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Dominick dives into the top five games from Week 1 of the college football season. What were the five best games from the opening week of the 2023 CFB season?
After a slow start to the 2023 season in Week 0, Week 1 finally had some games to sink your teeth into.
Some games, like LSU vs. Florida State were elite going in. Others like Colorado vs. TCU were expected to be blowouts but exceeded expectations.
Whether you like coach Prime or not, Colorado's win over TCU headlines the Top Five Games of College Football Week 1. (All rankings are from the time of the games and are taken from the AP Coaches poll.)
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Colorado Buffaloes: 45, No. 16 TCU: 42
After only winning one game in 2022, Colorado made the most changes of any team in the offseason, bringing in Deion Sanders and 68 inexperienced players.
This led to many thinking this would be a lost year for the Buffaloes as Prime got the culture in order. It turns out it took less than a week.
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders had 510 yards and four TD on 38-47 passing and Travis Hunter made his mark with an interception as well as several key receptions on offense.
The biggest question about Colorado was the depth. This may become an issue as the season moves on. TCU lost a ton this offseason and it started the 2023 season on the wrong side of the coin in this home loss.
In an up-and-down game, in which no one could get a stop on defense, it came down to one final stand for Colorado. With 55 seconds left and TCU possessing the ball, the Buffaloes finally got that needed stop on fourth down. And, as they say, the rest was history.
No. 3 Alabama: 56, Middle Tennessee State: 7
Ok, this was not a great game. It was not even a close game. But it did help solidify the favorite for the quarterback job at a National Championship favorite. This alone makes it worth talking about. Much like some of the upcoming games.
Jalen Milroe, who is known more for his rushing ability than his passing, showed this again with a massive scoop and scored on a fumble to get a rush TD.
While the Blue Raiders struggled, the Crimson Tide, predictably had their way with the lesser program. With Alabama going 10-13 on third down, the biggest question might be, how did it get to third down 13 times?
We knew Alabama would want to run the ball. With 205 yards against 78 for Middle Tennessee State, it got off to a solid start. Something which Alabama must replicate next week in its first real test of the season in Texas, who beat Rice 37-10 in its warmup.
There is not much more to know about this game. Jalen Milroe is the starter, and, in garbage time, Tyler Buckner came in. He wanted to be a backup at Alabama rather than Notre Dame.
No. 25 Texas A&M: 52, New Mexico: 10
If the halftime interview of Jimbo Fisher is to be believed, in which he stated: "Bobby is calling a great game” then this really was Booby Petrino’s offense.
Much of this showed up with Conner Wegman throwing the ball downfield more in this game than he did for the entirety of the 2022 season.
The Aggies finished with 277 passing yards and 134 rush yards. Freshman Reuben Owns was able to get into this game and provide some runs for a Texas A&M team who needed to find a replacement for De’Von Achane. In Owens, who finished with seven carries for 25 yards, it may have just found the man for the job.
It is difficult to find anything out about the defense. New Mexico is not the best competition and making any judgment from this level of competition would be foolish. Week 2 brings the return trip to Miami to face the Hurricanes. If the Aggies can hold down the Hurricanes on the road, this would be a far better barometer of success. On both sides of the ball.
Wegman looked solid in this tune-up. Petrino called a great game. But we still must wait and see if Fisher lets him continue to call plays when things get tight. If he does, The Aggies might be primed for a 10-win season. If not, another year of 8-4, or worse, could be in the air at Kyle Field.
Wyoming: 35, No. 24: Texas Tech 33
After getting out to a 17-0 lead, the Red Raiders went silent and crashed back down to earth. This crash cost them a game they had to have before hosting Oregon next week.
Wyoming will look to use this as a springboard to challenge for the Mountain West title. But the real story is Texas Tech.
In the second season of Joey McGuire, many analysts had Texas Tech as a sleeper pick for the Big-12 title. Although this game does not count towards those rankings, it cannot help the team's confidence and makes the game against Oregon a must-win.
The Big-12 does not just want a champion. It wants a champion who can also make it to the playoffs. With this loss and a loss to Oregon, the Red Raiders would be eliminated from this discussion.
After Oregon put 81 points up against Portland State, it would only be fitting for the Red Raiders to go and win the game in Week 2. But with how the Ducks looked, and how Texas Tech let this one get away, it looks unlikely. But we all know the revenge factor is real. And Tyler Shough has this angle working here. So be careful when making a wager.
No. 20 North Carolina: 31, South Carolina 17
Wait, UNC has a defense? It seems so.
The Tar Heels beat Spencer Rattler nine times in this game. This was the most sacks South Carolina has given up since the year 2000. It is also more than half of the total sacks (17) that North Carolina had all of 2022.
The Tar Heels offense did not show much in this game. It did not need to as the defense held the Gamecocks to -2 yards rushing for the entire game. On top of the nine sacks, UNC also had 16 tackles for loss in the meeting of the Carolinas. If UNC can keep up this defensive momentum, it may be able to join Florida State at the top of the ACC. Although Florida State might be on another level after the throttling of LSU on Sunday. Holy Cow!
South Carolina will need to recover quickly. While this week’s game against Furman should be an easy victory, next week brings a road game to Georgia. If UNC got to Rattler nine times, how many times could Georgia get to him? 20, 30? I just hope he can make it out alive if the offensive line struggles again like it did here.
