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The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Wisconsin vs. Alabama

Even after an impressive win by Georgia last week, no one in the SEC can compete with Alabama. 

'Bama reigns supreme, OSU to get early test

“Welcome to college football Saturday” is a beautiful phrase. Hearing it means great games, fun performances by awesome players, rivalries and upsets are bound to happen. Even with all the excitement about the first week of games, often times like this past weekend, games turn out to be underwhelming. Thankfully, the slate of games this week is exciting. Let’s see what’s happening around college football.

“THE BIGGEST OPENER EVER” Does Not Live Up to the Hype

No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide versus No. 3 Florida State was supposed to be the game of the century according to many pundits. It featured two true blue bloods of college football in a game many prognosticators predicted to be a preview of a College Football Playoff game.

Instead, the Crimson Tide rolled over the Seminoles, 24-7, limiting the ‘Noles’ offense to only 250 yards. FSU sophomore quarterback Deondre Francois struggled given the pressure from ‘Bama’s front seven. And to make matters worse, late in the game Francois was carted off the field with a bad knee injury.

Alabaama’s defense painted over its offense’s poor showing, as sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts had only 96 passing yards and the Tide was 3-for-16 on third down conversions. However, it doesn’t seem to matter if the defense and special teams are as dominant as they were last week. Prepare for another year of Alabama winning ugly games by just strangling their opponents.

Not So Much “Texas Fight”

After transforming the Houston Cougars into the top Group of Five conference team thanks to a high-octane offense and great recruiting, Texas’ new head coach Tom Herman was brought in to change things immediately.

Against Maryland, the No. 23 Texas Longhorns looked just as bad as last year, losing 51-41 at home and leaving a lot of empty seats late in the fourth quarter.

The Longhorns started well too, with a pick six on their first defensive drive. However, Maryland scored 27 unanswered points, including a blocked field goal run back, and dominated Texas on both sides of the ball. Texas answered with its own blocked field goal return, but the score at the half was 30-14 in favor of the Terps.

Maryland ran all over Texas, gaining 263 yards on the ground. Texas might get pounded some more thanks to its tough schedule, as the Longhorns travel to USC between tricky games against San Jose State and Iowa State, and that’s before the meat of their Big 12 schedule even begins.

Ohio State vs. Oklahoma Round Two

After surviving a brief scare against Indiana, the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes will host the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners for the second leg of a home and home. Last year, the Buckeyes beat Oklahoma in Norman 45-24, but the Sooners might think they have more of a chance this year. Senior quarterback Baker Mayfield is back again, and had a near-perfect performance in OU’s 56-7 win over the UTEP Miners. Mayfield was 19-of-20 for 329 yards and three touchdowns and the Sooners had over 600 yards of total offense. Ohio State’s offense struggled early, but found its rhythm late against Indiana. College Gameday is traveling to Columbus in hopes of a fun offensive shootout.

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Early Battle Out West

After Christian McCaffrey left for the NFL, Stanford’s ground game stood to suffer. Still, junior running back Bryce Love has quelled those fears. Against Rice in Australia, Love took 13 carries for 180 yards, as Stanford’s rushing attack put up 287 yards en route to a 62-7 victory.

Meanwhile, No. 4 USC struggled against a P.J. Fleck-less Western Michigan team. The Broncos were ahead 21-14 in the third quarter after Broncos sophomore quarterback Jon Wassink caught a pass from his wide receiver for a touchdown. The Trojans eventually pulled in front thanks to a 28-point fourth quarter and won 49-31, but it was looking dicey for the Trojans, especially because sophomore star quarterback Sam Darnold struggled with no touchdowns and two picks. USC had its running game going, but it may be tougher against Stanford’s dangerous defensive front seven. This early-season game could go a long way to deciding the Pac-12 Champion as these two teams could play again in the Pac-12 Title game.

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