Noles Rolled: FSU Loses Francois and First Game
College football is back, and we were given some thrilling games. Once again, we were surprised by some things (mostly Texas A&M blowing a 44-10 lead), and other things confirmed what we already knew. I've decided to switch up the formatting during the week. Here will be the new schedule for 2017:
Monday- Games of the Week recaps
Tuesday- Group of 5 Top 4
Wednesday- College Football Playoff Teams
Thursday- Gophers recap/preview
Friday- Games of the Week/Flashback Friday
Three of the Games of the Week didn't surprise anyone, but Alabama's domination in the fourth certainly did. Without further ado, we recap Week 1's top action.
First thing you noticed in this game: the jerseys. Michigan isn't known for switching their look up much, but the Wolverines went with an all-maize look on Saturday. Florida countered with a mostly all blue look with white helmets. Florida took the momentum of the game by intercepting two Wilton Speight passes and returning them for touchdowns to go up 17-10. What the Gators didn't realize is that their defense can't score all of their points. In fact, they didn't score a single point after that. Freshman Felipe Franks showed signs of his potential, but his first game mistakes shined through eventually. Malik Zaire replaced him later in the game, but it was too little and too late. Michigan's offense finally settled down, and the Wolverines dominated the second half.
With the ten year anniversary of Appalachian State beating Michigan, Mountaineer fans really thought they had a chance against Georgia. For a quarter, it looked like that may come true. Georgia was up just 7-0 after the first quarter, and quarterback Jacob Eason would eventually be injured for the rest of the game. But Georgia proved why it was the better team, and rolled over App State. The running game calmed the chaos, and Jake Fromm managed the offense well enough in Eason's absence. With Eason's status uncertain for the future, it looks like Georgia may be turning to Fromm as their long-term solution. Notre Dame awaits this week, so he doesn't have much time to get settled.
If you're a Big Ten fan, you need to start paying attention to Purdue. Or at least a little more than you normally have in the past. The Boilermakers made the reigning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson work for his first win this year. Early in the fourth quarter, Purdue held a 28-25 lead, and that seemed to spark something in Jackson. Louisville seemed to think they were going to walk through this game with ease, but were dealt a rude wake-up call. The biggest takeaway from this game is that Jeff Brohm has already made a tremendous impact on Purdue despite the loss. Even while benching David Blough, his team continued to fight and showed that they can turn their ship around under Brohm.
Like I said before, Alabama was eventually going to be ranked first. Winning a Top 3 matchup will help. Alabama's defense, once again, dominated this matchup and continued the "reloading" trend for the Tide. Florida State looked competent in the first half, but unraveled in the second. The Seminoles also lost quarterback Deondre Francois for the season with a knee injury sustained in the second half. Their season had so much promise, and now it looks like they have more questions than answers. The combination of Jacques Patrick and freshman sensation Cam Akers managed just 47 yards, and Francois had little time to throw when he was playing. Alabama's run offense appears to be in mid-season form, but I still have plenty of questions about their passing offense. Jalen Hurts produced just 96 yards passing, and 53 came on a play-action touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley. If Alabama's going to remain a contender, Hurts needs to take another step.
