Winners and Losers: College Football Week 1

Week one of the college football season is in the books and we already have a plethora of story lines. Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from this past weekend:

Winners

• Todd Gurley. Can you say “early Heisman favorite?” Gurley amassed an astounding 293 all purpose yards against Clemson including a career high 198 rushing yards and a 100-yard kickoff return.

• Texas A&M. No Johnny Manziel? No problem! Kenny Hill threw for 511 yards and three touchdowns as the underdog Aggies bludgeoned the South Carolina Gamecocks.

• The Kansas Jayhawks. Did not have to play a football game. Huge win for them.

• The UCLA defense. Three defensive touchdowns, all in the SECOND QUARTER, as UCLA knocked off Virginia 28-20.

• The North Dakota State Bison. Should be asked to join the Big 12 after beating K-State last year and notching a victory over Iowa State this past Saturday.

• West Virginia and Oklahoma State. Both lost, but they each turned in gutsy performances in games where they were predicted to get blown out in.

Losers

• Vanderbilt. The ‘Dores were beaten senseless by Temple… at home. Not very “SEC” of them.

• Iowa State. The shine is all but off of Paul Rhodes at this point. They lost 34-14 to North Dakota State, and although there is no shame in losing to the Bison, a BCS conference team should never lose by three touchdowns to an FCS school.

• Wisconsin/The Big 10. The Badgers managed to blow a 17-point third quarter lead against a rebuilding LSU team. Ohio State trailed Navy in the second half before pulling away late and Purdue, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana won by a combined 46 points against powerhouses Western Michigan, Youngstown State, Northern Iowa and Indiana State.

• South Carolina. The pre-season pick to win the SEC East went down in flames at home on the SEC Network this past Thursday. Their defense surrendered 511 passing yards to a first-time starter at QB. You really have to question just how good the Gamecocks can be this season after that performance.