College Football Week 1 Musings - Saturday Edition

Saturday, August 31, 2013

• I might as well get the FCS upsets out of the way first. Four FCS teams, Eastern Washington, McNeese State, Eastern Illinois, and Northern Iowa, went on the road and upset FBS teams. Those four upsets were (final score in parentheses): Eastern Washington over #25 Oregon State (49-46); McNeese State over South Florida (53-21); Eastern Illinois over San Diego State (40-19); and Northern Iowa over Iowa State (28-20). The most impressive of the four upsets was Eastern Washington, specifically the play of their QB Vernon Adams and the resiliency of the team. At halftime, Eastern Washington was up 29-17, but Oregon State came storming back and took a 32-29 lead in the 3rd quarter. Both teams fought back and forth until Vernon Adams led a last minute drive that gave Eastern Washington the upset. Vernon Adams made a name for himself by accounting for 518 yards of total offense. He went 23 for 30 for 411 yards and 4 TD's. In addition, he had 107 yards and 2 TD's on 16 rushes. It truly was a deserved win for the Eagles of Eastern Washington.

• The most surprising of those four upsets goes to Eastern Illinois over San Diego State. San Diego State is considered one of the favorites to make it to the Mountain West Championship. It is one thing to lose a close game, but San Diego State was blown out on their own field, 40-19. It will be interesting to see how San Diego State responds to this defeat and how it will impact the rest of their season.

• FCS teams also produced some other scares around the country. West Virginia needed 17 second half points to beat William & Mary 24-17. Boston College also needed 17 second half points to defeat a stubborn Villanova squad 24-14. Southern Illinois almost erased an 18 point halftime deficit against Illinois, but came up empty on 4th and goal from the Illini 3 yard line with 44 seconds left. Illinois won the game 42-34. Howard University held a 24-13 lead with 5 minutes remaining 3rd quarter against Eastern Michigan, but 21 unanswered points allayed any upset fears as Eastern Michigan won 34-24.

• After losing to Iowa by a point, 18-17, in 2012, Northern Illinois exacted revenge with a 30-27 win over Iowa in Iowa City. Northern Illinois had a 10-0 lead late in the 1st quarter and were driving for another potential score until a fumble by TE Luke Eakes was scooped up and returned for a TD to cut the lead to 10-7. At that point, the momentum shifted to Iowa until the 4th quarter when NIU tied the game at 27. With 1:30 left to go, Iowa was on their own 45 yard line. On the ensuing play Iowa QB Jake Rudock behind his WR and the pass was intercepted. The interception eventually led to NIU's game winning FG. I wonder how much goodwill is in the bank for Kirk Ferentz at Iowa if the team continues to decline as it has the past 3 seasons.

• #1, and already 3-time BCS National Champions elect by the media, Alabama, appeared, well, vulnerable in their 35-10 victory over Virginia Tech. The offensive line did not look good and AJ McCarron went 10 for 23 with 110 yards. Yes Virginia Tech and Bud Foster are a tough, blue collared defense, but the performance by the Alabama offense was mediocre for such a talented group. Outside of the 77 yard TD run by Virginia Tech's Trey Edmunds, the defense for Alabama was stifling. Good thing Nick Saban has two weeks to prepare for Texas A&M because the offense will need it to get better.

• One score that jumped off the page was seeing Nebraska eke out a 3 point victory over Wyoming, 37-34. A closer look at the box score still does not make the victory appear any better. Nebraska's vaunted "blackshirt" defense gave up 602 yards. 602 yards. They gave up an average of 7.3 yards per carry. Granted Wyoming does have a very fast up-tempo offense, but Nebraska should not be giving up that kind of yardage. Head coach Bo Pelini gave 7 starters their blackshirts before the game. He may want to take those back after seeing that awful performance.

• #5 Georgia and #8 Clemson lived up to the billing of two top 10 teams. While there was not much defense played early, both defenses eventually settled down in a very entertaining and intense game. Until the 4th quarter, it felt as if either team could win, with Clemson eventually gaining the upper hand and winning 38-35. The message boards were fired up in the aftermath of the loss for Georgia. I saw calls for Mark Richt to be fired and Aaron Murray to benched in the upcoming big games against South Carolina and LSU, but those posts are overreacting to the loss. It was the first game of the season and Georgia was on the road in the hostile environment of Clemson's Death Valley. It is not as if Georgia got ran out of the building, the game was close throughout until a few 4th quarter mistakes. Next week is a chance at redemption as Georgia hosts South Carolina.

• #12 LSU put on a strong performance against #20 TCU, who were not disgraced in defeat. LSU QB Zach Mettenberger had a strong, confident performance as LSU beat TCU 37-27. The best facet of the game for both teams was the Return units. Odell Beckham for LSU and B.J. Catalon for TCU both had some excellent returns that aided their teams respectively. LSU is definitely a contender in the SEC West (and for the SEC Championship) while TCU looks like they will challenge Texas, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma for the Big 12 title.

• I managed to catch the late kickoff between #22 Northwestern and California and I was glad I did. Northwestern really showed grit and determination to win 44-30 on the road. Northwestern lost their starting QB Kain Colter on the very first drive of the game to a concussion. Backup Trevor Siemian filled in nicely in Colter's absence. Northwestern also lost their starting RB Venric Mark to a hamstring injury, but it was not enough for Cal to win. Cal QB Jared Goff put on a tremendous performance as he became the first true freshman to start a season opener at QB for Cal. He had 445 yards passing with 2 TD's, but he also threw 3 interceptions. Two of those interceptions were returned for TD's by Northwestern LB Collin Ellis. In defense of Goff, both of those interceptions were deflected and nabbed by Ellis. Despite the loss Cal appears to have a bright future under head coach Sonny Dykes and QB Jared Goff.