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bretticus33 Ballot for 2023 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 4, 2023, 11:57 p.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia opened the season like you would expect with a dominating performance on defense and offense. However Georgia will have to wait some time before truly getting tested, unless they have a severely disappointing game.
2 Michigan Wolverines Michigan looked really good against ECU, going up 30-0 shortly after halftime and putting it on cruise control the rest of the way. The OC will be back against UNLV but still have two games sans Harbaugh to go.
3 Florida State Seminoles FSU made a statement with a dominating 2nd half against LSU and firmly put themselves in the CFP conversation. Jordan Travis also started off his Heisman campaign in great fashion with 4 TDs. It would probably be a disappointment if FSU doesn't win 11 regular season games.
4 Washington Huskies Washington blew apart a solid Boise State team after a slow start, and the offense made a case for being the best in the country. The Huskies are a true contender for not just the PAC 12 but a CFP spot.
5 Alabama Crimson Tide After hearing about all the concerns regarding Bama's offense, they looked great against Middle Tennessee. However, the concerns were more about how they would look against the good defenses they would play, with Texas next weekend being the first one up.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State might have a QB problem. Kyle McCord didn't impress much. However, there's still a lot of talent all over the field for the Buckeyes and it's worth remembering CJ Stroud struggled in his first few games as Ohio State's starting QB.
7 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State lived up to the hype in the opening game of 2023. The defense was strong and Drew Allar put on a show. Now that Penn State finally has a QB, might they finally conquer UM and OSU?
8 USC Trojans Through two games, we've seen what we expected from the Trojans. Caleb Williams is following up his Heisman season by leading another stellar offense while the defense struggled against SJSU but looked better against Nevada (who made most defenses look good last season).
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame may finally have their answer at QB with Sam Hartman (at least for this season) as he already has 6 TDs through two games, and the defense has been great as expected. A road game at NC State could test them but a later date with Ohio State certainly will.
10 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee picked up right where they left off last season, with a powerful and balanced offensive onslaught against Virginia. Joe Milton is one of the most intriguing QBs in the country. The Volunteer defense also looked very solid, but it was just Virginia so I'm not as sold on them yet.
11 LSU Tigers LSU will rue the miscues against FSU. Two failed 4th downs in the red zone in the first half and some dropped passes that would have led to huge plays, including one that led to an INT a couple plays later. The Tigers were completely outclassed and outcoached by FSU and the margin for error on the season is gone in regards to the CFP. The offense has to improve and clean up, and Brian Kelly has to start letting Harold Perkins get after the QB rather than play him in coverage.
12 Utah Utes Utah opened up by avenging their 2022 season opening loss to Florida by beating the Gators pretty easily. It wasn't as close as the final score would indicate, and they did it with Cam Rising on the sideline.
13 Texas Longhorns Texas started really slow and failed to truly impress against a terrible Rice team despite winning by 27. I'm still waiting for Quinn Ewers to show why he should be considered one of CFB's top QBs. They have a huge opportunity against Alabama to show me why they should be higher than 13.
14 Oregon State Beavers Oregon State kicked off 2023 with an easy win over San Jose State. Their offense was effective but their defense shut down nearly everything SJSU tried to do. I'm higher on OSU than most people are.
15 Oregon Ducks Oregon not only killed Portland State but about killed their mascot with all the pushups he had to do thanks to Oregon's nonstop scoring. The Ducks will again be a really tough team to beat and a contender in the PAC 12 with a solid all-around team.
16 Duke Blue Devils Duke pulled off one of the upsets of the week with an impressive and comprehensive beatdown of Clemson. Mike Elko has done an incredible job turning around Duke and will have top programs looking to sign him on if he keeps it up.
17 North Carolina Tar Heels Drake Maye may be the star of the team, but the defense stole the show against South Carolina. They're already at 9 sacks on the season after getting 17 in all of 2022. If the defense continues to play at that level, the Tar Heels will be surprise ACC contenders.
18 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss beat down Mercer as expected. The passing game was electric and explosive, but the first test on the season will come at Tulane next weekend.
19 Kansas State Wildcats KSU adjusted to life without Deuce Vaughn with a strong running attack led by DJ Giddens, and Will Howard played perfect complimentary QB to the KSU running game. However, beating SE Missouri State won't teach us much about how good KSU really is.
20 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma looked more like the Sooners of old with a 73-0 beatdown of Arkansas State. It was really encouraging to see the offense look competent, and even more encouraging that the defense was impenetrable. Venables needs a turnaround season to keep his job, so this was a good start.
21 Clemson Tigers All offseason the talk was about how Garrett Riley would save the Clemson offense, but it was just more of the same. Execution errors, mistakes, and absolute failures were the story of the game. If not for a muffed punt by Duke, Clemson might have lost 28-0. Extremely disappointing game from Clemson all-around.
22 Tulane Green Wave Tulane shed most doubts about their team by beating up a good South Alabama team in New Orleans. Michael Pratt was extremely efficient and the defense, despite a lot of new starters, was really good. With UTSA and Boise State losing in Week 1, a home game against Ole Miss is a great opportunity to really separate themselves from the rest of the G5 pack.
23 Texas A&M Aggies For the first time in a long time, Texas A&M's offense looked competent. Talent was never a question, but the coaching on the offensive side was. Bobby Petrino seems to have the offense humming at the moment, but New Mexico might also be one of the 5 worst teams in FBS. Against Miami will be an interesting matchup.
24 Wisconsin Badgers The Luke Fickell era at Wisconsin started off with a 21 point win over Buffalo that was led by a punishing ground game. If Wisconsin can continue running the ball like that, the Badgers will be very difficult to beat.
25 Arkansas Razorbacks Arkansas beat Western Carolina not with a ground game, but with a passing game and 3 TDs from KJ Jefferson. However, getting just 2.9 YPC against Western Carolina is somewhat concerning so I'll be watching to see if Arkansas can turn that around.

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