2021 Season Reactions: September Thoughts

 Even though we still have one more game to go in the month of September (a Thursday night 9/30 clash between UVA and Miami), we can basically say that the first month of College Football 2021 is in the books.

Upsets
A lot of attention has been placed on fans being back - and it is joyous! I wouldn't be surprised if this were the contributing factor to a lot of the upsets we've seen so far:

• Nebraska at Illinois (Week 0)
• UNC at Virginia Tech (Week 1)
• LSU at UCLA (Week 1)
• Texas at Arkansas (Week 2)
• Utah at BYU (Week 2)
• UCF at Louisville (Week 3)
• Clemson at NC State (Week 4)

All of these were home underdogs scoring some pretty sweet wins!  It may turn out that some of these weren't "really" upsets at all, once the season plays out further. But based on the feelings at game time, I know these teams have all been very pleased with what their fans have had to bring!   

Considering that two years of classes - possibly 40 percent or more of the team - are only now getting the taste of "enemy territory", I wouldn't write off the theory that greater fan attendance hasn't at least played a role in some of these early season upsets.  Question is: will it play less of a role moving forward, now that the favorite teams are better-accustomed to "normal" (or at least closer to it) once again?

Open Door

With Ohio State already suffering a loss, Clemson suffering TWO, and Alabama/Oklahoma/Notre Dame coming close to losing at least once already, it feels like the opportunities for the rest of college football are greater than they have been for a while. 

• Ohio State has already lost; Clemson has twice. Alabama, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame are all undefeated by the slimmest of margins.
• We've got teams like Arkansas in the Top 10, for the first time in nearly a decade.
• Top 5 Penn State and Iowa both beat 2 at-the-time ranked teams, but only one of the four is currently ranked (Auburn, barely, while Wisconsin, Indiana, and Iowa State have fallen off)

Folks are chanting (among other, more vulgar things) "2007!  2007!" as the upsets continue and more unranked teams see the opportunity. I don't know if we'll quite get there, but if it were to happen, this would be the year for it.

October Anticipation
As conference play heats up across the country, it'll be interesting to see how the story of the season shifts.  

• Will teams like Clemson manage to pull off a 2016 Oklahoma/Penn State/USC and turn multiple September losses into runs for a conference title and/or a NY6 bowl?   
• Will Ohio State repeat their 2014 success, and translate a Week 2 home non-conference loss into an incredible post-season run?
• Will the cheers of "chaos" turn into jeers if one conference (such as the SEC) becomes too dominant?
• Will some of these mid-season ranked showdowns like Alabama/Ole Miss and Iowa/Penn State, live up to the hype?
• Will the few October non-conference games we do get prove to be anything meaningful?  Army/Wake Forest could provide a quality win for either currently undefeated team seeking great program heights, as could Baylor/BYU.

In any event, it's great to have a more "normal" season in full swing once again.  And I look forward to seeing what stories emerge through October.  

Happy Fall, everyone!!