Some ups

Alabama: Not fair. Alabama loses seven starters off the best defense in the country and doesn’t miss a beat in a 41-14 destruction of a good Michigan team on a neutral field.

Nick Saban has won two BCS titles in three years, it’s going to take someone else’s fastball to keep him from a third title in four years.

Duke: You can’t get to six wins without the first and the Blue Devils got win No. 1 with an efficient performance against a relatively dangerous Florida International team.

September wins haven’t been the problem for David Cutcliffe at Duke, rather the games in November, but you can’t take early games lightly and Duke didn’t as it heads out to California to take on Stanford.

Some downs

N.C. State: It’s back to the kiddie pool for the Wolfpack, which couldn’t swim with the SEC sharks. It’s not all bad news after a 35-21 loss to Tennessee:

A) UConn should be more the Wolfpack’s speed;

B) If there’s one thing coach Tom O’Brien has proven in the first five years at State, he knows how to get his team ready after a tough loss.

Pitt: The Panthers aren’t even in the ACC yet but they’re already preconditioning their fans for the disappointment affiliated with ACC football. In coach Paul Chryst’s Pitt debut, the Panthers lost 31-17 at home to Youngstown State, a I-AA team.

On the bright side, once Pitt gets to the ACC in 2013, its "designated rival" is Maryland.

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Two-minute drill

Meet the new Terps, same as the old Terps: Maryland was supposedly starting Randy Edsall’s second season with a clean slate. Saturday’s 7-6 win over William & Mary looked like more of the same, from a 2-10 disaster, rather than a fresh start.

Long way down: Penn State’s short on talent and on the wrong end of karma. That’s a bad combination. Saturday’s 24-14 home loss to Ohio was just the beginning of a difficult four-year stretch.

Why Georgia: Freshman running backs Todd Gurley (Tarboro) and Keith Marshall (Raleigh) both left the state for Georgia. Gurley ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns, and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the Bulldogs’ 45-25 win over Buffalo on Saturday. Marshall ran for 46 yards. Either would have looked good in light blue or a different shade of red.

Gator aid?: Maybe the post-Urban Meyer rebuilding project at Florida is going to take longer than expected. The Gators struggled in a 27-14 win over Bowling Green (the second time in three years they’ve had problems with a MAC team in the opener). Given the progress at Tennessee and Vanderbilt, the Gators might not crack the top four in the SEC East.

Cupcake State: Florida State made quick work of Murray State, 69-3 in its opener. That was just a warm-up for Saturday’s opponent, Savannah State. The Tigers lost 84-0 last week at Oklahoma State. Murray State? Savannah State? How exactly is that going to help FSU get ready for Clemson on Sept. 22?

Giglio: 919-829-8938 or twitter.com/jwgiglio