College football has gotten off to a great start, with week one featuring exciting games throughout the weekend. The theme of the week was heartbreaking losses, FCS troubles and SEC dominance. 

Appalachian State, Eastern Carolina and LSU each had their different ways of mounting comebacks, but they were nearly identical in what ultimately cut their comebacks short.  

The Mountaineers failed multiple two-point attempts, one that would have given them the lead with less than 40 seconds remaining and one that would have tied the game with less than ten. Eastern Carolina’s kicker missed a PAT with just under three minutes remaining that would have tied the game and a field goal that would have won them it as time expired. And LSU put together a 99-yard drive in just over a minute before having their PAT blocked.  

Regarding the FCS, William & Mary and Delaware each pulled off upsets over Charlotte and Navy respectively, with *deep breath* Bryant, Eastern Illinois, Portland State, Eastern Kentucky, South Dakota State and Elon all losing by 11 points or less. The most talked about of those was South Dakota State, who lost an ugly game against Iowa 7-3.  

And the SEC upped their non-conference win streak to fourteen before LSU… you know.  

Now, enough about last week. 

Before I get into this, I will be adjusting the format to make these articles easier to write and more interesting to read. For this article, I will still highlight a player or position group on LSU’s opposing team for the week, but instead of scrounging through 20 games to find two other aspects of the week to cover, I’ll be picking a potential upset and sleeper game. This likely won’t be the last update of the series, but we’re getting there. 

Here we go.  

Opponent: Southern defensive end Jordan Lewis 

While Southern is an FCS team, it is one of the better ones. Lots of the credit for that goes to their defensive line. The most prominent part of that line has to be senior defensive end Jordan Lewis.  

Lewis was a two-sport star in high school, winning state in the 100-meter hurdles and recording a sack in every football game his senior season with Trinity Catholic. While he’s only 223 pounds according to Southern’s sports page, he possesses a quickness that could be difficult to contain.  

At Southern, the Florida native has put up historic numbers. He is currently the FCS active sacks leader, with 28.5 career sacks at the time of writing this. He’s surpassed 10 sacks in two seasons (2018 and 2021), earning FCS defensive player of the year honors in his latest season with the program.  

While I personally don’t expect him to get to Daniels on Saturday, the LSU offensive line is still questionable. Most of Florida State’s pressure came from the outside of the line, which is where Jordan Lewis plays.  

Upset Watch: Appalachian State +19 vs. No. 6 Texas A&M 

I talked about Appalachian State’s upset history a bit last week, but here we are again. Recently, it’s rare to find a game in which the Mountaineers were this big of underdogs, but I managed to find two that you may remember: their 2016 matchup against Tennessee and their 2018 matchup against Penn State. 

In the Volunteers’ opening game against Appalachian State of 2016, they were 20.5-point favorites. But the Mountaineer defense held firm and ultimately forced overtime with the game locked at 13. They would lose in the first period, but it still worried Tennessee fans up until the final whistle blew.  

In their matchup with the Nittany Lions, they were projected as 24-point underdogs. This time, Appalachian State’s offense was what did the heavy lifting, scoring 28 points in the fourth quarter to go from being down by 14 with 11 minutes remaining to up seven with less than two. But again, they would lose in the first period of overtime. 

Since then, the Mountaineers have consistently contended with whichever Power Five opponent they draw, defeating South Carolina and North Carolina in 2019 and narrowly missing out on a ranked win against No. 22 Miami in 2021. The most recent example came against the Tar Heels in week one, which had Appalachian State just one two-point conversion away from going to overtime. 

They now face off against their highest ranked opponent since No. 5 Michigan in 2007, which is still the last ranked Power Five team they’ve defeated.  

I feel like Appalachian State is long overdue for a huge upset, and this is the perfect opportunity. They are coming off a barn burner loss against a Power 5 opponent in North Carolina while Texas A&M is following up an uninspiring 31-0 victory over Sam Houston State.  

The Mountaineers won’t be able to put up the 61 points they managed against the Tar Heels, but I could see them keeping pace with an Aggie offense that’s still working to find its footing. Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King threw two interceptions last game, and a few turnovers going one way or the other could be what decides this one. But don’t get your hopes up if it goes to overtime.  

Sleeper Game of the Week: Mississippi State vs. Arizona 

There are three games this week featuring two ranked teams, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to look forward to from the weekend. If you aren’t tired of college football by 10 p.m., tune into this one for a potential hidden gem.  

Arizona football has gone from disappointing to unwatchable, a far cry from the Rich Rodriguez-led squads from the early-to-mid 2010s. But its opening performance in 2022 indicates that the putrid play may be in the past.  

San Diego State finished last season as one of the best Group of Five team in the country and was likely confident heading into their opening game of 2022 against the Wildcats, a team they had beaten by 24 points in the previous season. But it was a different story in this one.  

Led by Washington State transfer Jayden de Laura at the helm, the Wildcat offense looked established and efficient. Against a defense that ranked near the top in points given up per game in 2021 and had mostly remained intact, Arizona put up 38 points, which is a huge improvement from the 14 it managed to scrape together in this matchup last season. Arizona defeated the Aztecs by 18, effectively getting revenge for the previous loss.  

However, the opponent for this week is a big step up from that.  

Mississippi State’s upward trajectory under Mike Leach has been noteworthy and it remains to be seen how much it has improved from last season. Mississippi State opened 2022 by dismantling Memphis by 26, an early indication that they could be an unforeseen problem in the SEC West. For anyone looking to validate their improvement, this one should serve as a good test for the Bulldogs.  

Whether this game gives fans a good game or a glimpse of the success to come for the Leach-led Bulldogs, it should be fun to watch. I hope that this article, along with the Weekly Pick ‘Em article posted yesterday, has given you guys a good idea of what to expect from college football today.