College Football Week 1: Top 25 lessons learned about the Top 25
21. Virginia Tech – The Hokies play on Sunday night and I’m looking forward to seeing what Justin Fuente does in his second year in Blacksburg. I’m curious to see how redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Jackson fares in his first start against a good West Virginia defense. He’ll rely heavily on Cam Phillips who should finish his season as the program’s all-time leader in catches and yards and a deep group of running backs, led by junior Travon McMillian.
22. West Virginia – All eyes are on Will Grier who makes his West Virginia debut on Sunday night. The Florida transfer looked like he was going to be the next Gator quarterback after starting 6-0 two years ago as a redshirt freshman. Two years later, Grier is ready to resume his once-promising career and he’ll have a potent offensive system that should accentuate his passing skills. Look for Grier to put up big numbers this year, but he’ll be tested in the opener vs. Virginia Tech.
23. Texas – How many message board posts were there about firing Tom Herman after the Longhorns lost 51-41 to Maryland? Herman was supposed to turn the five-win roster he inherited from Charlie Strong and immediately turn the program around. After Herman became only the third Texas coach to win his first game and the 51 points allowed were the most Texas has allowed in a coach’s first game. Texas is in good hands with Herman and better days are ahead, so don’t panic yet, but this was about as bad of a debut as you could envision.
24. Washington State – When all the games are over and you’re not ready to call it a night, there is a good chance you can catch some late-night action involving the Cougs. The Pac-12 is home to the best quarterbacks in the country with Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen at USC and UCLA, respectively, but Luke Falk had better numbers than both of them. Falk began his senior season 33-of-36 passing for 311 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers are actually pretty tame for the signal-caller who had 4,468 yards and 38 touchdowns on 70 percent passing last year.
25. Tennessee – The Vols play Georgia Tech on Monday night from Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. I tend to think Tennessee is playing for third in the SEC East and their window for a division title is closed for now after losing Josh Dobbs (and others) to the NFL. There is still talent on the roster but it’s up to Butch Jones and his coaching staff to develop that talent. That’s been the biggest knock on his tenure at Tennessee so far. He can get things off to a great start with a win against an ACC opponent on a neutral site with the nation watching on Labor Day.