College Football: Observations on Auburn, Utah State and Week 1 Early Games

The Baylor Bears have stormed the landscape of college football as they have shown us how quickly you can improve in one season.

After suffering a 45-10 beatdown by TCU last season, the Bears are currently the most exciting team in the nation through a few days of games. 

This is a much different TCU team compared to the one that went 13-0 including their Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin. However, there are already a few teams that have drawn some extra attention with their unimpressive play thus far.

Who Started out Fast?

As expected, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Virginia Tech thumped their opponents. 

It was a given that David Wilson and Trent Richardson were going to go bonkers. Wilson reached paydirt three times and also ran for over 100 yards just in the first half. Richardson did not see a ton of action, however, he still found the endzone three times as well.

Many expected the Tide to split time under center with their two quarterbacks and that was exactly what happened. AJ McCarron ended up throwing a touchdown and two interceptions as he overthrew a few of his receivers which led to his lone interception. Phillip Sims also threw two picks despite throwing half as many attempts. 

Unlike the Hokies, Alabama has a huge test next weekend on the road against Penn State.

Speaking of the Nittany Lions, they stormed past Indiana State 41-7 with Matt McGloin leading the way.

McGloin seems to have the edge over Bolden in their "scrimmage" but Silas Redd and the ground game totaled for five touchdowns and for 245 yards on the ground.

Most experts have Alabama as favorites to reach the BCS National Championship, however it will be far from a walk in the park against a stingy Nittany Lions defense that allowed just 170 total yards.

Can't Say I'm Surprised

Despite the loss of Dan Persa the Northwestern Wildcats did not have any issues running their offense with Kain Colter. Totaling over 250 yards offense against a Boston College Eagles defense that led the nation in rush defense allowing only 82 per game. 

The only success we saw on offense from BC was the very first play from scrimmage where Andre Williams broke loose for 69 yards. The Eagles were held to a field goal after that play and the offense pretty much went downhill despite getting a chunk of yards in the fourth quarter in their 24-17 defeat.

Ohio State and Iowa both took care of their business however, the Hawkeyes threaded the needle a ton with James Vandeberg finding Marvin McNutt early and often. Only lightning seemed to slow down the Hawkeyes on Saturday as they led 34-0 late in the third quarter when the delay started.

Joe Bauserman under center for the Buckeyes found tight end Jake Stoneburner three times in their route over Akron.

The Buckeyes get a stiffer test next week against Toledo before they travel to Coral Gables against the Hurricanes.

The Hawkeyes will have their annual rivalry battle with the Iowa State Cyclones before they host a solid Pittsburgh squad in two weeks.

Time to Panic?

What a close cal!!

The Auburn Tigers may be the so called defending National Champions, but their defense was sliced and diced by the Utah State Aggies. 

Despite picking up the victory, Auburn was out-rushed by over a 100 yards with the likes of Kerwynn Williams and Robert Turbin gashing the new-look Tigers front seven.

Michael Dyer and Onterio McCalebb did not get the necessary touches with Auburn trailing most of the game, but they could not explode against a Utah State run defense that allowed 179 yards per game which ranked 88th last season.

Luckily, new starting quarterback Barrett Trotter threw three touchdowns in the come from behind victory

Auburn gets another home games next weekend only this time it will be against a much more talented Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Bulldogs demolished Memphis in their first game 59-14.

Can Auburn pull another Houdini act in the closing moments or today's comeback victory a telltale sign of things to come?