November 8, 2024

No. 9 Clemson stunned at Duke; Colorado, No. 8 Florida State get huge wins | Ceiling, floor for each NFL team

Clemson #Clemson

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🔥 Good morning to everyone but especially … Getty Images

THE COLORADO BUFFALOES AND FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES

College football is back, and so, too, are Colorado and Florida State … at least after one week. The Buffaloes and the Seminoles were the two biggest winners in Week 1.

We’ll start with Deion Sanders’ squad, which has some players who are certainly ready for prime time, much like their coach’s nickname. Colorado stunned TCU, 45-42, in a back-and-forth thriller that included several jaw-dropping performances.

  • Shedeur Sanders, who followed his dad from Jackson State, threw for a Colorado-record 510 yards as well as four touchdowns, including a 46-yarder to Dylan Edwards that put the Buffaloes up for good.
  • Edwards had four touchdowns (three receiving, one rushing). He was one of four Buffs with at least 100 yards receiving, along with Travis Hunter, Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn, Jr. Only two Colorado players had a 100-yard receiving game all of last season.
  • Hunter — another Jackson State transfer — might be the biggest star of all. A former No. 1 recruit, he became the first player with at least 100 receiving yards and an interception in the same game since Miami’s Quadtrine Hill in 2002. Hunter played 141 snaps (80 defense, 61 offense).
  • We have highlights galore … including Coach Prime’s rousing pregame speech.
  • I won’t rain on any Colorado fan’s parade, but there’s still a long way to go, Tom Fornelli reminds us.

  • Fornelli: “What I overlooked when evaluating Colorado’s 2023 prospects was that while depth is critical for a football team, if it wants to win a lot of games and compete for conference titles or a playoff berth, you can still win a good number of games with some Serious Dudes. Colorado has some Serious Dudes in Sanders, Hunter, Edwards, and Horn. … My concern is how going so hard out the gate could affect the team down the road. So, do I believe in Colorado? Next game.”
  • For now, Colorado already has as many wins as last year, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

    Florida State, meanwhile, bulldozed LSU, 45-24, in the week’s lone top-10 matchup to cement its College Football Playoff contender status.

  • Jordan Travis entered the season in the Heisman Trophy conversation and furthered his cause with five total touchdowns in a performance reminiscent of Jameis Winston in 2013.
  • Three of his four touchdown passes went to Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman, who finished with nine receptions for 122 yards. Johnny Wilson (104 yards) also went over the century mark.
  • After trailing 17-14 at halftime, Florida State scored on each of its five full drives in the second half (its sixth ran out the clock).
  • The Seminoles lived up to the hype and then some, writes Barrett Sallee, and it wasn’t just the offense.

  • Sallee: “What do the names Shyheim Brown, Kalen DeLoach, DJ Lundy, Joshua Farmer, Dennis Briggs Jr. and Gilber Edmond have in common? They all recorded tackles for loss against LSU. What name is missing from that list? Star defensive lineman Jared Verse. … Championship-caliber teams need depth up front and Florida State showed it’s fine on that front in the win. … The front seven dominated an offensive line that was one of the most experienced in the nation.”
  • Another thing I love about college football? Sanders’ hire paid huge immediate dividends. At Florida State, Mike Norvell persevered through an 8-13 record through his first two seasons and saw the benefits last year, going 10-3. Now, his program is in the title picture. No two paths are the same, but they can both lead to wonderful places.

    👍 Honorable mentions 🐯 And not such a good morning for … USATSI

    THE CLEMSON TIGERS

    There are many words that can be used to describe Clemson’s performance Monday night, but none of them are nice. I think I’ll go with inept. Completely and utterly inept. The Tigers posted one of their worst and most embarrassing performances in recent memory in a ghastly 28-7 loss to Duke.

    The list of mistakes is shocking.

  • After giving up a touchdown on an early play-of-the-year candidate by Riley Leonard to open the second half, Clemson marched down the Duke 1. Then came a false start, a negative-4-yard run, an incompletion and a short run. Then Robert Gunn III shanked a 23-yard field goal that was blocked, too. (He had another blocked earlier.)
  • On Clemson’s next drive, the Tigers got all the way to the Duke 7. Then Cade Klubnik and Will Shipley flubbed a handoff, and Duke’s Jeremiah Lewis recovered.
  • On the Tigers’ next drive, they got down to the Duke 1 again. This time, it was Phil Mafah’s turn to fumble. Jaylen Stinson recovered and returned it into Clemson territory. Duke capitalized, stretching the lead to 21-7.
  • On Clemson’s next drive, Klubnik slid short of the first-down marker on fourth-and-7, resulting in a turnover on downs. The next time Clemson got the ball, Klubnik’s pass bounced off Shipley’s hands, and Dorian Mausi intercepted it.
  • We have to give an enormous amount of credit to Duke and Mike Elko. The Blue Devils were an ACC bottom-feeder before he joined the program last year and jumpstarted it with nine wins. This is the Blue Devils’ …

  • first win over an AP-ranked team since 1989
  • biggest win over an AP-ranked team since 1944
  • biggest win over Clemson since 1936
  • They made the plays. They took advantage of the mistakes. They were deserving winners, and their resurgence over the past two seasons is remarkable.

    For Clemson, it can only be better from here. It’s impossible for it to be worse.

    👎 Not so honorable mentions

  • Shohei Ohtani’s agent says it’s “inevitable” Ohtani will need a procedure on his UCL injury.
  • The Rangers blew another lead.
  • Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen (MCL) will miss multiple weeks.
  • It was a rough night for Guardians pitching.
  • Serbia forward Borisa Simani had his kidney removed after getting elbowed at the FIBA World Cup.
  • Cyril Gane’s apartment was robbed during UFC Paris. He did win his fight, though.
  • 🏈 College football roundup: Penn State leads best of the rest Claire Komarek, CBS Sports

    Outside of the madness above, there were plenty more interesting moments — some good, some not so good — from Week 1.

     At the top of the rankings …

  • Georgia started slowly before thrashing UT Martin, 48-7, for its school-record 18th straight win.
  • Michigan paid a ridiculous “tribute” to the suspended Jim Harbaugh before rolling East Carolina, 30-3.
  • Ohio State struggled but outlasted Indiana, 23-3.
  • Alabama crushed Middle Tennessee, 56-7. Up next is Texas.
  • There were (and still are) quarterback questions for many of the country’s top teams, but Drew Allar eased all worries for Penn State in their 38-15 romp over West Virginia. As a result, Jerry Palm moved the Nittany Lions up in his bowl projections. We also have Chip Patterson predicting today’s updated top 25, with plenty of projected movement in the top 10.

    Just outside the top 25, we got an awesome scene in Laramie, Wyoming, where Wyoming upset Texas Texas, 35-33 in double overtime. Games like those make college football awesome.

    As for some meaningful non-football highlights:

    Here are the early lines for Week 2 games.

    🏈 NFL ceilings and floors, season predictions, Week 1 odds USATSI

    There are few sure things in the NFL, but if their quarterbacks stay healthy, teams like the Chiefs and Eagles will be good. Even if things go well, teams like the Cardinals will not. Every team has a ceiling and a floor, and for some teams, they’re quite close together.

    For others, though, the range of outcomes is massive. Jeff Kerr examined the best- and worst-case scenarios for every team. The Vikings have one of the wider ranges.

  • Kerr: “Ceiling: 11-6, win NFC North — They still have the division’s best player in Justin Jefferson — who will get the ball in Kevin O’Connell’s offense … Brian Flores immediately improves the defense … Floor: 7-10, miss playoffs — The Vikings were not what their record indicated last season, proven by their negative point differential and loss to the Giants in the wild-card round. …  The Vikings have some holes on the roster that have to be corrected.”
  • Jeff’s spot-on here. Minnesota went 11-0 in one-score games last year — best in NFL history — en route to 13 wins. That will regress. But maybe it won’t regress as much as we think. Or maybe the Vikings will actually be better and won’t play as many close games. We’ll have to see.

    John Breech has Minnesota smack dab in the middle of that range in his 2023 season predictions. It all gets started Thursday, and we have early Week 1 lines as well.

    ⚾ Dodgers’ Julio Urías arrested on domestic violence charge

    Dodgers starter Julio Urías was arrested on felony charges of domestic violence Sunday, per reports.

  • In a statement, the Dodgers said Urías, 27, is not with the team as the organization “attempts to learn all the facts.”
  • In 2019, Urías was suspended 20 games under MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy after an incident in which witnesses said he shoved his girlfriend to the ground in a parking lot.
  • Urías is 11-8 with a 4.60 ERA. He leads the team with 21 starts. He is eligible for free agency this offseason.
  • 📺 What we’re watching Tuesday

    ⚾ Giants at Cubs, 7:40 p.m. on TBS🏀 Liberty at Wings, 8 p.m. on CBS Sports Network🏀 Mystics at Mercury, 10 p.m. on CBS Sports Network

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