Real Kato Blog: College Football 2013: Week 1 Recap

Michigan and N.C. State both win their openers handily.

Michigan 59, Central Michigan 9.
Michigan had no trouble with CMU on either side of the ball. Despite a couple of early interceptions, Michigan was able to move the ball consistently and make third-down conversions when they needed to.

The young interior offensive line held up all right. Zone blocking and pass protection looked good (Kyle Kalis in particular was a beast on a couple zone running plays), but there's still some concern about the guards' ability to pull on the power running play.

Devin Gardner and Fitzgerald Toussaint looked solid. Gardner in particular looked very composed in the pockets, and except for his interceptions, made good reads and good throws all day long. Jeremy Gallon continued to show a connection with Gardner, grabbing 4 receptions for 47 yards. Derrick Green ran well as the backup tailback, and Shane Morris looked like a plausible backup playing in garbage time.

The defensive line didn't get a great pass rush without a blitz, so that's a bit of concern. But the secondary, for the most part, played above expectations. With both starting safeties out (Thomas Gordon serving a one-game suspension for an unspecified "violation of team rules", and Courtney Avery out with an injury), it was up to Josh Furman and Jarrod Wilson to step up, and thankfully, they played pretty well.

Heroes: Taylor Lewan, Cam Gordon, Devin Gardner.
Goats: Thomas Gordon for getting himself suspended.

Next game: a big night game against Notre Dame, 8:00 PM Saturday. ESPN College Gameday will be in Ann Arbor.

N.C. State 40, Louisiana Tech 14.
I'm happy to say that I was quite wrong about this game. N.C. State showed a lot of speed and athleticism, and that was too much for the Bulldogs. Louisiana Tech is the one that ended up making the big mistakes, turning the ball over twice in the red zone and giving up several long passes.

I was impressed with State's offensive efficiency and the running game out of the pistol. Even with starter Shadrach Thornton suspended, State racked up 237 yards on the ground, mostly from tailbacks Matt Days and Tony Creecy.

Starting quarterback Brandon Mitchell looked excellent in his debut, but was injured; he'll be out up to six weeks with a broken foot. Fortunately Pete Thomas was serviceable as the backup, passing for 212 yards. Thomas is not as athletic and not as accurate as Mitchell seemed to be, so it's still a downgrade; but as long as State can maintain its running game, they'll be all right.

The secondary did prove to be a bit of a concern, giving up a few long passes. We'll have to keep an eye on that down the road.

Next game: the Richmond ~~Fighting Eighth Graders~~ Spiders. Step up your scheduling, Wolfpack.

Other Notable Games
Some big FCS upsets this weekend, as Towson beat UConn, North Dakota State beat Kansas State, and Eastern Washington beat a ranked Oregon State squad playing at home.

#1 Alabama had little trouble handling Virginia Tech, winning 35-10. 14 points came on kick returns, though, and the Alabama offense looked a little sluggish. Might be hope for the Alabama opponents down the road.

#2 Ohio State didn't look sharp beating Buffalo 40-20. After jumping out to an early lead, OSU let Buffalo come within 10 in the third quarter, before putting the game away. I don't think this is the #2 team in the country... #2 in the Big Ten, maybe.

#8 Clemson beat #5 Georgia 38-35 in a back-and-forth thriller. Clemson has an outside chance at playing in the title game this year; Tajh Boyd is a difference-maker.

#12 LSU held off #20 TCU 37-27.

#14 Notre Dame beat Temple 28-6. Notre Dame looked pretty sluggish too... 543 total yards of offensive looks impressive, but 5-13 on third down conversions does not. Many of the yards came on big plays, not sustained drives. Meanwhile Temple had opportunities to score that they didn't capitalize on; this game could have been a lot closer. Next week's matchup against Michigan will be very interesting.

#18 Nebraska struggled to hold off Wyoming 37-34.

#19 Boise State got thumped by Washington 38-6. Maybe the Boise State magic is starting to fade?

#22 Northwestern knocked off Cal 44-30, despite missing both their starting quarterback Kain Colter and starting tailback Venrick Mark. Northwestern is a very dangerous team this year offensively; the defense remains suspect, though.

Michigan State showed it has a lot to work on, as it struggled to get by Western Michigan 26-13.

Penn State beat a pretty good Syracuse team 23-17.

Purdue is doing its hold off Iowa to claim last place in the Big Ten, with an opening 42-7 loss to Cincinnati.

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