Three Week 1 College Football Storylines
1. Josh Allen. From all that I have heard, it really wouldn’t surprise me if quarterbacks went 1-2-3 in next year’s NFL Draft. The two signal-callers playing in LA, Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold, are both projected alongside Wyoming’s Josh Allen as the consensus top three quarterback prospects in college football. While Rosen and Darnold will face quality competition week in and week out, Allen will not. That is why his game on Saturday against Iowa, a team from a Power Five conference, is so enthralling. The film from this game will be the film that scouts will go back and review in their preparation leading up to the draft. It is not a make-or-break game for Allen, but if he’s as good as advertised, he should put on a show.
2. Alabama-Florida State. This is unquestionably the most anticipated matchup of college football’s opening weekend. Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide square off in primetime with Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles. It seems as though every year there is a matchup of top-five teams in the first weekend of the college football season and it seems as though every year one team steamrolls the other. Why? Because many teams are often hyped up throughout the preseason and are irrationally ranked highly, leading to highly anticipated matchups that turn out to be duds. (As an aside, preseason polls are useless, meaningless, and a complete waste of time, but that’s a discussion for another day.) I think this year will be different though, and this game will actually be competitive. I am going with Alabama simply because I am done betting against Nick Saban, but I think the ‘Noles will keep it close. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will not be the last time that these two teams meet this season.
3. The Clemson Offense. The Tigers are coming off a National Championship and Dabo Swinney just recently inked a massive contract extension; expectations are sky-high for Clemson. But with the loss of their Heisman-caliber quarterback Deshaun Watson, leading rusher Wayne Gallman, and leading receiver Mike Williams shouldn’t Clemson be expected to a take a step back in 2017? I think so, but in the AP Poll they are ranked 5th. I am very interested in seeing if Dabo Swinney can replace so many key pieces on his offense from last season.
