Week 1 is in the books and each of the big 3 have played their first games of the season. Here's where everything stands:
#1 - Florida State
Week 1 Result - W; 45-42
National Rank: #4
Overview: say what you will, but Florida State came to play on Sunday as it rolled LSU through a dominant second half performance. In second half alone, FSU put up 31 points to LSU's 7. There's a few things we learned about FSU this week.
Jordan Travis is a top 5 CFB QB. You gotta give the guy credit for how far he's come. As a sixth-year senior, he's about as experienced as any QB can be at this level. Travis's biggest strength is his mobility. A good amount of FSU's offense is predicated on him running around long enough to find a blown coverage and connect.
Keon Coleman is FSU's #1 receiver. He torched LSU and was a **** of an add in the portal. He will be a problem for every team they play.
Johnny Wilson is FSU's #2 receiver, but he's inconsistent. He makes dominant catches one play and drops slants the next.
FSU's run game didn't show much all game, but some of that can be attributed to their passing game taking over. Either way, keep an eye out for that moving forward.
FSU's OL looked average. They benefit tremendously from having a QB with the mobility and awareness that Travis does.
FSU's front 7 on defense is very good. Verse is a problem for any matchup.
FSU's secondary did not look good. They got cooked at multiple points in the game and blew coverages multiple times. They gave up 350 yards in the air.
This was a game that Brian Kelly corch'd away. LSU could have been up by as much as 31-14 at half, or at least 23-14. Not converting in the redzone twice, and not taking the points the second time was a massive mistake. Not to mention LSU muffed a punt inside their 20 again, just like last year.
Either way, FSU is the prohibitive favorite to win the conference right now. They are top heavy, with elite starters on both sides of the ball, but a huge drop off in their talent/production once you look at their 2-deep. 1-2 injuries could take this team from 11-1 to 8-4 real quick. There are also teams left on their schedule that can trip them up. Also, they committed a ton of penalties on Sunday night, they're still an undisciplined team, and as @Cribby said, they've got an arrogance to them that could trip them up.
#2 - Miami
Week 1 Result: W; 38-3
National Rank: NR
Overview: for the first time under Mario Cristobal, Miami played four solid quarters of football and manhandled an inferior opponent. Here's some things we learned (rehash from what I and others have already said):
Miami has its deepest stable of RB's since the early 2000's. Mark Fletcher, Don Chaney, Ajay Allen, and Henry Parish would start at any other P5 school. Think about that for a second, when's the last time we had 4 RB's no roster that could start for 4 P5 schools? That's a metric we've been lacking in, and it's finally changing.
Miami's OL has been reengineered. The additions of Matt Lee, Javion Cohen, and Francis Mauigoa are game changes. The line is big, flexible, and strong.
Miami's WR's showed flashes. Colbie Young looks like Miami's #1 WR with Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George following behind. Tyler Harrell had a nice catch, and Isaiah Horton probably wants some of those routes back. Either way, this looks like a much improved unit.
Cam McCormick adds elite blocking at TE. Riley Williams had a nice catch down the sideline. Elijah Arroyo is out and will hopefully be back this week. Jaleel Skinner is TBD.
TVD looked more like TVD in the second half. He made some NFL throws (particularly the one to Restrepo). He has a pretty back pick though and Miami didn't do much in the vertical passing game (not a surprise tbh since we were getting 10-12 yards of cushion).
Shannon Dawson is a much better fit at OC than Josh Gattis ever was. Lots of motion and we actually used our speed in space.
Guidry was an A+ hire. Defense looks completely different and we actually know how to tackle now. No more stupid stunting or blown coverages constantly.
Our DL is improved. Branson Deen, LT, Mesidor and crew had a good game. No worries on that front, they'll manhandle most lines we play.
Our LB play is substantially improved. Fransisco Mauigoa is a massive improvement at LB, and Wes Bissainthe had some very nice plays. All in all this unit needs to get deeper, but its a great start.
We have one of the best safety duo's in the country, so no surprises or worries there. Though Williams took some really bad angles that could kill us against more competitive teams. As for DB play, we looked improved. Our DB's actually played the ball, Couch had some nice hits, and we didn't look lost. Interested to see how this unit develops.
ST play was very good. That new Punter seems to have it, and Borregales made his FG's with luck on one more. Also, it's a huge benefit to boom those kickoffs to the back of the endzone. Less change of a big play or injury.
A&M game will show us how good this team can be. Win, and 9-3 looks more like a floor than a ceiling.
#3 - Florida
Week 1 Result: L; 24-11
National Rank: NR
Overview: not much to say here, they're fu**ing terrible. They don't even deserve more bullet points on this list. Offense is terrible, Defense is terrible, and the rest doesn't matter. They're staring down the barrel of a 4-8/5-7 season. Scared money don't make money, but scared play calling and G5 coaching will get them to 4-8.
Week 1 is in the books and each of the big 3 have played their first games of the season. Here's where everything stands:
#1 - Florida State
Week 1 Result - W; 45-42
National Rank: #4
Overview: say what you will, but Florida State came to play on Sunday as it rolled LSU through a dominant second half performance. In second half alone, FSU put up 31 points to LSU's 7. There's a few things we learned about FSU this week.
Jordan Travis is a top 5 CFB QB. You gotta give the guy credit for how far he's come. As a sixth-year senior, he's about as experienced as any QB can be at this level. Travis's biggest strength is his mobility. A good amount of FSU's offense is predicated on him running around long enough to find a blown coverage and connect.
Keon Coleman is FSU's #1 receiver. He torched LSU and was a **** of an add in the portal. He will be a problem for every team they play.
Johnny Wilson is FSU's #2 receiver, but he's inconsistent. He makes dominant catches one play and drops slants the next.
FSU's run game didn't show much all game, but some of that can be attributed to their passing game taking over. Either way, keep an eye out for that moving forward.
FSU's OL looked average. They benefit tremendously from having a QB with the mobility and awareness that Travis does.
FSU's front 7 on defense is very good. Verse is a problem for any matchup.
FSU's secondary did not look good. They got cooked at multiple points in the game and blew coverages multiple times. They gave up 350 yards in the air.
This was a game that Brian Kelly corch'd away. LSU could have been up by as much as 31-14 at half, or at least 23-14. Not converting in the redzone twice, and not taking the points the second time was a massive mistake. Not to mention LSU muffed a punt inside their 20 again, just like last year.
Either way, FSU is the prohibitive favorite to win the conference right now. They are top heavy, with elite starters on both sides of the ball, but a huge drop off in their talent/production once you look at their 2-deep. 1-2 injuries could take this team from 11-1 to 8-4 real quick. There are also teams left on their schedule that can trip them up. Also, they committed a ton of penalties on Sunday night, they're still an undisciplined team, and as @Cribby said, they've got an arrogance to them that could trip them up.
#2 - Miami
Week 1 Result: W; 38-3
National Rank: NR
Overview: for the first time under Mario Cristobal, Miami played four solid quarters of football and manhandled an inferior opponent. Here's some things we learned (rehash from what I and others have already said):
Miami has its deepest stable of RB's since the early 2000's. Mark Fletcher, Don Chaney, Ajay Allen, and Henry Parish would start at any other P5 school. Think about that for a second, when's the last time we had 4 RB's no roster that could start for 4 P5 schools? That's a metric we've been lacking in, and it's finally changing.
Miami's OL has been reengineered. The additions of Matt Lee, Javion Cohen, and Francis Mauigoa are game changes. The line is big, flexible, and strong.
Miami's WR's showed flashes. Colbie Young looks like Miami's #1 WR with Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George following behind. Tyler Harrell had a nice catch, and Isaiah Horton probably wants some of those routes back. Either way, this looks like a much improved unit.
Cam McCormick adds elite blocking at TE. Riley Williams had a nice catch down the sideline. Elijah Arroyo is out and will hopefully be back this week. Jaleel Skinner is TBD.
TVD looked more like TVD in the second half. He made some NFL throws (particularly the one to Restrepo). He has a pretty back pick though and Miami didn't do much in the vertical passing game (not a surprise tbh since we were getting 10-12 yards of cushion).
Shannon Dawson is a much better fit at OC than Josh Gattis ever was. Lots of motion and we actually used our speed in space.
Guidry was an A+ hire. Defense looks completely different and we actually know how to tackle now. No more stupid stunting or blown coverages constantly.
Our DL is improved. Branson Deen, LT, Mesidor and crew had a good game. No worries on that front, they'll manhandle most lines we play.
Our LB play is substantially improved. Fransisco Mauigoa is a massive improvement at LB, and Wes Bissainthe had some very nice plays. All in all this unit needs to get deeper, but its a great start.
We have one of the best safety duo's in the country, so no surprises or worries there. Though Williams took some really bad angles that could kill us against more competitive teams. As for DB play, we looked improved. Our DB's actually played the ball, Couch had some nice hits, and we didn't look lost. Interested to see how this unit develops.
ST play was very good. That new Punter seems to have it, and Borregales made his FG's with luck on one more. Also, it's a huge benefit to boom those kickoffs to the back of the endzone. Less change of a big play or injury.
A&M game will show us how good this team can be. Win, and 9-3 looks more like a floor than a ceiling.
#3 - Florida
Week 1 Result: L; 24-11
National Rank: NR
Overview: not much to say here, they're fu**ing terrible. They don't even deserve more bullet points on this list. Offense is terrible, Defense is terrible, and the rest doesn't matter. They're staring down the barrel of a 4-8/5-7 season. Scared money don't make money, but scared play calling and G5 coaching will get them to 4-8.
