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Week 1 Assessment
Posted on 9/5/25 at 6:35 pm
Posted on 9/5/25 at 6:35 pm
This is the first installment of my weekly breakdown. I’ll try to get it out earlier in the week as we move forward.
First, I tip my hat to Auburn, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, LSU, and South Carolina who all played quality competition week one which every fan should appreciate.
This is not a ranking of opponents. It’s an assessment on how they did this week, as well as prior weeks.
I don’t have the time to watch all the games, so for the games I didn’t watch, it is hard to find concerns, so I will freely admit, there will be a concern bias for the games I did watch.
The categories are playoff team, playoff contender, met expectations, failed to meet expectations, and grave concerns. This is not a prediction on how the season will play out. It’s where things stand today (and I do predict a lot will change as the season goes on).
It’s week 1, so we don’t really know how our teams will do, but we also don’t know how our opponents stack up either. This could affect placement down the road. As an example, we don’t know much about FSU this year. Maybe they are a great team and this will turn into a quality loss for Bama, but they could also not be that great which could also affect Bama down the road.
P4 stands for Power 4 Conference, and G5 stands for Group of 5 conference.
P4 > G5 > FCS - you won’t get credit from me for G5 and FCS competition. You can only lose credit if you don’t meet expectations to lowered tiered opponents.
Here we go for week 1….
Playoff Team
LSU (1-0)
Opponent: Clemson (P4)
Score: 17-10
Weekly Status: Playoff Caliber Win
LSU looked the best out of the SEC week 1 in my opinion. Assuming Clemson is a top tier team, going on the road and pulling out a win is a solid start. Defense looked really good. Offensive line looked good (which was a big question mark). Only scored 17, but they played what was believed to be another top tier defense. Battled hard and finished off the win. Took on a probable playoff team and beat them at their place
Texas (0-1)
Opponent: Ohio State (P4)
Score: 7-14
Weekly Status: Quality Loss
Manning didn’t meet expectations - not even close. Is it because he isn’t as good as advertised or does Ohio State have a great defense or a little bit of both? I personally feel the media overhyped him, but he isn’t a scrub either. He has an entire season to grow, so we shall see. The defense will keep them in most games (if not all of them), and they have talent all over the field. They will overpower lesser teams but can they compete against a good D? If Ohio state really is a top 3 team, losing to them by 7 on their home field isn’t too shabby. Time will tell.
Playoff Contender (haven’t seen enough yet)
Georgia (1-0)
Opponent: Marshall (G5)
Score: 45-7
Weekly Status: G5 win
I didn’t watch this game. It’s not clear how good Marshall is, but Georgia did what they were supposed to do against G5. Georgia is likely a contender or playoff team, but they need to play a more talented team before I move them up.
Tennessee (1-0)
Opponent: Syracuse (P4)
Score: 45-26
Weekly Status: P4 win
I was very concerned about the new qb after the fiasco in the off-season. It felt like lazy recruiting after UCLA took their qb. Turns out I was wrong, and he looked pretty good. Not sure how good Syracuse is, but they are a better opponent than a lot of teams played week 1. Defense and offense looked good.
Met Expectations
Missouri (1-0)
Opponent: Central Arkansas (FCS)
Score: 61-6
Weekly Status: FCS Win
Missouri put up lots of points but only gave up 6 to an FCS opponent. Qb in contention to start got hurt but the other one that started looked good. Defense was solid.
Ole Miss (1-0)
Opponent: Georgia State (G5)
Score: 63-7
Weekly Status: G5 Win
I didn’t watch but Ole Miss scored a bunch of points and only gave up a touchdown against an inferior opponent.
Florida (1-0)
Opponent: Long Island University (FCS)
Score: 55-0
Weekly Status: FCS Win
I didn’t watch but scored a bunch and didn’t allow any points against an FCS opponent. Am I the only one that has fever heard of this school?
Mississippi State (1-0)
Opponent: Southern Miss (G5)
Score: 34-17
Weekly Status: G5 Win
I didn’t watch but State scored a decent amount of points and gave up 17 to a G5 opponent. Normally, I would put this under another category, but I giving them some leeway after a tough season last year.
Vanderbilt (1-0)
Opponent: Charleston Southern (FCS)
Score: 45-3
Weekly Status: FCS Win
I didn’t watch but Vanderbilt scored a bunch of points and only gave up a field goal against an FCS opponent.
Arkansas (1-0)
Opponent: Alabama A&M (FCS)
Score: 52-7
Weekly Status: FCS Win
I didn’t watch but Arkansas scored a bunch of points and only gave up a touchdown against an FCS opponent.
First, I tip my hat to Auburn, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, LSU, and South Carolina who all played quality competition week one which every fan should appreciate.
This is not a ranking of opponents. It’s an assessment on how they did this week, as well as prior weeks.
I don’t have the time to watch all the games, so for the games I didn’t watch, it is hard to find concerns, so I will freely admit, there will be a concern bias for the games I did watch.
The categories are playoff team, playoff contender, met expectations, failed to meet expectations, and grave concerns. This is not a prediction on how the season will play out. It’s where things stand today (and I do predict a lot will change as the season goes on).
It’s week 1, so we don’t really know how our teams will do, but we also don’t know how our opponents stack up either. This could affect placement down the road. As an example, we don’t know much about FSU this year. Maybe they are a great team and this will turn into a quality loss for Bama, but they could also not be that great which could also affect Bama down the road.
P4 stands for Power 4 Conference, and G5 stands for Group of 5 conference.
P4 > G5 > FCS - you won’t get credit from me for G5 and FCS competition. You can only lose credit if you don’t meet expectations to lowered tiered opponents.
Here we go for week 1….
Playoff Team
LSU (1-0)
Opponent: Clemson (P4)
Score: 17-10
Weekly Status: Playoff Caliber Win
LSU looked the best out of the SEC week 1 in my opinion. Assuming Clemson is a top tier team, going on the road and pulling out a win is a solid start. Defense looked really good. Offensive line looked good (which was a big question mark). Only scored 17, but they played what was believed to be another top tier defense. Battled hard and finished off the win. Took on a probable playoff team and beat them at their place
Texas (0-1)
Opponent: Ohio State (P4)
Score: 7-14
Weekly Status: Quality Loss
Manning didn’t meet expectations - not even close. Is it because he isn’t as good as advertised or does Ohio State have a great defense or a little bit of both? I personally feel the media overhyped him, but he isn’t a scrub either. He has an entire season to grow, so we shall see. The defense will keep them in most games (if not all of them), and they have talent all over the field. They will overpower lesser teams but can they compete against a good D? If Ohio state really is a top 3 team, losing to them by 7 on their home field isn’t too shabby. Time will tell.
Playoff Contender (haven’t seen enough yet)
Georgia (1-0)
Opponent: Marshall (G5)
Score: 45-7
Weekly Status: G5 win
I didn’t watch this game. It’s not clear how good Marshall is, but Georgia did what they were supposed to do against G5. Georgia is likely a contender or playoff team, but they need to play a more talented team before I move them up.
Tennessee (1-0)
Opponent: Syracuse (P4)
Score: 45-26
Weekly Status: P4 win
I was very concerned about the new qb after the fiasco in the off-season. It felt like lazy recruiting after UCLA took their qb. Turns out I was wrong, and he looked pretty good. Not sure how good Syracuse is, but they are a better opponent than a lot of teams played week 1. Defense and offense looked good.
Met Expectations
Missouri (1-0)
Opponent: Central Arkansas (FCS)
Score: 61-6
Weekly Status: FCS Win
Missouri put up lots of points but only gave up 6 to an FCS opponent. Qb in contention to start got hurt but the other one that started looked good. Defense was solid.
Ole Miss (1-0)
Opponent: Georgia State (G5)
Score: 63-7
Weekly Status: G5 Win
I didn’t watch but Ole Miss scored a bunch of points and only gave up a touchdown against an inferior opponent.
Florida (1-0)
Opponent: Long Island University (FCS)
Score: 55-0
Weekly Status: FCS Win
I didn’t watch but scored a bunch and didn’t allow any points against an FCS opponent. Am I the only one that has fever heard of this school?
Mississippi State (1-0)
Opponent: Southern Miss (G5)
Score: 34-17
Weekly Status: G5 Win
I didn’t watch but State scored a decent amount of points and gave up 17 to a G5 opponent. Normally, I would put this under another category, but I giving them some leeway after a tough season last year.
Vanderbilt (1-0)
Opponent: Charleston Southern (FCS)
Score: 45-3
Weekly Status: FCS Win
I didn’t watch but Vanderbilt scored a bunch of points and only gave up a field goal against an FCS opponent.
Arkansas (1-0)
Opponent: Alabama A&M (FCS)
Score: 52-7
Weekly Status: FCS Win
I didn’t watch but Arkansas scored a bunch of points and only gave up a touchdown against an FCS opponent.
7
Posted on 9/5/25 at 6:35 pm to DrKnievel
Failed to Meet Expectations
Auburn (1-0)
Opponent: Baylor (P4)
Score: 38-24
Weekly Status: P4 Win with Concerns
Auburn played a quality opponent week 1, but the defense didn’t meet the eye test. Offense looked greatly improved. The bad news is Baylor had more yards receiving than Auburn had receiving and rushing. The good news is Baylor only rushed for 64 yards on the ground. Maybe I’m discounting how good Baylor could be, but that looks bad to me. Auburn’s pass defense has to improve heading into SEC play.
I’m also not ready to anoint Baylor a good team one game into the season. If they really are good, have a great passing attack, and contend for a conference title, this win will look great for auburn and their playoff hopes, so let’s see how this plays out over the next several weeks: both Baylor’s offense and Auburn’s defense.
Oklahoma (1-0)
Opponent: Illinois State (FCS)
Score: 35-3
Weekly Status: FCS Win with Concerns
I didn’t watch the game so this is high level. 35-3 didn’t seem impressive against an FCS Illinois State. Defense appeared to do well, and offense appears to be improved. However, I expected more of a beat down in terms of score. How improved is the offense really? It’s week 1 with a lot of new faces, so maybe they are still working the kinks out. Will they continue to improve week to week? Their first real test will be Michigan this week, and this should tell us more whether we should be concerned or not as we move towards SEC play.
A&M (1-0)
Opponent: UTSA (G5)
Score: 42-24
Weekly Status: G5 Win with Concerns
Reed started slow and made some bad throws, but looked improved and moved the ball. Decision making looked solid. Transfer receivers looked great; however, the running game (which everyone thought as a strength) was not heavily used and was not overly effective. Could be due to scheming by UTSA, but still didn’t look good when you can’t maul a G5 team. The biggest concern is the defense still has problems with the run (especially in the middle). A&M did what they were supposed to, but it’s concerning what will happen in SEC play or even Notre Dame if they don’t solve the run defense and leverage the run more. I’ll assume they are average until they prove they are not.
South Carolina (1-0)
Opponent: Virginia Tech (P4)
Score: 24-11
Weekly status: P4 Win with Concerns
Played a quality opponent, and after the first drive, I thought we had another playoff team. Well, that faded fast as the game became a defensive slugfest. The D played well only giving up 3 field goals. As amazing as Lanorris looked at times, the offense struggled for a majority of the game besides the first drive and the long bomb for a touchdown. They passed their test, but the offensive production was not consistent at all. They will need to solve this to get to a contender or playoff team.
Grave Concerns
Alabama (0-1)
Opponent: FSU (P4)
Score: 17-31
Weekly Status: Bad P4 Loss
This is a weird one. The team they played went 2-10 last year, but FSU now has a virtually, completely new team through the transfer portal. We will have to see how both teams play moving forward to really understand this, but bama was highly favored and lost by 14. It’s still early, but this didn’t inspire confidence to get to the playoffs - quite the opposite.
Kentucky (1-0)
Opponent: Toledo (G5)
Score: 24-16
Weekly Status: Bad G5 Win
I didn’t watch the game, but Toledo was 7-5 last year. So, this was a very uninspiring win against lesser competition. 10-2 at halftime and played them even in the second half. If they don’t fix things quick, bad things are on the horizon.
What did I get wrong? What did I get right? What did I miss? How did you see the past week? Also, would appreciate thoughts on the games I did not watch.
Let me know if I have any factual errors, argue away with any opinions I threw out, and let me know how you assessed week 1.
This post was edited on 9/5/25 at 6:37 pm
Posted on 9/5/25 at 6:44 pm to DrKnievel
Posted on 9/5/25 at 6:46 pm to DrKnievel
ISWYDT
Posted on 9/5/25 at 6:53 pm to DrKnievel
UCLA didn’t “take” Nico. Heupel tried to work with him and couldn’t, so he cut him. Nico greatly overestimated his worth and no decent school wanted him so he landed at UCLA at 1/3 the NIL and 1/10th the roster and staff talent.
Take me indeed.
Take me indeed.
Posted on 9/5/25 at 6:54 pm to jvilardo
OP I appreciate your assessment - it seemed accurate and most importantly impartial. Also the layout is nice. 
Posted on 9/5/25 at 6:54 pm to DrKnievel
I think all SEC teams should win this weekend
Pulling for you all!
Good luck
Pulling for you all!
Good luck
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:02 pm to DrKnievel
Great read(s). Should post Mondays and maybe do previews Friday. Keep up the good work!
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:04 pm to DrKnievel
You never heard of the Mighty Long Island Sharks?
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:05 pm to DrKnievel
Not a bad write up. I think you’re not giving Auburn enough credit though.
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:06 pm to Smokeyone
quote:
UCLA didn’t “take” Nico. Heupel tried to work with him and couldn’t, so he cut him. Nico greatly overestimated his worth and no decent school wanted him so he landed at UCLA at 1/3 the NIL and 1/10th the roster and staff talent. Take me indeed.
Also accurate.
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:06 pm to Wulfgar
Of course, we know Bama fans have trouble reading.
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:19 pm to Smokeyone
quote:
UCLA didn’t “take” Nico. Heupel tried to work with him and couldn’t, so he cut him. Nico greatly overestimated his worth and no decent school wanted him so he landed at UCLA at 1/3 the NIL and 1/10th the roster and staff talent.
Well - I wasn’t expecting that to be controversial. I was simply pointing out that QBs were swapped late in the year. I didn’t see, or claim, that Tennessee did anything wrong or bad here.
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:21 pm to DrKnievel
quote:
Failed to Meet Expectations Auburn (1-0) Opponent: Baylor (P4) Score: 38-24 Weekly Status: P4 Win with Concerns Auburn
Stopped reading the rest of this shite.
AU looked great.
This post was edited on 9/5/25 at 7:22 pm
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:23 pm to Volatile
quote:
Not a bad write up. I think you’re not giving Auburn enough credit though.
You may be right. I just couldn’t get past Baylor having more receiving yards than Auburn’s total yards, but it looks like a good win - I’m just not ready to trust Auburn or Baylor without seeing more.
This post was edited on 9/5/25 at 7:35 pm
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:37 pm to DrKnievel
Baylor looked like crap in their game. Defense played out of position, their “heisman” QB was less than stellar and to me, it was not due to Auburn’s defense.
We need Auburn to be a good team this season however and hope they’re better than shown last Saturday.
We need Auburn to be a good team this season however and hope they’re better than shown last Saturday.
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:47 pm to DrKnievel
quote:You didn't watch any games?
What did I get wrong?
Posted on 9/5/25 at 7:49 pm to DrKnievel
I'd say Auburn met expectations starting the season on the road at a P4 program. They may lead the SEC in rushing this year.
Posted on 9/5/25 at 8:04 pm to clamdip
quote:
They may lead the SEC in rushing this year.
Doubt they’ll have more rushing yards than Tennessee, but probably pretty close.
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