Biscuits & SEC Week 1 game-by-game recaps 2024
Week 1 brought the heat as Georgia dominated Clemson, Vandy pulls off a big upset, and A&M and Florida faltered at home.
By: Bossman Slim, Hammer, Waco Kid
Week 1, baby. Not every marquee game lived up to the hype, but we got our first glimpse of what the SEC is going to look like this year along with some big surprises. Remember…it’s a long season. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater after a Week 1 performance, or don’t get too overconfident!
Here’s how the B&S crew fared with their picks in Week 1:
Bossman picked up a game with his gutsy USC over LSU pick, but overall it was a troublesome start for the Biscuits crew in Week 1. Better days ahead…(hopefully).
Let’s hit the recaps.
Bossman: I mean, wow. I will eat my words, Diego Pavia played a heck of a game, accounting for three TDs and making crucial plays when needed for the Commodores. Pavia revealed postgame to a VT player who apparently called him a “poor man’s Trace McSorley,” to which he responded, “When you stop me, then you can talk.” Virginia Tech was being hyped up as a contender in the ACC, so this is a big win for Vandy that should give them confidence for at least the first half of the season. The ‘Dores have Alcorn State and Georgia State the next two weeks, so they should be 3-0 before a showdown with Mizzou in Columbia. Great win for Clark Lea and Co.
Hammer: Well, time for me to eat crow. And based on how my picks went this week, I’ll be eating crow early and often. I bought into the VT Darkhorse ACC vibes based on how they finished last year. Kyron Drones at QB and a litany of returning starters, plus what seemed like a pretty hopeless Vandy team, had me fooled. The Commodores came out with their hair on fire, defended their home turf, and sent the Hokies packing in overtime. Deigo Pavia is a dawg. He was a dawg at New Mexico State, and it appears the step up to the Power 4 level hasn't phased Pavia. He toted the rock 26 times for 104 yards and a TD. Plus he threw for 190 yards and two more TDs. He put the team on his back! Honestly, I’m just pumped for Vandy because I thought this season would be really, really rough. And it still might be, this is only one game after all. But I do feel confident this team will be far more competitive than I thought. They beat up VT in the trenches on both sides of the ball, ran the ball effectively, and earned a win over a solid team in VT. Go ‘Dores.
The Waco Kid: Who could have seen this coming? Even the fans in Nashville would have never told you with certainty that they could beat Virginia Tech. But Clark Lea has his team competing which is leaps and bounds ahead of where this Vandy program finds itself most years. The ‘Dores seem to have found their guy at quarterback. Diego Pavia was remarkable in his debut. Not only did he throw for two touchdowns and almost 200 yards but he added another 100 on the ground for another score. This team looks good but only time will tell, once conference play starts we will know what Vandy is all about and if they are the real deal or a one-hit wonder.
Bossman: A beatdown of the highest order. The Clemson defense kept it close for a half, but then Georgia took over and manhandled the Tigers. The sad truth is that this is not the Clemson Tigers we’ve become accustomed to seeing under Dabo Swinney. Cade Klubnik was underwhelming and eventually, the Georiga offense was able to break through against the Tiger D. Carson Beck looked every bit the Heisman Trophy contender against a top 15 team, throwing for nearly 300 yards and two TDs. And of course, the defense suffocated Clemson all day and will give everyone they play fits. We know Georgia’s schedule is a bear, but this team has a real chance to run the table. They’re that darn good.
Hammer: Oh boy…I thought Clemson’s offense in Garrett Riley and Cade Klubnik’s second year would be improved. I knew Georgia’s defense would be stout so I only predicted 10 points for Clemson, but they didn't even sniff that. The Tigers only managed 188 total yards! Clemson was out-gained 447 to 188. It was only 6-0 at halftime, but the floodgates opened in the 3rd quarter and it quickly became a bloodbath. Georgia looks every bit the part of a #1 team in the country and Clemson is not what they once were. All the rhetoric surrounding this is about Dabo and how he is slipping and how he needs to use the transfer portal. That all might be true, especially the need to use the transfer portal. However, a few transfers were not saving Clemson in this game. They were outclassed at every single level by Georgia, and that is the story to me. Georgia is the best team in the country and they showed it.
The Waco Kid: South Park’s very own Timmy can straight ball. Yeah, I am talking about Carson Beck. Against a pretty stout Clemson defense, Beck managed to throw for two scores and over 275 yards. Add in two more scores on the ground and it’s going to be hard to beat a Georgia team that puts up over 30. That Georgia defense did Cade Klubnik dirty and made him look like a high schooler trying to play with the big Dawgs (pun intended). He never looked comfortable in the pocket which led to an interception and pretty awful numbers through the air. Kirby has got his team right back at the top of the nation and I would not be surprised to see another national championship headed back to Athens.
Bossman: I hate to say it this early in the season, but it looks like the Billy Napier era is already over in Gainesville. You cannot lose to an instate rival by 24 at home in year three and expect to keep your job. Not to mention this is also Mario Cristobal’s third season at Miami, and his squad looks light years ahead of Napier and the Gators. The beatdown was so bad that Miami players were talking up the Florida recruits who were at the game. Cam Ward looked like a Heisman candidate, racking up 385 yards and three TDs through the air, making it look easy all day. Graham Mertz on the other hand was dismal, throwing for just 91 yards and an INT for a 19.1 QBR before his injury in the third quarter. Sheesh. My trust in him was obviously misplaced. Montrell Johnson did his job, going over 100 yards and adding a 71-yard TD, but that was the only bright spot on the day for the Gators. It’s looking like a long season in Gainesville.
Hammer: Here we have my second helping of crow. I stupidly bought into Billy Napier and Florida being improved since last year, and I doubted Miami. In all fairness, Miami has been overhyped and painfully average for the last 20 years. The potential was always there, but they never delivered in a big game like that. To go into The Swamp and dismantle Florida 41-17, regardless of what version of Florida showed up, is extremely impressive. Cam Ward looked like one of the better QBs in the country, and certainly the ACC, going 26/35 for 385 yards, three TDs, and one pick. The Gators looked lost on offense, going 1/9 on third downs and only managing 261 total yards. They ran the ball relatively well but were playing from behind the entire game, and Florida clearly doesn’t have the offense to throw themselves back into a game against a team like Miami. The Hurricanes really impressed in this game and look to take advantage of a down ACC with FSU and Clemson struggling.
The Waco Kid: Either Miami is a top 5 team or Florida is just as bad as they were last year. Graham Mertz was absolutely abysmal and that is putting it in the nicest terms possible. The highlight for the Gators was, as Bossman stated, Montrell Johnson. He was supposed to open up the air attack for Mertz and honestly did his job with a 71-yard touchdown dash, but Mertz could not find his groove. And then ended up leaving the game injured, while true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway took the reins and looked decent for his first career action but still has some growing to do. Miami’s Cam Ward tore apart the Gator defense seemingly with ease. He had multiple receivers wide open on every drive and the shining points were Xavier Restrepo and Elijah Arroyo. Keep an eye out on this Canes team while Napier needs to keep an eye on his own ass.
Bossman: I mean honestly, what the hell was that? It was a relatively quiet offseason in College Station, but there was still hype surrounding Conner Weigman and this new-look Collin Klein offense to go along with a talented defense. But on Saturday night at Kyle Field, in front of the entire country, it looked like the same old Aggies. The defense played well all night and frustrated Notre Dame for much of the game. While the A&M defense did enough to give the team a chance to win, the Aggie offense looked dare I say…Jimbo Fisher-esque. It was atrocious to watch, and Conner Weigman looked like he regressed significantly in the offseason. He threw for just 100 yards and turned the ball over twice, both of which were his fault. Receivers couldn’t get any separation so it isn’t all on his shoulders, but that was tough to watch. Credit to Notre Dame, they made the plays when they needed to and the defense was stifling all night, blanketing A&M wide receivers and making Wiegman uncomfortable. With a soft schedule the rest of the way, Notre Dame is likely a playoff team. A&M will need to regroup quickly or this could be a true rebuilding season, something no Aggie fan wants to hear.
Hammer: Hello, yes, I would now like my third serving of crow, please. How about the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame? This wasn’t pretty but it was an extremely gritty win on the road in front of 107,000+ Aggie fans. Yet again, I bought into the A&M hype. Notre Dame was thin at the offensive line and had a combined total of six starts heading into this game. I figured against a stout defensive line and hostile crowd, the offensive line would struggle. Well, they didn’t. Much of that is due to Riley Leonard’s escapability and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock’s game plan to get rid of the ball quickly, but the Irish also ran for 198 yards on 34 attempts. Marcus Freeman and his entire staff deserve a ton of credit for that performance, especially being able to out-physical the Aggies in the second half and wear them down. Notre Dame looked like the more prepared team, and their game plan worked. The Aggies defense played fine. They gave up too much on the ground but at the end of the day, if you give up 23 points to a top 10 team at home, you like your chances to win. Problem was, the Aggie offense looked just as bad or worse than it did under Jimbo Fisher. Connor Weigman had one of the worst games you will see a QB have. He threw two bad interceptions and missed his targets all night long. It was abysmal. And the Aggie offensive line actually protected him well! An A&M QB finally had time to throw and just completely forgot how to throw an accurate pass downfield. I won’t blame Collin Klein and his play calling or game plan yet due to how bad Weigman looked, but he was not brought in from Kansas State to score 13 points. Has to be better.
The Waco Kid: For 58 minutes of this game it was a wild one. Filled with the defenses of nightmares and some hard-hitting, nose-breaking, bone-crushing football that hasn’t been seen since the early 2000s. It was a fun one to be tuned into, especially with a College GameDay atmosphere at Kyle Field. Conner Weigman in this new Collin Klein offense looked incredible on the first couple of drives and then it all went downhill. The Irish defense made adjustments and Weigman became visibly uncomfortable dropping back in the pocket. He was over-throwing, he was under-throwing, he was hardly throwing. Weigman was just completely missing his targets. Still, the Aggies kept it close until the last two minutes of the game when they gave up ten points. The defense at that point was gassed from having to carry Weigman’s poor play on their backs and you could tell. That young but huge Notre Dame offensive line pushed them around like dummies and opened holes up for the backs to just walk right into the end zone. I don’t think this is the end for A&M but it is definitely a rough start.
Bossman: What’d I tell you? People were sleeping on this USC team. The defense still had some issues overall, but held an explosive LSU offense to just 20 points and gutted out a win on the back of Miller Moss’s surprisingly good play. Moss torched that weak LSU secondary (called it!) and in the end it was enough to get the Trojans over the hump in the waning seconds of the game. Garrett Nussmeier was solid in his debut, but it wasn’t enough to get the job done. At the end of the day, Tigers fans just want to WIN, period. Judging by the reaction out of Baton Rouge, the honeymoon with Brian Kelly is over. 10 wins is great, but championships are what this program is about. Right now, it doesn’t look like they’ll be in contention for a championship with that porous secondary, something no LSU fan is happy to hear. It’s a long season and the Tigers could round into form, but that is not a good start out of the gate.
Hammer: And finally, my fourth and last service of crow. Yes, I went 1-4 straight up in picks this week. College football is wild, man. I should have known LSU would pee the bed yet again in their opener. I doubted Lincoln Riley and USC more than I believed in LSU, but the Trojans proved me wrong. They actually tackled! I’m not ready to declare USC a physical team cause we all know how soft LSU has been recently, but their defense looked better than I expected. It would seem the hires Riley made on defense are paying off. Meanwhile, LSU’s defense still looks like a mess, especially in the secondary. Miller Moss lit the Tigers up for 378 yards and a TD. Offensively, LSU looked pretty good. John Emery had some success on the ground and Nussmeier looked good, but it wasn’t enough. One thing worth pointing out that has repeatedly plagued LSU is penalties and they were penalized 10 times for 99 yards on Sunday night. Sheesh. Credit to Lincoln Riley and USC for stepping up and winning a tough game. Brian Kelly and LSU have a lot of work to do if they want to get this season back on track.
The Waco Kid: Oh man, two quarterbacks taking over for two of the highest draft picks in the 2024 draft. No one thought these guys could live up to those standards but both USC’s Miller Moss and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier stepped up in a big way. Moss ended the night with 378 passing yards and a touchdown, while Nussmeier finished up with just over 300 yards and two touchdowns. It was a shootout until the very end. The score might not reflect it because it was a relatively low-scoring game but that is because both defenses played with a bend don’t break mentality. The final nail in the coffin for this one was on the last USC drive when LSU was called for unnecessary roughness, pretty much giving the Trojans the go-ahead to score. Brian Kelly may have been angry but his team played pretty well. Unfortunately, Lincoln Riley had an Ace in his back pocket with Miller Moss and no one saw it coming.