The Hodgepodge: Ohio State's Hype Meter is off the Charts, Florida State's Revenge Tour Ends Prematurely, Summing Up Each B1G Team in One Sentence

By Garrick Hodge on August 26, 2024 at 11:35 am
Florida State sadness
Tom Maher/INPHO via USA TODAY Sports
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It’s officially Week 1.

Which means we’re breaking out season two of The Hodgepodge, Eleven Warriors’ national college football column that will run every Monday. We’ve tinkered around with the format slightly, but ultimately, it should be another fun season commentating on Ohio State, the Big Ten and college football in general. 

Buckeyes begin the season with unprecedented hype

Since I’ve been covering Ohio State, expectations have always been insanely high for every season. It’s always been that way in Columbus and always will be. But with the transfer portal additions and amount of players returning for a final go-around, I can’t say it’s ever been this high before. 

You have Urban Meyer saying things like this roster is the most talented roster in college football in the past decade. The season has already been labeled national title or bust by many. If Ryan Day has to hear the word expectations one more time, he’s probably going to blow a gasket. 

Nonetheless, OSU has arguably the most talented roster in college football. It would be disappointing if the Buckeyes aren’t the best defense in the country, at least, since practically every non-linebacker starter returned to the team and the Buckeyes went and added an All-American safety. 

But most of you already know all that. For the first time since this team was constructed months ago, we’ll finally get to see what the 2024 Buckeyes look like on the field on Saturday. Things won’t get too exciting for a while, though, since OSU has a very Michigan-like nonconference schedule for the first three games (apologies in advance to the self-esteem of Akron, Western Michigan and Marshall).

Ultimately, as we said a year ago, the outcome of this season may be contingent on the play of the Buckeyes’ offense line and its quarterbacks. Speaking of which...

Ohio State spotlight of the week: Quarterbacks

It’s pretty straightforward, right? 

Saturday’s season opener against Akron offers us our first glimpse at Will Howard running Ohio State’s offense, though you’d expect the Buckeyes shouldn’t have too much trouble lighting up the scoreboard against the Zips.

What could be even more interesting is how many quarterbacks get inserted into the game against Akron assuming the score is out of hand by the third quarter. With depth more important than ever with the expanded College Football Playoff looming, it’ll be interesting to see if Ryan Day has a slightly quicker trigger than usual in blowouts to both get younger players more reps and save his starters wear and tear. 

When Howard was named the starter in mid-August, Day said Devin Brown would be OSU’s backup quarterback if the season started then, but the competition was still ongoing. Will Brown indeed be the first quarterback on the field in a relief role if the Buckeyes get that opportunity? Or will it be freshman Julian Sayin, who has dazzled at times during the preseason? 

If Brown is the backup, will Day also try to get Sayin in for a few series as well as he’s done with past quarterback situations in blowouts? You could really extend this section to include the rotations and first reserves off the bench at all positions, but quarterbacks will be the most notable in the first week.

Florida State’s revenge tour ends early

It’s been a chaotic year for Florida State. 

Off the field, their athletic department is mired in a lawsuit against the ACC as they desperately try to flee the conference so they aren’t left behind by SEC and Big Ten teams from a revenue standpoint. On the field, FSU declared a revenge tour against the College Football Playoff selection committee for spurning the Seminoles for a CFP bid a year ago despite an undefeated regular season, all because their quarterback got hurt.

Well, the mission went to hell before the team could even play a game stateside. No. 10 Florida State suffered the first massive upset of the season, losing 24-21 to unranked Georgia Tech, a team that had a season over-under win total of 4.5, on a last-second field goal in Dublin, Ireland.

Outside of the Seminoles’ first and final drive of the game, quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was uninspiring. He wasn’t the sole reason for the defeat, but Florida State had little to no downfield passing game and couldn’t muster much offense until late. Frankly, Uiagalelei had played in 48 college games before Saturday for two different teams, and contest No. 49 didn’t look much different from the first four dozen.  

But there were far more concerning elements for the Seminoles than quarterback play. FSU’s offensive line was supposed to be a strength for the team, and a Georgia Tech front seven that was last in the ACC in run defense last season pushed them around and didn’t let them get to their run fits. The Seminoles’ vaunted front seven had sloppy tackling and allowed 190 rushing yards and 336 total offensive yards in just seven drives. 

If there’s any positive that can be taken from an FSU standpoint, it’s that the expanded CFP means one loss will never completely sink your season. Early returns don’t look promising, but if the Seminoles can regroup fast, this is hardly the death sentence it may have been if it was still a four-team field. The schedule still has Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame and Florida on it, though, all four of which reasonably could be losses. And if Georgia Tech can push the Seminoles around, who’s to say Memphis, Duke or North Carolina couldn’t? 

In almost every college football season in the last 20 years, one team ranked in the top 10 in the preseason Associated Press Poll finishes the year unranked. FSU could be well on its way.

Before we move on, let’s give Georgia Tech coach Brent Key his flowers. Key has done a nice job rebuilding the Yellow Jackets and has won all five of his games against ranked ACC opponents. It’s too early to call them an ACC dark horse after one game, but they have the country’s attention for now.

Summing up Big Ten teams in one sentence

With the addition of four West Coast schools, the Big Ten is now close to double its namesake with a whopping 18 teams. Rather than try to fully preview all 18, let’s go rapid-fire with one sentence about each program. 

  • Ohio State: Talent on the roster is the envy of many, but the pressure surrounding it sure isn’t.
  • Oregon: On paper, the Ducks have the talent capable of going toe-to-toe with OSU. 
  • Washington: This team was in the national championship in 2023 but you can hardly recognize anyone left on the roster or sideline. 
  • USC: Defense could not possibly be worse than last season.
  • UCLA: Bruins play their football games in Los Angeles. 
  • Indiana: Has the most charismatic coach in the conference; beyond that, the roster looks like a Group of Five All-Star team.
  • Rutgers: Run the damn ball well and you might just get a breakout season without OSU, Michigan or PSU on the schedule at long last. 
  • Northwestern: The Wildcats are playing their home games where, exactly? 
  • Michigan: NOA is finally served and looming, but quarterback and offensive line are more urgent problems for now.
  • Penn State: Still pretty good, still won’t be favored against elite teams, still employs James Franklin.
  • Iowa: The offense may be straight from the 1930s but the path to an 11-1 or 10-2 season exists. 
  • Nebraska: The schedule is soft, the quarterback is exciting, God bless Cornhusker fans if this isn’t a breakout season.
  • Maryland: This team doesn’t want to be woken up when September ends. 
  • Illinois: Five or six wins sounds about right. 
  • Michigan State: Giant rebuild just getting underway but the coach is promising and the quarterback play could be fun.
  • Wisconsin: Will miss the Big Ten West, Tyler Van Dyke needs to revert back to form for a successful year two for Luke Fickell.
  • Minnesota: The offense may be slightly underrated if Max Brosmer’s game carries over from the FCS.
  • Purdue: Early-season outlook looks bleak but Boilermakers have plenty of chances to be Spoilermakers this year.

Week Zero had some fun moments

  • We already talked about the Florida State side of things, but the elation teams like Georgia Tech get after pulling massive upsets is what makes college football so great. 
  • Trick play swinging gate two-point conversion by Florida State on the opening drive of the college football season. We are all the way back.
  • Hell of a day for college kickers. Not only did Georgia Tech's Aidan Birr nail the game-winning 44-yard field goal, but Florida State's Ryan Fitzgerald nailed 52 and 59-yard field goals. 
  • Georgia Tech kept the receipts from ESPN College GameDay.
  • This play call from New Mexico was perfect. 
  • All three of the games featuring an FBS team that kicked off before midnight Eastern time were down to the wire, competitive fun games, with a lead change occurring within the final two minutes in each. It's more than I usually expect from a Week Zero slate. 

Week Zero had some wacky things, too

  • The week got off to a wacky start before games even kicked off, as poor Delaware State missed its initial flight to Hawaii on Tuesday because the team’s shuttle bus delayed the team’s pickup. Delaware State had to adjust on the fly and took three separate flights on Wednesday to arrive in Hawaii, with the trip taking around 10-and-a-half hours in total. 
  • Hawaii had some fun at Delaware State’s expense with a 10.5-hour flash sale on Thursday for tickets to the game with prices reduced to, you guessed it, $10.50. Mostly everyone (including yours truly) was asleep for that one, but the Rainbow Warriors took care of business, 35-14.
  • Everyone saw the graphic, but let’s re-hash it again: DJ Uiagalelei was 12-of-14 for 96 yards at halftime while averaging -0.1 yards (!) per attempt. 
  • Early returns on the two-minute warning (sorry, two-minute timeout, whatever the hell they call it in college football) were not great when we had a sequence that went: two-minute timeout, one play, Florida State timeout with a commercial, one play, Florida State timeout with another commercial. Overall, the commercials were pretty brutal interrupting game flow across the three games, but that's the unfortunate reality of college football in 2024.
  • The wind did not make things easy more than halfway through Montana State vs. New Mexico. 
  • Although it was a 13.5-point underdog to FCS Montana State, New Mexico blew a 17-point lead and dropped a heartbreaking season opener for the Lobos, made even worse by the fact they could have put the game away several times if not for a few costly drops.
  • We had an SMU player smack a Nevada player in the helmet after a play, then another Nevada player retaliated by pushing him to the ground.
  • It's Week Zero for the camera operators too, I guess.
  • Not exactly a great look from SMU's debut game as a member of the ACC barely scraping by against a Nevada team that was 28-point underdogs, but a win is certainly better than the alternative. 

Former Buckeye of the week 

I needed a section to replace our dearly departed nepotism tracker of Brian Ferentz's Iowa offensive coordinator adventures from last season, and I think this makes the most sense for our audience. 

Dan has already done most of the legwork here, as 47 players transferred from Ohio State in 2023 who will be playing elsewhere this season, 37 of which will be playing for Power Four teams. 

After every week, I’ll pick a former Buckeye of the week and give them a small shoutout here. I’ll do my best not to include repeats, but if it can’t be helped, it can’t be helped. At the end of the year, we’ll award a former Buckeye of the Year. And yes, the judgment process will probably be totally subjective and consider things such as their opponent, the context of the game and frankly OSU fans' consensus overall feelings about the departed player.

Anyway, options for Week Zero were pretty limited, but we found one!

Week Zero former Buckeye of the week: Mason Arnold, long snapper, Florida State

Arnold gets the nod for a few reasons. No. 1: There will likely never be another chance this year to give this award to a long snapper. No. 2: We went over that cool swinging gate play, right? Arnold was the long snapper on that. No. 3: The only other former OSU player whose new team saw action was Omari Abor and SMU, and Abor did not register a statistic in the Mustangs’ 29-24 win.

Games of the week

Last year, we only broke down a single non-Ohio State game each week. This year, we’re going to get a little more ambitious (and hopefully better at picking games). 

Appointment viewing

Clemson at Georgia, noon Saturday on ABC

Pick: Georgia -13.5

Breakdown: Georgia and Ohio State clearly have the best rosters in the country and I expect that to be clearly evident week in and week out. Clemson and Dabo Swinney continue to face scrutiny for not utilizing the transfer portal, especially coming off a four-loss season. Unless Tyler from Spartanburg has another motivating call for the Tigers up his sleeve, keeping the Bulldogs within 14 in Atlanta feels like too much to ask from Clemson right away.

Miami at Florida, 3:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC

Pick: Miami -2.5

Breakdown: This game is Message Board Geniuses’ dream. The winning fanbase will make declarative statements about how this year is finally going to be the team’s breakout season and troll their in-state rival relentlessly, while the loser will demand their head coach has to walk home before getting issued his walking papers.

While it’s a road game, Cam Ward and Damien Martinez should perform well enough to squeak out a victory for the Hurricanes and begin a road back to relevance, assuming there isn’t a legendary coaching gaffe forthcoming.

Notre Dame at Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC

Pick: Texas A&M -2.5

Breakdown: The season-ending injury to Notre Dame left tackle Charles Jagusah is worrisome for the Fighting Irish’s 2024 campaign, but for this matchup, it’s flat-out terrifying. Notre Dame may need to rely on a redshirt freshman to block Nic Scourton, one of the country’s top pass rushers. Riley Leonard is making his Notre Dame debut and I expect him to have a nice season, but nobody knows him better than the man on Texas A&M’s sideline, Mike Elko.

USC at LSU, 7:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC

Pick: LSU -4.5

Breakdown: Admittedly, this game was probably the hardest of the week to pick. Both of these defenses last season stunk out loud, leading to defensive coordinator changes for each squad. Furthermore, each team’s Heisman Trophy quarterback has gone to the NFL, though scouts are high on both USC’s Miller Moss and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier. Sometimes picking games comes down to a gut feeling, so trust the home team and the one that doesn’t have Alex Grinch leftovers.

Underrated games

North Dakota State at Colorado, 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPN 

Pick: Colorado -9.5

Breakdown: You really couldn’t ask anything more from a Week 1 Thursday night game. On one hand, you have Deion Sanders’ Buffs. Love him or hate him, there’s plenty of intrigue to see what exactly Colorado is in year two. On the opposite side, the Buffs have to stave off their similarly named counterparts, the Bison. 

North Dakota State is a notorious giant killer, winning six straight games against FBS opponents at one point until finally losing to Arizona by three in 2022. The Bison haven’t won an FCS championship since 2021, which feels like an eternity to the Fargo faithful, and this iteration of NDSU likely isn’t as formidable as the Chris Klieman teams before them. 

Ultimately, while the Bison should make the game somewhat competitive, they don’t have anyone who can cover Travis Hunter. Also of note for OSU fans, former Buckeyes Dallan Hayden and Sam Hart will likely start for the Buffs on Thursday.

Penn State at West Virginia, noon Saturday on FOX

Pick: Penn State -8.5

Breakdown: Penn State’s bout with West Virginia in 2023 wasn’t overly competitive, but the Nittany Lions will be on the road this time around and will be breaking in new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s offense for the first time. Despite that, the Nittany Lions should still be efficient defensively and should escape Morgantown with a double-digit victory. 

South Dakota State at Oklahoma State, 2 p.m. on ESPN+

Pick: Oklahoma State -9.5

Breakdown: While North Dakota State has earned the notoriety for taking down FBS programs, the Jackrabbits are two-time defending national champions at the FCS level and haven’t lost a game since a 7-3 defeat to Iowa in the season opener in 2022. This game should be pretty competitive for the most part, but SDSU is running into a veteran-led FBS team that’s a contender for the Big 12 and arguably features the best running back in the sport. 

Hot seat tracker

Another new addition to the ‘Podge this year is the weekly hot seat tracker, with these names probably fluctuating every week. Let’s take a look at where things stand entering the season.

Seat is red hot

Sam Pittman, Arkansas: If the Hogs don’t get off to a fast start, we may get to see Bobby Petrino break out the neckbrace, stride to the podium and take over for a second stint as the Razorbacks’ coach. Seriously, of all people who could get another chance at a school, it’s pretty hilarious he might be one. 

Billy Napier, Florida: It may be a make-or-break year for Napier, but I don’t know how anyone could survive the Gators’ schedule. Seriously, it may be the hardest schedule we’ve ever seen an FBS team have to play. If he somehow goes above .500 from that, extend the man. 

Dave Aranda, Baylor: Similar to Arkansas and Pittman, the Bears were on the fence about firing Aranda at the end of last season, but opted to give him another season. Toledo transfer quarterback Dequan Finn may need to have a big year to save Aranda’s job. 

Clark Lea, Vanderbilt: College football’s hardest job may be at Vanderbilt, so it’s not fun to put Lea here. But he’s entering year four with the Commodores, he’s gone 9-27 thus far, and Vanderbilt is still projected to finish last in the SEC. That’s usually the timetable for the administration to make a change barring a season that shows progress.

Seat is probably a little warm

Kalani Sitake, BYU: This one is probably the most unfair since Sitake has been a staple at BYU for the past eight seasons and played collegiately for the Cougars. But BYU’s 5-7 introductory season to Big 12 play was far from ideal, and the Cougars face the projected top five teams from the conference in 2024. 

Tony Elliott, Virginia: Elliott has won three games in each of his first two seasons, and while nobody is expecting championships at Virginia, the Cavaliers traditionally are capable of more than just being purely an ACC bottom feeder. 

Justin Wilcox, Cal: California is a notoriously difficult job to win at, and given his resources, Wilcox has done a fine enough job through his seven years despite a subpar 36-43 overall record. With Cal’s transition to the ACC, you’d at least like to see the program make a second straight bowl game. A hefty buyout may prevent the school from making a change if the team dips below .500, but you’d have to think they want to capture some momentum for the program with the conference change.

Shane Beamer, South Carolina: Coming off a 5-7 year, Beamer probably doesn’t need to set the world on fire to retain his job, but failing to make a bowl for the second straight year wouldn’t exactly lead to a rosy painting of the program’s future.

Safe, but if it’s a bad year, let’s talk

Ryan Day, Ohio State: I don’t envision this season ending poorly considering the talent of this roster, but if it did for whatever reason, we’d need to have an uncomfortable discussion.

Mario Cristobal, Miami: Cristobal is like Day’s situation on steroids here when you factor in he’s made so many unforgivable in-game gaffes, such as losing a game where all he had to do was take a knee. Regardless, Miami arguably has its best roster in quite some time thanks to big additions from the transfer portal and 2024 class. The Hurricanes could be finally poised for a breakout season, but if they flop, things could get ugly. 

Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati: Satterfield “reset” his coaching clock if you will by leaving Louisville for Cincinnati last season, and the returns on investment weren’t great in year one with a 3-9 campaign in the program’s first season in the Big 12. The good news is the schedule could be manageable enough to get bowl eligible, but another lackluster season won’t do him any favors.

Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh: Following two great seasons, Pittsburgh fell flat on its face in 2023 with a 3-9 record. Bouncing back would alleviate any worries from a job security standpoint for Narduzzi, but even he can’t afford back-to-back underwhelming seasons at Pitt.

Neal Brown, West Virginia: Brown had arguably the hottest seat in all of college football at the start of last season, then responded with a 9-4 campaign. It was the kind of year needed to restore some faith in the program, but if things go haywire, administrators and fans can forget about that all too quickly. 

Deion Sanders, Colorado: I’ll preface this with unless something goes absolutely haywire and the Buffs bottom out, they aren’t firing Sanders. But after a 3-0 start to Sanders’ tenure in 2023, Colorado finished 1-8 and followed with a tumultuous offseason. A ton of players transferred again, his quarterback publicly insulted a former teammate who voiced concerns with the program and now Sanders has banned a local reporter from asking questions because his coverage was deemed unfavorable. Voices of outside critics of Sanders’ program are growing louder. Sanders himself probably does not care whatsoever about that, but it would certainly help his narrative if the team puts together a strong season.

Hodgepodge preseason team classifiers

I don’t know how extensively I’ll be doing these this season because with the expanded playoff coming to fruition, I’m going to be running a weekly College Football Playoff breakdown of where things stand nationwide every Tuesday starting next week since there’s going to be no shortage of interest in the topic.

But for now, here are my classifiers for the 2024 preseason.

Conference championship contenders: Ohio State, Oregon, Miami, Clemson, Utah, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Georgia, Texas

At-large bid contenders: Penn State, Michigan, Iowa, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Alabama

Better get your act together fast: Florida State

Playoff darkhorses: Nebraska, Syracuse, Louisville, NC State, Virginia Tech, Kansas, Arizona, Iowa State, Texas A&M

Tough Group of Five teams: Boise State, Toledo, Miami (OH), Memphis, Liberty, Appalachian State, Tulane, UTSA, South Florida, UNLV, Fresno State, Texas State

Could make a nice bowl game but don’t know about much else: USC, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, SMU, North Carolina, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kentucky

Uh, hey man, if they can make it to a bowl game it’s a good year: Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan State, Washington, Maryland, Illinois, Cal, Duke, Pittsburgh, Colorado, TCU, South Carolina, Florida, Auburn

Not optimistic, but everyone starts 0-0: Northwestern, UCLA, Purdue, Boston College, Wake Forest, Stanford, Baylor, BYU, Houston, Cincinnati, Arizona State, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt

Things I’m looking forward to seeing this season

  • The 12-team College Football Playoff. Some love it, some outright despite it, but I think come early November it will be much more fun to have 20 fanbases fully engaged in the national championship race rather than eight. 
  • On top of that, college campuses hosting four first-round playoff games.
  • Power Four conference championships giving the winner an automatic playoff berth and a first-round bye.
  • Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan may be the most fun QB/WR combo that often flies under the radar. These two are a big reason why the Wildcats still have a puncher’s chance in the Big 12 despite losing a heap of transfers and their coaching staff this offseason.
  • The rest of the nation discovering how awesome Jeremiah Smith is already as a freshman. And watching other fun freshmen wideouts of note: Auburn’s Cam Coleman, Alabama’s Ryan Williams, Texas Tech’s Micah Hudson, Texas’ Ryan Wingo and Clemson’s TJ Moore. 
  • I can’t say I’m optimistic about Michigan State’s overall prospects for 2024, but I think quarterback Aidan Chiles could be really fun to watch for the Spartans.
  • David Braun pulled off arguably one of the more impressive coaching jobs I’ve seen last year and guided the Wildcats to eight wins. This year, Northwestern will be playing its home games in a makeshift stadium on the lake and in Wrigley Field. Under Pat Fitzgerald, the Wildcats were seemingly an every-other-year type program. Will they revert back to a Big Ten bottom feeder in year two under Braun, or will they continue to surprise skeptics? 
  • It’s hard to remember a running back NFL draft class that could be as loaded as the 2025 class: Ollie Gordon, Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson, Omarion Hampton, Ashton Jeanty, Trevor Etienne, Nicholas Singleton, Devin Neal, Kyle Monangai, Donovan Edwards, Damien Martinez, Raheim Sanders and DJ Giddens. Lots of talented tailbacks in the sport right now.
  • The narrative that will surround Colorado’s 2024 season, good or bad. 
  • If Kalen DeBoer can fill the crater-sized shoes left behind by Nick Saban and continue Alabama’s reputation as a title contender. 
  • Seeing how each of the Power Four’s new teams fare in their first year after a massive wave of expansion. 
  • Rivalry week, per usual. Plus the Army vs. Navy game. 
  • The slate of college football games the weekend of Oct. 12. We’re blessed, folks. 
  • Even though they’re both in Week 3 instead of the final week of the season, I’m glad the Apple Cup and Civil War are both being played this year. 
  • Seeing how Washington State and Oregon State fare in their first year not being affiliated with a Power Conference. 
  • The Big 12 conference race. Probably more than any other conference to be honest, just because there’s feasibly between six and eight teams that could win that sucker. 
  • Any time Kansas is on offense. 
  • Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava in a Josh Heupel offense could be a thing of beauty.
  • Following Ohio State and Kyle McCord’s divorce, how will the latter perform at Syracuse? How will it compare to Will Howard? 
  • This will certainly be the swan song for Utah’s Cam Rising, and it seems like it could be the same for Utes coach Kyle Whittingham. Will both ride off into the sunset with a Big 12 title? 
  • Even though he’s a freshman and expectations of him probably need to be lowered in Lincoln, Dylan Raiola will be the best talent at quarterback Nebraska has had in a long time. How do the Cornhuskers take advantage of it? 
  • Neither Ole Miss nor Mizzou has made a College Football Playoff in the modern era. Can both programs change that this year?  
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