“Listen to the thunder, hear the winds roar, Hurricanes a-comin’ board up the door.”- Riders in the Sky
It’s the Tuesday after Labor Day—Fall has begun. Week 2 of college kicks on Friday night. Week 1 of the NFL kicks Thursday night. But quickly, a glimpse back…
First full week of college football is in the books after the “#10th ranked” Florida State Seminoles were defeated by Boston College on primetime dropping them to a devastating 0-2. I’m sure the pollsters will drop them to at least #23 this time. It’s another example of preseason polling being irrelevant, but I’ve ranted on that for years and things never change. Like I wrote in the preview, there were a few too many ‘Big Shiny School’ vs ‘Farm Town Tech’ games this weekend, and the scoreboard in those games tell the story. There isn’t much to recap except that Georgia demolished Clemson, Notre Dame pulled away late and beat A & M by double digits, Southern Cal beat LSU in Vegas, and as I just mentioned, a “10th ranked” team is now 0-2. That’s it. That’s the short version of what happened. I’m sure there are plenty of articles, blog posts, podcasts, and tv hits that are covering all of those things, but I’d like to share some things that I liked about the weekend.
There is far more to the football weekend that I didn’t like, but I’m focusing on the things that impressed me.
Mack Brown’s Tarheels are 1-0 after getting a gritty win on the road. That man is 73 years old, and it was impressive to see him energetically interject instructions up and down the sideline all game. His passion and care for the sport is still evident even after such a long career. He began coaching as a student for the ’73-’74 Seminoles and earned his first ‘real’ job in 1975 as the Southern Miss WR coach. A “near 50-year career” as Jason Benetti recapped the history of the National title winning coach before Thursday night’s rain delayed primetime game. What a legend. The first thing he said in the post-game interview was “I sure hate it for him,” in regards to the Minesota kicker missing the game winning field goal as time expired. He then praised both teams’ effort in the game saying “both teams deserved to win this one” before closing with a few positive thoughts about his team moving forward and addressing Max Johnson’s injury. It has now been confirmed that the 23-year-old QB is out for the year with a broken leg, but at the time details were sparse and nothing was made certain. Brown showed his coaching ability in getting the courageous road win in tough conditions without his starting QB at the end, and both his wisdom and class in the post game as he was gracious to the home team and also respectful of his injured players privacy. I just typed two long sentences ranting about how meddling media outlets ask coaches the same questions every time there is an in-game injury even though they know full well that most likely they don’t know the answer, and even if they did ‘its none of their business’ in that moment, but I thought better of it. Keep it positive. He also coaches one of, if not my favorite player from the weekend, but more on Jahvaree Ritzie in a minute. Mack Brown is a great coach on field and deserves all the praise he receives, but the most inspiring thing about him is that he still has the purpose fueled energy to pour himself into the lives of young men at the sprite age of 73. That’s the real stuff. On Jahvaree Ritzie, he is a 6’4” 290lbs defensive tackle with the closing speed of an NFL defensive end. He had 3 impressive sacks, but his stats don’t tell the entire story of how much he impacted the game every time he was on the field. Ritzie is my kind of player, and the kind of player that can work himself into a top 10 pick with more performances like that. He looks the part.
What else? Well, the Hurricanes look dangerous. The kind of dangerous that has everyone along the eastern coastline stocking up on water and batteries while it surges and swells over the Atlantic. The kind of storms that the new family on the street that recently moved there from Wisconsin would be paying close attention to, but the person that has lived there for at least twenty years just sees as something that will ‘eventually blow over.’ Just like the real hurricanes that build and swell over the warm Atlantic, the Hurricanes inside the Coral Gables locker room seem to be doing the same. Cam Ward at QB, Damien Martinez at RB, the 9 year veteran Cam McCormick at TE, a fast swarming organized defense, and a slew of talented receivers led by another one of my favorite players from the weekend, Xavier Restrepo. This Wes Welker/ Tyler Lockett esque slot receiver is crafty, and especially shifty after the catch. His 7 catches for 112 yards and a touchdown led the talented Canes receiving corps.
This team is explosive at seemingly every position, and with their toughest road game out of the way, it isn’t crazy to say that they will run the table in the regular season. Sure, slip ups happen in the college game, but there isn’t much danger lurking in their upcoming schedule and, this team resembles more of a pro team than college. They look like full grown men, not college kids, and most of them are. Now, it’s easy to say, “It’s just Miami” or “Mario (Cristobol) can’t get it done,” something I have said in the past. These thoughts and other criticisms are justified and warranted as the Canes have earned such a reputation. I just looked it up, and Miami has won 1 of their last 9 bowl games only beating West Virginia in 2016 and losing to Louisiana Tech 14-0 in 2019. Not quite the national champion pedigree their team in 2001 had so doubts about this current team are expected. After all, its only week one. But…This hurricane might be for real, and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium might not be the last away stadium these Hurricanes leave in rubble. And, after watching Miami completely dominate the home team Gators inside “the Swamp,” well, I think the college football world needs to prepare themselves because come playoff time, a category 5 might be making landfall.
Michigan looks dangerous. Well, most of the team. They need to figure out some things at QB and the passing game, but their defense is full of playmakers, they have the best kicker in the country (Dominic Zvada), and an absolute tank in the back field (Kalel Mullings). Fresno St took them toe to toe for about three quarters, but couldn’t come up with enough offensive creativity to unlock the stalwart Wolverine defense called by DC Wink Martendale. The Wolverines were led by their defense, running game and field goal unit in the second half and eventually won 30-10, although it was only 13-3 entering the 4th and only 16-10 with 10 minutes remaining. It was the running game that closed out the game. The before mentioned Kalel Mullings, #20 for Michigan, along with the entire run blocking unit, knows how to close out a game. The most impressive Wolverine drive came in the 4th when they were leading by a mere six points. Mullings had at least three runs of 5-7 yards in a row before breaking a 21 yard chunk play. He’s an angry runner. Finished through tackles and punished the Fresno defensive backs for getting in his way. His tough runs and the Michigan team blocking closed out the 30-10 home win. The Bulldogs from California did showcase a player worth mentioning. Sophomore wide receiver Jalen Moss, (no relation to Randy from what I can find), ended up with 6 catches for 97 yards, but what impressed me were his hands, body control, toe tapping, and moves after the catch. He reminded me of Justin Jefferson at LSU a few years ago, and the announcers poured on their own praise during the NBC broadcast comparing him to Fresno St alum Davantae Adams. I guess we will watch his year closely.
There is so much that happens in a college football weekend. More than I can watch and certainly far more stories to tell than I can write, but these are just a couple of impressive things from the weekend from my perspective. There are more teams that impressed than just Miami, Georgia to name one, but there will be a time to highlight the current dynasty that Kirby Smart has compiled as well as the other impressive teams along the way, but for now, this is it. The college football story is just beginning, with weeks of action and drama yet to unfold…Let’s see where this story goes.
SingleHighSports Players of the Week:
North Carolina DT Jahvaree Ritzie 6 tackles, 3 sacks
Miami WR Xavier Restrepo 7 catches for 112 yards and a TD
Michigan Rb Kalel Mullings Rushed for 92 yards.
Fresno St WR Jalen Moss 6 catches for 97 yards.
Michigan Kicker Dominic Zvada 3/3 45, 52, 55 all center cut. Big leg.
North Carolina Kicker Noah Burnette 4/4 on field goal attempts including one from 52 in the Tarheels 19- 17 road win Thursday night at Minnesota
Find the humor and keep on movin’
Whit W.