Week 1 of the 2024 college football season saw the official death of a dynasty. No. 1 Georgia put the last scoops of dirt on No. 14 Clemson’s grave with a 34-3 thrashing in Atlanta.
Losing by a lot against Georgia isn’t embarrassing in a vacuum. The Bulldogs have made it their modus operandi to completely thrash teams under coach Kirby Smart. But it felt like a final entry in a growing list of setbacks for Tigers coach Dabo Swinney — more irrefutable proof that the Tigers just don’t have what it takes to run with college football’s big dawgs anymore. Clemson is 6-4 in its last 10 regular-season games against Power Four opponents.
That doesn’t include 2022’s 35-14 loss to an unranked Notre Dame team or 2023’s season-opening 28-7 loss to an unranked Duke team that hadn’t beat Clemson in 19 years to that point. It’s not like Swinney hasn’t tried to do things differently, though his staunch anti-transfer stance commands plenty of media attention. He went outside his comfort zone to hire offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. It hasn’t worked. In Year 16 under Swinney, Clemson’s just fallen behind. Saturday brought that home.
But, hey, maybe that’s an overreaction. What else is Week 1 of the college football season for?
Penn State, not Oregon, is Ohio State’s biggest threat
Oregon entered the 2024 season ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25, just behind Ohio State. The Ducks placed second in the preseason Big Ten poll and received all six of the 27 first-place votes that didn’t go to the Buckeyes.
And yet they might not be Ohio State’s biggest threat to conference supremacy.
Oregon’s season debut could have only gone worse if it lost. The Ducks plodded to a 24-14 win against FCS Idaho. They allowed three sacks. Idaho scored its first touchdown after Oregon failed to convert on fourth-and-inches. The Ducks were outmatched, at the line of scrimmage, by a non-FBS team.
There is no worse omen for a team making a move to the Big Ten. It doesn’t matter if starting guard Matthew Bedford missed the game due to injury. That just shouldn’t happen.
Meanwhile, No. 8 Penn State handled business in a 34-12 win on the road against West Virginia. The offense looked revitalized under new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, and quarterback Drew Allar played the best game of his career.
Could this be the year for the Nittany Lions? Looking at their schedule, they’ll only be underdogs in one game — against Ohio State, and that will come within the friendly confines of Beaver Stadium. They certainly looked like the Big Ten’s second-best team in Week 1.
Florida doesn’t need to let this go on much longer
The writing is on the wall in Gainesville. Saturday’s result against No. 19 Miami wasn’t even rock bottom for this program under Billy Napier — that was probably last year’s loss to a four-win Arkansas team — but it’s clear that Napier doesn’t have what it takes to scrape the Gators off the road.
Firing him now would certainly be unprecedented. Maybe it shouldn’t be done. But what’s the point in carrying on the charade?
Florida will beat Samford next week. At least it really should. After that? Ten straight games against power-conference competition, seven of which come against teams currently in the AP Top 25.
If QB Graham Mertz misses considerable time after exiting the Miami game with injury, DJ Lagway could be enough to momentarily stir fans from their apathetic lull. But it’s hard to see a true freshman dragging the rest of this team to a respectable showing, no matter how talented he may be.
The sooner Florida moves on from Napier, the sooner it can really turn its eyes towards the future.
The 2024 wide receiver class might be the best ever
And the 2027 NFL Draft is going to feature one of the best crops of wideout talent in the event’s history. On par with the 2020 class, which produced the likes of Justin Jefferson, Brandon Aiyuk and CeeDee Lamb.
Even better, if you consider the potential depth. Week 1 was the perfect showcase for an absolutely loaded crop of true freshman wide receiver talent. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, after one of the most buzz-worthy offseasons in recent history, more than lived up to the hype with 97 yards and two touchdowns through the air against Akron.
Cam Coleman’s first career catch with Auburn went for a 44-yard touchdown. His teammate and fellow freshman Perry Thompson had two catches for 82 yards and one touchdown. Alabama’s Ryan Williams had two catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns in the first half against Western Kentucky.
Though he didn’t score, Ryan Wingo led Texas in receiving with four catches for 70 yards. That’s without mentioning former five stars like TJ Moore (Clemson), Micah Hudson (Texas Tech) and Gatlin Bair (Oregon) who either didn’t play or didn’t get any opportunities. Just an unprecedented amount of talent in one class, and it didn’t take long to materialize into a significant impact on the field.
Travis Hunter should win the Heisman Trophy
No, two-way players aren’t a new concept in college football. There have been stars with a tangible impact on both sides of the ball before.
Colorado’s Travis Hunter is on a different level, though. He’s the best player on the field, on any given Saturday, at two different positions. He’s a legitimate top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft as either a wide receiver or cornerback.
The Buffaloes’ season-opening win against North Dakota State was a micro showcase of Hunter’s ability. He played 129 snaps, missing only two plays. He’ll do that all season without breaking a sweat.
And he’ll do it at an elite level. He caught three of Shedeur Sanders‘ four touchdown passes against the Bison, including this ridiculous circus grab:
The Heisman Trophy should go to the best player in college football. No one fits that bill better than Hunter, no matter what Colorado accomplishes on the field.
