Big J's College Football Recaps: Week 1

By Jonathan Gillespie, College Football Correspondent and resident Hokie

College football is back and it feels so good! I might gain a few pounds this time of years due to snacks and beers, however, they are pounds of joy. Once the fall weather comes back all will be right with the world. Though the weather seemed to disappoint, the games certainly did not! Here are my takeaways from week 1 in college football.

History Was Almost Made Again

During the early weeks of the season, ranked teams have a major fear in the back of their mind: “Please don’t let us be the big upset of year.” Well, for two teams that nightmare almost happened. First Michigan State almost lost Utah State. Michigan State has 19 returning starters and had no reason to wait until late in the 4th quarter to pull ahead of Utah State.

The other and much scarier upset that almost upset was Appalachian State and Penn State.

11 years to the date of when App State pulled off the one of the greatest upsets in college when they beat #4 Michigan, they almost did it again. Penn State had to score a touchdown in the final minute to send the game to overtime. The Nittany Lions ended up winning in OT. Those poor Penn State fans probably came close heart attacks.

“U” Might Be Overrated When…..

I am not going to lie, I am not a huge University of Miami fan. I despise “The Turnover Chain” but i will go into that at a later date. All last year there was talk about how the U of the past might be returning. They did pull off an impressive win streak last season but things completely fell a part at the end of the season. They seemed more like the Poo than the U. So when they came in ranked #8 to start the season I was a bit confused. Well, LSU completely dismantled them this week. We might need to pump the brakes a bit on the Miami bandwagon. Time will tell if the U is back.

Don’t ask Nick Saban Too Much

"You gotta pick one, Nick: Pizza or wings, which is better?"
 

The biggest topic coming into the season for Alabama was who will start for them at QB. Will it be the hero of national championship Tua Tagovailoa or the upperclassman Jalen Hurts who has a record of 21-2 as starter. It’s a tough choice. In the first game he played both and when asked at the end of the game who would start coming next week. Nick Saban in as much tact as stubborn teenager told the reporter to “Quit Asking Him”. Television gold!

UVA Might Be the 3rd Best Team in Virginia

UVA destroyed Richmond. I am happy to see the program get a win to start the season. In my opinion this gives UVA the lofty position of the third best football in Virginia. This of course behind JMU and Virginia Tech.

The Hokies Were Impressive

Coming into this season I had a feeling that this would be the hardest year in coach Justin Fuentes career at Virginia Tech. The NFL draft really depleted the Hokies on defense and the offense is still young. To make matters worse, they started the season against an FSU squad that will be hungry and wanting to move on past the disaster that was last season. There was so much positivity swirling around Florida State and they had the talent to match.

Well, I shouldn’t have doubted the Hokies. The defense for the was impressive. They kept FSU out of the endzone and continued “Beamer Ball” with a blocked punt TD. What a huge win to start the season! The Hokies still need to work on quite a bit. The offense did stall at times and in the second half. There was plenty of wasted opportunities to seal the deal in the game but Tech failed to come away with points. This will need to be fixed if they are to maintain success and possibly see them on top of the Coastal Division of the ACC.

I am so happy that college football is back! It’s the most wonderful time of the year, I don't care what anyone says about Christmas. This is way better.