The Big News
Jim Harbaugh’s First Game at Michigan
Jim Harbaugh, one of the most fiery, upbeat and hyped coaches we’ve seen in a long time, finally made his University of Michigan coaching debut against the University of Utah last Thursday.
Harbaugh’s return to Michigan has been one of the most discussed news stories over the course of this past off-season. Some people believe that he will soon become the best coach in college football again — like he arguably was at Stanford University a few years ago — while other people think he’s just a jerk. Either way it’s hard to deny he is a great coach.
Michigan fans love that Harbaugh has returned to his alma mater and believe that he is the key to leading Michigan football back to elite status. However, it looks like Michigan fans will have to wait a little bit longer, as the Wolverines lost to the Utes in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicates. Even after Harbaugh called the Utes “cupcakes” in a press conference leading up to the game, they still struggled and looked like nothing close to an elite football team.
It’s almost impossible to win when your quarterback throws three interceptions (one was a pick six), and that’s a lesson Harbaugh revisited this week. At the end of the day Harbaugh’s return to Michigan and college football as a whole was extremely underwhelming.
Quarterback Decisions: Ohio State Buckeyes
The reigning national champion, The Ohio State University, faced an unprecedented decision at quarterback this year.
One of their quarterbacks, sophomore J.T Barrett, was up for Heisman candidacy last year, after taking over for now wide receiver Braxton Miller, which ended early with an untimely ankle injury. Junior quarterback Cardale Jones’ first game was a 59-0 thrashing of Wisconsin, which won Ohio State a playoff bid. He then led them all the way to win the national championship.
While there were a lot of question marks leading into the season, the choice was clear Monday night when Jones came out to start against Virginia Tech. I believe that this was done mostly because Jones is the older player and is bound to leave Ohio State after this year, whether or not he plays.
Barrett has two more years left and wouldn’t get drafted very high without more playing time, leading him to come back and start after Jones leaves. Regardless of the controversy, Ohio State is the heavy favorite to repeat as national champions this year.
The Upsets
Northwestern Wildcats Over No. 21 Stanford Cardinals
Stanford was supposed to be a sleeper in the PAC-12 Conference this year; however, those hopes are probably gone after a loss to unranked Northwestern University. Stanford came up with almost no offense in a 16-6 loss to the Wildcats.
Texas A&M Aggies over No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils
A rough week for the PAC-12 continued with the Texas A&M Aggies cruising to an easy victory over Arizona State 38-17. Texas A&M has a history of upsetting a team week one, getting the Aggies faithful excited and then completely crashing later in the season (just look at last season’s week one win over the University of South Carolina and then their struggles over the course of the season). Either way, this was a big blow for the PAC-12 and a huge win for Texas A&M.
Top Five Teams After Week One
Despite only finishing the first week, and a lot can change throughout the season, here are my top five teams after week one.
- Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0, 0-0)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (1-0, 0-0)
- Baylor Bears (1-0, 0-0)
- TCU Horned Frogs (1-0, 0-0)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-0, 0-0)
