Dave Preston is an AP Top 25 voter. See his latest rankings online here.
I have long maintained that September, and the appendix-like “week zero” in August, is college football’s “show me month.” While teams can improve, and the good ones do, over a 12-game regular season slate, you often see the essence of the squad in the first few weeks.
What is usually a soft schedule also allows to you see the upside of a team. That said, the expected long autumns for Virginia and Virginia Tech (both picked in the bottom four of the ACC) are more than likely, Maryland and James Madison have possibilities if they clean things up, and Navy needs a regular game week schedule.
This week’s schedule was kind for those of us who like to watch all five as they played in different timeslots, allowing one to keep an extra eye on what turned out to be another fun Saturday in “show me month.”
No. 1 Georgia trailed at the half against South Carolina (don’t call them USC or Carolina) and missed multiple field goals before pulling out a 24-14 win to begin SEC play. No. 3 Florida State almost blew a three-touchdown lead before prevailing 31-29 at Boston College (Eagles had lost 12 of their previous 16 ACC games) while No. 10 Alabama dealt with a lightning delay plus a pesky South Florida before escaping with a 17-3 victory over Bulls.
The upset bug would finally bite in Gainesville (funny how bugs bite in the swamp) where Florida turned No. 11 Tennessee’s season upside-down with a 29-16 stunner. No. 15 Kansas State fell at former Big 12 foe Missouri 30-27 on a last-second field goal.
But the best was saved for last as No. 18 Colorado rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat Colorado State 43-35 in double overtime. Both of Buffaloes Head Coach Deion Sanders’ sons shined, with quarterback Shedeur passing for 348 yards and four touchdowns while cornerback Silo returned an interception 80 yards for a score.
We’ll be watching next weekend’s game at No. 13 Oregon, wondering what college football’s best story of 2023 will show us.
Navy (1-2, 0-1 AAC) began their game with a bang, scoring two of their first three drives at Memphis. Unfortunately their finish wasn’t as fine as they scored just twice the last ten times they had the ball in a 28-24 loss, sealed with a fourth down pass in the final minute of regulation that was one yard shy of the marker. Their consistently uneven schedule that includes two weeks off and a five day turnaround now gets a nine day hiatus.
Midshipmen Medals: Alex Tecza rushed for 163 yards and a touchdown while the team tallied 299 on 6.0 yards per carry. Colin Ramos led the defense with eight tackles, while Xavier McDonald had six stops and a sack and Rayaun Lane added six tackles and an interception. Riley Riethman averaged 46.2 yards per punt with three falling inside the Memphis 20.
Midshipmen Miscues: Three straight three and outs in the second half robbed them of their lead, as they entered the offensive drought leading by seven and came out of it down by a touchdown. The defense tallied just a pair of sacks while allowing 6.1 yards yard per carry.
Next: September 30 at 3:30 p.m. against 1-2 South Florida. That means two Saturdays of apple picking/antiquing.
Maryland (3-0) saw a first quarter hiccup for the second straight game, falling behind Virginia (0-3) double digits after allowing touchdowns the first two times the Cavaliers had the ball. But they responded with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that took 13 seconds and a 97-yard march that covered 6:23 right before halftime. But entering the fourth quarter the game was far from decided, that is until the Cavaliers turned the ball over on four straight possessions and the Terps turned three of those into touchdowns, cruising into Big Ten play with a 42-14 win.
“Once again we responded,” Head Coach Mike Locksley said after the victory. “And as I told our team, I think I have enough proof that we’re a team that’s built to overcome adversity, and I don’t think I need to see us down 14-0 any more to know that we’re capable.”
Terrapin Triumphs: Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 342 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown pass to Jeshaun Jones that gave the Terps their first lead of the night. Tarheeb Still intercepted a pair of passes, including one in the end zone when UVa was trying to knot things up at 21. Donnell Brown recorded an INT for the second straight week. And Braeden Wisloski’s kickoff return for a touchdown gave the team a needed spark.
Terrapin Troubles: The defense took a while to get in gear, allowing 128 yards and two touchdowns on the Cavaliers’ first two possessions (including a 48-yard pass on the first play of the night). The ground game was held in check, gaining just 119 yards against a defense that’s allowed an average of 227 per game.
Next: Saturday at 3:30 on the road against 2-1 Michigan State.
Cavalier Congrats: Anthony Colandrea completed 12-15 first half passes for 141 yards and a touchdown in the first half while Malik Washington (nine catches for 141 yards) was a nightmare the entire evening. Jonas Sanker notched nine tackles while forcing a fumble.
Cavalier Concerns: Colandrea completed just 11-24 second half throws and threw interceptions on three straight possessions (to be specific, three consecutive passes), and on the fourth he lost a fumble. The defense bent after halftime, allowing the Terps to convert on four of five third downs before they emptied their bench.
Next: Friday at 7:30 p.m. against 2-1 NC State.
Virginia Tech (1-2) rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to move within one possession of Rutgers, only to see the Scarlet Knights flip the switch in the fourth quarter and drive for a pair of touchdowns to put the game away in a 35-16 loss that leaves the team 0-2 against the Big Ten this fall.
Hokie Highlights: Kyron Drones in his first start threw for 190 yards and a touchdown while adding 74 more on the ground. The defense held the Scarlet Knight passing game to under 50% completion rate and Keli Lawson paced that unit with 11 tackles.
Hokie Humblings: Drones lost a fumble and threw an interception, with the fumble setting up Rutgers’ first touchdown of the day. The offense would sputter on third down, moving the chains on 5-15 attempts. The defense was gashed for 256 yards on the ground, allowing 7.5 yards per carry.
Next: Saturday at noon on the road against 2-0 Marshall.
James Madison (3-0, 1-0 Sun Belt) proved they can win the close shootouts last Saturday in Charlottesville, and this week they showed they could triumph in low-scoring nail-biters. The 16-14 victory at Troy keeps JMU unblemished three weeks into “Show Me Month” and while they’re not eligible to play for the SBC championship, it doesn’t mean they can’t affect it by beating the other contenders.
Duke Do’s: The steady hand of Jordan McCloud passed for 200 yards and the offense did not turn the ball over. The pass rush generated six sacks while the run defense held the Trojan running back rotation to 32 yards on 13 carries. Jamree Kromah and Jalen Green each posted 1.5 sacks and six tackles in the effort.
Duke Don’ts: The offense converted just 3-16 third downs, bogging down in the red zone to settle for field goals of 28, 32, and 34 yards. JMU gained just 49 yards on 19 plays over its last six possessions of the day to keep the door open for a Troy rally. Not everyone is going to miss the go-ahead 49-yard field goal.
Next: Saturday at 8 p.m. on the road against 1-2 Utah State.
