Week 1 CFB Takeaways: Florida, Clemson Face Big Questions

There was a lot to learn after the first full week of games, with some teams making big statements and others left with looming uncertainties.

Perhaps you’ve heard the adage before: More games are lost than are won. It’s a common refrain in college football to explain how incompetence can lead more to the result of a football game than anything else. Every week there are score lines that are unexpected, and the trickiest thing about it is how small sample sizes can make for flawed takeaways. But digging into Week 1’s notable results, we here at SI are determined to find the answer to the question: Which team does the final score say more about?

Utah 24, Florida 11 says more about: Florida

Utah fans, do not take this as a slight, because this win was a testament to the program’s culture. Competence is simply in the walls in Salt Lake City. There’s no other way to square the fact that this team rotated backup quarterbacks, didn’t have its best offensive weapon (in addition to multiple other starters), yet still managed the game effectively enough to put the Gators to bed without having to do too much on offense in the second half. Utah proved that they are who we thought they were, and you can add that to the list of times they’ve done so recently, like the Pac-12 title game eviscerations of USC and Oregon in the last two seasons, or the regular-season hurting of the then No. 3 Ducks (also in 2021).

With the Utes, you know you’re getting a team with a plan and an ability to execute it. Head coach Kyle Whittingham said his team has started too sluggish on the first offensive play of the season the last few years, so they decided to dial up a deep ball to Money Parks. It worked.

Bryson Barnes is getting the start at QB for Utah in place of the injured Cam Rising.

His first throw is a 70-yard touchdown to Money Parks 💣pic.twitter.com/2XvxzRbknN

— 247Sports (@247Sports) September 1, 2023

But you do not know what you’re getting from the Gators yet, as the culture Billy Napier is hoping to instill has certainly yet to take. You can look at the much-maligned double jersey number penalty, for instance, where the Gators were flagged for having two players (Jason Marshall Jr. and Tre Wilson) with No. 3 jerseys on the field at the same time. One was supposed to be wearing No. 33 according to the broadcast, but he wasn’t. And according to On3 Sports, a staffer handling special teams was working off a sheet that had Wilson’s old jersey number (21). But it would have been a penalty anyway, as Florida’s other No. 21, Desmond Watson, was on the field as well. It’s just an example of Florida’s struggles to run a tight ship at this early stage of Napier’s tenure despite the coach’s reputed high level of attention to detail. There were also backbreaking penalties in short-yardage situations that killed many drives or, in the case of the double-number fiasco, led directly to a Utah touchdown. The Gators gave Utah opportunities to win the game, and the Utes took them gladly, because Utah isn’t a team that makes crucial mistakes (but yours probably is).

Florida State 45, LSU 24 says more about: Florida State

Yes, Keon Coleman was electric, but behind his efforts lies the story of how a team can tweak staple plays to get into what they need to run to sustain drives and churn yards. Consider how Florida State adjusted to handle LSU’s outstanding interior defensive lineman, Mekhi Wingo, who repeatedly wrecked FSU’s most important play: counter.

The way FSU was running the play at the beginning of the game involved the backside guard and tackle pulling to the playside of the offensive line (referred to as G/T counter) in an attempt to create a convoy for the ball carrier. That means the center will have to “block back” on an otherwise unlocked defender. The block can be difficult to execute because with the guard and tackle vacating the space, an adept rusher can burst into what’s effectively a void. And Wingo certainly did that on multiple occasions.

Mekhi Wingo first-step quickness 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/FeZ96GKqTk

— Full-Time Dame 💰 (@DP_NFL) September 4, 2023

FSU eventually left the backside tackle in place and instead used the tight end to run what’s referred to as G/Y counter (with a guard and tight end pulling).

Last season #FSU RB Trey Benson averaged 4.4 yards after contact per rush, which trailed only Nicholas Singleton (4.7), in the FBS. pic.twitter.com/4oX4WRH3Be

— Nick Penticoff (@NickPenticoff) September 4, 2023

In an unsexy way, it proved good coaching over the course of 60 minutes. The Noles certainly didn’t set any rushing records on Sunday night, but they did show that they have counterpunches to what defenses can throw at them to run what they want, and eventually they’ll get it figured out. It’s how the Noles dropped the hammer in the fourth quarter, with 79 of their 135 rushing yards coming in the final frame to finally complete an offensive performance that was quite pass-centric (although undeniably explosive thanks to Jordan Travis, Coleman and Johnny Wilson).

They beat an LSU team that, as Brian Kelly said after the game, “thought we were the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs. I don't know what we thought, but we were mistaken.”

But this was a relatively depleted LSU team who didn’t have running backs Logan Diggs, John Emery Jr. nor Armoni Goodwin. On defense, corner JK Johnson broke his leg in training camp, and talented pass rusher Harold Perkins Jr. is going through considerable growing pains at linebacker where more is on his plate than simply pinning his ears back as an edge rusher. LSU was still without defensive lineman Maason Smith, although Jordan Jefferson played well. It all goes to show LSU’s not nearly as far along as the Noles are with respect to being a complete team.

Ohio State 23, Indiana 3 says more about: Indiana

Look, Indiana didn’t score much, and it’s understood that you need to do that in order to beat anyone—especially Ohio State. The Buckeyes debuted a new quarterback but saw their offense with all its firepower stifled by a surprisingly up-for-it Hoosier front. Indiana went portal shopping this offseason, adding defensive linemen Andre Carter (Western Michigan), Philip Blidi (Texas Tech), Lanell Carr (West Virginia) and Marcus Burris Jr. (Texas A&M) in addition to linebacker Jacob Mangum-Farrar (Stanford). All contributed to what became a frustrating day for the Buckeyes, and an early sign that, at least on one side of the ball, the Hoosiers may be something to be reckoned with.

Texas State 42, Baylor 31 says more about: Baylor

The Bobcats deserve praise for their first win over a Power 5 team, but this result spells major trouble on the horizon for Baylor this season if they can’t get the defense fixed. There is a gaping hole in Baylor’s front without either Siaki Ika or Jaxon Player at nose tackle. It continues a disturbing trend that had already started last year of an inability to get after the quarterback, and Texas State was able to give quarterback TJ Finley plenty of time to throw deep on numerous occasions. Next up is Utah, and if the Bears aren’t better up front for that game, look out.

Quarterback Blake Shapen will also miss multiple weeks, which is deeply concerning for the Bears on offense.

Duke 28, Clemson 7 says more about: Clemson

Clemson’s slip from the perch of college football’s true elites cannot really be ignored anymore, if you had been keeping your head in the sand and pretending everything was alright. The Duke loss was indicative of what the program has become, and it’s off the pace from the era in which Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence were flanked by NFL receivers to create an offense that at times seemed unstoppable. The defense is still good enough, but not so incredible that it can be the only thing this Clemson team can hang its hat on.

Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Sports

On Monday night, the Tigers often got in their own way, with three drives inside the 10-yard line that resulted in zero points after two turnovers and a missed field goal. Quarterback Cade Klubnik showed he was capable, and the run game was effective enough, as it seemed like running back Will Shipley added another gear of explosiveness. But the offense lacked the ability to generate explosive plays through the air, with only two completions traveling more than 10 air yards (and one of those was conceded by Duke because time was expiring at the half).

Duke’s offense played well, and quarterback Riley Leonard’s athleticism was on full display, but Clemson has serious issues when it comes to getting back to the College Football Playoff or even the ACC championship. The Tigers won’t be this bad in the red zone again, but they’re going to have to prove that they’re the Clemson of old, or at least something close to it. Because for all of Dabo Swinney’s well-founded beliefs in how he builds the culture of the program, solely relying on high school recruiting is not looking like it’s enough to get this roster where it needs to be.

Oregon State 42, San Jose State 17 says more about: Oregon State

Speaking of Clemson, it’s hard to separate their struggles on offense with the fact that Oregon State—led by former Tigers quarterback DJ Uiagalelei—was outstanding on the day, going 20-for-25 with three touchdowns. It’s not that Clemson wishes it had Uiagalelei back, but rather the fact that he could be dropped into a different offensive system and look like the good version of himself that was shown at times with his old school. Now, San Jose State isn’t the best competition, but the Beavers know what they are and executed well.

North Carolina 31, South Carolina 17 says more about: North Carolina

South Carolina, unfortunately, did not look like the outfit that stunned Tennessee and Clemson at the end of the year last season, but rather the team we’d seen much of the rest of the 2022 that struggled to generate explosive plays or protect Spencer Rattler adequately. The main cause for the Gamecocks’ offensive woes was the fact that North Carolina surprisingly came to play on defense with a stunning 16 tackles for loss (including nine sacks) on 70 total snaps. UNC took the Gamecocks down behind the line of scrimmage on nearly one quarter of their plays. It’s virtually impossible to run a sustainable offense like that, and South Carolina’s average third-down distance was 8.8 yards. We know what UNC’s offense is going to be, but if they’re going to play defense at any capable level—even if it’s not at this high level—they could be a really dangerous team.

Colorado 45, TCU 42 says more about: Colorado? Or TCU? Or the viewing public?

All these things came together in a perfect storm. TCU had to take Colorado lightly (which head coach Sonny Dykes basically said they did after the game). They had to play the game a certain way (sloppily in key moments with red zone turnovers and an abandonment of the run game at times in the first half that’s still perplexing), and we all had to be there to watch with whatever expectations we had heading into kickoff.

Deion Sanders silenced the Colorado doubters with the Week 1 win over TCU :: Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports

Some (myself included) expected Colorado to get steamrolled. Others (the betting public most notably) had heavy money on the Buffaloes to cover the large 21-point spread with a belief that Deion Sanders’s team would cash the checks his mouth had been writing all summer. Because Deion the coach is different from Deion the athlete when it comes to talking. When Sanders talked about how good he was on the field or the baseball diamond, he was the one to pay those words off. It was totally up to him whether he was going to turn up and perform on a given day and exhibit the best of his tremendous natural ability.

But this game was on them. It was on that group of college athletes, over 80 of them that had not played together before, to come together and play well. It was up to the organization he’d put together to be that catalyst for it, and it worked, almost to perfection on this particular day. They were the great unknowns, but we all know now at the very least they’re combustible enough with all that talent to be dangerous on offense against just about whoever they play. We’ll get to see whether Travis Hunter can keep up playing over 100 snaps on both sides of the ball, or if a different team will actually cover running back Dylan Edwards out of the backfield. The performance on Saturday means Colorado is going to remain must-see TV at least for another week, and arguably until at least October once they get through the USC game on Sept. 30.