Oklahoma was overrated to start the season once again.
Yes, the Oklahoma Sooners are a talented football team with an exceptional recruiter in Bob Stoops and a legit heisman trophy candidate in Baker Mayfield. Yes, the Sooners proved unable to live up to their preseason ranking (no. 3) once again. The Sooners showed up to NRG stadium to play no.15 Houston thinking they were beginning a journey that would lead them to the College Football Playoff for a second straight season. Instead, they gave their faithful fans another dose of disappointment that has become all too familiar. Whether it was Texas in 2015 or Texas Tech in 2011, Stoops' teams have had a knack for showing up ill-prepared to play in games they are heavily favored in recent memory. Like I said all the talent in the world is there on both sides of the ball. It is the team's motivation that has come into question over the last five years.
Speaking of that, now no.6 Houston Cougar team, they are ready.
Prior to the season opener, there was much discussion about the University of Houston joining the BIG 12 as the conference looks to expand in order to qualify for a league championship game. Many that follow college football considered the idea of a non power five school could come into the BIG 12 and have any type of success asinine. The Cougars proved a lot of doubters wrong with a 33-23 win against a team many considered a front-runner to make the College Football playoff. Senior quarterback Greg Ward, Jr. threw his hat into the heisman race by throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns on perhaps the biggest stage of his career. It was also a huge boost to the program that freshman defensive tackle Ed Oliver decided to stay in his hometown and play for the Cougars. Oliver was ranked fourth in ESPN 300 recruiting rankings last year and showed why on opening weekend as he was virtually unblockable. When a top tier recruit spurns schools like Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU and Norte Dame among others, it can potentially take a football program to new heights. Not only could they play in the BIG 12 this season, they would probably win it.
Top tier quarterbacks just don't commit to LSU.
Coming into this season, many college football analysts picked LSU, not Alabama, to win the SEC West this season. They had All-American running back Leonard Fournette returning for what we assume will be another monster season, a big-time defense and junior quarterback Brandon Harris who most thought would take the next step. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the latter never came to fruition. Harris looked awful in the team's opening weekend loss to Wisconsin, throwing for only 131 yards and two interceptions. His inability to throw the ball down the field and make plays in the pocket proved detrimental to a team that had high aspirations. When you look at the recent history of LSU, you can't help but notice that they fail to recruit a big time quarterback year in and year out, despite recruiting elite players at nearly every other position. It is a bit of a mystery as to why Les Miles fails to ink quarterbacks that end up being among the best in college football. If he doesn't figure it out, it will be a long time before he hoists that gold trophy.
The SEC isn't as dominant as it once was.
From the 2005 season to last season, the SEC has won eight National Championships and anyone who would argue that the conference wasn't by far the best, would be dismissed as incompetent. Now however, it is a legit argument that the SEC--while they still have the best team in Alabama--is not the best top to bottom and is certainly not as dominant as it was five to 10 years ago. Tennessee's overtime escape against Appalachian State, LSU's loss to unranked Wisconsin, Missouri's loss to West Virginia and the comeback victory for Florida State over an Ole Miss team that lead by double digits goes to show that other conferences have slowly closed the gap. The trend may have started in 2013 when Florida State broke a seven-year streak of SEC National Championships and the momentum has been heading toward more parody ever since. It is great for the game and its fans to know that if a team doesn't play in the SEC, they still have a chance to win it all, but would likely have to beat a SEC team to get there.
Texas is on its way back, while USC still has a long ways to go.
The Texas Longhorns showed its fans why they should have hope for the future with a thrilling overtime victory against no. 10 Norte Dame. The two-headed monster at quarterback of freshman Shane Buechele and senior Tyrone Swoopes combined for five touchdowns as the Charlie Strong era seemed to finally launch that night. The Longhorns were routinely considered among the nation's best until they suffered two straight losing seasons. If the Longhorns can build off of the momentum that came with a huge opening weekend win, they could make some noise in the BIG 12 and possibly more. The comeback trail hasn't been as kind to the Trojans of Southern California. After all of the sanctions, lost scholarships and coaching changes behind them, the Trojans looked poised to re-gain the mystique they once had as being a perennial college football powerhouse. The opening weekend matchup against no. 1 Alabama seemed like the perfect time to announce to the world they were heading in the right direction. It was hard to see them come out of that one with a win, but a good showing would have done the trick. Unfortunately they didn't even have that. The Trojans flat out laid an egg. As if a 52-6 drumming wasn't enough, it was the way they lost. Once Alabama settled into the game the Trojans seemed ill-equipped to match the Tide's skill and intensity. The Trojans gained just 194 yards of total offense while Alabama gained 465. The talent is starting to make its way back to USC, but they have a long way to go in order to reach a level they once played at consistently.
