Three-Point Stance: Saturday Shine and Shame, Nick Saban
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with Saturday Shine and Saturday Shame from the weekend, as well as why Nick Saban is delusional.
MORE WEEK 1 REVIEW: Woody's weekly things | Fantasy review
1. SATURDAY SHINE
Here's a look at the teams, units and players that should feel good following their performance in Week 1.
Alabama's offense – The top team in the country looked great on offense because a certain quarterback (see next bullet point) brings more to the table than any quarterback in recent years. And there are playmakers all over the field.
Tua Tagovailoa – Tagovailoa is the reason the offense outperformed the defense for the first time in forever at Alabama. I don’t like lefty quarterbacks, but this kid is the exception so far. Louisville had no chance.
Auburn's defense – The front seven is ridiculous and dominated the Washington offensive line with ease. This defense, especially the defensive line, will be the key to Auburn’s season.
Jonathan Taylor – While others in the Heisman mix struggled, Taylor had another great game for the best team no one believes in. Wisconsin is the real deal.
Clemson's quarterbacks – Kelly Bryant looked good, Trevor Lawrence looked very good. Clemson has an embarrassment of riches at the position and this will be interesting as it plays out.
Georgia's speed – The Dawgs beat an awful team, but what about the team speed they showcased? Another example of an embarrassment of riches as this is one of the fastest teams in the country on offense.
Ohio State's offense – The offense, and Dwayne Haskins, looked great. The Buckeyes have so many weapons it’s scary. They could have dropped 100 points if they really wanted to against Oregon State, a Power Five opponent.
Kyler Murray – I was impressed not only with his ability to run but his efficiency in the passing game as well. He’s going to have a great season for Oklahoma.
Notre Dame's defense – Jerry Tillery is an animal, Te’Von Coney tackles everything and this is one of the best defenses in the country. The Fighting Irish dominated Michigan’s offense all game long.
Brandon Wimbush – His stats may not show it but he showed so much improvement as a passer from last year it’s impressive. He’s evasive, he can run and now he keeps his eyes downfield.
USC's freshmen – J.T. Daniels and Amon-Ra St. Brown could set records at USC before all is said and done. The only problem? They are both three-and-out guys.
Will Grier – He dominated Tennessee in every fashion, showed better arm strength than last year and started winning me over when it comes to his chances as a pro.
Keytaon Thompson – His completion percentage wasn’t great but he made big plays and showed that Mississippi State has some depth at the position and he has a bright future.
Shawn Robinson – He had a dominant game for TCU and showed that he could be the most dangerous quarterback with dual-threat ability in the Big 12 – not named Kyler Murray of course.
Maryland – The Terps played inspired football, showed great team speed and wanted this game more than Texas did. The team is 2-22 versus ranked team in recent years with both wins against Texas. That’s crazy.
Ole Miss' offense – The best wide receiving corps in college football now has a running game as well? It was one game against a weak defense, but it was still impressive.
Eric Dungey – I wish I had the Syracuse quarterback on my fantasy team for this past week.
2. SATURDAY SHAME
Here's a look at the teams, units and players that should be feeling some heat following their performance in Week 1.
Michigan State – A squeaker of a win over Utah State is not a good start. I picked the Spartans ahead of Michigan but they didn’t look so hot.
Penn State – Almost a disastrous loss to Appalachian State? This is a team that is supposed to challenge Ohio State in the Big Ten East? Yuck.
Bryce Love – Have your Heisman chances already evaporated? The Stanford back had an awful game against an average team.
Ohio State's defense – Giving up 31 points to Oregon State is not a great sign. The defense is loaded with talent but looked lost at times.
Jake Browning – He looked awful when under pressure from Auburn and made some bad decisions. He also needs a better clock in his head.
Shea Patterson – He’s supposed to be the savior of the offense but didn’t look sharp or look like the five-star quarterback we loved so much out of high school.
Michigan's offensive line – The Michigan offensive line stinks. It couldn’t open holes for the running game and couldn’t protect the quarterback well. Just a bad performance against Notre Dame overall.
Tennessee – The Vols looked horrible in a blowout loss to West Virginia. Some predicted an upset, but the result of this game was never in doubt and they have a long way to go.
Lane Kiffin – His team runs up the score against crappy teams but they couldn’t do jack against Oklahoma in an embarrassing performance.
Tom Herman – Why, for the second-straight year, did Texas come out so flat in the opener? There are four-stars everywhere on the roster and the Longhorns should beat Maryland by three scores based on talent. And the Terps don’t even have a head coach. Awful.
NC State – The Wolf Pack looked very average against James Madison and didn’t look like they are the dark horse in their division at all.
North Carolina – They just looked awful against Cal and looked the part of a three- or four-win team once again this season.
Kansas – My goodness this is a bad football team. ‘Nuff said.
Kansas State – A three-point win over South Dakota is shameful for a team some think could surprise in the Big 12.
Illinois – Kent State is awful and it took a rally to win this game. Don’t tell me Lovie Smith isn’t on the hot seat.
UCLA – Cincinnati isn’t so bad, but UCLA made the wrong choice at starting quarterback and played an awful game overall.
Kevin Sumlin – I think there were four designed runs for Khalil Tate. Four! That’s horrible coaching.
3. NICK SABAN IS MAKING THINGS WORSE, NOT BETTER
Nick Saban is cranky and he’s delusional. He’s angry that reporters keep asking who his starting quarterback is. Waaaaaah! The man who has won five of the last nine national championships refuses to name a starter and is upset people keep asking. Especially when it’s clear that Tua Tagvailoa is the man for Alabama and Jalen Hurts is the backup.
Saban, who was rude to ESPN's Maria Taylor on Saturday when she asked about the quarterback situation, is trying to play the game and berating the media at the same time. What’s the game? String along Hurts for as long as possible making him think he has a shot at the starting job by not naming a starter.
Saban should take a page out of Dabo Swinney’s book as the Clemson coach has done a much better job handling questions about his potential starter than Saban could ever imagine. Just be honest, name a starter and still say great things about Hurts to try to keep him in the fold. It’s not rocket science. But instead Saban is angry at the questions he's creating by not naming a starter. Annoying.
He’s a great coach, but he sure doesn’t know how to handle the media.
