College Football Week 1 Overreactions: Texas, Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame All Fall

Week one of the college football season already had midseason vibes, with four different top-10 teams falling to start the year. This isn’t 2008 anymore; all of these teams could easily make the playoffs^[1], but several showed serious concerns.

Which of these teams should be most confident moving forward, and who needs to clean up their act if they think they’ll be in the playoff picture this year?

Texas: Loss at Ohio State, 14-7

Before this game, if you told Texas it would have more rushing yards, more passing yards and only give up 14 points to the defending national champions, it would take that deal.

Well, that’s precisely what happened, yet the Longhorns managed to lose in Columbus. Texas still appears to be a team with playoff upside, but there should be high levels of concern in Austin.

Two words: Arch Manning^[2].

Ohio State put out a game plan to keep Arch in the pocket and make him beat them with his arm — and he absolutely could not. Ohio State’s defense could very easily be the best in the country, but Manning had all day to throw, and the running game looked solid throughout. If he can’t start playing better, Texas has a very low ceiling. Fortunately, the floor is still relatively high thanks to an elite defense and a strong run game.

Alabama: Loss at Florida State, 31-17

After a tough loss at Florida State, everyone is jumping ship on Alabama way too fast.

Most people, myself included, vastly underrated the Seminoles — and especially quarterback Tommy Castellanos^[3]. The 2024 season might’ve just been a worst-case scenario for FSU, and now they’re right back in the ACC title mix this year.

Still, the offensive line and defensive line play should be very concerning for Kalen DeBoer and the Tide. Ty Simpson wasn’t a superstar, but big-time drops and constant pressure made life difficult in his first start in a hostile environment.

Unlike Manning, Simpson’s teammates really let him down rather than the quarterback missing throws. Alabama’s O-line looked rough, and on defense, Castellanos made the Tide’s pass rush look foolish on multiple big runs.

Those types of issues can be cleaned up as the season goes on, so don’t fall off Bama just yet.

Clemson: Loss vs. LSU, 17-10

The good news for Clemson is that the defense is as good as advertised. The bad news is that the Tigers might have exposed their most significant weakness in a home loss to LSU.

Clemson is a team that lacks depth. When Brian Kelly started running tempo, that lack of depth up front showed. Since moving from South Bend to Baton Rouge, this felt like the first time Kelly outcoached another household coach.

Cade Klubnik made some huge throws in this one, but he was rushed all day. Clemson had zero ability to run the ball, and Klubnik made a couple of costly mistakes^[4] that LSU capitalized on.

In two weeks, Clemson heads to Georgia Tech to face a gritty but less talented opponent than LSU — which might be a national contender. If the Tigers still can’t run the ball in that one, then it’s time to sound the alarms.

Notre Dame: Loss at Miami, 27-24

Jeremiyah Love had 10 carries for 33 yards.

Miami went into the portal this offseason and rebuilt its defensive front, but that doesn’t mean Notre Dame shouldn’t be wildly concerned with its inability to run the football.

CJ Carr looks like a far more capable passer than Riley Leonard, but this team’s identity needs to revolve around running the ball. If that doesn’t happen, Notre Dame simply isn’t a contender.

Additionally, I was high on Carson Beck entering this season. It’s hard to say if Notre Dame’s pass defense was the bigger issue or if Beck — with more weapons this year — might just be a sneaky outstanding player^[5].

The good news for the Irish: they have a huge rebound opportunity with Texas A&M coming to South Bend, and I have zero confidence the Aggies will be any good.