Week one of college football is in the rearview, but it feels like we’ve somehow already experienced a full season’s worth of drama. This week, we’ll dive into the (lack of) updates about Iowa’s quarterback battle, the “Bail Mary” in Ann Arbor, and the stakes of this weekend’s Ohio State-Texas game.
Iowa Hawkeyes
The best part of going to Iowa, a program desperately trying to convince people that it can run a competent offense, is that even when they win 40-0, there is still plenty to nitpick.
After starting the game with three touchdowns on three drives, the Hawkeyes took their foot off the gas right as quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski subbed in for Hank Brown. They did this specifically to make me, a Hecklinski fan, look like an idiot in front of my friends who consider me informed when it comes to Iowa football.
Hecklinski went 7/16 for 76 yards and an interception. Brown, who started the game, was 12/20 with 129 yards and a touchdown.
Based purely on the box score, Brown looked like the better quarterback. Based on the eye test, Brown looked more composed. Based on Monday’s depth chart, professional fence-sitter and Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz must not have been satisfied.
This time though, I agree with him. Realistically, Iowa was never going to learn enough in 30 uncompetitive minutes to decide who was truly the better quarterback. I wish Ferentz kept alternating drives between his quarterbacks in the second half, but there’s always time to do that when we’re up by five scores against Iowa State this weekend.
Michigan Wolverines
“The game isn’t over until the clock says zero”, NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce once said. That might be true in basketball, but here in college football, we do things a little bit differently.
In case you haven’t heard, Western Michigan upset directionless Michigan at the Big House in a gritty 12-7 slugfest. That was until the referees decided that Michigan, like the banks in 2008, was too big to fail.
After review, the referees, the Big Ten, and maybe the devil himself found an extra second for Michigan. The Wolverines predictably executed the ensuing Hail Mary to win the game.
To their credit, Western Michigan took the high road and acknowledged the loss. The general public did not.
The most likely outcome is that nothing comes from this. I could also see this game being treated as a phantom loss for Michigan, affecting their standing with AP and playoff voters while still nominally being a win in the scorebook. This weekend, they’ll get waxed by #11 Oklahoma and rightfully put in their place.
I’ve always preferred the NFL to college football, and it’s because something like this would never happen there.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Favored by over 50 points against Ball State, Ohio State won by 53. Generational wide receiver prospect Jeremiah Smith continued to live up to the hype with 151 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and pickleball enthusiast Julian Sayin dished out 320 total yards to his receivers.
This weekend, #1 Ohio State faces a steeper challenge at #4 Texas. The Buckeyes beat the Longhorns 14-7 at home last season in a defense-dominated contest that may have been the deciding factor in why Texas missed the cut for the playoff.
In response, the Longhorns spent heavily in the transfer portal, assembling a group of weapons for Arch Manning on par with what his Uncle Peyton had when he tossed 55 touchdowns with the 2013 Denver Broncos.
It’s an early contender for game of the year, which is a shame because it kicks off at the same time as Iowa-Iowa State.
Roundup
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Rutgers, who are usually brought up most often at the end of the sentence “At least we’re not ___”. The Scarlet Knights not only managed to lose to UMass (0-12 last year), but lost big, 37-21. Either UMass is that good or Rutgers is that bad. Or it’s week one, and nothing makes sense. Welcome back to college football.
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