College Football Rankings 2017: Projected Top 25 after Week 1

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 02: Bo Scarbrough #9, head coach Nick Saban, and Jalen Hurts #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate with the Chick-fil-A Kick-Off Game trophy after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 24-7 in their game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

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NEW ORLEANS, LA – SEPTEMBER 02: LSU Tigers running back Derrius Guice (5) rushes the ball during a football game between the LSU Tigers and the BYU Cougars in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans Louisiana on September 2, 2017. (Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

13. LSU Tigers

Ranking coming into Week 1: No. 13

Playing the role of the Alabama Crimson Tide against the LSU Tigers in the 2012 BCS National Championship on Saturday night against the BYU Cougars is … the LSU Tigers.

Just like when the Bayou Bengals couldn’t get past the 50-yard-line in their rematch with the Crimson Tide in the title game five years ago in the same building, BYU never had a chance of crossing midfield against the Tigers on Saturday night in a relocated game because of Hurricane Harvey.

Derrius Guice did his thing in his first start of the post-Leonard Fournette era and ran 27 times for 122 yards and two scores in LSU’s dominant 27-0 victory over the Cougars on Saturday night.

Despite how bad BYU’s offense looked against the Tiger defense, the latter unit deserves a ton of credit for how strong they looked. They held the Cougars to just 97 total yards. BYU had the ball for just barely over 18 minutes and converted just two of their 10 chances on third down. It was every bit as dominant as the box score made it look like it was.

It was a de facto home game for the Tigers, but it was an excellent start to the season for Ed Orgeron’s bunch. There’s still some tough games down the line — at Florida, at Alabama, at Tennessee — but not too many teams are going to want to play against this defense.

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