by Chris Asbrock

The college football season is in full swing. You were probably well aware, as you’ve noticed your social media timelines being peppered and trolled by Ohio State blowhards. Regardless of how miserable those people can make the next four months, it was great to see your weekend filled with football.

The opening week/weekend of the season brought along some surprises and some devastating injuries. As with every week and game, reactions and overreactions are sure to follow.With that in mind, lets dive into some of those from the opening weekend in college football.

1. Ohio State is clearly the team to beat

The defending national champions came into the season loaded and they certainly showed it again last night against Virginia Tech. The amount of talent the Buckeyes will bring every Saturday is on the verge of criminal. That was evident last night as the Buckeyes were without four key players.

Adding a freak athlete in Braxton Miller, to the wide receiver corps is scary. He showed what he can do, based off his performance last night. What is even scarier is imagine how good Miller would be had he not been playing QB these past couple of years. With Ohio State not set to be challenged until November, expect them to be well rested for their run to another playoff run and a spot in the championship game again.
2. Michigan will be just fine under Harbaugh

The Jim Harbaugh era didn’t start off as hoped but one thing is certain, Michigan will be back. The Wolverines showed glimpses of it during their loss at Utah. Harbaugh did inherit somewhat of a mess that Brady Hoke left but once he gets his guys in there, the Wolverines have a chance to be back at the top of the college football landscape.

The loss to Utah was to be expected but it did not make it easy after watching the game. The Wolverines could have and should have defeated the Utes. Opening on the road is not easy for any team and opening the season with a loss makes it tough. Next up for Michigan is another Pac-12 foe, the Oregon State Beavers, for Harbaugh’s home debut.

3. Notre Dame is good, but great?

The 38-3 demolition of the Texas Longhorns could cause people to view the Fighting Irish differently. Notre Dame is a good team, don’t get me wrong but Texas is pretty bad. I have heard people putting Notre Dame in the college football playoff based off of that performance. I’m not going to do that just yet. They will be a solid team with a pretty favorable schedule.

The schedule does include some tricky games that could cost the Irish. Add the loss of starting running back Tarean Folston for the season, the Irish could be tripped up along the way. The play of quarterback Malik Zaire will put a smile on any Notre Dame fans’ face, but it is too early to hop on the Notre Dame to the playoff bandwagon. If Notre Dame can get through October unscathed, I may be willing to hop on the bandwagon.

4. Early losses aren’t as crippling as you may think

Just because you lost this week, doesn’t mean you will be shut out of the playoff. Just ask Ohio State. For teams like Stanford, Arizona State and Wisconsin, who all had aspirations to make it to the playoff, they were dealt blows this opening weekend. A loss this early does make it tough but certainly not impossible to deal with. Other teams will stumble along the way to open the door for others.

There will be a very good team that will come away with a loss this weekend to join those big schools. The Oregon Ducks hit the road to take on Michigan State in a top five battle in primetime. The loser of that is not out of the playoff discussion. With teams like Alabama, USC and UCLA making statements this weekend, the playoff picture will certainly be crowded in the upcoming months.

Chris Asbrock is a staff writer and analyst for FTI Sports and can be followed on Twitter