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.