College Football Trending Teams Week One 2014

By Tyler Smith and Matt Hetzler

Matt's Trending Teams 

Trending Up
Texas A&M and Kenny Hill: The 21st ranked Aggies were able to go into 9th ranked South Carolina and put a whooping on the Gamecocks. To say the Aggies looked impressive would be an understatement. A&M dominated from the kickoff and QB Kenny Hill came out of nowhere to break records in his first game. Hill went 44-60 for 511 yards and three TD's, Malcome Kennedy's 14 catches are also worth mentioning. 

Next Up: Lamar. The starters should have an early day in this one. 

Tennessee Volunteers: Tennessee dominated Sunday night vs the Utah State Aggies. Tennessee QB Justin Worley looked great after the first series. The defense held a Chuckie Keeton led offense to just 244 total yards and forced 3 turnovers. This was supposed to be one of the best games of the weekend but it slowly turned into a blowout for Butch Jones and the Vols. 

Next Up: Arkansas State- This is another intriguing early game for the Vols. Arkansas State may hang around for a quarter or so, but the Vols will get another nice W. 

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights were able to open up the season with a big road victory on Thursday night against a very good passing attack from Washington State. At some points in the game it felt like WSU would eventually pull away, but Rutgers hung around and got the W. Paul James looked great with 173 rushing yards and three TD's. Rutgers should have some confidence now when they start B1G play. 

Next Up: Howard. It will be a nice home opener for Rutgers. Starters only play a half as Rutgers rolls to 2-0. 

Trending Down
Vanderbilt: It was hard to find a team that was more disappointing in week 1 than the Commodores. Vandy's offense was flat out awful against Temple and turned the ball over 7 times. Vandy looks like it has returned to being Vandy once again. 

Next Up: Ole Miss. If the Vandy offense struggled against Temple, the Commodores will have all sorts of trouble against the Rebels. Vandy loses by 30 and falls to 0-2. 

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons couldn't break 100 total yards of offense on UL-Monroe. Wake Forest rushed for -3 yards. It was an overall pitiful performance and extremely hard to watch for fans.

Next Up: Gardner Webb. Wake Forest should get a W here and have a chance to correct the problems on offense in week two. 

UCLA: Although the Bruins won their game Saturday against Virginia, it was a worrying performance from a team with high expectations. UCLA needed three defensive touchdowns to win 28-20. The offense will have to get better and find ways to score if they want to live up to the hype. 

Next Up: Memphis. Home opener for the Bruins. UCLA should be able to win easily in this one. The offense will have to work out the struggles we saw at Virginia. 

Tyler's Trending Teams

Trending Up
Texas A&M: We had questions coming into the game. Those questions have been answered and some. Coach Sumlin has done it again with finding a QB to run his air attack offense.  QB Kenny Hill was special vs. South Carolina with over 500 yards and three passing touchdowns. The defensive line looked improved. The secondary is young, talented and had ups and downs. 
Next Up:  Lamar. No issues for the Aggies here. 

UTSA: The Road Runers spoiled the party in Houston with a 27-7 win. The defense forced six turnovers and held the Cougars to just 208 total yards. The offense will need to improve to take the next step. The running attack only averaged 2.9 yards per rush.
Next Up: Arizona. This could be UTSA's big moment. If they beat Arizona expect them back on the trending up list. 

UAB: How far will the Blazers trend up will be the bigger story, but I'm going to give UAB credit here. I had them last in C-USA East and many others did as well. The big question was the defense and they held Troy to just 10 points. The running game was unstoppable with 336 yards. UAB is now on more C-USA teams radar after the thrasing of Troy. For a team that hasn't been to a Bowl since 2004 this win will get fans hopeful. 
Next Up: at Mississippi State. Just come out of the game without injuries and a decent showing.


Trending Down
Vanderbilt: It’s not just that they lost to Temple. It’s how they lost to Temple. The offense had seven turnovers, less than 100 yards rushing and only scored seven points. Don’t worry Vanderbilt fans the “Anchor Down” jerseys will not be worn again. 
Next Up: Ole Miss. The rebels didn’t look great vs. Boise, but they got the job done. Vanderbilt will start the season 0-2. 

Troy: Maybe, I was too high on Troy. Even if  I was, Troy only scored 10 points vs. UAB. The past two season's the Trojans have scored 10 points or less just once! Hard to believe a team led by Larry Blakeney will continue to be a low scoring team. 
Next Up: Duke. Having a BCS team come to a Sun Belt stadium is a big deal. Troy doesn't have to win this game to trend back up. They just need to show that their offense will be similar to what we are used to seeing out of Troy. 

Iowa State: I know, I know North Dakota State is a top FCS program, and they would make some noise at the FBS level. But the Cyclones are in the Big 12 and this is the second staright year they have went down to a FCS team (Northern Iowa 2013). The defense allowed seven yards per carry and the offense lacks big play ability. 
Next Up: Kansas State. K-State beat them 41-7 last season. Showing a little promise on both sides of the ball would be a good sign.