Welcome to the Snake Pit

Last night signaled the beginning of the Randy Edsall era in College Park, Maryland, and the Terps prevailed in a rainy contest against the suspension riddled Miami Hurricanes, 32-24. Before we get to the game, I have to spend some time on the most talked about issue of the night; the Maryland uniforms. Personally, I have to redact a statement made in my last post and put out that the "State pride" uniforms, as coined by Edsall, are without a doubt, the sexiest uniforms in college football. Everything about them, down to the shoes screamed Maryland, keeping in line with the university's stated goal of improving the team brand. As Edsall said, "We are the state university of Maryland, and we're proud of it." There was mixed reaction to the get ups, mostly negative by anyone who isn't a Terps fan but love 'em, or hate 'em, the uniforms did exactly what the school and Under Armour had in mind; they got people to notice, including contemporaries. As tweeted by Oklahoma's star WR, Ryan Broyles, "Diggin' Maryland's color scheme tonight! By far the most unique I've seen!" In his article on grantland.com, columnist Michael Kruse points out that seemingly ridiculous uniforms are the selling point for today's advertising affected generation. Kruse details how the University of Oregon, propelled by Nike, became the first team to widely publicize its flashy uniforms, and translate it to on the field success, correctly pointing out that Oregon "didn't get people to watch because they were good, they got good because they got people to watch." Only time will tell whether Maryland, propelled by Under Armour, can translate its uniforms to similar success.

Edsall was all smiles after the Terps' big win.

The game featured two brand new head coaches in Edsall and Miami counterpart, Al Golden, who was dealt a serious blow before the season started with the Nevin Shapiro allegations and subsequent suspension of more than half his starters. It was a back and forth affair for most of the night, with the Terps and Canes trading TD's and FG's in less than ideal conditions. For anybody wondering, Danny O'Brien is definitely the real deal. The sophomore QB racked up 348 passing yards on 31 completions to go along with one TD and one INT. The up tempo offense, which racked up 499 yards, was a far cry from the plodding approach taken by Edsall's predecessor, Ralph Friedgen. The Canes doomed themselves with four turnovers, which absolutely prevented them from winning the close contest. Maryland entered the Miami redzone six times, yet managed only one offensive touchdown. The game was sealed on one of the few 'No! Don't score!' moments in college football when, with the Terps leading by two and the Hurricanes driving, CB Cameron Chism intercepted Stephen Morris' sideline throw and returned it for a TD, putting the Terps up 32-24 with 39 seconds to go. As Edsall pointed out post-game and a few fans (yours truly included) were yelling during, had Chism simply fallen on the ball, the Terps could have run out the clock. Instead, after a botched extra point, the Canes had 40 seconds to come within a TD and a two-point conversion of tying the game. Luckily, this situation was avoided when Morris' last ditch heave was intercepted by linebacker, Kenny Tate. Although it's rightfully easy to poke fun at the situation surrounding the Miami program, I have to take my hat off to Golden. Despite the suspensions, Miami fielded a focused and determined team who walked into a hostile environment, and acquitted themselves well.

Looking ahead, the Canes face another stiff test in the form of the 18th ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in Coral Gables, while the Terps have the week off before facing Big East rival West Virginia in the Snake Pit. That should prove to be much more of a statement game for the Terps; the 'Neers boast one of the best QB-WR combos in the country, and by far the best in the Big East, with Geno Smith and Tavon Austin and have dominated the Terps in recent years. A 2-0 start would be huge for Edsall, and that game should be a good measure of exactly how well the Terps will fare this year.

 

Represent, fellas.

Geauxing all the way?

It's Les' world. We're all just living in it.

After years of watching Les Miles operate, I've come to a realization. The only thing you can count on when dealing with the quirky coach, is never counting against him. This was fully evident last night as LSU took on Oregon, in Arlington, Texas. With his team reeling from two counts of stupidity (starting QB Jordan Jefferson's arrest/starting WR Russell Shepherd's suspension) and one count of tragedy (OC Steve Kragthorpe's Parkinson's diagnosis), many were ready to write off LSU's season as a waste before it even started. The Tigers followed this up with a 40-27 thrashing of the defending BCS runners up behind a solid, if uninspiring performance by much maligned QB Jarrett Lee (10 completions, 98 yards, 1 TD), a steady run game, and a vicious defense. In what was meant to be a statement game for both teams, the Tigers showed that they will be a force in the SEC and I fully expect the SEC Championship and a spot in the national title game to be on the line when the Tigers square off against Alabama. But before all the SEC fans start their smug 'we told you so' routine, I'd like to take a little time to discuss Oregon. Make no mistake, chances are unless your team name starts with 'Ohio State' and ends with 'Buckeyes', if you find yourself in a National Championship game, you deserve to be there. I thought Oregon was a phenomenal team last year, and I still think they're a very good team this year, despite this loss. But that makes two games in a row (Auburn/LSU) where the Ducks have faced two loaded SEC defenses and come up short. The Ducks have never been shy about what they do on offense. The Blur is designed to run you into the ground, and when you're gasping for air, Darron Thomas hits you over the top. The Ducks are predicated on running the ball better than their opponents can stop them. However, against two very good defenses, Heisman finalist LaMichael James has rushed for a combined 103 yards, while Thomas has been forced to wing it more than 30 times. Both games resulted in losses. Is Oregon the best barometer for how good the Tigers really are? I don't think so. But I know enough to never bet against Miles.

From one dominant performance, we'll travel around the rest of the country stopping at some of the notable games before finishing up with a sneak peek of what to watch (or not watch) next week. We'll start in the dirty south, where...

Boise St. took on Georgia. The little team that could from Boise, Idaho, did what it's done so often the past few seasons. For the third year in a row (Oregon '09, VA Tech '10) it marched right up to the stadium of a bigger, 'badder' opponent, kicked down the door, and left with a victory. Clad in the sexiest uniforms in college football, the Broncos dismantled the Bulldogs 35-21 in Atlanta, once again opening the 'how good are they' debate. I can guarantee you that all the old arguments we've heard will be out again in force this year; they play in a weaker conference, they...play in a....weaker..conference. That's about it. The fact of the matter is Boise routinely takes on bigger programs, routinely beats them, and gets left out because one loss to a Nevada isn't as 'good' as one loss to say, LSU. I think what bothers people most about Boise is the manner in which they win. People love associating novel teams like Boise with gimmicks, which implies that they can only play in a certain context, much like Oregon. The Blur is a gimmick; a highly effective one, but a gimmick. The problem is, Boise doesn't have a gimmick. They line you up and they punch you in the mouth. Even the most casual observer would notice the Broncos absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball last night. After surrendering an 80 yard TD run, the defense clamped down, allowing the Dogs to rush for a scant 57 yards the rest of the night, on a combined 31 carries. They also harassed stud QB Aaron Murray, sacking him six times. On the other side of the ball, Kellen Moore continued to build his legend, improving to 39-2 as a starter with a workman like 28 completions for 261 yards and 3 TD's (1 INT). Boise's O-line manhandled the Dogs' defenders, preventing Moore from hitting the dirt at all, and allowing him to sit back and carve up a decent secondary. Looking way ahead, this is yet another season where the Broncos have the chance to go undefeated and get left out of the National Championship picture. Meanwhile, the Dogs travel home next week to face SEC Title contender, South Carolina and could potentially open the season 0-2, which would make Mark Richt's seat very, very hot. Speaking of hot, it was almost one hundred degrees at the 8pm kickoff time in Waco, Texas where...

TCU faced off against Baylor. In what is sure to become an instant classic, Bears QB Robert Griffin III broke on to the national stage in a big way. A lot of people forget that RG3 had a really good 2010 (3,501 yards, 22 TD's), probably because he plays at Baylor, but everyone knows his name now after a scintillating performance against the Horned Frogs. Behind a spectacular effort by his O-line, Griffin passed for 359 yards and 5 TD's, and converted some crucial third downs on Baylor's final drive to set up the game winning field goal, bringing the final tally to 50-48. Lost in Griffin's performance is the fact that Baylor did its best to choke the game away, allowing TCU to storm back from a 24 point hole. Behind a defense which finally got it for a few series after being torched by RG3 and his favorite target, Terrance Ganaway (24 catches, 120 yards 1 TD), and some inspired play by first time starter, Casey Pachall (25 completions, 251 yards, 4 TD's, 1 INT) the Frogs roared back after being down 47-23 to take a 48-47 lead with less than five minutes remaining. The fourteenth ranked Frogs are in the process of trying to replace a lot of talent, including the winningest QB in school history, Andy Dalton, and almost pulled off the miracle; Baylor avoided the monumental collapse by intercepting Pachall's final pass as time expired. With the loss, the nation's longest winning streak, and longest road winning streak came to an end. Coincidentally, the loss also hurts Boise St. as TCU is the only other ranked team in conference and would have been a much larger prize if the two were undefeated leading into their showdown.

In another 'they almost had it' effort...

Game one of the Jerry Kill era in Minnesota ended in disappointing, yet positive fashion, as the Golden Gophers fell to USC 19-17 in Southern California. The Men of Troy were paced by QB Matt Barkley's school record 34 completions for 304 yards and 3 TD's. Exactly half of his 34 completions and all of his touchdowns went to WR Robert Woods, who also set a school record for catches, finishing with 17 for 177 yards. Despite this offensive output, the Trojans failed to score the entire second half, and were uncharacteristically bailed out by their defense when Torin Harris intercepted Minnesota backup freshman QB Max Shortell's pass with 53 seconds to go. Shortell entered the game in the fourth quarter after starter MarQueis Gray succumbed to cramps. The freshman threw for 98 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT (last play of the game). The lack of scoring in an otherwise dominant effort led to an interesting quote from USC Head Coach, Lane Kiffin, who seemingly threw most of his team under the bus when he mentioned to a post-game reporter that the Trojans have "two good players on [their] offense."

Staying in the vein of offense, I hope fans in Blacksburg don't take any as I discuss...

A definite 'they should have turned the scoreboard off' game, in Virginia Tech's 66-13 demolition of FCS member Appalachian State. Just so we're clear, I don't dislike VA Tech. I don't bear them any ill will because they are an in-conference foe of the Terps. Games like this just bother me. Certainly, Tech isn't the only school guilty of playing these games, but it just highlights everything that's wrong with college football. While teams like Boise St. schedule tough non-conference foes year after year to try and gain some respect, most AQ teams load up on FCS patsies to give themselves a 2,3, or 4-0 cushion before entering conference play. If, hypothetically of course, Boise drops one game in conference and Tech goes undefeated, and there was one spot left in the BCS championship game, Tech gets that bid one hundred percent of the time. This doesn't only happen to non-AQ's, however. In 2008 USC dropped an egg at Oregon State, in their third game, costing them a shot at the national title. What happened after that game? They systematically destroyed almost every team they faced the rest of the season, only to sit back and watch Florida dominate an overmatched one loss Oklahoma team. I defy you to go look at the tape from USC's last nine games that year and tell me they weren't the best team in college football at the time. You can't. Additionally, there was a lot of hype surrounding the VA Tech-App State game, because of the 'giant-slayer' moniker given to the Mountaineers after their historic defeat of Michigan in 2007. Let's get one thing straight. That was a long time ago. As much as I respect the tradition of Michigan, it's been quite some time since they've been considered an elite football team. Furthermore, as James Madison proved against none other than the Hokies last year, a very very good FCS team can absolutely compete with any FBS team on a given day. If you need more proof, just ask Oregon State, who dropped their 2011 season/home opener to the Sacramento State Hornets, 29-28. Speaking of Michigan, things got off to a wacky start in Brady Hoke's first game as...

Michigan defeated Western Michigan 34-10. There's really nothing special about this game, except it was called with 1:27 to go in the third quarter as dangerous lightning storms filled the area and all 110,056 fans were evacuated from the Big House. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for next week's historic showdown between Michigan and Notre Dame, which will be the first ever night-game in Ann Arbor. The Golden Domers will have to put up a better effort than they did...

Against the South Florida Bulls in South Bend. In another game affected by severe weather, Senior QB Dayne Crist was benched after the teams returned from a 2 hour 10 minute delay in favor of Tommy Rees. Crist struggled mightily throughout the game, and Rees took advantage, finishing with 24 completions for 296 yards and 2 TD's, along with 2 INT's. The tone of the game, featuring Skip Holtz's return to the place where his dad is a legend, was set early as USF returned a fumble 96 yards for a touchdown merely four minutes in. The Irish seemingly never recovered, stumbling into halftime having a TD nullified by a holding penalty, and an interception of Crist in the endzone, leading to a 16-0 lead for the Bulls and a restless fanbase, sure to be on the verge of collapse right now. Side note: Why was Notre Dame ranked 16th to begin with? Almost every year it seems the Irish underperform, yet transform a noteworthy offseason into a ranking. Sure they won their last four games of 2010, but looking back, none of those opponents were exactly cream of the crop. ESPN's Kirk Herbstreet was derided early last month for saying  6 or 7 wins would be the ceiling for this Notre Dame team. I believe in Herbie.

Speaking of restless fanbases...

You gotta wonder how fans are feeling down in Auburn after the Tigers were pushed to the limit by a plucky Utah State team. The Aggies had this one wrapped up, but did what Baylor managed to avoid and choked away a 10 point lead; the turning point came on an absolutely ridiculous play. I can forgive a team for botching an onside recovery if they are taken by surprise. After the Tigers scored a TD to cut the deficit to three, they lined up for an onside kick. All 60,000 plus fans in the stadium knew it was coming. All the millions of fans watching on TV knew it was coming. All the people on both teams, down to the towel girls, knew it was coming. And Utah State blew it. Auburn recovered the kick, marched down the field and punched in the go ahead touchdown. The good news for Utah State? They have found a gem in freshman QB Chuckie Keeton (21 completion, 213 yards) and should contend in the WAC. The bad news for Auburn? They still have to play South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, and Alabama.

Looking ahead to next week--

Games you want to watch: 

TCU @ Air Force. This game will be a lot closer than it has been in previous years and I wouldn't bet against the Falcons pulling off the upset.

BYU @ Texas. BYU escaped Oxford with a well earned victory against the Rebels. Texas has a brand new QB and is in full rebuilding mode.


Mississippi St. @ Auburn. Dan Mullen's team can make a statement against the defending National Champs. Anything less than a convincing victory could signal trouble for the Bulldogs.

Notre Dame @ Michigan. First ever night game in the Big House. This is what college football is all about.

Games you don't want to watch:

Wofford @ Clemson. Really?

North Dakota @ Idaho. If you like bad football, then this is a game for you.

Stanford @ Duke. Duke is coming off a loss to Richmond. Yikes.

My boys are ready for Monday night. GO TERPS!

Opening Day Thoughts

Greetings and salutations fellow college football fans! At last that blessed time has reached us where Saturdays are no longer wasted on frivolous pursuits such as reading or running errands. College football has returned. I'll admit, I failed in my task to preview all the major conferences before the start of the season, but hey, life happens. With that in mind, I'd like to give you some thoughts about the three opening day games I saw most (or part) of, as well as news and points of interest from around the country.

We'll start off with

Murray State @ Louisville

The Racers were a trendy pick for the opening day upset, but fell quite short against the Redbirds. On paper, this game was pretty close as whatever edge either team had was negated by their spectacular combined turnover margin. 7 gaffes prevented a good flow to the game; Racers' QB Casey Brockman threw for 3 INT's (no TD's), while Louisville lost 3 fumbles and backup QB Teddy Bridgewater thew one pick. Racers' RB Mike Harris kept his team in the game with a well earned 116 yard effort. With 18 first-time players making appearances, the Cards showed plenty of jitters, except for a spectacular fake punt, early in the first quarter, as P Chris Philpott scampered for a 40 yard gain on fourth and ten. Philpott tried it again early in the third, but only managed 8 yards, leading to a turnover on downs.

Traveling north, we arrive in Madison

UNLV @ Wisconsin

I'll be honest. I don't like Brett Bielema. He hasn't done anything to me personally, nor does he seem like an unlikable guy outside of football. But his on field persona makes me think he's the kind of dad who would repeatedly dunk on a six-foot rim if he were playing a pickup basketball game with his kids, just to prove a point. The Badgers jumped all over the Rebels en-route to a 51-17 blowout. The Rebs were overmatched in every facet of the game, and the Badgers simply pounded them into submission. Give credit to UNLV sophomore QB Caleb Herring who avoided major mistakes and threw for a respectable 146 yards and two TD's. While Wisconsin statistically dominated every category, the Rebels did manage to rush for 146 yards as a team, something that the Badgers must fix if they want to preserve their chance of going undefeated. Shiny new QB Russell Wilson had a star performance, throwing for 255 yards and two scores, and adding 62 yards and a TD on the ground. Not good news for the rest of the country, except for Terps' fans, as he will no longer be tormenting us.

And finally, we travel back down south for

Kentucky @ Western Kentucky

This game was a complete paradox. It was the closest of the three I watched, but only because both teams were trying to figure out who could play worse. It turned out to be Western Kentucky, but not by much. Additionally, I'm tempted to distance myself from my Kentucky as a darkhorse pick faster than Mitt Romney tried to distance himself from universal healthcare. Both teams combined for 15 punts, worth a staggering 687 yards. UK QB Morgan Newton was dreadful, amassing just 97 yards through the air, with three picks, including two on successive possessions. The vaunted UK O-line was just as bad. In fact, before Newton managed to save his team by scrambling 58 yards on a 3rd and 14 from deep in his own territory (which set up his lone 31 yard TD pass to LaRod King), the UK ground game was averaging 0.4 yards per carry. You read that right. 0.4. For those of us who are mathematically challenged, that equates to about 14.4 inches per carry. The only battle Kentucky lost was the turnover-committed battle, as WKU QB Kawaun Jakes threw a whopping 4 INT's (which proves my point about how good UK's secondary is). The best moment of this game was after Newton's third INT, when WKU ILB, Andrew Jackson stared straight into the camera from his team bench and yelled "They (KU) supposed to be the SEC!" Sorry Andrew, UK represents the SEC about as much as Rick Perry represents possessing a modicum of intellect; is anybody else worried that a man seriously trying to become leader of the most powerful country in the world received a D in basic micro-economics...from Texas A&M?

As for the rest of the country...

Villanova's introduction to the FBS ended as planned; they were dropped by Temple 42-7. I bet Al Golden wishes he had a time machine.

In the battle of the two teams with the best monikers of the evening, the Sam Houston State Bearkats beat the Western Illinois Leathernecks (apparently, some type of bulldog) 20-6 in Huntsville, Texas, with WI's lone score coming on a 92 yard bomb with nine minutes left.

In the 'they should have turned the scoreboard off' category, Georgia Tech thumped Western Carolina, 63-21. The Jackets built a 28-0 first quarter lead and cruised from there. The Jackets had more passing yards in the first quarter (148) than they had in any complete game last year (130).

It's okay, Al. Nobody blames you.