We finally got a taste of competitive football (kind of). The NFL preseason has now wrapped up and we are a week and a half away from the NFL Opening Kickoff, but this weekend we got to watch a few NCAAF games. Headlined primarily by #13 Norte Dame facing off against Navy in Dublin, and #6 USC vs. San Jose State.
ND vs. Navy:
Though just a one-week sample, the Irish offense looks completely revamped with transfer QB Sam Hartman at the helm. It's easy to overreact to what you see in the first game of a season; it's only natural after several months since last year, and wondering what you have in your transfer QB. So, on one hand, you shouldn't read too much into what you saw from Hartman and the Notre Dame offense in a 42-3 obliteration of Navy in Dublin, Ireland. On the other hand, it's been a while since we've seen a Notre Dame offense look as dangerous and explosive as Manti Te'o facebook messages with a man.
The Irish scored touchdowns on their first five possessions and did so in a variety of ways. The first few saw the Irish watch their offensive line blow Navy's front seven off the line of scrimmage and run the ball down the Midshipmen's throat. At one point, Parker was so confident in his team's ability to run the ball that they handed it off to Audric Estime on a third-and-10. He easily picked up the first down.
The ex-Wake Forest QB finished with as many incompletions as touchdowns (4) and spread the ball to eight different receivers. It was a stark contrast to what we saw last season when the Irish offense never seemed to recover from the injury to starter Tyler Buchner in the second game of the season. With Drew Pyne at quarterback and a lack of explosive playmakers outside the hash marks, defenses were content to load the box and see what the Irish could do.
Way too early for Irish fans to blow their load, but defenses who play ND will have to draw up some new schemes this season to try and contain Hartman. Wouldn't be shocked if they find a way to make it to the College Football Playoff.
USC vs. San Jose St.
Again, it's easy to overreact to the season opener, and I'm no different than anybody else. I had what might be a major overreaction, or it could turn out to make me look like a brilliant CFB mind.
USC has returning Heisman Trophy winning QB, Caleb Williams still under center and rocking a new hairstyle. This isn't the overraction, he just cut his hair. While their offense was mostly unstoppable while its defense was hit-or-miss as the Trojans dispatched San Jose State 56-28, with Williams finishing (18/25 278 yards 4 TDs), he was not the best player on the field on Saturday.
No, that was freshman Zachariah Branch, who finished his college debut with 232 all-purpose yards and a touchdown catch. He also tallied 162 return yards on special teams, including a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Maybe it's the USC jersey, but he reminded me of Reggie Bush in his prime.
"Branch was the No. 7 overall player in the 2023 class, and based on what I saw, he may have been underrated. The comparison he received from 247Sports recruiting analysts due to his size, speed, position and ability to score from anywhere on the field was Tyreek Hill"- @CBSsports
The way Branch was moving was flawless and left the defense in slow motion. It was almost if it was a game of NCAAF on Xbox 360 back in the day and you were playing the computer on Rookie mode. So, yeah, just in case the Trojans didn't have enough talent on offense with Williams, they could have a Bush clone on their hands as well. This won't be the last time USC scores 50 points in a game this season.
Team Of The Weekend:
UMass beat New Mexico State 41-30, ending the team's 15-game losing streak against FBS opponents as well as snapping a 24-game losing skid on the road (it had been the longest active streak at the FBS level). It was also the first time UMass opened its season with an FBS win since the 1984 season. What I'm getting at is that UMass pulled off something it doesn't do very often, which made me happy. The Minutemen have really struggled the last few years, and it's always nice to see a team turn things around.
