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College Football Recap for Week 1
Friday:
Tennessee 35 NC State 21
It was a rough day for star CB David Amerson. Amerson was burned twice in the first
quarter for long touchdowns as Tennessee built a 22-7 lead on way to victory. Tyler
Bray had a great game against what was supposed to be one of the best secondaries in the
country. Bray threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns. You can see why Derek Dooley
is so excited about this Vols team. Vols star wide-out Justin Hunter was over shadowed
by transfer Cordarrelle Patterson. Patterson accounted for 165 yards of offense and 2
TD’s.
Michigan State 17 Boise State 13
Welcome Le’Veon Bell to the big time college football stage. Bell outgained the Broncos
all by himself by rushing for 210 yards and 2 TD’s. Spartan turnovers kept this game
closer than it should have been. Boise’s only TD came on an interception for a TD.
Spartans should be concerned with new starting QB Andrew Maxwell, who threw three
first half touchdowns. Sparty won the yardage battle 461 to 206.
Saturday:
Notre Dame 50 Navy 10
It was reported that members of the Notre Dame team complained about the food in
Ireland. I guess Irish players don’t realize Irish cooking is boiling at 900 degrees for 90
minutes. I thought originally “50 Shades of Grey” was an Irish cookbook. The food
didn’t hurt the Notre Dame performance on the field as for the second year in a row they
handled Navy rather easily. QB Everett Golson, playing for the suspended Tommy Rees,
had a solid performance going 12 of 18 for 144 yards. RB’s Theo Riddick and George
Atkinson rushed for two touchdowns each.
Ohio 24 Penn State 14
The Bill O’Brien era begins with a thud. Not really a shock because Ohio is expected to
win the MAC and was only a five point underdog by the oddsmakers. This was no fluke,
because Ohio looked like the better team. Biggest surprise was the lack of dominance
from the Penn State defense. Ohio went 93 yards for a TD in the fourth quarter to put the
game away. The Penn State defensive line was no where to be found on the drive. Get
use to more performances like this for the next decade from PSU.
Georgia 45 UB 23
It was a very good performance by the UB Bulls between the hedges. The Bulls out
performed the Bulldogs in the first half and were only down 24-16 at the break. Alex
Zordich ran the offense extremely well and Bo Oliver looked like he belonged with
the elite players of the SEC. Oliver rushed for 111 yards and one touchdown. Three
Bulldog starters on defense were held out because of suspensions. The Bulls defense looked decent without suspended star Khalil Mack. The special teams were a disaster
again giving up a 100 yard kick-off return after the Bulls pulled within 7-6 in the first
quarter.
Northwestern 42 Syracuse 41
Game of the day was in the Carrier Dome. The only thing with more tension than this
game is Chris Christies’ belt. Syracuse came back from a huge deficit to take the lead
late in the fourth quarter. Northwestern drove 75 yards in 10 plays behind back-up QB
Trevor Siemian to break the hearts of the SU faithful. Syracuse QB Ryan Nassib threw
for 470 yards and 4 touchdowns in defeat. Syracuse can blame 13 penalties (bad call on
an out of bounds hit that gave the Wildcats a first and goal on the winning drive) and 3
turnovers for the loss.
Florida 27 Bowling Green 14
A two quarterback system never works. So it is no shock that when Florida announced
they would try it for the first half of this game they were just announcing out loud to the
world that they have problems under center. Florida has no passing game at this point
and with A&M and Tennessee on deck they better get one fast.
Florida State 69 Murray State 3
Was it Jim Valvano or Maria Ouspenskaya (Gypsy fortuneteller in the
original “Wolfman”) that first said “beware of states that aren’t states”? FSU rolls to a
easy victory. Did you know that UCLA, Notre Dame and USC are the only three FBS
schools that have never played a school from the FCS.
Alabama 41 Michigan 14
The Alabama defense is more lethal than the red cholera from the ‘58 classic “The Blob”.
The impressive thing is how quickly Alabama reloads. How bad does the Big 10 look
when they play a team with speed. Nick Saban was able to take Denard Robinson out of
the game and the Wolverines offense had little else to fall back on. Alabama offensive
line is so good that Outland trophy winner Barrett Jones was forced to move to center so
he could start. Rumor this week was that boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. bet 3 million on
Michigan. Good bet Floyd. Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa all pulled out wins late or
this weekend could have been a disaster for the Big 10.
Colorado State 22 Colorado 17
Political pressure was needed to even have these two teams meet after a 25 year
hiatus. Political pressure was needed again to bring the game back to Denver after big
brother CU had three games in recent years played in Boulder. Isn’t it nice that local
politicians are spending time on important stuff like where this game is played rather
than unimportant things like the area gun control laws? Colorado State pushed Colorado
around in the second half to gain the victory. Colorado had only 58 yards rushing and
245 yards of total offense in the game. Looks like CSU made a good hire in coach Jim
McElwain.
Clemson 26 Auburn 19
Got the sense this was a big game for both teams. Clemson had to put the bad taste of
giving up 70 points in their last game behind them. Clemson offensive coordinator Chad
Morris said the biggest recruit Clemson had this year was RB Andre Ellington not going
to the NFL. Ellington rushed for 228 yards. Clemson WR DeAndre Hopkins needed to
step up because Sammy Watkins was sitting out with a suspension. Hopkins set a school
record with 13 receptions. Auburn QB Kiehl Frazier wasn’t all bad but in a close game
was out performed by his counterpart Tajh Boyd.
USC 49 Hawaii 10
USC just got off trouble with the NCAA and now reports are that Joe McKnight may
have received illegal benefits when he was a Trojan. Are you surprised? Me neither.
You think he was renting the same luxury suite in San Diego as Reggie Bush’s parents.
Norm Chow, the new Hawaii coach, has no love for Lane Kiffin, but with only one senior
starter on his roster it was going to be a tough night for Chow. On the first play of the
season Heisman hopeful Matt Barkley hit speedy receiver Marqise Lee for a 75 yard
touchdown. The Trojans never looked back. Barkley finished the day with 372 passing
yards and four touchdowns.
The hot seat got hotter for: Randy Edsall at Maryland after a lackluster 7-6 victory
over William & Mary, Paul Chyrst of Pittsburgh after loss to Youngstown State and Jeff
Tedford of Cal after a loss at home to Nevada.