to its aggressive spending in the transfer portal, has also won all four of its games. The Big 12 race is going to be sensational.
Source link
