Winners
Penn State- the Nittany Lions, coming off a disappointing 7-6 season a year ago losing 6 of their final 8 games, notched a huge road win at Purdue with QB Sean Clifford tossing 4 TD passes including the go ahead score with 57 seconds left in the 4th quarter
Indiana- coming off a nightmare 2-10 season in 2021 HC Tom Allen and the Hoosiers picked up a much needed 23-20 conference win over Illinois, Missouri transfer QB Connor Bazelak put together a solid debut throwing for 330 yards to lead the offense
Florida- in HC Billy Napier’s debut, the Gators put last year’s forgettable season behind them upsetting 7th ranked Utah 29-26, QB Anthony Richardson threw for 168 yards along with 106 yards and 3 TD’s rushing
Houston- HC Dana Holgorsen and the Cougars overcame a 14-point second half deficit to knock off UTSA on the road 37-35 in triple overtime keeping their hopes at a potential New Year’s Six Bowl alive, QB Clayton Tune tossed 3 TD passes in the win
Georgia- if there were any questions about a National Championship hangover the Bulldogs put that to rest in a resounding 49-3 victory over Oregon, the defense, which lost so much talent to the NFL, turned in a strong showing holding QB Bo Nix to under 200 yards passing while forcing 2 INT’s
Losers
Virginia Tech- in HC Brent Pry’s coaching debut the Hokies were upset by Old Dominion 20-17 squandering a 7-point 4th quarter lead, it is the team’s second consecutive loss to the Monarchs after falling 49-35 in 2018
Utah- yes Florida is an SEC school and had won 32 consecutive home openers, but this was game the Utes could have and should have won likely ending HC Kyle Whittingham’s best shot at a College Football Playoff berth
Boston College- with QB Phil Jurkovec back from injury the Eagles had a chance to start the year off on the right track with a home opening win over a bottom tier Big Ten school in Rutgers, instead they dropped a 22-21 decision giving up a 23 yard go ahead rushing TD with under 3 minutes left
Louisville- coming off a disappointing 6-7 finish in 2021 the Cardinals laid an egg in a 31-7 road loss to ACC foe Syracuse to start 2022, QB Malik Cunningham threw 2 INT’s and was sacked 3 times while the defense yielded 449 yards to the Orange offense
Boise State- the Broncos were never competitive in 34-17 loss at Oregon State, QB Hank Bachmeier threw 2 INT’s in 8 pass attempts before being replaced in the second half, under second year HC Andy Avalos, the program continues to descend after being amongst college football’s elites for almost 2 decades