Thursday Recap

A lot happened in the college football world last night. The only thing that seemed to be missing was actual good football. Every game was marred by turnovers and miscues. I guess you can't really ask for too much more on the first night of the season.

Here are my thoughts on what transpired.


Everyone is talking about the LaGarrette Blount punch today. People are forgetting that an actual game transpired before than incident. I can't really blame them. The game was boring. Either Chip Kelly is in for a long season at Oregon, or Boise St.'s defense is pretty damn good. For someone who is supposedly an offensive genius, it seemed Kelly couldn't pull his head out of his ass long enough to call a decent play. Is this really the team that everyone was expecting to challenge USC for the PAC-10 crown? I'm ashamed the Ducks cracked my top 25 poll.

As for the Blount incident, my take is simple. The Boise St. douche deserved to be punched square in the jaw. You don't run up on someone who you just beat and pound on his shoulder pads. Even if you were to be dumb enough to do that, you don't compound your mistake by yapping at the guy. I don't blame Blount at all for hitting him in the mouth. I would've done the same. Where Blount went wrong is how he acted after he went all Kermit Washington. Blount tried to fight his own teammates and run into the stands a la Ron Artest. Both of those are no nos. I don't think the guy should be kicked off the team but he definitely deserves a strong suspension. Maybe even suspend him for the season. Oregon can't do any worse without him than they did last night.

Speaking of shit fests, what the hell was that pile of crap that ESPN aired before the Blount Brawl? NC State and South Carolina put on a snooze fest that would make Sylvester Croom jealous. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised with the Wolfpack's performance. They seem to forget to play football until around November. One thing I did learn from this game: Eric Norwood is even better than I thought. I think he might have moved up my positional rankings with that performance.

Not too much else happened Thursday. Utah didn't look overly impressive against in-state "rival" Utah St.

Ball St. looks like it misses Nate Davis and Brady Hoke a lot more than they miss Muncie. Stan Parrish still can't coach.

Iowa St. and Indiana are slightly better than I thought they would be. But not by much.

ESPN continues to exploit Lou Holtz's willingness to do whatever corny ass segment they ask him too. Mark May is still horrible...

I took a hurting in my weekly picks last night. I mean, I was awful......

Highlight of the night:

Weekly Picks

No into this week, just straight to the picks!


Western Michigan @ Ball St.
Navy @ Northern Illinois
Texas A&M @ Texas
West Virginia @ Pittsburgh
Central Michigan @ Eastern Michigan
Mississippi St. @ Ole Miss
Ohio @ Miami(OH)
UTEP @ East Carolina
Akron @ Temple
Kent St. @ Buffalo
Colorado @ Nebraska
Bowling Green @ Toledo
Fresno St. @ Boise St.
UCLA @ Arizona St.
Georgia Tech @ Georgia
Syracuse @ Cincinnati
Miami(FL) @ NC State
South Carolina @ Clemson
Virginia @ Virginia Tech
Kansas @ Missouri
UAB @ UCF
Arkansas St. @ North Texas
Nevada @ Louisiana Tech
New Mexico St. @ Utah St.
Southern Miss @ SMU
Auburn @ Alabama
Florida @ Florida St.
Baylor @ Texas Tech
Maryland @ Boston College
North Carolina @ Duke
Tulane @ Memphis
Houston @ Rice
Tulsa @ Marshall
FIU @ Florida Atlantic
Kentucky @ Tennessee
Oregon @ Oregon St.
Vanderbilt @ Wake Forest
Oklahoma @ Oklahoma St.
Notre Dame @ USC
Washington St. @ Hawaii

Upset Alerts:

Colorado over Nebraska - The Buffs need this win to become bowl eligible. I think Coach Hawkins gets them fired up enough to win it.

North Carolina St. over Miami(FL) - Just like last season, Tom O'Brien has the Wolfpack playing like ACC champs at the end of the year. If he can just find a way to have his team play like that all season long, he may have something special.

Tennessee over Kentucky - The Wildcats may be running into a buzz saw on this one. I don't see the Vol senior class letting Coach Fulmer go out without a win.

Oklahoma St. over Oklahoma - It's Bedlam! Anything can happen.....

Thursday Recap

Thursday officially marked the first day of the college football season. It also marked the first of many fights I will have with my wife over the viewing of said college football. She's got to understand there's a certain order for my priorities in life right now:

1. Me.
2. College Football
3. My entertainment
4. Family.

That seems about right. How could she get mad at me? Anyway, here's a brief recap on the happenings around college football Thursday night.

ESPN showcased the North Carolina St. v. South Carolina match-up. The Gators weren't involved in this one but it sure seemed like it. UF references were made throughout the game with the OBC on the Cock sideline, Jesse Palmer in the booth and Erin Andrews reporting. In case you were in a comma last night, Palmer played QB for Spurrier at Florida. Chris Fowler must have mentioned that fact 40 times. Also, all the references to Palmer being on the Bachelor are very unnecessary.

The actual game was a complete douche fest. SC QB Tommy Beecher threw four picks and the OBC never once slammed his visor! What kind of shit is that? Also, the refs are taking this whole new celebration rule enforcement thing a little too seriously. I mean, giving a guy a penalty because he's doing push-ups after missing an int? That's a little ridiculous.

It's safe to say Jim Harbaugh has done a tremendous job of getting the Stanford Cardinal back to being competitive. Stanford pulled off a mild upset by defeating the Oregon St. Beavers late last night. The Cardinal have a RB named Toby Gerhart that is the real deal. This guy is big and has deceptive speed. The way he broke through Beaver tackles made you think Ron Zook was the OSU coach.

Both of the Miamis were in action last night. Miami(FL) wooped up on Charleston Southern behind QB Jacory Harris. Miami(OH) faltered at home against the almighty Vanderbilt Commodores. By the way, Vandy CB D.J. Moore is a legitimate All-American candidate. I would like to hear any of his doubters now.

Wake Forest got their first ever victory in the state of Texas by knocking off Baylor. Wake is a dark horse national title contender this season. If Riley Skinner can keep producing, the Deacs are capable of running through the weak ACC. Baylor dual threat QB Robert Griffin II was very impressive running the ball. Passing.....not so much.

Eastern Michigan won! That almost never happens.

Cincinnati and Connecticut both looked rather impressive while beating up on 1-aa teams. I think Cincinnati will surprise some people this year. Brian Kelly is a vastly underrated coach. Kelly's old team, Central Michigan, also got a win last night. Let the Dan LeFevour Heisman hype begin!

ESPN probably has the worst pre-game/halftime show crew ever. I love Lou Holtz, but these horrible gimmicks they make him do are ridiculous. The pep talk segments last year were a monumental flop. That shit fest looks like Emmy winning material compared to the new Dr. Lou crap they're trying to shove down our throats this season. Also, I hate Mark May. He sucks.

Can't wait for Saturday.