NCAA Football Week 1 Wrap-Up: Packing up the Grill

The first week of the college football season is in the books. Extended over the entirety of the Labor Day weekend, the kickoff to 2013 left us with little time to scrub away the charred remains, toss the spent coals and head on the road to next week’s slate of games.

Each week the Tailgater crew — John Mitchell, Matt Strobl and yours truly — will consolidate its writing from over the weekend in one convenient location, packing up the news and notes from the best (and worst) games of the week.

 

Best and Worst of Week 1 [Matt Strobl]

After a grueling offseason (waiting really is the hardest part, people) we finally got back into gear with week 1 of college football.  As seems to be the norm these days there were plenty of surprises, a handful of marquee matchups, and some absolutely jaw-dropping individual performances.

Since Boise burst onto the scene as a regular BCS-buster (and, in fact, contender) the team has built a reputation for being highly competitive with the AQ-conference schools.  The Broncos have won more than their share of high-profile games against established power programs, and even in losses have rarely looked outmatched.  That all changed in week 1; the Huskies took Boise behind the woodshed in a dominating victory….

[CLICK TO READ ARTICLE]

 

Heisman Watch (John Mitchell)

The 2013 college football season got off to a fast start with several brilliant performances around the nation. Doing a Heisman Watch after one week is rather pointless because many of the guys on this list won’t be there at season’s end, and I will inevitably leave someone off who will be a serious contender for the award by November.

But, I’m going to do it anyway. Throughout the season, I’ll break the Heisman candidates into four different categories: the front runners, those just off the pace, those falling off the pace, and the dark horses….

[CLICK TO READ ARTICLE]

BCS Buster Power Rankings (Zach Bigalke)

After Northern Illinois’ improbable run to the Orange Bowl last season, a loss is no longer a death sentence for BCS Buster hopefuls in this final season of the standings. Just like the race for the BCS championship game, a loss hurts far less when it occurs early, so teams that fell this weekend could still potentially become a final Buster before the College Football Playoff turns the question from “If?” to “Who?” after this year.

Over its 16 years of existence, the BCS has done everything possible to consolidate the money and prestige of the marquee bowl games in its purview for the powerhouse schools of the sport. But with each subsequent BCS Buster tenaciously building upon the story, we have reached a tipping point where mid-majors have finally earned at least one guaranteed piece of the pie…

[CLICK TO READ ARTICLE]

 

Tailgater Top 25

RANK	LAST WK	TEAM	POINTS
1	1	Alabama (3)	75
2	2	Stanford	71
3	6	Clemson	69
4	4	Oregon	67
5	3	Ohio State	62
6	7	South Carolina	56
7	10	LSU	54
8	9	Louisville	53
9	8	Texas A&M	52
10	13	Florida State	49
11	11	Oklahoma State	42
12	12	Florida	41
13	14	Michigan	39
14	5	Georgia	31
15	17	Notre Dame	28
15	18	Oklahoma	28
17	19	Texas	24
17	21	UCLA	24
19	24	Northwestern	21
20	NR	Washington	20
21	22	Baylor	18
22	15	TCU	11
23	25	Northern Illinois	9
24	20	Nebraska	7
24	30	Miami (FL)	7

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Fresno State (6), USC (6), Western Kentucky (4), Michigan State (1)

[CLICK FOR FULL BREAKDOWN OF BALLOTS]