What To Make Of Week One in College Football

It's often hard to make anything out of week one because many powerhouses play FCS teams and destroy them. But there are a few things that showed themselves in the first week of college football.

Utah is not going to be the BCS buster this year. They had a close game with Utah State, a team that they would have obliterated with last year's squad. Look at Boise State or BYU for this year's BCS busting team. Boise handled Oregon very well, with their defense containing a very good Oregon offense. BYU took down Oklahoma (and Sam Bradford a couple times) and it isn't just because the Sooners didn't have their Heisman winning quarterback. They put tons of pressure on Oklahoma's green offensive line, and they proved they can hang with the big boys. Even in the first half when Bradford did play, OU wasn't exactly dominant.

The Big 12 needs to look out for Missouri. The Tigers made the transition from Chase Daniel to sophomore Blaine Gabbert look easy. The offense played as well as last year, and the real key was the defense holding the Illini about 100 yards under last season's average. The Tigers are a threat at the Big 12 North title, and with Oklahoma already having a loss, this could be a year for them to take the Big 12 crown.

Greg Paulus can play some football. He did pretty well considering he is playing at a school without a ton of talent, excluding his costly interception in overtime. Don't expect a Heisman for the kid, but you can expect the Orange to compete in some games.

It's a good thing Ohio State doesn't schedule USC for their first game of the season. The Buckeyes had a lot of trouble with Navy, but ended up with a four point victory. Last year they had trouble with the University of Ohio, so maybe they should find a better way to prepare for the season before they become the victim of a huge opening weekend upset.

Speaking of huge upsets....there really weren't any. But Northern Iowa came close, as they could use some work on their field goal protection. The number three team lost, but it was to a ranked team at a neutral site, so I wouldn't call that a huge upset.

Matt Barkley is the next great USC quarterback. Give him a Heisman. Give him a first round draft pick. Just joking here, he looked solid, but I'm not sure that there are a lot of BCS conference quarterbacks that wouldn't look solid against San Jose State at home.

Notre Dame was impressive. I have been a hater of the Irish this offseason, and while I still don't think they deserve to be ranked, they looked very good against a decent Nevada team. The offense wasn't as much of a surprise as the defense, as Nevada has a very good offense.

Michigan looked decent against Western Michigan, and that should make next week's game with Notre Dame actually mean something.

Oklahoma State looked shaky at first, but they played great after their opening sputters. They could win the Big 12 if the defense can contain those Big 12 offenses.

The ACC did not help its national perception, as it lost to two FCS teams, and lost it's biggest game, as Virginia Tech lost to Alabama. It should be a dog fight once again, but not because the teams are all good.

Oklahoma is overrated. Even with Sam Bradford. The offensive line let both quarterbacks get hit quite a few times, and Landry Jones could get hurt if the line doesn't pick it up. The defense did pretty well, but the offense won't be the best in the Big 12.

LSU is overrated. They were in a fight with one of last year's worst teams in Washington. Now I know it was a road game, and last year doesn't really translate to this year, but still, a top 15 team should not have that much trouble with Washington.

Colorado is not a threat to the Big 12 North. Many national pundits were picking Colorado as a sleeper in the North. I have no idea why, as they don't have a solid quarterback in this QB heavy league, and they didn't really show any signs of greatness last year.