Today's College Football Thread

[fishwax]

There were a few games (and one sucker punch, below) on Thursday, but that's just a warm-up.

Now opening Saturday is finally here! :woohoo:

The two biggest matchups are Alabama and Virginia Tech (in Atlanta) and Georgia at Oklahoma State.

My team, the Oklahoma Sooners, take on BYU later tonight in that new Cowboys/Jonestown stadium. So who is your team playing? or what games are you looking forward to?

[Texasgal]

1. HOOK 'EM!!!!

GOOOO HORNS!!!

[fishwax]

6. Shouldn't be much trouble with Louisiana Monroe today

:toast:

[Texasgal]

18. You guys outta have no trouble

with BYU either! :P

I LOOOOVE FOOTBALL SEASON!!! :bounce: best time of the year!!!

[fishwax]

27. I hope not

It's a revenge game of sorts--BYU kicked our asses in the Copper Bowl--right about the time OU football fell off the abyss in the mid-90s. :)

"I LOOOOVE FOOTBALL SEASON!!! :bounce: best time of the year!!! "

Seconded! :bounce:

[RoyGBiv]

35. Ah, yes ...

That's the reason BYU gives me a bad feeling. I had blocked that mess from my memory, but now it's all coming back.

The superstitious part of my brain blamed them and Colorado for out late-90's demise.

[fishwax]

39. yeah, there were some ugly moments with Colorado too

like Rashaan Salaam running for too-many-yards-to-remember on that night game in Boulder. I think that's the game that basically won him the Heisman.

At least things are better now! :toast: We've had plenty of chances to exact justice against CU, and now we get another shot at BYU. :)

[av8rdave]

52. Hope you're right (my son is a grad student at Texas). BUT...

I was present season before last when ULM handed Alabama the most humiliating defeat in their history.

Hook 'Em Horns, but be careful. Those boys will come to play ball!

[mnhtnbb]

2. UNC Tar Heels open against The Citadel 6 PM Eastern. We'll be there!

Go Heels!

:applause:

[fishwax]

7. sweet! enjoy the game

:toast:

Playing The Citadel? I'm sure you'll be happy with the outcome ;)

[mnhtnbb]

14. We better be!

:hi:

[gratuitous]

3. *Yawn*

The REAL college football season starts next week between teams with players who don't get fancy pants scholarships to skip classes and whose championship is determined on the field, not in some beauty contest about who has the prettiest uniforms.

Go Cats!

[fishwax]

8. Which cats, gratuitous?

[TZ]

4. Go Terps!

Playing Cal tonight . 21 point underdog..:wtf: I'm not the NLT one who thinks they can pull the upset! Unhappily I'm an early to bed type person so a 10 pm EDT kickoff means I won't see a lot of the game...

[fishwax]

9. I heard one of the talking heads pick Maryland this week

Maybe it was Desmond Howard?

If Oregon's performance on Thursday is any indication, then the Pac 10 teams are getting a bit too much credit, and so Maryland might have a chance. Of course, with Maryland it's been impossible to tell which team would show up for the last couple of years ...

[mnhtnbb]

13. I picked Maryland over Cal in the Yahoo Sports Fantasy contest

[JonLP24]

116. Ouch

Final score, Cal 52, Maryland 13.

[TZ]

117. :(

I guess the odds makers knew what they were talking about..:cry:

[JonLP24]

114. Cal 31, Maryland 6. It's not even halftime yet

Maybe Maryland can turn it around but you're underestimating Cal. Jahvid Best is in my opinion the best running back in the country. Certainly a top 5 back.

[pokerfan]

5. Holy carp!

Navy at Ohio State tied 7-7
Minnesota up 14-3 over Syracuse

[fishwax]

10. And Tennessee and Western Kentucky in a scoreless tie

Tennessee was driving down around the WKU 30, but they just fumbled it away (second turnover of the day).

Minnesota had 14 points in less than five minutes :rofl:

[fishwax]

11. Northern Iowa is up 10-3 on Iowa at halftime

I wonder if Condem is worried ...

[Ptah]

12. I hope Iowa pulls it out so their first loss will be to Stoops and his Arizona Wildcats!

[fishwax]

15. How are the Wildcats going to be this year, Ptah?

At least with the bowl game last year there's a lot less talk about Mike's job being in jeopardy :)

[Ptah]

17. No decision on starting QB, Star tight end Gronkowski not playing because of inury

Too early to tell.
Opening game tonight here in Tucson vs Central Michigan University.
Their quarterback, Dan LeFevour, seems to be one of the best in the country,
so it will be a full night for the Wildcat defense.

60% chance of heavy rain this afternoon and night.
I'm taking my umbrella.

Bear Down Arizona.

[fishwax]

23. Now 17-16 Iowa with 4 minutes left

Iowa was a 24 point favorite ...

[SacredCow]

16. LSU and University of Washington....

Geaux Tigers! :woohoo:

[fishwax]

20. That's kind of an odd matchup

It will be interesting to see how UW does with their new coach, but I'm sure LSU will take care of business.

Either way, the setting will be beautiful:

[VenusRising]

19. I'm here!! I'm here!!

Go Buckeyes!! Beat Navy!!

:woohoo::bounce:

[fishwax]

22. They're not making it easy on themselves

This is more excitement than expected, for sure, but that interception and return on the two-point conversion ought to do it for the Buckeyes. I don't know who Navy's QB was trying to get that ball to, but it was a nice play by the defense.

[VenusRising]

29. It was exciting!

That's always great for a first game of the season.

I :loveya: college football season!!

[johnnie]

26. Done

..and done!

[VenusRising]

30. w00t!!

:woohoo:

[unsavedtrash]

21. ROLL TIDE ROLL!

:bounce:

[BlooInBloo]

24. 4 Point Swing On 2 Point Conversion Attempt Leaves Navy Outside Of FG To Catch Up...

Play call = stupid, stupid, and fucking stupid.

[fishwax]

25. yeah, the playcall and the execution were

:wtf:

He had a wide-open passing lane to a wide-open receiver if you don't count the defender who made the pick, the second defender standing right behind him, and the guy who was actually covering the receiver (who was falling to the ground). :rofl:

[fishwax]

28. Crazy ending on the Iowa -- Northern Iowa game

UNI was kicking a field goal with :07 left on 1st down.

The kick was blocked, but stayed behind the line of scrimmage, so the officials have said that, since it didn't cross the line of scrimmage and Northern Iowa picked up the ball, it is now UNI ball and 2nd down and they get another chance to kick the field goal.

The second kick -- also blocked!

:wow:

[JonLP24]

40. Clear indication of a superior D-line over a far less talented O-line

However I didn't see the game so it could have been all luck but it's just a guess. :shrug:

[Condem]

69. Incredible finish, fishwax.

We were staring at a long season. Lots of work to do.

[fishwax]

31. San Jose State has a 3-0 lead against USC

3:31 left in the 1st quarter ...

[KamaAina]

36. And $&!@%(^!! ABC *in the Bay Area* is showing Meat-Chicken vs. Western Meat-Chicken instead!!!

:wtf:

[fishwax]

38. It's on Fox Sports here

if that helps :)

USC is driving inside the SJSU 20 now, but so far it's still 3-0 ...

[KamaAina]

71. The one and only sports channel my hotel doesn't get

and anyway the Spartans choked away that seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead. :eyes:

edit: spelling; snark

[JonLP24]

41. It's on Fox Sports

However I have no idea what game you're talking about. I'm watching Okla. St vs Georgia on ABC if you're referring to that game.

[KamaAina]

74. Michigan = Meechigan = Meat-Chicken

actually Mich. vs. Western Mich. may have been on one of the innumerable ESPN channels. I get so confused...

[JonLP24]

75. It took me awhile to figure it out

I eventually did but never got back to you. Actually pretty clever if you came up with it all by yourself.

[KamaAina]

108. I think you'd have to thank a Buckeye fan for that one

:P

[Ptah]

121. I am saddened to see Dick Tomey be beaten so badly.

[EastTennesseeDem]

32. Jimmy Clausen's IQ and leadership leave a lot to be desired

but that arm is a cannon.

[fishwax]

34. agreed

Just caught a glimpse of his second TD pass. He's got a cannon for sure.

[RoyGBiv]

33. WooHoo!!!

:woohoo:

Finally, Saturday afternoons have meaning again. :)

I'm watching OkState and flipping to Michigan every now and again at the moment. Robinson just had a nice run off a broken play for the Wolverines.

Tonight should be interesting. BYU always gives me a bad feeling for some reason.

[fishwax]

42. Amen!

"Finally, Saturday afternoons have meaning again. :)"

:woohoo:

"BYU always gives me a bad feeling for some reason."

Me too--partly because of that Copper Bowl game and partly because of personal circumstances surrounding that game--I was, at the time, dating a girl from a Mormon family, and her parents were against our relationship in many ways, resulting in all manner of drama, etc., and so the game against BYU had a lot at stake in terms of trash-talking rights and as a proxy war of sorts. But now we're married, her parents and I get along great, and her dad is cheering for Oklahoma tonight :woohoo: :rofl:

[RoyGBiv]

44. Well, now ...

That's a success story with a hopeful metaphor there at the end. :) Congrats! The bit about rooting for Oklahoma is especially a shocker.

OkState isn't looking good. Defense is playing decently, but their offense is a dead fish. They're not executing plays. That last run on 3rd and 15 looked like it was planned to fall short. I see no energy here that could produce 400+ yards a game.

[fishwax]

50. OSU just got a huge break

I only caught a bit of the game at the beginning, and then just now switched back in time to see the OSU touchdown, but in the snippets that I saw before the last few minutes it certainly seemed that all the hype might be a bit overplayed.* I just can't help but be skeptical when seeing OSU in the top 10 to start the season.

"That's a success story with a hopeful metaphor there at the end. :) Congrats! The bit about rooting for Oklahoma is especially a shocker."

Definitely happy endings and hopeful metaphors, and I'm pretty proud of her father's conversion to Oklahoma football ;) ... she talked to him on the phone earlier today and he said he was wearing his OU cap. Between having his daughter go to school there after we were married and being drawn into the excitement of the 2000 season he became a pretty big fan :)

*(on edit: man, what an awkwardly constructed sentence that was!)

[RoyGBiv]

56. They're looking better ...

A couple of key plays by special teams and the defense have certainly helped matters, but the offense seems to have calmed down at least.

[fishwax]

61. I've gotta admit I'm impressed

They've played well the second half, and after Georgia started out so quickly on offense the defense has apparently settled in as well. Whodathunk it?

Kickoff is a half hour away! :woohoo:

[RoyGBiv]

70. No kidding ...

After I wrote that sentence, I read it again and thought I must be hallucinating. OSU? Defense and special teams? Really???

Granted this is not your typical opener pitting a 2nd tier team against a powerhouse where the scores are traditionally astronomical and one-sided, but I'm still not convinced OSU is a top-ten team. Their defense is clearly much improved on last season. Their o-line performed well, but they're going to have problems scoring if all they really have is one receiver who gets swarmed on every play.

Anyway ... on to the more important game. ;-)

[JonLP24]

37. I hope Arizona State can beat Idaho State

On paper they should and they got Georgia on the road in a couple of weeks. :scared:

[fishwax]

45. that'll be an interesting game

The Georgia one--not the Idaho State one ;)

I don't know enough about Arizona State to know what to expect--Will they bounce back from last year?

[JonLP24]

47. Well they have a QB who has never played before so I dunno

if he will come out the gates firing or if he'll need time to develop. I'm very comfortable with Mike Jones as their #1 receiver.

I was hoping to see Jack Elway(John's son) get an opportunity to start and see what he can do but this offseason he quit playing football for good for some reason I don't know. He said he'll still continue going to school at Arizona St.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

55. Most of our offense is a question mark...

...from what I've read (it's hard to follow Sun Devil football from Italy, I haven't seen a game, TV or live, since the 2000 season).

As you already said our quarterback is a senior who has yet to start a game. The offensive line was very young and inexperienced last season and now they have to show that they have progressed and improved. And the running backs are lead by a senior who was unproductive last season (in part due to a nagging injury) and the others are unproven.

It is a shame about Jack Elway leaving the team, but AFAIK he was never considered a major prospect anyway.

Anyway, Go Devils! :evilgrin:

[JonLP24]

57. I couldn't agree more

The last time I remember ASU having an effective ground game was when they had JR Redmond and that was over a decade ago. They may have had a good year running the ball between then and now that I forgot about.

I don't believe Jack Elway was a major prospect either but he was an all-state QB as well as good genes so I was hopeful. Interesting note, Dennis Erickson was his grandfather's first offensive coordinator at San Jose St.

[JonLP24]

43. Air Force 72 Nicholls St 0 10:00+ still left to play

[fishwax]

46. ouch

I know Nicholls St is a FCS team, but Air Force doesn't usually beat schools by 10 touchdowns :wow:

[JonLP24]

48. Nice throw by Zac Robinson, nice catch by Dez Bryant

Oklahoma State 7, Georgia, 7.

[JonLP24]

49. WTF did I miss?

I went to the bathroom after the point after, I come back and Oklahoma St is at the goal line. :wtf:

[NightWatcher]

53. a damn fumble

[av8rdave]

51. Air Force barely eked out a win over Nichols State 72 - 0

GO FALCONS!

I'll be watching the 'Bama - Va Tech game as well, since my son is a 'Bama grad.

ROLL TIDE!

[1gobluedem]

54. Michigan's looking pretty good right now

Up 31-0 at halftime over Western Michigan. I'm liking it. Go Blue!

[fishwax]

59. guess all that extra practice paid off

:hide:

j/k -- here's hoping they keep it up against the Domers next weekend :toast:

[RoyGBiv]

81. Oh, I'm so stealing that ...

A friend of mine is such a Michigan nut, he moved from his cushy academic job in Alabama to take a less cushy job in Ann Arbor so he could go to games.

We've been talking about Rod the last few weeks.

It's always fun to needle him. :)

[1gobluedem]

99. baDAbump...

Not the first. But the accusations are about last season...and apparently didn't help *at all.*

[havocmom]

58. University of Montana Griz win

:woohoo: Havocdad is a happy boy. http://www.montanagrizzlies.com/

[fishwax]

60. way to go Griz!

:toast:

[JonLP24]

62. Go Lumberjacks

Oh I really hope they beat U of Arizona next week. They also play Ole Miss this season. Talk about a tough schedule.

(White dome is where they play :))

[Ptah]

64. Go Griz!!

:woohoo:

[mdmc]

63. GO BLACK NIGHTS!

:toast:

[fishwax]

67. 'bout to kick off against Eastern Michigan

Good luck to 'em! :toast:

[mdmc]

87. yes

yes yes!

[mdmc]

127. they won!

Go Black Nights!

[blonndee]

65. WOO! Knew I'd find this thread.

Thanks hun!

[fishwax]

68. BOOMER!

Glad you made it, blonndee! :hi:

[RoyGBiv]

72. SOONER!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpMdIHgDmCA

The thing I dislike about football on television, is you miss the entrance of the bands and the fight song.

[JonLP24]

66. Nothing else on in my area for another hour so I'm stuck with the BYU-OU snoozefest

:P

I hope OU crushes them by 10 touchdowns.

[blonndee]

73. Aw, jeez. Looks like my Sooner boys are a little overexcited. :)

[RoyGBiv]

76. Just a bit ...

New players, which has been the question mark during the off-season.

Penalties -- stupid penalties -- are killing them at the moment.

[RoyGBiv]

77. Finally!

A third down conversion.

TOUCHDOWN!

[fishwax]

78. go easy on the penalties sooners, there's plenty to go around

now they're moving into form, though :)

[RoyGBiv]

80. Perhaps ...

... they're trying to get them all over in the first game. That way they don't have to have any for the rest of the reason.

Well, it's a thought. :)

[fishwax]

82. that must be it :)

99 yard TD drive coming up! :woohoo:

[JonLP24]

83. I actually feel bad for BYU

All the way to the OU 1-yard line and fumble.

[RoyGBiv]

85. Yeah, well ...

OU just gave it back to 'em ... again.

I'm disgusted.

Both these teams are playing like it's the first day of practice, not the first game of the season.

Some of the penalties are incredibly picky. That unnecessary roughness call against BYU for a hit out-of-bounds seem excessive, for example. But neither team is really playing well.

OU certainly isn't turning in a top-5 performance.

[RoyGBiv]

86. Yeah, well ...

OU just gave it back to 'em ... again.

I'm disgusted.

Both these teams are playing like it's the first day of practice, not the first game of the season.

Some of the penalties are incredibly picky. That unnecessary roughness call against BYU for a hit out-of-bounds seem excessive, for example. But neither team is really playing well.

OU certainly isn't turning in a top-5 performance.

[JonLP24]

90. I missed that

I just turned on the VTech/Alabama game. I hope OU wins and BYU goes 0-12.

[RoyGBiv]

92. Me too ...

... but, it's not looking like that will be the case.

This game is a toss-up. Who wins will depend on who screws up the least in the second half.

[blonndee]

79. Nice interception by Sooners...

[armyowalgreens]

84. ASU SUNDEVILS ARE GONNA KICK SOME MOTHAFUCKIN ASSSSSSS!!!!!!

It's all about the maroon and gold.

[JonLP24]

88. Back when I had tickets

It was "Maroon and mustard"

However I agree with you. Go Devils! :bounce:

[armyowalgreens]

91. I keep forgetting to buy season tickets...

I might longboard down to the box office in a little bit to see if I can still get some.

[JonLP24]

95. I had season tickets with my grandma for the 1996 season

That was a very memorable year. I got interested in sports because of that year and it was very worth. Undefeated all the way to the Rose Bowl. I remember staying up all night and throughout the morning watching the local news coverage. I was so heartbroken after OSU scored with just 19 seconds left on the clock and failed to become AP National Champions.

It hasn't been the same since but that was great year. I really hope they get another shot like that at the title.

[Ptah]

89. Leaving now to go see the Arizona Wildcats and probably a thunderstorm!

Radar loop:
http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?product=NCR&rid=emx&loop=yes


Bear Down Arizona!

[armyowalgreens]

93. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

[Ptah]

119. You got something against

thunderstorms?

[fishwax]

94. Have fun!

Good luck!

[Ptah]

120. Arizona 19 Central Michigan 6

Some good defense saved Arizona.

We'll take the win.

Next up Northern Arizona, the travel to Iowa City to ruin Condem's weekend!

Bear Down Arizona!!

[RoyGBiv]

96. Shit

That's all I have to say.

[fishwax]

97. Fuck.

[RoyGBiv]

100. Sprained AC ...

... they're saying.

That will have effects that linger beyond his official recovery time.

[blonndee]

98. Shit and fuck.

Hope Bradford's not seriously injured. But if Landry has to fill in, I wish him all the best. He is such a sweet young man. I haven't gotten to see him play since the HS state championship in 2007 so I'm very interested to see how he'll handle it.

[fishwax]

102. Here's hoping he does well

I'm sure he's got the talent and I bet he's mentally ready to step in :)

[blonndee]

105. Come on, Landry! I know you can do it!

:) I love that kid.

[Hayabusa]

101. Yay, Mizzou!

Great win over the Illini this week. Gabbert did extremely well!

[pokerfan]

103. We suck

maybe a little less than last year. It depends upon how good this year's Stanford team is compared to last year's.

[Condem]

104. You know what I'm seeing..

.. a ton of parity. Great for the game.

[RoyGBiv]

106. Sorta ...

I've personally was stunned by how many ranked teams were playing against each other the first week. Perhaps this is just perception, but I don't recall that happening a lot. OU, for example, usually plays someone like North Texas.

Give how the deals are made for these games, no one could have predicted this, so it's somewhat accidental. But, it has resulted in a lot more parity among early season games.

This has been one of the better first weeks in my memory, even if OU is sucking out loud at the moment.

Oh, I should be fair. The defense is holding their own. The questions about the o-line have been answered, I think, and are negative. The offense is anemic because of it, and with the addition of a BYU team with a good offense, it's made for an equitable game.

[fishwax]

107. BYU just took the lead on Oklahoma

Up by a point with 3 minutes to go.

[rurallib]

109. whoa I just gave up the TV to Mrs. Lib

BYU wins!

[KamaAina]

115. There is no justice

All those Prop H8 funders who should be suffering a plague of locusts by now? Instead they're jumping up and down and pouring milk all over each other. Thanks for nothing. :puke: :puke: :puke:

[RoyGBiv]

110. Gonna be a looooong season

[fishwax]

111. looks that way

I guess we'll see how long Bradford and Gresham will be out. I know the O-line looked very bad tonight, but if they can find a way to gel by the time the conference rolls around then we could still do some damage in conference. Back in 2006 we lost a non-conference game and to Texas and still wound up winning the conference. Irrationally optimistic, I know, but who knows :)

But I sure do feel bad for Bradford. :grr:

[RoyGBiv]

112. Yeah ...

It's rare you see a Heisman hopeful have his chances essentially shattered during the first game of the season.

Prior to him going down I was really confused. OU seems to have changed its gameplan entirely. He didn't even try to pass for much of the first half, not until the hurry-up during those last couple drives.

I don't get it.

Sure, OU has the best running back tandem in college football, but that works for OU because of how well Bradford throws ... and due to the previous year's o-line.

Perhaps the lack of passing was due to doubts about the o-line, now that I think of it.

Well, anyway ... we'll see.

[Mz Pip]

113. Go Bears!

Gotta send a big call out to all the "Old Blues" out there!

Mz Pip

[BlooInBloo]

118. GOOOOO HUSKIES!!!!

[limit18]

125. This team really impressed me.

Looks like Coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff are getting all the pieces in the right places.
Best of Luck in the future!

[BlooInBloo]

128. They played a credible game, could possible have won. A husky fan can't ask any more. :)

[MineralMan]

122. Well, my Cornhuskers kicked butt, but..

they were playing some Florida high school with ashtrays. Still, they looked good.

Best news of the day was Oklahoma's loss to BYU. Poor Sooners....no undefeated season for you...

[Texasgal]

124. I feel Horrible for Bradford!

But I cannot help but feel a tinge of happiness that Oklahoma lost...

Die hard Texas Longhorn here. HOOK 'EM!

[MineralMan]

126. The potential for an injury is always there for any QB.

It's part of the risk. I'm sorry he got hurt, but there it is...football tends to hurt players.

[tigereye]

123. hey, it's that time again!

Pitt won and Penn State, and Notre Dame slammed the other team, so not a bad day!


:hi: You're an Okie, eh? (hope that's the term..) ;)




ps - So you're the guy who needs all 10 screens for football on cable! (my son keeps telling me that this is what he wants!) :rofl:

[JonLP24]

129. College Football Weekend is not over yet (Rocky Mountain Showdown!)

CSU has an early lead over Colorado 7-0 and picked off one on defense. :woohoo: