College Football Review 2022: Week 1

 Game of the Week: Florida (29) vs. No. 7 Utah (26) 

Utah came into Gainesville with the hopes of padding their resume with a signature win, in a hostile environment, and to put Utah and the PAC-12 back in the national conversation.

Quarterback Anthony Richardson had different plans. 

In what proved to be the game of the night, Florida instantly became the sentimental favorite in possibly all of college football with their nostalgic play. Why nostalgic? Look at the box score and sophomore sensation Anthony Richardson with his 94.8 QB rating and over 100 rushing yards and three scores. Not saying he is the second coming of Tim Tebow, but the energy inside Ben Hill Griffin (and their 91,000+ fans) said otherwise. Florida may not be in the title contention this year, but there is potential in a top heavy SEC East. The Gators are becoming a must watch team. 

While we can get swept up in the nostalgia of a strong Florida program, we can’t forget that Utah was only a few yards away (and one errant throw) from winning the game. If Utah had won, it would have been that signature victory, and we would be talking about Utah being a top 5 team in the country. Unfortunately they did not get that last bounce to go their way, and may have to run the table in order get back into title contention. 

Player of the Week: Stetson Bennett, QB, Georgia (25-31, 368 yards, 2 TDs) 

You can look around the league and find players, especially quarterbacks, that had better numbers, but nobody had a more important performance than Stetson Bennett. When Georgia won its first national title since 1980 a season ago, many could argue the Bulldogs won in spite of Bennett’s ‘average’ play. Georgia had a great defense, but the offense, and more importantly the quarterback’s position was the team’s achilles heel. Not that Bennett lost any games for Georgia, but he certainly wasn’t winning it for them. 

Fast Forward just a few months, and Bennett appears to be a quarterback who will win more than a handful games this season. Bennett was electric, throwing the ball all over the Oregon Ducks in a 49-3 rout. Bennett made all of the throws you would want of your quarterback, throws Georgia seemed hesitant to have him throw a year ago. But now Bennett seems to have elevated his play to the level of Georgia championship status, making the Bulldogs poised to repeat in 2023. 

Disappointment of the Week: The PAC 12

Speaking of Utah and Oregon being on the wrong side of the Game of the Week and Player of the Week categories, the PAC-12 did not have the weekend they were looking forward to. Had Oregon at the very least played Georgia close, and Utah had taken care of the Gators in the swamp, we would be talking about the emerging contenders from the west (especially since USC looked explosive in their first game of the year). Now, it's more of the same, and any PAC-12 contender is on the way outside looking into this year’s playoff. It’s still too early to write them off, but it’s not too early to say they now have a large mountain to climb. 

Game to Watch: No. 20 Kentucky vs. Florida, 7:00 PM ESPN

Now if you want the best matchup of ranked teams, it will probably be No. 10 Baylor vs. no. 21 BYU (which rankings will shift after week 1 is completed, and Florida will more than likely be ranked) but all eyes are going to stay in Gainesville in week 2. We have to see if there is in fact magic with the Gators this year, and back to back wins against ranked teams just might prove it. Kentucky has a strong team of their own, with an outstanding quarterback in Will Levis who is looking to move up the draft boards. This will be his first big stage to do so, and the quarterback battle between Levis and Richardson could be as entertaining as see this season. 

Coach K’s Top 10:

Ranking	Team	Comment
1	Georgia	The defending champ may have an offense that matches their defense.
2	Alabama	Alabama took care of business in Week 1, and it will be a while until they are truly challenged
3	Ohio State	The offense did not look like a top 5 team, but OSU does typically struggle in September
4	Clemson	Clemson opens up on Monday against Georgia Tech, unless something crazy happens, they will stay at 4.
5	Texas A&M	The Aggies had to deal with a lengthy weather delay, but it wasn’t an overwhelming week 1 performance
6	Michigan	Michigan ran all over Colorado State, not that its very noteworthy, but the same recipe appears to be working in 2022.
7	Oklahoma	No Lincoln Riley, no Caleb Williams, no problem, Oklahoma is still Oklahoma
8	Notre Dame	The defense looked like a National Championship contender, the offense looked like it would struggle in the Big Sky conference. Notre Dame needs to find some potency going forward.
9	Baylor	Baylor’s defense looks tough once again, we may have some contenders coming out of an expiring Big 12.
10	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State is one of those contenders as well, and they could make some noise again in 2022.

2023 NFL Mock Draft:

Pick	Team	Player	Position	College
1	Houston	C.J. Stroud	QB	Ohio State
2	Atlanta	Will Anderson	DE	Alabama
3	Seattle	Bryce Young	QB	Alabama
4	New York G	Will Levis	QB	Kentucky
5	Chicago	Jalen Carter	DT	Georgia
6	New York J	Bryan Bresee	DT	Clemson
7	Cleveland	Jaxon Smith-Nigba	WR	Ohio State
8	Jacksonville	Cedric Tillman	WR	Tennessee
9	Washington	Myles Murphy	DE	Clemson
10	New England	Antonio Johnson	CB/S	Texas A&M