College Football Has Begun!

The triple option. QBs lined up as WRs. Two-way players. Reverses. Kickers who can't make extra points. Blocked punts. Mutual possession overtime. 100,000 screaming fans in a stadium. Rivalries. Non-stop QB rollouts and bootlegs. These are the things that make college football great.

Last night the season got underway for 28 teams. The only ranked team to play was #23 Wake Forest, who crushed Baylor on the road 41-13.

A slightly weaker ACC team beat a much weaker opponent as Georgia Tech cruised to a 41-14 win over I-AA Jacksonville State. Former LSU QB Ryan Perrilloux was 22 for 37 for JSU, throwing 2 TDs and 2 picks.



Two New England schools were in action last night. Northeastern was slaughtered by Ball State 48-14. And UConn beat up Hofstra 35-3.

Miami played their first game in Dolphin Stadium, rolling over Charleston Southern 52-7.

South Carolina wound up beating NC State 34-0, but it wasn't easy. Tommy Beecher started the game by throwing 4 interceptions, and the Gamecocks only led 3-0 at halftime. Chris Smelley replaced Beecher and was 5 for 5 with 2 TD passes. NC State used 3 QBs, and looked bad all around, except for the occasional brilliant defensive play.

I lost my first bet of the year, as Stanford beat Oregon State 36-28. I picked the Beavers, and they easily could have won this game AND covered the 3 point spread. They had 490 yards of offense, but also 100 yards of penalties, 3 turnovers, and couldn't make a big play at the final stages of a long drive. The defense also allowed 210 rushing yards.



Games to watch Saturday:
11:00 AM - ESPN - Appalachian St @ #7 LSU
3:30 PM - ABC - #3 USC @ Virginia
7:30 PM - ESPNU - Boston College @ Kent State (in Cleveland)
8:00 PM - ABC - #24 Alabama vs. #9 Clemson (in Atlanta)
8:30 PM - ESPN - #20 Illinois vs. #6 Missouri (in St. Louis)

Sunday:
3:30 PM - ESPN - Kentucky @ Louisville

Monday:
8:00 PM - ESPN - #18 Tennessee @ UCLA

-The Commodore