And we’re off!

Hot: Utah Statement

If I had a time machine, or even 3 wishes from a magic genie, I would get the Aggies unfortunate pass back and give them another chance at sending the entire Sooner fan base leaping from the tops of nearby buildings and bridges. Come on, be honest. Who among you really thought Utah State (who has only beaten 1 ranked team in its history) would even score against Oklahoma? A win would have been better, Aggies, but you certainly did the WAC proud by making the Sooners earn the W. In fact, Utah State had 4 turnovers and no 4th down conversions, and STILL made it a game. I’m gonna go way out on a limb this week and proclaim that I love the Aggies. Yeah, love. I said it.

Not: Winning the game 3 times, only to lose

Okay, you got me. Dwyer High (#11) versus Glenville High (#6) is not a college matchup, but it WAS on ESPN and I do know one of Dwyer High’s coaches (shout out to Reggie Stanley) so I feel it’s only right to include this game, or it’s officials rather, on the not list this week. All in all, both teams were penalized altogether too many times and often the game got messy, but as the clock ran out, the officials made it clear that they would determine who got the W, not the players. The situation is this: with little over 3 minutes to play, Dwyer was down by 4 points. They managed two crazy fourth down conversions to keep their would-be-game-winning drive alive. Next up: a long pass to the corner of the end zone, which was caught in bounds (very clearly) and called out by the officials. Okay, no replay in high school so the boys brush it off and keep playing. New situation: 1st and goal with about a minute to play. The quarterback keeps it and pushes his way into the end zone, barely. Officials call? No touchdown. Try again. Now with about 30 seconds to play, they run the same play and this time the entire pile makes it into the end zone, clearly another touchdown (yes….that is the 3rd one with no points to show). And the officials call it down on the 1 yard line as time expires. Biggest rip off I have ever seen.

Hot: Making the most of the hand you’re dealt

If you didn’t hear about the NCAA investigation of UNC, all you need to know is that they were basically forced to travel to Atlanta to face off against LSU with the high school junior varsity version of their team. Everyone, even true blue Carolina fans, was certain that LSU would dominate what would have been a close exciting game. Wait… What’s that? It WAS a close, exciting game? And LSU might as well mark this one as a loss because only barely winning to a depleted ACC opponent is just too embarrassing? Huh. I did not see that coming. Okay, so Carolina didn’t win. But when you consider the fact that they were playing without 13 important players and were down by 20 points at half time, and had a chance to win in the finals seconds of the game, that’s not half bad. In fact, it likely means that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with the rest of the season. Well, if they can get that whole special teams thing figure out anyway.

Not: 2 pts (don’t you get that for putting your uni’s on properly?)

Dear Toledo, For the rest of the season we would appreciate it if your offense showed up for the game. We would like to improve the strength of our schedule (we are in the WAC you know?) and your 2 pitiful points are not going to cut it. Please do better next week. Love, Bronco Nation

Hot: Cheaters not prospering

Remember how Jeremiah Masoli got in trouble with the law for smoking pot and stealing, and subsequently got released from the Ducks? And remember how he made up a BS story about having to transfer schools to take a class he needed so the NCAA would let him play without sitting out a year? Yeah. Well that makes Ole Miss’s loss to Jacksonville State Saturday that much more awesome. If you didn’t know, Ole Miss is in the SEC and Jacksonville State is in the Football Championship Subdivision (the artist formerly known as 1-AA). After being down by 21 points at the half, J’ville State rallied and forced Ole Miss into DOUBLE overtime, which they won on a successful two-point-conversion play.

Not: Going for it on 4th

There are lots of reasons to go for it on 4th down, but when you are ahead by 2 TDs late the game there really aren’t any. You hear me, Tommy Tuberville?? There aren’t any. Yet for some reason Texas Tech did just that twice in the second half: once late in the 3rd quarter and once early in the 4th. The first leading to a FG and the second set up a TD for SMU, which got them back in the game and nearly cost Tech the victory. In fact, SMU had a chance to tie things up and force an overtime (or win on a 2-point conversion) late in the game. Nice play calling, Tech. Really.

Hot: Napping during the second half

When Oregon 59 New Mexico 0 scrolled by on the Bottom Line, I thought for sure that was a final score. Turns out, it wasn’t. Not even close. That was the score at half time! And, no, New Mexico is NOT and FCS school. In fact, they aren’t even a WAC school. Yeah, they are the worst the MWC (and possibly college football) has to offer. Even still, without Jeremiah Masoli and without LaMichael James (serving a one game suspension), a final score of 72 to 0 is pretty impressive. Looks like a great season is still feasible in Eugene. Way to prove me wrong, Ducks.

Not: There’s no D in Beavers, but there’s 2 in Andy Dalton

It’s another critical TCU 3rd down. Anyone know the play call? Andy Dalton on the keeper, you say? No, no, no. That couldn’t possibly work again. Could it? Even the cheerleaders can see that coming by now. And, yet, somehow the Beavers’ defense could neither see it nor stop it. Every time Andy Dalton got the ball, he became invisible (apparently) and easily captured the first down—untouched most of the time. It was incredible really. The Horned Frogs converted 11 of 17 3rd downs and Dalton carried the ball on at least half of them. And the rest of the Beaver’s defense was none too shiny. The offense worked their cute little buns off to stay in the game only to have the defense let TCU walk all over them again and again. TCU had more than double Oregon State’s first downs, had nearly double their total yardage, and had possession for 2/3 of the total game time.

Hot: Boise State proving it in DC

In case you missed it (and be sure to kick yourself if you did), BSU DID beat Virginia Tech in the season opener. In a little nod to their first Fiesta Bowl appearance, they came out big early and then did their best to make everyone watching believe that they didn’t have what it took to close the deal. And, just when all the weak sauce fans had given up hope, the D stepped it up and got the stop so Kellen Moore could march the offense down the field for a game winning TD. Stressful to say the least, but a win is a win is a win. Nice work Broncos. Way to keep the dream alive!

Not: Making it hard on yourself

Okay. So exciting as the big win was, it was not pretty by any means. BSU did just about everything they could to keep VT in the game, which is good for ratings and all, but a clean game would have been better. All said and done, BSU had 2 costly fumbles that resulted in points for VT and 11 penalties for a total of 105 yards, most of which came at the worst possible time. Most of these penalties were completely uncalled for and put the game on the line for the Broncos right to the end. I appreciated the cardio workout I got during the game, but let’s clean it up next week, alright team?

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