The 5 Most Overrated Teams In This Week's College Football Coaches' Poll
One week of college football is officially in the books. It's finally time to reflect on what what we saw on the field - not just what we heard about in summer practice.
The coaches have already done so, which means that we have our first Amway Coaches' Poll of the regular season. Of course, there were plenty of immediate changes, like some teams -- ex: Texas A&M and Georgia -- flying up the standings after their impressive performances.
But, as we've seen over the years, the coaches are often reluctant to drop teams in the rankings unless they lose, which means, in short, that some of the teams are a little overrated. Now, of course, calling teams "overrated" after one game may be a bit of an overreaction, but some of the squads certainly did not look as good as their rankings during the first week. Here are the five most overrated, right now:
5th Most Overrated - South Carolina >>>
5) No. 21 South Carolina
Coming into 2014, South Carolina was favored to win the SEC East, compete for the SEC championship, and possibly contend for a national title.
All of that came crashing down last Thursday, as Texas A&M walked into Williams-Bryce Stadium and absolutely obliterated the Gamecocks, 52-28. Losing is bad. Losing by 24 is really bad. Losing by 24 at home is terrible. Losing by 24 to a team with a quarterback making his first start when you had aspirations of possibly winning a national title is an absolute disaster.
While "Sakerlinah" did get a solid performance out of QB Dylan Thompson -- his 50 percent completion percentage isn't ideal, but he did throw for 366 yards and four touchdowns -- star running back Mike Davis didn't do anything due to a rib injury, and his replacements weren't much better, as the Gamecocks ran for 67 yards against an A&M defense that is considered to be porous.
The Gamecocks probably shouldn't be ranked this week. The game was five days ago, and I still can't believe they were beaten that badly.
4th Most Overrated - Alabama >>>
4) No. 2 Alabama
"I think we're gonna be a better football team, I hope that's reflected in our record. Given the strength of our schedule this year, it very well may not be." -- West Virginia Athletic Director Oliver Luck, when asked about the 2014 Mountaineers football team. The same Mountaineers football team that gave Alabama all it could handle for most of the game on Saturday.
Alabama -- a team that prides itself on having maybe the best defense in the country -- was exposed a bit by West Virginia quarterback Clint Trickett, who threw for 365 yards and a touchdown. Sure, the Crimson Tide won, 33-23, but it was hardly convincing.
While the Mountaineers hired a great defensive mind in Tom Bradley as the team's senior associate head coach during the offseason, it's still a bit concerning that the Crimson Tide struggled to put up points against largely the same defense that let Texas score 47 points last year. Quarterback Blake Sims played well enough, but didn't exactly look like a superstar, which is also cause for concern, as it still leaves a big question mark at that position for Nick Saban.
Alabama is a good football team. But the bottom line is that it didn't look like the No. 2 team in the country this past Saturday. Fortunately for the Crimson Tide, they aren't as overrated as the only team ranked higher than them in the Coaches' Poll...
3rd Most Overrated - Florida State >>>
3) No. 1 Florida State
Sure, the 'Noles had a tough matchup against an underrated Oklahoma State team, but in no way did Florida State look like the best team in America in its 37-31 over the Cowboys. Sure, Rashad Greene had a monster game and Jameis Winston threw for the third most yards in a game during his collegiate career, but this wasn't the performance you would've expected out of the team that blew out everyone last year.
The team had two main concerns on offense: its running game and its offensive line. On the ground, FSU couldn't do much of anything. Starting running back Karlos Williams ran the ball 23 times for 66 yards, and the team's longest gain on the ground was this absurd touchdown run by Winston. Part of this was because Florida State's offensive line was seemingly overmatched by an ultra-aggressive front seven from Oklahoma State. If the 'Noles can't figure out what went wrong up front, teams with solid front sevens -- like Clemson and Florida -- may give Florida State fits later in the year.
The Seminoles' defense also looked a bit off, which isn't unusual for a defense when it plays a Mike Gundy team, but it's still not a good look for a unit that prides itself on being one of the fastest and most talented in America. While FSU is still a great team, in no way did it look like the best team in America after week one.
2nd Most Overrated - Ohio State >>>
2) No. 7 Ohio State
Ohio State is not the seventh best team in America right now. Of course, the team is insanely talented, and Urban Meyer is among the best football coaches in the nation, so it could very well end the season ranked in the top 10. Maybe the Buckeyes will even win the Big Ten and make the College Football Playoff. But after watching Navy outplay Ohio State for the better part of three quarters on Saturday, there's no way that the Buckeyes are among the 10 best teams in America right now.
The team obviously suffered some growing pains without Braxton Miller under center. J.T. Barrett was smart and efficient in his first start as the Buckeyes' quarterback -- he went 12-for-15 for 226 yards, two touchdowns and an interception -- but the offense certainly wasn't as explosive and dynamic as it was last season. The defense also struggled mightily stopping Navy on the ground, although to be fair, stopping Navy's running game is incredibly difficult.
There's no reason to expect that, by the end of the season, Ohio State won't be great. They're just not the seventh best team in America right now. Maybe the Buckeyes will improve during Barrett's second game, when Ohio State hosts Virginia Tech on Sept. 6.
1) No. 11 UCLA
The Bruins scored four touchdowns in their 28-20 win over Virginia. Three of them were defensive touchdowns. The Bruins' offense looked miserable against Virginia, gaining just 116 yards on 39 carries (a 3.0 average). Star quarterback Brett Hundley didn't look much better, as he went 20-for-33 for 242 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and a QBR of 43.2. The team also turned the ball over twice on two fumbles. Not exactly a good look for a team that has both conference and national championship aspirations.
UCLA's defense was solid, but it wasn't great. While three defensive touchdowns is insane, Virginia's offense -- which isn't exactly explosive -- gained 386 yards against the Bruins. Sure, UCLA slowed down Virginia's running game admirably, but once Virginia pulled starting quarterback Greyson Lambert (who threw both interceptions that were returned for touchdowns) for Matt Johns, who threw for 154 yards and two touchdowns, the Bruins struggled - which is not a good thing, until you remember that Virginia is 6-18 over the last two years. Then it's a horrible thing.
If you're a UCLA fan, you have to hope the team's offense can bounce back this weekend against Memphis. If not, the team's Sept. 13 matchup against Texas may get ugly.
