Rant Sports Top 25 College Football Rankings After Week 1
Top 25 Rankings: Week 1
The highly anticipated college football season is now upon us and week one of play has come and passed. Some teams excelled while other teams faltered and a handful of FCS schools took down the mighty FBS schools, making their presence known and letting the college football world realize that there is no such thing as a sure-win anymore.
Yes, it's great to have college football back. Some guys have put themselves in the Heisman race that they were seemingly far from in the offseason. Freshman quarterback from the Florida State Seminoles, Jameis Winston, is one of those guys. It will be hard for him to keep his play at the same level all season long, but after just two incompletions and over 350 yards in his first career game, he is well on his way to stardom.
Tajh Boyd kept himself in the early-season discussion as one of the top quarterbacks in college football while his Clemson Tigers took down the mighty SEC title contenders, the Georgia Bulldogs. While the Bulldogs faltered in an early-season bout with the Tigers, they still look to contend for a conference title as well as the national crown.
Many teams took a step back, however. The Oregon State Beavers found themselves in the preseason top-25 -- somewhat of an unfamiliar position -- and ended up losing to FCS school, Eastern Washington.
It's true -- the start of the college football season did not disappoint and there is so much to look forward to in week two. Will Georgia bounce back and take down South Carolina in yet another early-season battle that will likely have postseason implications? Will the Alabama Crimson Tide keep on rolling? Are the Clemson Tigers for real?
Many questions will be answered in week two, but for now, let's take a look at the week one top-25 rankings.
Connor Muldowney is a columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connormuldowney, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. You can also reach him at [email protected].
25. USC Trojans
It wasn't a pretty win for the Trojans against the Hawaii Warriors last Thursday, but they got it done. The quarterback situation is still a bit cloudy, but the USC defense is rock-solid.
24. Miami Hurricanes
Miami took down Florida Atlantic is a pretty easy one for the Hurricanes. Duke Johnson produced big time with 19 carries for 186 yards and a score. Yes, folks that's a 9.8 yards per carry average. Good start for the Hurricanes.
23. Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss jumps into our top 25 with ease this week. The Rebels defeated fellow SEC foe Vanderbilt to the tune of 39-35. The offense looks solid behind Bo Wallace and with Robert Nkemdiche on defense, the sky is the limit for this squad.
22. Northwestern Wildcats
Losing quarterback Kain Colter early in the game led to a close contest until the fourth quarter. Good thing for the Wildcats was that backup QB Trevor Siemian has split snaps with Colter and had the experience to win an early-season road battle.
21. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Taylor Martinez may have just thrown for 155 yards, but completing 17 of 22 passes was impressive and the kid looks like he's improving his accuracy season after season. However, a close game against Wyoming leads to the Cornhuskers' No. 21 ranking.
20. Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin picked up right where it left off with Montee Ball. The Badgers had a few guys with 100-plus yards rushing including Melvin Gordon with 144 yards -- and he's the backup to James White. This team will always have the ability to run and blow out weaker teams like Massachusetts, 45-0.
19. Washington Huskies
The Washington Huskies basically exploded into our top-25 for week one. The Huskies faced a ranked Boise State squad to begin the season and what did they do? Nothing but blow them out, 38-6, while racking up nearly 600 yards of total offense.
18. UCLA Bruins
With Brett Hundley returning at quarterback, the UCLA Bruins are in good hands. Especially when the quarterback racked up 335 yards of total offense while throwing two touchdowns. Did I mention he spread the ball around to 12 different receivers while taking down Nevada in a blowout?
17. Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns' offense was electric in week one. Scoring 56 points while racking up over 700 yards of total offense isn't anything to look past while quarterback David Ash had 343 yards passing and over 90 yards rushing with five total TDs.
16. Oklahoma Sooners
Trevor Knight was a big question mark heading into the Sooners' week one game against UL-Monroe and he remains as such heading into week two. Although he did run for over 100 yards, he completed just 11 of 28 passed for less than 100 yards through the air. Oklahoma still shut out the Warhawks, 34-0.
15. Michigan Wolverines
Michigan had a simple test to begin the season in Central Michigan and they took care of business. Defeating the Chippewas 59-9 looked good on paper, but Devin Gardner's two interceptions and only one touchdown pass raised some concerns -- but it's way too early to tell.
14. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Tommy Rees impressed in his first game of the season, completing 16 pf 23 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns, proving to be an adequate replacement for Everett Golson. The Irish scored on their first two drives and that was enough as they defeated Temple, 28-6.
13. Oklahoma State Cowboys
J.W. Walsh may have secured the starting quarterback job as he had over 250 yards of total offense, including 125 yards on the ground. The Cowboys won in a snoozer, 21-3.
12. Florida Gators
Florida comes in at No. 12 and with a relatively poor offense and the Gators showed that against the Toledo Rockets, scoring just 24 points while Jeff Driskel passed for just 153 yards. Winning 24-6 is enough to forgive a poor offense, however.
11. Florida State Seminoles
People watched 'greatness' on Monday night as freshman quarterback Jameis Winston dominated the Pittsburgh defense. He completed 25 of 27 passes for 356 yards and five total touchdowns. This kid is a stud and Florida State is in great hands.
10. LSU Tigers
Zach Mettenberger completed just 50 percent of his passes in week one, but with nearly 450 yards of total offense improved on what they had trouble with last season: offense. If the offense can keep producing and the defense keeps shutting people down, they will be a force to be reckoned with in 2013.
9. Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs lost a heart-breaker to the Clemson Tigers in week one. Quarterback Aaron Murray had a solid 300-plus yard game as running back Todd Gurley also had an impressive performance with over 150 yards and two rushing touchdowns. They will face another tough test in week two with South Carolina.
8. Louisville Cardinals
Louisville started its easy schedule with a blowout win against Ohio. Teddy Bridgewater also got his Heisman campaign off to a great start, passing for 355 yards and five touchdowns against the Bobcats.
7. Texas A&M Aggies
Johnny Manziel sat out the entire first half of the game against Rice while the Owls made the game close. When Manziel entered the game, it was all over as he threw for three touchdowns while taunting the opponent like only Johnny does.
6. South Carolina Gamecocks
Jadeveon Clowney received a ton of criticism following the game against the Tar Heel on Thursday night. The junior defensive end accounted for just three tackles, but the Gamecocks came away with a win in the first game of the season against their neighbor state rival.
5. Stanford Cardinal
Stanford had the week off, but will definitely be ready when it takes on in-state rival San Jose State in week two. Everyone is excited to see how well Kevin Hogan does in his first season-opening start.
4. Clemson Tigers
Clemson proved to be serious title contenders with an 'upset' win over Georgia in week one. Many had the Bulldogs taking care of business in this one, but the Tajh Boyd-Sammy Watkins connection made a comeback in a big way.
3. Oregon Ducks
Oregon proved that it can still be extremely scary without Chip Kelly as head coach. The Ducks obliterated Nicholls State by the tune of 66-3 and it wasn't pretty. The Ducks racked up 772 yards of total offense and the defense was pretty good, too.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State was playing a close game against the Buffalo Bulls until the Buckeyes offense finally took over. Running back Jordan Hall filled the role of star running back pretty well as Carlos Hyde was still being punished. Braxton Miller's Heisman hopes are still alive.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
AJ McCarron didn't exactly play up to his potential in this one, but wide out and kick returner Christion Jones took over, providing the spark that the Crimson Tide needed. He became the first player since 2002 to score a punt return touchdown, kick return touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same game. If Alabama can win without McCarron playing well, they will once again be unstoppable.
Be sure to check out the Rant Sports 100 in 100 Series, a preview of the top 100 College Football Teams for the 2013 Season!
