College football fans were treated to a plethora of marquee matchups during Week 1 this past weekend. The most exciting part of college football is the unlikely upsets that happen each week. Here are the three biggest upsets of Week 1 (ESPN).
- Virginia Tech Takes Down #10 North Carolina
Everyone thought that the Tar Heels would beat the Hokies in a cakewalk. All of the talking heads said this would be the beginning of North Carolina QB Sam Howell’s Heisman Trophy run. Virginia Tech had other ideas!
The Tar Heels looked shell-shocked by both the Hokies’ defense and the packed crowd of 65,000 plus fans in Lane Stadium. Virginia Tech QB Braxton Burmeister scored the game’s first touchdown in the first quarter and the Hokies never looked back. The redshirt junior also threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to James Mitchell in the second quarter to give Virginia Tech a 14-0 lead at halftime.
Howell tried to engineer a North Carolina comeback in the third quarter by tossing a 37-yard touchdown to Josh Downs that cut the Hokies’ lead to 14-7. The 6-1 220 pound junior completed 17 of 32 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown. However, Virginia Tech’s defense confused Howell with several different looks and baited him into throwing three interceptions.
- Georgia Tech Loses Heartbreaker vs. Northern Illinois
Oddsmakers made Georgia Tech a hefty 19 point favorite over Northern Illinois so this was another huge upset! The Huskies escaped with a 22-21 victory over the Yellow Jackets and the hometown fans went home in disgust.Â
The Jackets ran the ball pretty well the entire game as evidenced by their 273 rushing yards. They even held a seven-point lead late in the contest before Northern Illinois QB Rocky Lombardi found Clint Ratkovich in the end zone to pull within a point. The Huskies wanted no part of overtime and ended up winning the game on a gutsy two-point conversion!
- Montana Stuns #20 Washington
The most shocking upset of Week 1 was the #20 ranked Washington Huskies losing at home to the Montana Grizzlies, an FCS opponent. Just how unlikely was this upset? Most sportsbooks made Washington a 22.5 point favorite in the contest! Talk about a disappointing home opener for Huskies fans!
Things started as planned for the Huskies as QB Dylan Morris scored on a one-yard run early in the first quarter. Little did everyone know that would be the only time Washington would crack the scoreboard the entire game!Â
Washington led at the half 7-3 but played terribly the whole second half. The Huskies just couldn’t get their running game going as running back Richard Newton finished with only 62 rushing yards. Needless to say, averaging 2.4 yards per rush against an FCS school isn’t going to cut it.
The final dagger for the Huskies came in the turnover department. Morris forced several throws throughout the game and ended up throwing three interceptions. Washington fans are praying for a much better performance in Week 2 against Michigan!
