Week 1 - The Best Games and My Top 5 Heisman Candidates

(Rankings based off of the AP Poll)

  1. (5) LSU Vs (8) Florida State - Two Hesiman candidates, in prime time on ABC. What could be better in the first full week of College Football. Brian Kelly and LSU are starting their season against a College Football Playoff threat in Florida State. Jayden Daniels, who threw for 2,913 yards and ran for 885 more last year, is ready to take in the Seminoles in Orlando. This same game happened last year in New Orleans with Florida State coming out on top 24-23, after a blocked extra point. Daniels has the second best odds currently to win the heisman, and along with Malik Nabers, who went for over 1,000 yards last year, should go on a year this season. LSU’s offensive line was shaky against FSU last year, and Jared Verse ate up that offensive line. Verse is back and better than ever, and should get a few pressures and at least one sack. LSU also has one the best defensive players in Harold Perkins. He had 7.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles last year, but who will have a bigger impact on the the two heisman contenders? Speaking of the two heisman contenders, the other one is Jordan Travis. He threw for over 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns.  He had one of the best runs last year against Florida, and he still has his leading receiver and leading running back returning, so he has a lot of help. Which ever team wins will have a top 10 win, and which ever team loses will have their playoff chances be put in doubt. I think that Florida State gets the dub, 34-28. Jared Verse is just too scary, and I think he can get past an improved offensive line, but Verse is just too good. Odds: LSU -2.5, O/U 56
  2. (9) Clemson @ Duke - Even though this Duke team is not ranked, they can play like one. They were tied for 6 in the ACC preseason poll with Duke, but I think that they should be fourth or fifth. Riley Leonard is one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC, as he passed for a little under 3,000 yards and rushed for 700 yards. That was under Kevin John’s in his first season, and his coming back, so the offense should only improve from here. They scored 32.8 points per game, and only let up 22.1. They take on Clemson in Cade Klubnik’s first season as the starter. He played for most of the ACC championship game, and he played well, but he looked absolutely horrible against Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. Garret Riley is now the offensive coordinator at Clemson, so we’ll see if that has a difference. It should, and I think that Clemson gets the win, 45-33. Odds: Clemson -13, O/U 55.5
  3. Colorado @ (17) TCU - We all know that Fox Noon Kickoff is not as good as College GameDay, but that doesn’t matter in this case. It’s Deion Sanders first game as Colorado’s head coach, and he’s trying to revive Colorado Football before the leave for the Big 12. At QB, Deion Sanders brought his son from Jackson State, Shedeur Sanders, and his other son Shilo Sanders at Safety. He also brought along Travis Hunter, who was the number one recruit in 2021 on 247Sports and Rivals. Along with those 3, 50 more players transferred in and a total of 86 new players joined the team. TCU is coming off of their best season since 2010, where they went 13-0. TCU made their way all they way to the national championship, where they lost 65-7. They lost Max Duggan, who finished second in Heisman voting last year. TCU also lost Kendre Miller, Quentin Johnston, and Dee Winters, who had 7.5 sacks last year. TCU is going to look different, but it is a home game for the Frogs, and they win 21-17. Odds: TCU -20.5, O/U 63.5
  4. (21) North Carolina Vs South Carolina - GameDay is going to Charlotte for this Carolina matchup Drake Maye is probably the second best quarterback in the nation, and he faces Spencer Rattler and South Carolina, who ended last year on a tear, upsetting Tennessee and Clemson before losing by seven to Notre Dame in their bowl game. North Carolina lost their last four games of the season, but after a much needed offseason, UNC will be back, and Drake Maye especially should be better. North Carolina lose Josh Downs and Antoine Green to the NFL, but a few wide receivers like J.J. Jones, Gavin Blackwell, and Kobe Paysour should step up. South Carolina is led by Spencer Rattler, who was a Heisman candidate entering his 2021 season, but he didn’t play well, was benched, and then transferred to South Carolina. He balled out last year, throwing for over 3,000 yards, 18 touchdowns, but 12 interceptions. He has a lot to improve on, but he should have South Carolina as one of the best teams in the SEC East. Beamer Ball should have South Carolina hanging around in this game, but North Carolina gets the win, 35-28. Odds: UNC -2.5, O/U 64.5
  5. Boise State @ (10) Washington - Washington is kicking off their last season as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. They’re going to leave for the Big Ten at the end of this season, but can they go out with a bang? They face Boise State, one of the best group of 5 teams. They won 10 games last year, and have had a winning record each season for the past 25 seasons. After taking over four games into last season, Taylen Green started at QB for the rest of the season, throwing for 2000 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He went 8-2 while starting, and led the Broncos to a Frisco Bowl win over North Texas. Washington also has a hood quarterback, and he is probably the second best quarterback in the Pac-12, and one of the best in the whole country. I’m talking about Michael Penix Jr, who threw for over 4,600 yards last year, 31 touchdowns,  and ran for four more. After some average to bad years at Indiana, he transferred out to Washington to play under Kalen DeBoer, who was Penix’s offensive coordinator in 2019 at Indiana. He flourished last year, and helped Rome Odunze go for over 1,000 yards last year. Odunze returned, and this pairing is looking to strike big again. Washington wins it, 42-32. Odds: Washington -14, O/U 58.5
  6. Florida @ (14) Utah - Another week one matchup from last year, as Florida with a new transfer quarterback takes on the back to back Pac-12 champions, Utah. After the departure of Anthony Richardson, Graham Mertz transferred in after four years at Wisconsin. Now, he has the keys to the offense of one of the most historic college football programs. Both of Florida’s running backs return, as they ran for a combined 1,560 yards last year. Florida also returns their leading receiver last year, Ricky Pearsall. As for Utah, they keep their quarterback, Cameron Rising, who’s coming off of an ACL injury. It’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts after the injury and losing his leading receiver, Tight End Dalton Kincaid. He still has two very good wide receivers in Devaughn Vele and Money Parks. As for Utah’s defensive side, their top 3 leaders in tackles return. Graham Mertz still has a lot to prove, so Utah gets the dub, 27-20. Odds: Utah -5, O/U 44.5
  7. UTSA @ Houston - This is Houston’s debut game as a member of the Big 12, and UTSA’s first game as a member of the American Athletic Conference. Both of these teams were once the best Group of 5 teams. UTSA went 11-3 last year and 11-2 in 2021. Both of these teams were led by Frank Harris, who threw for 4,000 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. He also ran for 600 yards and 9 touchdowns, showing that he is a true duel threat quarterback. As for Houston, they were led by Clayton Tune, who also threw for 4,000 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He left for the NFL, and so did Tank Dell, one of the best wide receivers last year. Donovan Smith, the Texas Tech transfer is the starting quarterback for Houston, and he played alright for the Red Raiders. Houston let up 32.2 points per game, and UTSA only allowed 25.9. Both teams still have the same defensive coordinator, so not much will change there. I think Frank Harris keeps on airing it out, and UTSA wins, 45-35. Odds: UTSA -2, O/U 60
  8. Nebraska @ Minnesota - In a battle of new and old in the Big Ten West, who will reign supreme? Matt Rhule in his first game as a Big Ten head coach, or PJ Fleck starting his 7th year as Minnesota’s head coach? Along with bringing in Matt Rhule, Nebraska also had Jeff Sims transfer in from Georgia Tech, and he won the starting job. Their leading running back, Anthony Grant, is returning, and he ran for 915 yards and 6 touchdowns last year. Minnesota’s running back, Mohamed Ibrahim, rushed for more yards than Tanner Morgan threw for. They both left, and Athan Kaliakmanis is taking over at quarterback, while Sean Tyler, a Western Michigan transfer will take over at running back. Minnesota has a lot of new, but one thing stays constant, and that is PJ Fleck. Minnesota gets the dub, 17-14. Odds: Minnesota -7.5, O/U 43
  9. Louisville Vs Georgia Tech - The Jeff Brohm Era at Louisville will officially kick off on Friday against Georgia Tech. Jack Plummer is player under Jeff Brohm for the second time, going back to when they were both at Purdue from 2019-2021. Plummer then transferred away to Cal last year, and after Brohm left for Louisville, so did Plummer. Georgia Tech also has a new transfer quarterback, and that is Haynes King. He’s transferring in from Texas A&M, where he got some playing time last year, but not a lot. Louisville had one of the best defenses last year, as they allowed 19.2 points per game last year, which was 11th overall. Their defensive coordinator, Bryan Brown, left with old head coach Scott Satterfield to Cincinnati. Both of Purdue’s co-defensive coordinators from last year, Ron English and Mark Hagen, also joined Brohm at Purdue. Georgia Tech had one of the worst offenses last year, and only scored 17.2 points per game. They have a new offensive coordinator, Buster Faulkner. I think Jack Plummer fits in well at Louisville, and they beat Georgia Tech 28-14. Odds: Louisville -7, O/U 50
  10. Ball St @ Kentucky - After losing Will Levis, Devin Leary transferred in to Kentucky from N.C. State, and he should play phenomenal under Mark Stoops. They also lost running back Chris Rodriguez, who ran for 900 yards last year. They did return their top 3 leading receivers from last year, and had a solid defense, allowing 19.2 points per game. They bring back some of their best linebackers, J.J. Weaver and Trevin Wallace. This defense should hold strong against a MAC team, but we say this last year when Kentucky played Northern Illinois and won 31-23. Ball State might not be able to replicate way NIU did, because they lost running back Carson Steele and quarterback John Paddock to the portal. They play Georgia next week, so they could be a looking ahead to that game, and get destroyed by Kentucky. Kentucky wins, 40-13. Odds: Kentucky -26.5, O/U 49
  11. West Virginia @ (7) Penn State - The first Big Ten team to play on NBC this season will be Penn State, led by their two sophomore running backs, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.  They will help out Drew Allar, starting his first game as Penn State’s quarterback after backing up Sean Clifford last year. Allar passed for 9,100 yards and 98 touchdowns while in high school, and ran for 9 touchdowns in his senior year. Manny Diaz is the defensive coordinator for Penn State, and he’s one of the better defensive minds in the country. Along with Kalen King, who’s one of the best corners in the country, the Penn State defense only allowed 18.2 points per game, which was 10th overall. They take on West Virginia in prime time, and have their eyes set in the College Football Playoff. West Virginia head coach Neal Brown has been there too long, as they have always been around .500 and last won a bowl game in 2020 against Army. JT Daniels transferred out of Morgantown, and as of writing this Brown hasn’t told the media the starting quarterback. There’s a lot wrong with West Virginia, but a lot right of the Nittany Lions. They win 56-17. Singleton and Allen have a field day, and they both go well over 100 yards. Odds: Penn State -20.5, O/U 49.5
  12. Washington State @ Colorado State - Cameron Ward and Washington State will face off against Colorado State in what could be Washington State’s last season as a member of the Pac-12. They’ve yet to jump to a different conference like much of the Pac-12, but I’m not here to talk about that. Ward was one of the best FCS quarterbacks in 2021, and transferred to Wazzu before the 2022 season. He threw for 3,231 yards last year, 23 touchdowns, and ran for 5 more. Running back Nakia Watson also returns, and he ran for 769 yards last year. Colorado State went 3-9 last in Jay Norvell’s first year. The Rams were picked to finish 7th overall in the Mountain West preseason poll. They are led by quarterback Clay Millen, who threw for 1,910 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions last year, in one of the nations worst offense. They scored 13.2 points per game, which for contrast is worse than Iowa’s offense, and Iowa’s offense is notoriously bad. Washington State gets the win, 34-10. Odds: Washington State -11, O/U 55.5
  13. Coastal Carolina @ UCLA - UCLA lost quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but did add Carson Steele through the transfer portal. He rushed for 1,556 yards and 14 touchdowns in all 12 games last season. He should take some pressure off of Ethan Garbers, who is starting this game, but Dante Moore, the freshman, and Collin Schlee, the transfer from Kent State, will also play. All Coastal Carolina has to do is stop the run. They let up 133.5 rushing yards per game last year, and 1.7 touchdowns per game. However, they have an all new coaching staff, who could always make or break a team’s season. Grayson McCall does return for his 5th year after being one of the best Group of 5 quarterbacks the past three years. Coastal Carolina should hang around early, but UCLA pulls away at the end, 28-14. Odds: UCLA -14.5, O/U 66
  14. Louisiana Tech @ SMU - Louisiana Tech is coming off of a 22-17 win over FIU in week 0, and Hank Bachmeier played well, but not exceptional. He threw for 333 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 pick, going 34/44. Louisiana Tech also made FIU quarterback Grayson James go 5/14 for 4 yards and a pick. Not all teams that Louisiana Tech will face are going to be this bad in the passing game, but SMU did lose Tanner Mordecai to the portal, so Preston Stone is stepping up at quarterback. He was a four year starter in high school, but has had little playing time in college. Because this is his first season starting, I think Louisiana Tech can get after him, even though they were one of the worst defenses last year. They were predicted to finish 4th in the CUSA preseason poll. SMU wins, 17-10. Odds: SMU -20, O/U 66.5
  15. (18) Oregon State @ San Jose State - Oregon State is going to be rolling out transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei after a rocky career at Clemson. He threw for 2,521 yards, 22 touchdowns and 7 interceptions last year. He joins a team that ran the ball for 40 attempts per game last year, so we’ll see if he becomes a glorified game manager or one of the better Pac-12 quarterback. Both Damien Martinez and Deshaun Fenwick, who both went  over 100 carries and both scored 7 touchdowns. Martinez had nearly 1000 yards and Fenwick had 550 yards. This team will probably keep on running the ball, but with an actual quarterback that can make things happen, we don’t know. San Jose State is facing another Pac-12 team, as they got destroyed last week by USC. Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro threw for just under 200 yards and 3 touchdowns. There are a lot of hopes and dreams for this San Jose State team, but facing two ranked teams to start the season is certainly not good. Oregon State wins, 34-13. Odds: Oregon State -16.5, O/U 55
  16. Virginia Vs (12) Tennessee - The first full year(hopefully) for Joe Milton. Milton end lest year throwing for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns as Hendon Hooker’s main backup. Hooker got hurt and Milton played well in the top games he started, including the Orange Bow against Clemson where he threw for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns, getting the MVP. Along with Hooker leaving, leading receiver Jalin Hyatt left for the NFL, as did Cedric Tillman, who was Tennessee’s leading receiver in 2021. They return their two running backs that both went for over 700 yards last year. Milton has an incredibly strong arm, and we’ll se if he can torch this Virginia secondary. Speaking of Virginia defense, this defense had a total of 5 interceptions last year. On the offensive side, Virginia rolled out Brennan Armstrong at quarterback last year, and he did not play well. He transferred away to N.C State. Tony Muskett, a transfer from Monmouth will be the starting quarterback for UVA this year. He threw for just under 2,000 yards last year, 17 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. Joe Milton and Tennessee just have too much fire power, and they win 35-12. Odds: Tennessee -28 O/U 56 
  17. Northwestern @ Rutgers - The face off between the 2 worst Big Ten teams, one from the west and one from the east. Rutgers went 4-8, and 1-8 in the Big Ten, as their only Big Ten win was against Indiana. The major story line about Northwestern is the hazing scandal that resulted in Pat Fitzgerald being fired. But I’m not here to talk about that. Northwestern went 1-11 last year, and was just downright horrible, on and off the field. An interesting fact is that under Greg Schiano, Rutgers is 10-4 in openers, and have won 3 straight openers. Gavin Wimsatt will get the nod at quarterback for Rutgers, even though he didn’t play well last year, he should improve and I think Rutgers gets the win, 17-3. Odds: Rutgers -6.5, O/U 39.5
  18. Buffalo @ (19) Wisconsin - Wisconsin kicks off the Luke Fickell era, and along with Tanner Mordecai, this Wisconsin team should be good. Braelon Allen is one of the better running backs in the country, and is definitely the best in the Big Ten, as he joins the list of great Wisconsin running backs. He had 1,242 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns, all on 230 carries. They take on one of the better teams in the MAC, Buffalo, who went 7-6 and won their bowl game last season. They do have a new offensive and defensive coordinator, which may shake up a few things, but they were picked to finish 3rd in the MAC east division. Wisconsin will trample Buffalo, because at the end of the day, Wisconsin is still a Big Ten team and Buffalo is a MAC team. Wisconsin wins 42-14. Odds: Wisconsin -28, O/U 54
  19. Rice @ (11) Texas - Quinn Ewers is trying to start his Heisman campaign this season, which might be his last due, to Texas recruiting Arch Manning, who was one of the best high school players while he was playing. Quinn Ewers played in 10 games last year due to injury against Alabama. In those games he threw for 2,177 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. Texas lost both of their top backs, Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson, which will be a big hit at running back, but star wide receiver, Xavier Worthy returned for his Junior year. Texas also retains most of their receiving corps, with Jordan Whittington, who caught 50 balls for 650 yards, and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders who had 613 yards and 5 touchdowns. Linebacker Jaylan Ford also returned, and he had 62 solo tackles, 57 assisted tackles, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 4 interceptions. He should get after new Rice quarterback JT Daniels, who’s on his 4th team in 5 years. He was at West Virginia last year, and takes over for TJ McMahon, who transferred away to Marshall. I don’t really think that anything is going to change for Daniels at Rice, so Texas gets the win, 49-7. Odds: Texas -35.5, O/U 58.5
  20. (3) Ohio State @ Indiana - Obviously this Ohio State team is going to win. I’m not going to beat around the bush. Marvin Harrison Jr. is in the Heisman race, and Kyle McCord was named the starter over Devon Brown on Tuesday. They also return Miyan Williams, TreVeyon Henderson, and Dallan Hayden, who all went for over 500 yards running the ball. As for Indiana, they are not good. They went 4-8, but quarterback Connor Bazelak did transfer out to Bowling Green. Ohio State run, throws, and just destroys Indiana, 42-10. Odds: Ohio State -30, O/U 59
  21. Nevada @ (6) USC - USC won in week 0, but their defense did not look good. They let up 28 points to San Jose State, and let up 29.2 points per game last season, but it didn’t matter because they scored 41.4 points per game. Caleb Williams is leading the Heisman race, but how can this defense play against Nevada. Nevada went 2-10 and kept head coach Ken Wilson. It was his first year, but 2-10 is absolutely horrible, especially because the went 0-8 in conference play. They had a bad defense, and even a worse offense. Nevada has kept the same offensive coordinator and their co-defensive coordinators, so this Nevada team should not be good, even after adding Brendon Lewis from Colorado to be their starting quarterback. USC wins, 52-17. Odds: USC -38, O/U 66
  22. Northern Illinois @ Boston College - The Phil Jurkovec era is over at BC. He had a promising first year there in 2020, but then played subpar. in 2021 and 2022. In his time at Boston College, Jurkovec had 5,183 passing yards, 35 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. He also only played in 24 games in a possible 35. Taking over for him is Emmett Morehead. Morehead played quite a bit last year, throwing for 1,254 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. Boston College could also not run the ball well, as leading back Pat Garwo III rushed the ball 132 times for 400 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jurkovec was sacked 25 times and Morehead 21. The Eagles offensive line was horrible last season, and hopefully they can improve on that and improve on a 3-9 season. As Northern Illinois, they had a great offensive line, which is tough when NIU played 3 different quarterbacks. In total, those 3 quarterbacks got sacked 12 times. The offensive line also let 4 different running backs go over 280 rushing yards. Their top running back, Harrison Waylee transferred to Wyoming, but Antario Brown and Gavin Williams will step up. Brown was the second leading back last year and Williams is a transfer coming in from Iowa. The starting QB will be Rocky Lombardi, who is entering his 7th year and 4th year at NIU. This NIU team should be good as  long as they don’t get the injury bug that plagued them last year. Boston College gets the win, barely, winning 24-20. Odds: BC -8.5, O/U 50.5
  23. Stanford @ Hawaii - Hawaii is coming off a lose in the mainland, but they return home and face Stanford, one of the worst Pac-12 teams. They went 3-9 last year, and head coach David Shaw resigned at the end of last season. They hired Troy Taylor, who was the head coach at Sacramento State for the past 4 years. Last week, quarterback Brayden Schager threw for 351 yards, 3 touchdowns, but 2 interceptions. Hawaii only lost by one touchdown, but Vandy was just too powerful for the Rainbow Warriors. They did get three sacks, so hopefully they can get after whoever Stanford starts at quarterback, as Taylor hasn’t told the media. Whoever it is though will have to fix this offense that scored 21.3 points per game. I think Hawaii gets the upset at home, 21-20. Odds: Stanford -3, O/U 55.5
  24. Miami of Ohio @ Miami of Florida - The battle of the Miami’s. The last time this game happened was 1987, when Miami of Florida won 54-3. The RedHawks bring back nine defensive starters, and they only allowed 22.6 points per game, which was 35th in the nation. They start Brett Gabbert for the fifth year straight. Miami of Florida starts Tyler Van Dyke, who has been pretty good the past 2 years, but after going 5-7 in Mario Christobal’s first year as the head coach of Miami, the whole team is hungry. Miami Florida destroys Miami Ohio, 34-10. Odds: Miami FL -16.5, O/U 45
  25. Fresno State @ Purdue - The Ryan Walters era kicks off for Purdue is West Lafayette on Saturday and with Hudson Card starting this Purdue offense should be sneaky. Fresno State also has a new quarterback, Mikey Keene, who’s taking over for Jake Haener. This should be a good game, even though Purdue has pretty new coaching staff, they get the dub, 28-21. Odds: Purdue -3.5, O/U 47


My top 5 Heisman candidates 


Not much changed in week 0, so my top 5 will stay the same.

  1. Caleb Williams
  2. Drake Maye 
  3. Michael Penix Jr.
  4. Blake Corum
  5. Jordan Travis
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